Dawn broke over Bangkok with blood-red skies—an omen, Arav thought, though he tried to dismiss it as superstition.
Karan's private jet waited at a small, exclusive airfield far from the main airport. Sleek and white, it could seat twelve but today would carry only five: Arav, Kayen, Jin, Preeda, and Karan himself.
"Som stayed behind to coordinate with Mae Siri," Jin explained as they boarded. "She's gathering evidence, testimonies from other supernatural beings you've helped."
"Helped?" Arav asked, confused. "I've been vampire for less than a week—"
"You saved Ploy when she was attacked by rogue werewolves two nights ago," Preeda said. "You used your witch magic to heal her wounds. Don't you remember?"
Arav did, vaguely. It had been instinctive—he'd seen Ploy bleeding after the hunter attack and his powers had simply... activated. He hadn't thought of it as heroic.
"And you convinced the night market vendors to let that young witch set up shop," Jin added. "The one whose family disowned her. She would have starved without your intervention."
"That was just being decent," Arav protested.
"To humans, maybe," Kayen said softly. "But in the supernatural world, compassion is rare. Power is common, but kindness?" He squeezed Arav's hand. "That's what makes you extraordinary. Not your convergence bloodline—your heart."
The jet's engines roared to life. Karan sat in the cockpit beside his hired pilot—a middle-aged woman who asked no questions and was paid very well for her discretion.
As they taxied down the runway, Arav looked out the window at Bangkok disappearing below. His home for two years. The city where he'd fallen in love, died, and been reborn.
Would he ever see it again?
Through the bond, Kayen felt his melancholy. *We'll come back,* he promised silently. *This isn't goodbye.*
*You can't know that,* Arav thought back.
*I can hope,* Kayen replied.
The flight to Singapore would take two and a half hours. Arav tried to rest, but his mind raced with possibilities. What evidence would Hayes present? How would the Council react? Would they even get a fair hearing?
An hour into the flight, Jin's phone buzzed. His face went pale as he read.
"What?" Kayen demanded.
"The bounty just increased," Jin said. "Two million dollars. And there's an addition: 'Alive preferred. The Council wants to question him personally before execution.'"
"Execution?" Arav's voice cracked. "They've already decided—"
"It's protocol language," Preeda tried to reassure him. "For rogue vampires. It doesn't mean—"
"It means they're expecting to find me guilty," Arav interrupted. "They've already made up their minds."
Kayen's rage flared through the bond. "Then we don't land. Karan, can this jet make it to another country? Europe, maybe, or—"
"Running proves guilt," Jin said firmly. "We land. We attend the hearing. We fight with truth and evidence, not by fleeing."
"Jin's right," Arav said, though fear clawed at his insides. "If we run now, we're hunted forever. At least this way we have a chance."
Thirty minutes from Singapore, Karan emerged from the cockpit, his face grim.
"We have a problem," he said. "Singapore air traffic control is redirecting us. They're claiming mechanical issues at our designated airfield."
"It's a trap," Kayen said immediately. "They're forcing us to land somewhere else—"
"Where the bounty hunters are waiting," Preeda finished.
"Can we refuse?" Arav asked. "Just land where we planned?"
"Not without violating international aviation law," Karan said. "Which would give them legal grounds to arrest us—or shoot us down."
"Where are they redirecting us?" Jin asked.
"A private airfield thirty kilometers outside the city," Karan said. "Owned by a shell corporation. I looked it up—the corporation's board includes three known supernatural bounty hunters."
"Definitely a trap," Kayen growled.
"So what do we do?" Arav looked around at them all. "We can't run, can't land safely—"
"We land," Kayen decided. "But we land ready for war."
The next twenty minutes were spent preparing. Jin and Preeda checked their weapons—blessed blades that wouldn't harm vampires but would hurt other supernatural creatures. Kayen armed himself with pure silver daggers, effective against werewolves and certain magical beings.
Arav had no weapons except his own body—but that was enough. His convergence powers were weapon enough.
"Remember," Jin said as they began descent, "the goal is to reach the Council chamber in the city. Once we're there, we're under their protection. No one can attack us on Council grounds."
"Just have to survive the thirty kilometers between the airfield and the city," Preeda said dryly.
The jet touched down on a cracked runway surrounded by abandoned warehouses. Through the window, Arav's enhanced vision spotted them immediately: figures in the shadows, on rooftops, behind broken machinery.
At least thirty. Maybe more.
"They're not even hiding," Jin observed grimly.
The jet stopped. The engines wound down. Silence fell—heavy and expectant.
"Last chance to run," Karan said, his hand on the door release. "I can take off again, fly us anywhere—"
"Open it," Arav said firmly.
Karan opened the door. The stairs extended automatically.
Kayen stepped out first, his ancient vampire senses scanning for threats. Arav followed, then Jin and Preeda, with Karan bringing up the rear.
The moment they were all on the tarmac, the trap snapped shut.
Figures emerged from every direction. Werewolves with silver eyes and barely controlled rage. Rogue vampires with crimson eyes and hungry grins. Dark witches with hands crackling with offensive magic. Even a few demons—low-level, but still dangerous.
And standing in front of them all, Commander Hayes.
"Arav Kumar," Hayes said, his voice amplified by a magical device. "By order of the Singapore Supernatural Council, you are under arrest for suspected crimes against the Bangkok Accord. Surrender peacefully and you will be treated fairly. Resist and we are authorized to use lethal force."
"This isn't a Council arrest," Kayen shouted back. "This is a bounty hunter ambush—"
"The Council hired us," a werewolf interrupted, stepping forward. He was massive, seven feet tall in human form, with scars covering his bare chest. "Official contract. Capture the convergence vampire alive. Kill anyone who interferes."
Through the bond, Arav felt Kayen calculating odds. Thirty-plus enemies. Four vampires and one human on their side. Not good.
"We're here for the hearing," Arav called out, trying to keep his voice steady. "We have the right to face our accusers—"
"You have no rights," Hayes interrupted. "You're an abomination. A hybrid that shouldn't exist. The natural order demands—"
"The natural order can go to hell," Arav interrupted right back. His eyes blazed with all four colors—red, gold, violet, white. "I didn't ask to be born with convergence bloodline. I didn't ask to fall in love with a vampire. But I'm done apologizing for existing."
His powers surged—all of them at once. The air around him shimmered with divine light. Witch magic crackled at his fingertips. His vampire nature amplified everything, making him glow like a dark star.
"Last warning," the werewolf leader said, beginning to shift. Bones cracked, fur sprouted. "Surrender or—"
"Or what?" Arav's voice echoed with supernatural resonance. "You'll kill me? You'll try."
He thrust his hands forward and unleashed everything.
Divine light blasted outward in a wave, throwing back the closest attackers. Witch magic followed, binding several enemies in glowing chains. His shape-shifter blood surged and Arav felt his body begin to change—not fully, but enough. Claws, fangs, strength multiplied.
Beside him, Kayen moved with a thousand years of combat experience. Two vampires fell before they even saw him move. Jin and Preeda fought back-to-back, centuries of partnership making them a seamless unit.
But there were too many.
A dark witch's spell hit Arav's shield, cracking it. A werewolf's claws raked across Kayen's back, drawing blood. A demon's fire singed Preeda's hair.
Through the chaos, Hayes advanced, holding something in his hands. A device—technological and magical combined.
"What is that?" Jin shouted.
Hayes smiled coldly. "Vampire suppressor. Cuts off access to supernatural powers. We designed it specifically for convergence bloodlines."
He activated it.
Arav screamed as his powers were suddenly dampened, compressed, locked away inside him. He could feel them raging but couldn't access them. His divine light flickered and died. His witch magic fizzled. Even his vampire strength weakened.
"No!" Kayen lunged for Hayes but three werewolves tackled him, driving him to the ground.
Jin and Preeda were overwhelmed, pinned by sheer numbers.
Karan, still human and vulnerable, could only watch in horror as his plan fell apart.
Hayes approached Arav, who was on his knees, struggling against the suppressor's effects.
"See?" Hayes said conversationally. "With the right tools, even abominations can be controlled. You're coming with us, Kumar. The Council wants you alive." He leaned closer, whispering. "But I'm hoping you resist. Give me an excuse to put you down like the monster you are."
Arav looked up at him, blood tears streaming down his face, and through the bond sent one desperate message to Kayen:
*I love you. I'm sorry. This is where it ends.*
But before Hayes could restrain him, before the bounty hunters could claim their prize, a new voice cut through the battlefield.
"How disappointing."
Everyone froze.
Seraphina stood at the edge of the airfield, seemingly having appeared from nowhere. Her silver-streaked hair gleamed in the morning sun—sun that should have burned any vampire but merely made her shine.
"Three thousand years old," she continued, walking forward casually, "and I've never seen such incompetence. Thirty supernatural beings struggling to capture one newborn vampire?" She shook her head. "Pathetic."
"Lady Seraphina," Hayes stammered. "This doesn't concern—"
"Oh, but it does," Seraphina interrupted. She looked at Arav, still on his knees. "That boy owes me a life debt. Which means he's under my protection until the debt is paid. And you..." she smiled at Hayes, showing all her teeth, "are interfering with ancient vampire law."
"The Council authorized—" the werewolf leader started.
"The Council," Seraphina said, her voice dropping to absolute zero, "answers to me when it comes to vampire law. I am the eldest. The first of the Singapore line. This Council exists because I allow it to exist."
She raised one hand and every single attacker—werewolves, rogue vampires, witches, demons, even Hayes—collapsed to the ground, paralyzed by pure ancient power.
"Now," Seraphina said pleasantly, walking to Arav and helping him stand. She touched the suppressor device and it crumbled to dust. "Let's get you to that hearing, shall we? I have a feeling it will be very entertaining."
**To be continued...**