The morning began with quiet precision in Valen’s chambers, a vast space of understated opulence. Dark marble floors stretched beneath his feet, the walls lined with tapestries older than the city itself, woven in shadowed hues of crimson and midnight. Only a soft, indirect light touched the room, casting a moody glow over the vampire leader as he prepared himself for the day.

Valen moved in calm, measured steps, his mind as sharply honed as the physical routines that kept him in peak form. ...