Page 31 of Soulmarked

“Having fun yet?” Sean called out as he systematically dismembered one of the creatures. The parts kept moving even after being separated, which was a special kind of nightmare fuel. Each of his strikes was methodical, targeted, the work of someone who had memorized the anatomical weaknesses of every supernatural creature in existence.

“Time of my life,” I wheezed, rolling to avoid the vampire's follow-up strike. Its fist punched through stone where my head had been. “You could help, you know!”

“Aw, but you're doing so well with your fancy moves!”

The vampire pressed its advantage, each strike powerful enough to shatter concrete. But it was showing off, getting cocky. I used that, letting my training take over while the mark on my chest burned hotter. Block, dodge, redirect, the movements as natural as breathing, but now enhanced by my growing power. When it overextended on a particularly vicious swing, I caught its arm and used its own momentum to send it crashing into its pet monsters.

For a moment, the whispers came. The monsters' thoughts, their rage and hunger bleeding into my mind. I shoved them back, refusing to let them in.

“Not bad,” Sean admitted, dispatching another creature with brutal efficiency, his modified short swords carving through unnatural flesh with practiced ease. “For a fed.”

The vampire untangled itself from its minions, suit now properly ruined. Its eyes blazed with hatred as it reached into its coat, aura pulsing with malevolent intent that made my mark throb in warning.

“Enough games.”

Sean didn't hesitate. His blade flashed once, twice, his movements were so fast they blurred in the dim light. The vampire's hand hit the floor with a wet thud, whatever it had been reaching for still clutched in its severed fingers. There was no wasted motion, no theatrical flourish just the economy of a predator who had been hunting longer than most people had been alive.

The creature snarled, clutching its stump, but there was no fear in its ancient eyes. Only triumph.

“The prince will rise,” it hissed, blood painting its teeth black in the moonlight.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say,” Sean said mockingly, his blade already in motion for the killing stroke.

Sean's second strike took its head before it could say more, silver-edged steel parting flesh and bone with minimal resistance.

The remaining creatures collapsed like puppets with cut strings, whatever force animating them apparently tied to their master. The sudden silence was deafening.

My mark's heat began to fade, the supernatural threat neutralized. But something lingered, a residual energy that felt wrong, corrupted.

The creatures' bodies didn't just collapse, they disintegrated, crumbling away like ancient parchment caught in flame. The process was unnaturally quick, flesh turning to ash, bone to dust, until nothing remained but dark stains on the stone floor. The sudden silence pressed against my ears, broken only by my own ragged breathing and the soft plink of blood dripping from Sean's blade.

Sean wiped his weapons clean with practiced movements, his eyes already scanning the room for any remaining threats. “Your paperwork's gonna be a bitch,” he said, nodding toward the stains. “Hard to arrest a pile of dust.”

I glanced at the altar, my enhanced senses picking up residual energy patterns that normal humans wouldn't detect. “Something's not right,” I said. “This was too easy.”

“Easy?” Sean raised an eyebrow, gesturing to a gash in his leather jacket where one of the creatures had nearly gotten through. “Remind me to show you 'difficult' sometime.”

But his eyes followed mine to the altar, his hunter's instincts picking up what my supernatural senses detected. Different methods, same conclusion.

“You felt it too,” I said. Not a question.

Sean nodded once, all traces of humor gone from his face. “Whatever they were trying to wake up,” he said quietly, “I don't think we stopped it. We just pissed it off.”

I ignored him, drawn to the elaborate setup behind the altar. The contrast was jarring. Multiple screens glowed with data streams I didn't recognize, their cables snaking across the floor in patterns that looked almost deliberate. A server hub hummed in the corner, its cooling fans working overtime.

“Someone invested serious money in this,” I muttered, pulling out a specialized drive from my jacket. CITD tech, designed to bypass most security systems. “This isn't street-level vampire tech.”

“No shit.” Sean prowled the perimeter, every movement still coiled with predatory tension. “Even the rich bloodsuckers usually stick to cloud storage. This is...” He gestured at the setup. “This is something else.”

I connected the drive, fingers flying across the keyboard as encryption barriers fell.

The first files loaded, and my stomach dropped through the floor.

“They're not just collecting power,” I said, eyes scanning line after line of data. “They're channeling it somewhere. They're creating focal points throughout the city, using the old churches as conduits.”

Sean's boots scraped against stone as he moved closer, looking over my shoulder. “To what end?”

I pulled up a map overlay, watching points of light pulse like amber heartbeats across Manhattan. “Each site shows massive energy spikes, all feeding into...” I frowned, tracing the pattern. “Something underground. Deep underground.”

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