The sound of Barbara's voice ringing in Bruce's ear came with a shocking revelation: The Joker was discovered dead, and all evidence suggests a setup framing him. The vampire king is one of us!

The words echoed like a gunshot in his mind.

Bruce’s gaze shifted subtly to the others. His expression stayed carefully composed, but the slight twitch of his jaw betrayed the storm beneath. That couldn’t be true. It shouldn’t be true. They had all taken the tests. Every one of them had passed. So how...?

His train of thoughts was cut off when Jason asked if everything was okay, Bruce nodded stiffly. He couldn’t tell them—not yet. Not until he knew for certain who was hiding behind the mask of trust.

“She thinks she knows where the Joker is. She is coming here—” but He didn’t finish.

A sudden jolt snapped his head back—someone had grabbed one of the pointed horns of his cowl, yanking hard to expose his neck.

“I think it’s time we both stopped lying to our family, father.” Bruce’s eyes widened.

Dick.

“You’ll forgive me,” Dick said coldly.

Bruce didn’t even have time to react before sharp fangs tore through the kevlar and sinking into his flesh. A flash of pain. The taste of betrayal sharper than any wound.