My Vampire Harem Will Dominate Everything

Worse, Solomon, with all his arrogance, wasn\'t using the information the way the Necromancer had intended. The plan he had cooked up was unraveling quicker than he could come up with something else.

His thin fingers curled into tight fists. His vitality was disappearing faster than a six pack of beer at a frat party. Sustaining so many minions, especially keeping them active and operating, was taking a toll on him.

It was only the rich human blood he had been consuming that was the only thing keeping him from wasting away, but even that wouldn\'t be enough if he couldn\'t act quickly.

"I need him," the Necromancer muttered under his breath, the desperation in his voice startling even himself. "I need to claim the prince before someone else does. Ezra Matten will be mine."

Just as his thoughts spiraled deeper, Z, his ever-loyal minion, entered the room. He knelt before the Necromancer, his bird mask gleaming in the low light.

"My lord," Z spoke, his voice hollow but clear, "we\'ve found it. We\'ve found Ezra\'s home."

The Necromancer stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening in surprise.

A wild grin split across his face, and he threw his head back with a yell of triumph. "Finally!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the room. He sent a pulse through his soul, summoning his strongest minions to him. His moment had come. Ezra would be his.

Bella appeared first, in a flash of light. She was dressed in her white peacekeeper uniform, her face unreadable but her presence radiating lethal calm. Moments later, Bobby rushed in, his face hidden behind his cat mask and his body draped in a dark cloak. Both were among his strongest.

His Avengers.

The Necromancer\'s voice boomed with authority as he addressed his gathered minions. "We are going to Ezra\'s home," he announced, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "This ends today! This ends now."

They all stepped forward, each placing a hand on Z\'s shoulders. In an instant, the room vanished around them, replaced by a blinding flash of light.

When the light faded, they found themselves standing at the door of what appeared to be a quiet, unassuming residence. The Necromancer grinned in anticipation. He cracked his knuckles.

"Deploy your Auras," he ordered.

The air grew thick with power as each of them released their Aura, the dense, suffocating energy spreading through the area, making sure no one could teleport in or out.

The Necromancer himself dashed at the door, his fingers curling into claws. With a swift motion, they tore through the wood, the door splintering as they burst into the building.

He rushed in, coming to a stop in the next instant. His smile vanished from his face as if it had never been there. "What the hell?" He asked under his breath.

The house… it was empty. There was no sign of life, no movement, no Ezra.

Confusion flooded his mind as he turned sharply to Z. "Are we in the right place?" he demanded.

Z\'s bird mask tilted slightly as he surveyed the room. "Yes, my lord. This place fits all the parameters for a vampire residence. It\'s lived in, but no one has entered or left physically in the past few days."

The Necromancer\'s lips curled in frustration. "Then why is the place empty?" he hissed.

Bella stepped forward from the back of the room, her sharp eyes scanning the area. "There\'s evidence of vampire activity here. We\'re too late. They left, but not long ago."

The Necromancer cursed under his breath, his rage boiling over. With a furious swipe of his hand, he tore down the thick curtains that shrouded the windows, revealing the dark, silent neighborhood outside.

"Ransack the place!" he ordered, his voice seething with anger, the moon shining down on him. "Search for anything that will lead us to their new hiding place!"

His minions moved immediately, rifling through drawers, lifting floorboards, searching every nook and cranny for any clue.

The Necromancer resumed pacing, his mind working on the problem. How had Ezra known to leave? He had been so close, so infinitesimally close to capturing him, to making him one of his prized minions.

"Fuck." He cursed.

As he paced, the Necromancer\'s foot pressed down on a section of the floor that clicked beneath his weight. His eyes widened in realization. He barely had time to react.

The world exploded.

The force of the explosion sent fire and debris raining faster than he could move, consuming the whole building. The Necromancer\'s body moved on instinct, his mind faster than the blast as he ripped through space, teleporting himself to a nearby rooftop just before the explosion could claim him.

He landed roughly on the rooftop, the force of the blast sweeping through his new location. He stared in shock at the burning ruins of the building he\'d been standing in just a moment ago.

The apartment had been trapped. Ezra had outsmarted him, and by the slimmest of margins, he had escaped the trap.

But his victory was hollow. Behind him, the edges of Z\'s cloak smoked lightly, the aftereffects of the blast still visible on his body.

But Bobby was in worse condition. The lower half of his body had been destroyed, his legs bubbling and reforming slowly as his regeneration took over. But each inch of recovery drew from the Necromancer\'s own vitality, depleting his already weakened reserves even further.

The Necromancer\'s eyes scanned the wreckage below, and that\'s when it hit him. He had lost one of his strongest assets in the explosion. Bella had been caught in the blast, her body nowhere to be seen and her link to his soul gone. She hadn\'t gotten out in time.

She was gone. Forever.

For a moment, the Necromancer stood frozen, staring at the spot where Bella had been. Losing a minion was one thing, but losing Bella? It was a crushing blow.

She had been the one who understood the complex information networks of First City. She had connections and resources that none of the others had. Without her, they would be blind to most of the war. Everything that happened in the shadows would be news to them, only after the fact..

The Necromancer\'s fury swelled to a breaking point, the realization of what he had lost hitting him like a physical blow.

His hands clenched into tight fists as his body shook with rage. He threw his head back and screamed, the sound echoing across the rooftops and into the darkened night sky.

"Ezra Matten!" he roared, his voice filled with white hot rage. "You will pay for this!"

His shout reverberated into the empty night, but there was no one there to hear it. No one but his own battered, smoldering minions. His prize had slipped through his fingers, and he had been dealt a heavy blow.

As he stared at the ruins of the building, he knew one thing was clear.

Ezra Matten had dealt him damage today, and the Necromancer wouldn\'t forget it. But this wasn\'t over. Not by a long shot.