Chapter 239 — Three Against One

Chapter 239: Chapter 239 — Three Against One

~ Raven ~

Raven had never seen Cassian look quite so furious.

He stood several steps away from the vampire, his usually composed expression replaced by a coldness that made her wonder whether she should intervene before somebody got seriously hurt.

Unfortunately, Sevrin Veyrholt didn’t seem the least bit concerned as he glanced between the two Cardinals before returning his attention to Raven.

"Well, this is interesting."

"I asked you a question, Veyrholt." Cassian took another step forward, his voice dangerously quiet. "What the fuck did you do to her?"

Sevrin raised an eyebrow, looking almost amused by the accusation. "Perhaps you’d like to explain what you’re accusing me of, Blade."

Raven watched Cassian’s jaw tighten and resisted the urge to curse.

Goddess, this bastard really didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.

"Cassian," Raven began, hoping to intervene before things got worse, but his eyes narrowed as he took in the hand she was pressing against her forehead.

His gaze lingered on her pale face before shifting toward Sevrin, and Raven watched his expression grow considerably colder.

"You used mental influence on her, didn’t you?"

Sevrin looked mildly impressed by Cassian’s deduction. "That’s quite an accusation, Blade."

"Answer the fucking question." Cassian took another step forward, the air around him beginning to stir. "What did you do to her?"

Sevrin glanced toward Raven, who was still rubbing her aching forehead, before returning his attention to Cassian.

"It was a minor technique. I wasn’t attempting to injure her."

Dante had gone completely still beside her, and when he spoke again, the anger in his voice was unmistakable.

"You tried manipulating her mind?"

"I would have thought I made that clear," Sevrin replied, looking completely unconcerned.

Raven stared at him in disbelief.

The bastard genuinely believed interfering with someone’s thoughts was perfectly reasonable as long as he didn’t intend to cause any harm.

Unfortunately, Cassian appeared to have reached the limits of his patience.

"You entered Valerius without authorization," he said, approaching the vampire slowly, "and then decided to interfere with one of our students."

Sevrin’s crimson eyes narrowed slightly. "Your student?"

Cassian stopped, and something about his expression made Raven increasingly nervous, especially when Sevrin smiled as though he’d just discovered another way to irritate him.

"That’s an interesting choice of words. Although I suppose I should have expected this reaction from House Blade. Your family has always been rather sensitive about—"

He never finished.

Cassian lunged forward, a sharp current of air propelling him toward Sevrin with enough speed that Raven barely managed to follow the movement.

Yet the vampire simply turned his shoulders, allowing Cassian’s hand to pass beside him before catching his wrist and guiding the next attack harmlessly away.

Raven blinked in surprise.

What the hell?

She’d watched Cassian fight often enough to know how frighteningly fast he was, yet Sevrin slipped past his attacks with such effortless precision that, for the first time, Cassian seemed to be the one struggling to keep up.

Then, as the vampire turned aside another strike, a faint crimson glow flickered beneath his sleeve.

Raven’s attention immediately shifted toward the crimson inscription spreading across his wrist, and when he adjusted his hand, she caught sight of a thin drop of blood sliding from his fingertip.

Bloodscript.

The bastard had somehow drawn an inscription without any of them noticing.

"Your movements are impressive, Blade," Sevrin remarked, looking entirely too pleased with himself. "But you’re rather predictable."

Cassian’s expression darkened as he attacked again, forcing Sevrin backward with a sharp burst of air.

This time, the vampire had to move quickly, although the sudden pressure only seemed to amuse him further.

"Much better."

"You fucking bastard!" Dante snapped.

Before Raven could intervene, Dante joined the confrontation, his Fire Lattice flaring as he launched a powerful strike toward Sevrin.

The vampire slipped aside, narrowly avoiding the heated fist, but Cassian was already approaching from the opposite direction, cutting off his escape.

For a moment, Raven thought they had him.

Then the crimson inscription on Sevrin’s wrist flashed, and he twisted between them with a fluidity that made his movements almost impossible to anticipate.

Dante attacked first, only for Sevrin to catch his forearm and redirect the strike just far enough to throw him off balance. Cassian immediately adjusted his position to avoid colliding with Dante, but the vampire had already slipped away.

The next exchange happened even faster.

Cassian attempted to trap him from the left while Dante pressed from the right, but Sevrin seemed to flow around their attacks, using every movement against them until both men were forced to adjust their footing.

Raven stared in disbelief.

The bastard wasn’t overpowering them.

He was making them get in each other’s way.

Before either Cardinal could recover, Sevrin caught their approaching arms, and the Bloodscript on his wrist flashed as he redirected their combined momentum outward.

A sudden pressure rippled through the court.

Cassian was thrown sideways, his boots scraping across the stone as he recovered his footing, while Dante stumbled several feet in the opposite direction before catching himself with one hand against the floor.

Raven’s mouth fell open.

Holy Goddess.

The entire exchange couldn’t have lasted more than thirty seconds, yet Sevrin had somehow managed to outmaneuver two of Valerius’s strongest Cardinal heirs, and judging by their expressions, neither appreciated the humiliation.

Neither was seriously injured, but judging by the murderous expressions on their faces, that hardly mattered.

Sevrin straightened between them, casually lowering his hands as the crimson inscription on his wrist faded.

"Well," he remarked with a satisfied smile, "that was entertaining."

Oh, he was definitely going to get himself killed.

Dante slowly straightened, the red-gold markings along his arms burning more brightly as he rolled his shoulders.

Across from him, Cassian watched the vampire with an expression Raven knew far too well, the pressure surrounding his Air Lattice steadily increasing.

"Again," Cassian said quietly.

Sevrin’s smile widened. "If you insist."

"Oh, for Goddess’s sake!" Raven snapped, stepping forward before either man could attack. "Would the three of you stop behaving like idiots?"

Unfortunately, neither Cassian nor Dante seemed interested in listening, and when they began approaching Sevrin again, the vampire looked almost delighted by the prospect of another exchange.

Raven was seriously considering leaving the bastards to beat each other senseless when a furious voice rang through the court.

"SEVRIN!"

All three men stopped, and Raven turned toward the entrance, where a tall, broad-shouldered vampire with an imposing presence stood staring at the scene before him.

His expression darkened as he took in the damaged training court before looking from Cassian to Dante, finally settling on the white-haired vampire standing between them.

"What the hell do you think you’re doing?"