Chapter 13: Alimony and Blood
The Ashford townhouse sat in the kind of neighborhood where money whispered instead of shouting. Every brick looked hand-selected, every window frame painted with the sort of precision that cost more than most people’s cars. At three in the morning, the street was dead quiet except for the occasional luxury sedan purring past with tinted windows and the kind of engine that purred like a satisfied predator.
Kaine crouched behind a BMW that probably cost more than the capital it took to build his house, watching the second-floor window where warm light had been burning since they’d first arrived four hours ago. The light hadn’t moved, hadn’t flickered, hadn’t shown any signs of human activity behind those expensive curtains.
’Either she’s the world’s most dedicated insomniac, or something’s not right about Mrs. Victoria Ashford.’
Marcus stood three steps behind him, motionless as a statue carved from pale stone. The Ghoul’s presence had become oddly comforting over the past few hours—like having a particularly lethal security blanket that never complained about the cold or asked when they were going home.
"Death Sight," Kaine murmured, activating his enhanced vision.
The world shifted into that familiar overlay of heat signatures and energy patterns, showing him the building’s interior through walls and floors. Most of the townhouse was cold and empty—the dark spaces that marked unoccupied rooms.
But there was movement on the second floor, and it wasn’t the warm, pulsing signature of normal human life.
[DEATH SIGHT - SUPERNATURAL ENTITY DETECTED]
[CLASSIFICATION: VAMPIRE - 5TH GENERATION]
[POWER LEVEL: 3-4 (SIGNIFICANTLY WEAKENED)]
[STATUS: ACTIVE - FEEDING CYCLE IMMINENT]