Fangless: The Alpha's Vampire Mate-Chapter 341: If You’re Lost in the Dark, I’ll Set It Ablaze

"RIONA!!!"

Puck caught her just before her body hit the cold stone. Her vision swam—everything blurred, spinning in slow, disjointed motion.

It didn’t make sense. The bite had only taken a small amount of blood, but the effect was overwhelming. Dizzying. Wrong. This wasn’t just vampirism—it was demonic corruption. Ol’gaz’s venom worked deeper than fangs ever should. It poisoned the spirit.

Before she could steady herself, a blur of movement flashed in the dark. Ol’gaz was already lunging. Claws glinted.

Puck didn’t hesitate—he shoved her aside, taking the full force of the strike himself. The impact sent him flying. His back slammed into the wall with a thunderous crack, stone fracturing beneath the blow. A nearby torch was knocked loose, clattering across the floor and plunging the chamber into pitch-black.

"Puck!" Riona’s voice cracked, raw and panicked. She reached blindly for him. But darkness swallowed everything.

Gritting her teeth, she summoned her flame. A flicker at first—then a steady, rising blaze. She dropped to her knees, grasping the fallen torch and reigniting it. Light burst forth—

And revealed the demon inches from her.

Too late.

She raised her arm on instinct. Fire surged around it, forming a shield just in time. Ol’gaz’s claws struck the blazing barrier with a hiss, sparks erupting where demon met fire.

The demon snarled, fangs bared in frustration, and leapt back, pacing in a slow, circling prowl—like a beast toying with its prey.

"Come on, Riona," the demon crooned—in Florian’s voice, thick with venomous mockery. "You want to hurt me. I can feel it. But you’re scared, aren’t you? Afraid you’ll kill your precious brother? Even though he’s a threat to the world?"

Riona’s breath came fast, uneven. Her fists trembled, but the fire between them roared brighter than before, pulsing with purpose.

Without warning, she thrust her hands toward the wooden shelves and the staircase behind her. Flames surged outward, catching instantly. The dry wood ignited with a crackling roar, and the chamber burst to life, bathed in flickering reds and yellows.

Shadows danced like spirits on the walls. Smoke curled, casting ghostly shapes through the rising heat.

Riona moved with the fire now, mirroring the demon’s slow, circling prowl—half mocking, half ready to strike.

"I won’t kill him," she said, voice low and fierce through clenched teeth. "I’ll free him."

The demon laughed—a harsh, twisted sound. "Then you’ll die with him."

And with that, it lunged.

This time, Riona met it head-on. Flame exploded from her fists, engulfing the air between them. The demon recoiled, but not fast enough. It caught the edge of the blast, its sleeve catching fire. It hissed, snarling, and its hand made specific motions.

The ground cracked. Shadows rose, clawing at her ankles, threatening to pull her down, but Puck reappeared, slashing through the darkness with silver-edged claws.

"Snap out of it, Riona!" he barked, panting hard. "He’s gone unless you do something! Holding back isn’t saving him—it’s handing him over!"

His voice cracked through the smoke and flame, but Riona still hesitated.

He saw it—the flicker in her eyes, the tremble in her stance. She was still clinging to the hope that she could fix this without doing real harm. Still afraid that one wrong move would mean losing her brother forever.

But hesitation was exactly what the demon wanted.

Ol’gaz was laughing again, its form flickering like it might unravel—but no, it was taunting. Testing her. Using Florian’s face like a mask to keep her frozen.

Riona’s chest tightened. She could feel her brother’s presence deep within—buried, smothered, suffocating.

"I know you’re in there," she whispered. Then her voice sharpened. "And I’m going to burn through whatever I have to until I reach you."

She lifted both arms. The flames roared higher, no longer flickering—now alive, wild, untamed. Puck stepped back, shielding his eyes.

The fire gathered into a spear. The demon’s smile vanished.

Riona hurled it straight through the creature’s shoulder. The flame didn’t just burn—it seared, not the flesh, but the corruption beneath. The demon shrieked, its form distorting, crackling with black energy.

Florian’s body staggered, then dropped to one knee. "Riona..." A voice. Weak. Real.

Her heart stuttered. "Florian?" she stepped forward.

The demon’s head snapped up, its grin twisting into something monstrous—gleeful and furious all at once. From beneath its feet, thick black smoke began to coil upward, not from Riona’s flame but from Ol’gaz himself.

It wasn’t fire. It was power.

The nightmare mist hadn’t worked on them before. Werewolves were resistant to its corruption. Ol’gaz had known that. He had tried it. The moment Puck and Riona entered the dungeon, he had emitted the poisonous mist, and yet, nothing had happened.

So, now, the demon shifted tactics. It chose something more primal.

With a deafening roar that shook the stone walls, the black smoke surged at his command. It lashed out like sentient tendrils, grabbing Puck by both arms and pinning him in place. He snarled, struggling violently, but the smoke held fast, wrapping tighter with each breath.

Another tendril slithered across the floor and coiled around Riona’s ankles, rooting her where she stood. She gasped as more of the smoky limbs snaked up her body, wrenching her arms behind her back with a cruel yank.

Then, one sharp, twisting strand crept up her throat. It slithered around her neck like a noose, tightening slowly.

Riona choked, coughing, eyes wide as she fought for breath. Her knees buckled, the weight of the smoke dragging her down.

The demon stepped closer, savoring the moment.

***

From the moment Trudy stepped onto Eiran soil, disappointment had met her at every turn. The roads were empty, eerily so. At first, she chalked it up to the time of day—perhaps the vampires were asleep. But even as night fell, the city remained still. Quiet. Lifeless.

The gates of the Eiran royal palace were nothing like Trudy had imagined. Standing before them now, she felt underwhelmed.

Riona had always been such a formidable presence, larger than life. Trudy had expected the palace to reflect that—towering spires, golden arches, rows of knights in gleaming armor standing sentinel.

Instead, the structure before her, though tall and stately, lacked the grandeur she had envisioned. No banners fluttered. No guards stood watch.

She had assumed, with quiet naivety, that the Eiran palace had always looked this way. But it hadn’t.

Once, the palace had been magnificent—golden accents curling around its walls, a symbol of Eiran’s strength and pride. The Royal Guard, clad in armor that gleamed like moonlight, had patrolled the grounds with an imposing presence that kept threats at bay and civilians at a respectful distance.

Back then, entering the palace had been a privilege granted only to a chosen few.

Now, the kingdom felt hollow.

But this wasn’t a sightseeing trip. Trudy hadn’t crossed into Eira for the architecture or the history. She had come for one reason—and one reason only: to help Riona save the world.