CHAPTER 54: CHAPTER 54: VICTOR’S FURY (2)

The corridor felt too narrow, though Elias knew every inch of it by heart now.

Robert’s shadow stayed ahead of him, measured and purposeful, a living wall between him and whatever had just been dragged out of his room. The two other alphas flanked them like silent sentinels, their ether still crackling faintly in the air, a low, golden hum from one, a sharper violet shimmer from the other, residual power radiating off them in restless waves.

Elias’s steps were steady, but his pulse was not. His phone was still in his hand, Matteo’s voice an ugly, tinny echo he hadn’t yet cut off. He should have ended the call the moment Robert had appeared, but some part of him wanted to hear every word, to hear Matteo bury himself further in the delusion Elias now saw clearly.

"Elias," Matteo breathed on the other end, soft, frantic. "Elias, talk to me. Don’t listen to him. Don’t listen to anyone else. Just open the door..."

Elias’s thumb tightened against the screen, not enough to end it. He didn’t trust his own voice yet. He’d thought he was afraid when he’d pressed the panic button, when the curtains stirred against the night. But fear had been burned out and replaced by something colder, cleaner. Disgust.

Elias’s voice came out low, steady enough to surprise even himself, cutting through Matteo’s murmured obsession like a blade through silk.

"Matteo," he said, each syllable measured, stripped of all hesitation, "never reach out to me again."

There was no response, only the faint intake of breath on the other end before Elias ended the call with a single decisive tap.

The silence that followed was heavy, cleansing. He set the phone down on the polished table as if it burned his palm, and then, without looking back, he shoved it forward, letting it slide across the wood until it struck the far edge with a muted clack.

His hands trembled once, briefly, before he stilled them on his knees. The air in the corridor pressed against him like a living thing, the faint hum of the alphas’ ether still vibrating along the walls, the low sound of Robert murmuring into his comm as he shifted position near the door.

Elias drew in a breath, slow and sharp, feeling the last of Matteo’s voice bleed out of his mind like smoke through an open window. The space felt wider without it, though the weight in his chest remained, thick and bitter.

And then...

The door opened.

Light spilled in from the corridor beyond, a flicker of lantern flame catching the polished brass handle, and the charged hum in the air shifted as Victor stepped through.

His presence filled the room in an instant, the dark crimson ripple of his ether trailing in faint threads that curled along the doorframe and bled into the air like heat. His coat swept behind him, shoes striking the marble with deliberate weight, each step announcing him more surely than any words could.

"Victor..." Elias didn’t know what to say. He was sure that Robert and Adam had already informed Victor about what happened.

"Everyone out."

The words cut through the air like a command layered with power, soft in volume but edged with something that made the three alphas in the room straighten instantly.

Robert’s gaze flicked once to Elias, as if to check, then back to Victor. He gave a single sharp nod and stepped aside, his movements crisp and silent as he gestured to the others. The two operatives peeled away from their positions without a word, their ether dimming as they slipped past Victor and out into the corridor, their boots whispering over the marble.

Adam’s voice crackled faintly over Robert’s comm, an unfinished report, a question, but Robert muted it with a quick motion, shutting down the channel as he passed Elias, his expression unreadable but his eyes steady, protective, promising without words that this wasn’t the end of the security measures.

And then the door clicked shut.

The silence that followed was alive, humming with the lingering power Victor hadn’t bothered to leash, the faint threads of crimson ether still twisting through the air like heat off scorched stone.

Elias found himself sitting straighter without thinking, his pulse a taut rhythm under his skin. He could still feel Matteo’s words crawling like oil through the back of his mind, but they were burned back further with every second Victor stood there, silent, radiating fury and control in equal measure.

Victor’s gaze swept the room with the precision of a blade, tracking the terrace doors, the faint sway of the curtains, and the shadows where an intruder had once stood. Only then did his eyes return to Elias, fixing on him with a steadiness that pressed the air thinner without raising a single word.

Elias, still in the chair, tipped his head back slightly and let a faint smile ghost across his lips. "Now this is dramatic."

For a heartbeat Victor didn’t react. Then the corner of his mouth curved, a low chuckle escaping him, quiet, rough, almost tired but undeniably genuine. The crimson threads of ether that had followed him in softened, drawing close and fading into the air like heat giving way to stillness.

"You’re alive," Victor said simply, his voice calm now, threaded with something warmer. "And still mouthing off. Good. I was starting to wonder if you’d let someone steal that from you."

Elias let out a slow breath, the smile lingering, softer now. "I don’t think Matteo’s delusions count as theft."

Victor’s chuckle deepened briefly, low in his chest, as he closed the last steps between them.

The tension that had coiled in him since Adam’s call seemed to melt into something quieter, heavier, as his gaze held Elias’s.

Without a word, his hands moved on their own, warm, calloused palms coming up to cup Elias’s jaw as though to prove to himself that he was really there, unhurt. His thumbs brushed lightly along the curve of Elias’s cheekbones, tracing the faint heat of his skin.

"You have no idea," Victor murmured, voice low and even, "how close I came to burning this entire wing to ash."

Elias didn’t flinch. He didn’t pull away.

His breath caught once in his chest, sharp and shaky, and then he moved, sudden, unhesitating, closing the small space between them. His hands rose instinctively, gripping at Victor’s coat as if the weight of it could anchor him, and he all but launched himself forward, pressing into Victor’s arms with a force that spoke more than words ever could.

Victor’s hands shifted instantly, catching him, steadying him, drawing him in until Elias’s face was buried against the hollow of his shoulder. The faint scent of smoke and steel clung to Victor’s clothes, threaded through with that deep, grounding warmth Elias had already memorized.

Victor’s breath hitched once, his hold tightening as though he’d been waiting for this exact moment, his lips brushing against Elias’s temple.

"You’re safe," Victor said, softer now, the words meant only for him. "I’ve got you."

And in that embrace, with the thrum of Victor’s ether curling protectively around them, Elias felt the disgust and tension bleed from his shoulders, leaving only the startling relief of knowing he wasn’t alone.