CHAPTER 15: Suspicions and Plans

CHAPTER 15: Suspicions and Plans

The meeting room on the 42nd floor of Enid Corp was a cube of bulletproof glass suspended over Berlin. The cold light of the LEDs reflected off the polished steel table where Marcus, Vanessa, and Lucian waited. Enid stood before the window, her fingers drumming an unsettling rhythm on the arm of her chair.

"Alright," Marcus began, sliding a tablet toward the center of the table. "Patrols in the western sector, supervision of the young lycans in the Delta lab."

Lucian sank into his seat with an exaggerated groan.

"The security lasers again? Last time they almost fried my retina."

Vanessa smiled, spinning a pen between her fingers.

"That was your fault for ignoring the warnings."

Enid didn't respond. Her gaze was fixed on the horizon, where the clouds tangled like skeins of gray wool. Fénix. The word was a persistent echo in her mind. Alucard was powerful, yes, but also a volatile master of ceremonies of chaos.

"Enid?" Marcus's voice brought her back. "Everything alright?"

"Yes," she lied, adjusting her suit with a nervous gesture. "Nothing changes. Strict protocols."

Vanessa tilted her head, studying her.

"It's Fénix, isn't it?"

Enid sighed. The facade cracked.

"Alucard is... unpredictable. I fear he might take him to some black hole of perdition." A mental image surfaced, vivid and absurd: Alucard dragging Fénix into a nightclub, strobe lights, deafening electronic music. Fénix, with a panicked expression, being forced to dance while Alucard laughed like a drunken demon. "He could put him in a night club, for God's sake."

Marcus arched an eyebrow.

"A club? Seriously?"

"With Alucard, anything is possible," murmured Enid, rubbing her temples. "Prepare for the unexpected."

As they left, the echo of their footsteps sounded like a sentence. Lucian whistled.

"I bet Alucard already has him in a karaoke bar with yakuza."

"Shut up, Lucian," grumbled Marcus, but a smile touched his lips.

Narita Airport was a pulsating organism of light and sound. Fénix descended the private jet's stairs, the humid air of Tokyo sticking to his skin like a second layer. His stomach contracted.

"Welcome to Tokyo, boy," Alucard spread his arms like a prophet of chaos. "The city where the... ugh!"

Fénix bent over and vomited onto the asphalt, the contents of his stomach staining the impersonal gray.

"Charming," commented Alucard, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't know flying turned you into a decorative fountain."

"Not... funny," Fénix wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, pale. "I hate flying."

Alucard's phone vibrated. Enid. He smiled, a predator's gesture.

"Enid, darling," he answered. "Did you miss me?"

"Alucard," Enid's voice was dry ice. "Where are you?"

"We just landed. Fénix has already left his... mark on the airport."

"If you take him anywhere inappropriate, I swear..."

"Inappropriate?" Alucard feigned indignation. "Just culture and training. No nightclubs." A dramatic pause. "Well, maybe one. But an educational one."

"Alucard..."

"See you in months, dear! Don't worry." He ended the call and turned to Fénix. "She's always been dramatic."

Fénix straightened up, still green.

"Was that Enid?"

"Yes. She thinks I'm going to corrupt you." Alucard smiled. "As if you needed help."

Roberto da Silva watched from the shadow of a colonnade, his MMA fighter's physique disguised under a cheap suit. He spoke in Portuñol.

"Senhor Viktor? Estou na posição. O lycan acabou de chegar." (Mr. Viktor? I'm in position. The lycan just arrived.)

Viktor's voice resonated in his ear, cold as a scalpel.

"Mantenha distância. Observe, mas não intervenha. Ele é impredecível." (Keep your distance. Observe, but do not intervene. He is unpredictable.)

"Sim, senhor. Não vai se arrepender." (Yes, sir. You won't regret it.)

He hung up. His eyes didn't leave Fénix. The kid looked younger than he expected, but he carried death on his shoulders like an invisible cloak.

The interior of the limousine was a capsule of silent luxury, with black leather and polished ebony wood. Alucard settled into the seats like an ancestral feline, his fingers stroking the rim of a crystal glass with an amber liquid he never drank. Outside, Tokyo unfolded like an electric dream, a living organism of neon and shadows.

Alucard watched Fénix's profile against the backdrop of the city lights.

"Did you know Tokyo was the first place where I was almost killed?" he said suddenly, his voice losing its mocking tone for a moment. "Three centuries ago, when the vampire clans still controlled the underground districts. A shadow hunter ran me through with a sword forged under a full moon." He paused, letting the hum of the limousine fill the silence. "The wound left me lying in a Shinjuku alley, bleeding molten silver."

Fénix looked away from the window, interested despite himself.

"And what happened to the hunter?"

"I turned him into my shadow," Alucard smiled, showing a flash of fangs. "Literally. He's now a stain on the wall of a love hotel." He took a fictitious sip from his glass. "The point is, Fénix, this city doesn't forgive. Every corner holds a memory. Here, even the ghosts have ghosts."

"Charming," murmured Fénix. "Is this your way of welcoming me or are you just in the mood for telling macabre stories?"

"It's my way of telling you that surviving here requires more than claws and fangs," Alucard's voice became grave. "It requires elegance. Patience. Knowing when to bow and when to gut someone." His eyes met Fénix's. "That's why I won't tolerate rudeness. Not for my ego, but because here every word is a weapon. And we already have enough enemies."

Fénix held his gaze, evaluating. Finally, he nodded slowly.