Konstantin: The Heartless Beta
20. Nephilim Dagger

Konstantin

I step into my club and breath out an annoyed sigh. It is such a fucked up thing knowing that evenas Lily is out there have fuck knows what done to her, I have to go about my day as usual. Yeah, Iget it, we're Bratva, and the show must go on but fuck. I hate it.

Zephyr walks into my office and starts giving me the rundown of things. From what he’s telling me, Igather that things have been running smoothly. Apparently, there's a new bout of regulars in fromHell's Kitchen, and they've been itching to meet me, especially the Alpha.

"Did they say what they wanted?” I ask.

Zephyr shakes his head. “Nope, but from what I've noticed, they're a pack of Rogues with one manleading them and calling himself Alpha.”

My eyebrows raise up at this. “Oh? A pack of Rogues? That's interesting but not unheard of, I guess.Usually, the Rogues keep out of BloodCrest territory, but this one is brazen enough to stroll rightin.” I say, hoping this shit isnt connected to whatever is going on in my fucking life right now.

“If he comes in tonight, tell him I'll meet him here tomorrow evening at 8," I say, and Zephyr nodsbefore walking towards the door.

A Rogue Alpha, hey? To be honest, it wouldn't fucking surprise me if he is connected to theshitstorm that is my life. It seems like everything is connected to Stefan or Lily one way or another,and it's starting to really piss me off.

My office door opens, and the tank that is my older brother saunters in. “Kon,” he greets me with anod.

“Do we not knock anymore?” I ask, getting off my ass to take his hand and shake it.

He smirks. “I thought pleasantries go out the window when I have news?” He says and plantshimself in the seat opposite me.

“Only if it's good news, fuck,” I say and sit back down.

The smile that crosses Kai's face terrifies and excites me. “I take that as a yes.”

He nods. “Fucking finally; we have a shoo-in. The witches have informed me that there is a tool todestroy a demon; it's called the Nephilim Dagger and will literally kill any supernatural creature inexistence. Even a God.” He says, the grin all but gone from his face.

My eyes widen at this. “Where the fuck are we going to get one of those? It's not like they sell it atyour friendly Smithers around the corner,” I ask.

Yeah, this is definitely good news, but only if we have the fucking thing on us. Stopping Stefan is outof the question now; we need to kill the asshole once and for all.

Kai sighs. “Well, seeing as these witches are from Norway, they have their fingers in all types of pots,including magic so dark it slips way underneath the taboo point. Marle, the High Priestess, has goneback to their homeland to retrieve the dagger.” He says.

I know how much Kai hated these witches, but damn do they come in handy.

"Are you fucking serious right now?" I exclaim, looking at my brother wide-eyed. A heaviness liftsfrom my heart for the first time in months when he nods, and at that moment, I feel like fuckingcrying. We have a shot; we finally have a shot!

“That's... that's good news. Thank you. But how are we going to cross that barrier?” I say and leanback in my chair.

Kai nods. “Anytime, brother. We'll do it with the dagger; apparently, it dispels every witch's spell aswell. They will be back in two days because Marle needs to be at Caterina’s side when she givesbirth, which could be any day now.” He says.

I have major respect for my brother; on top of having to worry about everything else, he has thepending birth of his first born to worry about as well.

I nod. “By the way, I have an Alpha requesting to meet with me; a Rogue Alpha from Hell's Kitchen,”I say, watching as a frown slips onto my brother's brow.

“Hell's Kitchen? Could that be Cain? Why the fuck does he want to meet with you?” He asks ashocked look crossing his face and for obvious reasons. This Alpha didn't ask to speak with Kai butwith me specifically.

I shrug. “Fuck knows, but I told Zephyr to set it up for tomorrow night,” I say.

Deciding to change the subject, I get up and walk towards the mini bar. “How is Cat?" I ask,remembering how she looked the last time I saw her.

“She's craving raw meat and having more and more visions; Marle says it is because of the dormantGoddess inside of her. Before Tiarin perished, she created the Mate Bond for every wolf born for thenext two generations. After that, Caterina will have passed on and taken over the mantle. Marle saysthat what she is seeing are visions of people closest to her; those related by blood.”

I frown at Kai when he says this. “Closest to her? Then what the fuck did she mean by “The EpsilonLives'?” I ask, blinking as I try to remember Cat's exact words while pouring two glasses of neatbourbon.

"What did you just say?”

I look up at my brother and hand him the glass. “The other evening, when I came to see you andCaterina seemed in a trance at the window, she mumbles something. /'“Beware the rise of theserpent as he feeds on Volkov Epsilon blood/,” then she repeated the words “The Epsilon lives’. Thatwas when I called you.”

Kai narrows his eyes at this, and I can feel the anger coming off of him in waves. “Volkov Epsilonblood? The only Volkov Epsilon is dead, and that's Nikolai,” he says. “I held his broken body andwrapped it in the burial shroud myself.” He says, gripping the glass so tight that it looks like it wouldexplode.

“I know, brother,” I say.

I could feel his sadness through the link as he wrapped Nikolai; all of us could. He wouldn't permitany of us into the room, not even Cat. Nikolai was as close to him as I am to Dimitri - he looked upto Kai and wanted to be like him. As close as Kai and I are, I know he was more fond of our littlebrother.

Kai looks at me and shakes his head. “There's no way he could be alive, no fucking way.”

Downing my glass, I pat his back. “I know, brother,” I repeat and watch him do the same to his ownglass. “I'm sure it means something else entirely.”

I had to lie even if I didn't believe it myself. Nikolai is dead; we all saw his body but amongsteverything else... Wait.

Something occurs to me then, and I take Kai's shoulders in my hands, not sure what this couldfucking mean. “Kai, I'm not saying it is, but what if Nikolai is still alive? Did you feel the link snapwhen he died?”

Kai pushes me back hard and lets out a growl, pinning me against the opposite wall with hisforearm to my throat. “Don’t fucking do this, Kon. Don't give me hope when there's none!” He roars,his crimson eyes bordering on splitting.

“Fucking think about it! We were so caught up with that fucking Hell beast and replaceing Cat we neverfelt the link snap!” I implore, not sure why I would be because fuck, we all saw Nikolai's body!

“No!” He roars, “I saw his body! I cleaned it, I held it! Nikolai is dead!”

My brother and I face off with a stare, neither of us giving in. He's never used his Alpha Roar on me;he's never had to, but right now, it feels like he’s fucking close.

The office door opening snaps us out of our face-off, and Zephyr walks in with a confused look onhis face. He looks at Kai and then me. “Is this a bad time?" he asks.

I push my brother away and shake my head. “No, it's the fucking perfect time,” I mumble, and Kaiglares at me but takes a step back.

"Okay good, because... Uhm...-"

"Out with it, Zephyr,” I say, already annoyed by my fucking shithead brother and his reaction to mytheory. It was only a theory, for shit's sake! Who the fuck explodes like that, really?!

Zephyr looks uncomfortable then peers up at me, his mohawk looks like it's literally drooping underthe anger emanating from Kai. “Well, there's a woman out front looking for Nikolai... She says she’shis mate.”

Kai and I look at one another when Zephyr says this, neither of us knowing what the fuck is in storefor us now.