Chapter 353: The Castle in the Woods

The trees swallowed the road long before the gates appeared. For miles, the world vanished into towering walls of green—ancient oaks and pines so thick they blotted out the sun, turning afternoon into twilight. Madison drove with predatory grace through the serpentine road, but even she’d gone silent as civilization dissolved behind us.

"This is some Friday the 13th shit," she finally said, slicing through the quiet. "How far out is this place?"

"Far enough that the neighbors won’t complain about noise," I said, forcing casual through the hammer-bones of my heart.

Sofia pressed closer in the backseat. "The trees... they’re so dense. It’s like they’re hiding something."

She had no fucking idea.

Then the headlights caught it—black iron gates that looked forged in hell by a blacksmith with Gothic ambitions and daddy issues. Twenty feet high, ornate patterns twisted into the metal like frozen screams. The fence extending from either side disappeared into the forest, old stone and iron swallowed by ivy so thick you could only glimpse patches of barrier beneath. Only the peaks of the slate-black roof were visible above the green wall—a crown floating on a

sea

of leaves.

"Holy shit," Sofia breathed, the words scraping her throat. "Peter, what did you buy?"

Before I could answer, the gates groaned open—ancient hinges protesting despite obvious recent welding. No keypad. No call box. Only the subtle gleam of new cameras hidden in cunningly gouged stonework. ARIA’s fucking work, obviously, scanning us from the back seat as Madison drove through the gates like royalty entering a conquered kingdom.

"Master, ARIA’s voice slithered into my mind, smooth as mercury. "Charlotte has been... industrious. The entire estate’s security system has been upgraded to my specifications over the past two weeks. Facial recognition from the Audi’s approach at three hundred yards. Thermal imaging. Biometric scanning. The gates knew you were coming before came to vicinity."

The driveway unspooled before us—

Belgian block red fucking carpet, curving through manicured lawns so fucking perfect they looked like CGI. Fountains appeared in the distance, illuminated from below, water dancing in patterns that should be impossible without computer control.

There it was. Charlotte’s gift. My castle. Fucking finally mine.

"No fucking way," Sofia whispered.

Madison actually stopped the car for a moment, all three of us staring through the windshield at what could only be described as a modern castle. Not some tacky McMansion with turrets slapped on—this was the real deal, renovated with infinite money and exquisite taste.

"Peter," Sofia’s voice was barely above a whisper, "this is the cursed Estate. The vampire house—everyone knows about this place."

The vampire house. Every kid in Lincoln Heights knew and everyone had their own versions of the stories. Built decades ago, hosted parties that ended in "disappearances," found bodies drained of blood. Some locals swore they’d seen lights moving through the windows at night even when it was supposedly empty. They said if you got too close to the fence, you’d hear whispers in languages that didn’t exist.

Tommy and I had been obsessed with it as a kids, convinced it was a real vampire headquarters where the undead held blood orgies and planned world domination. He’d made us bike out here once when we were twelve, but we’d turned back when the forest got too thick and Sofia started crying about getting murdered.

Now Charlotte had given it to me. Because of course she fucking had.

"It’s not haunted," I said, but my voice cracked like I was thirteen again. "It’s just... selectively occupied."

"By vampires," Sofia added helpfully.

"By us now," I corrected.

As we pulled up to the circular drive, two figures emerged from the massive oak doors. Amanda Reeves stood like a Renaissance painting come to life—that honey-blonde hair catching the exterior lights, her cream silk dress clinging to curves that belonged in a museum. Beside her, Soo-Jin Park looked lethal in designer jeans and a leather jacket that probably cost more than most people’s rent.

They both froze when they saw me exit the car. Not Madison—they expected her. But the skinny teenager in jeans and a hoodie? That threw them completely.

"Who the fuck—" Soo-Jin’s hand moved toward her jacket—probably where she kept a weapon.

Amanda’s eyes narrowed, studying me with the intensity of someone trying to solve an equation. "You’re... not who we were expecting."

"Charlotte said Eros would be—" She stopped, looking between me and Madison, confusion evident on her perfect features.

Madison laughed. "Ladies, meet Peter Carter. The real him."

"That’s impossible," Soo-Jin said flatly. "We met Eros. He’s..." she gestured vaguely at where a god should be standing, "not human."

I couldn’t help it—I laughed. The sound echoed off the stone walls, probably making me seem more unhinged than divine. "You’re right. I am not."

Amanda took a step back, her designer heels clicking on stone. "This is some kind of joke. Charlotte said—"

"Charlotte said the owner would arrive tonight," I interrupted, feeling that familiar tingle in my bones. "She didn’t specify which version of me."

The confusion in their eyes was fucking delicious. Here were two women who’d knelt before Eros, who’d felt the weight of divine presence, trying to reconcile that memory with the teenager standing before them. The only reason they hadn’t pulled guns or called security was Madison’s calm presence and something else—that undertone of power that never quite left me, even in this form.

"You want proof?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

Without waiting, I let the transformation take me. Bones lengthening, muscles expanding, every cell restructuring into something more than human. My clothes strained and adjusted—ARIA’s nano-fabric working overtime. In seconds, Peter Carter vanished and Eros Velmior Desiderion stood in his place.

Sofia screamed and fell backward onto her ass, scrambling away from me on the driveway. "What the FUCK?!"

Amanda’s knees buckled—not quite kneeling but close. Soo-Jin’s hand fell away from her mouth which was wide open in shock.

"Believe me now?" My voice had dropped two octaves, carrying that resonance that made women’s ovaries stand at attention.

"Holy shit," Sofia gasped from the ground. "You’re... Madison, he’s..."

"Both," Madison said simply, helping Sofia to her feet. "He’s both. Always has been."

The next five minutes were pure fucking chaos.

Sofia couldn’t stop staring, reaching out like she wanted to touch me to confirm I was real, then pulling back like I might burn her. "This whole time? The library? The car? That was... you can just...?"

Amanda had recovered her composure somewhat, but her eyes kept tracking over my transformed body like she was memorizing it. "In Miami. That was what really you meant with the Peter Carter version of you. Both versions."

"The godly teenager who helped me escape," Soo-Jin said slowly, "and the god who saved the women from the compound. Same person as this human teenager."