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I shake my head. “It’s hard to predict, but I imagine he’s either going to use Paolo to infiltrate the council and get them on his side, or…” I shift my gaze to Damiano.
“Or he’ll kill him as an example of what happens if we defy him.”
“Fuck,” Thorn says. “Killing innocent vampires?”
“Hadrian has no rules or ethics,” I explain. “No decorum. He doesn’t care about anything outside of his own wants.”
“Which means we should do the same,” Damiano says. “Right?”
I look at Vivienne. “You said we fight it with love?”
She smiles. “More good news. The love right here in this room is tangible. Your intentions to protect others are good. Your goal to expose darkness to light is worthy. The actions you take to make it happen aren’t as important as what’s behind it.”
I nod, reaching for Damiano’s hand. “We have to forget everything we’ve stood for in New Onyx to fight this enemy. He won’t play fair, and neither should we. First and foremost, we protect each other. We’re family. Then we protect our extended family—our friends and allies.”
Damiano squeezes my hand. “No matter what happens, hold on to what you have here. What we have. Yves’s love for us ties us all together. We’ll use that love to destroy the person who only knows hate. He has a special spot in Hades’s domain waiting for him. It will bring me great pleasure to send him to it.”
A ripple of love mixed with desire and foreboding spreads through me. “I will not lose you. Not a single one of you. I would sacrifice my eternal soul for each of you, but please, do not let him take Damiano from me. I would rather die than endure that pain again.”
“I will not leave you, my beloved,” Damiano says, turning to me. “He’ll have to drag me to the underworld first.”
“He’ll try.”
My brothers, their mates, Hale, Tiago, and Vivienne close around me and Damiano in a circle. My love presses his forehead to mine.
“We will prevail, Yves. You have to believe it.”
I don’t answer, simply sharing his soft breath for a moment, soaking in the love of my family around me. After a moment, I lift my head.
“Let’s find Paolo.”
SIXTEEN
Damiano
I know Yves can sense my emotions, and this is one time, I wish he couldn’t. I want to shield him from the fear and concern I have. He doesn’t need it on top of his responsibilities, but knowing just how far Hadrian is willing to go to get what he wants is deeply concerning.
Yves glances at me several times as we walk the club searching for any clue as to where Paolo may have gone, but coming up almost empty until we hear a faint scuffling noise from the rafters near the bar area.
Hale looks up just in time to extend his arms and catch the falling body. “Willow,” he says.
The little demon blinks his big eyes a couple of times, smiling as he focuses on Hale. “I’m not dead. What a relief.”
“What happened?” Yves asks, rushing to the demon as Hale lays him down on a couch.
Willow seems to be adjusting to something as he twitches and blinks several times. Then he sits up, rubbing his forehead.
“There were two vampires here, but nothing like any of you,” Willow says. “I felt their evil, so I attached to one of them.”
“Attached?” I ask. “What does that mean?”
“I can project into people,” Willow says. “It’s harder with supernaturals, and they can sense me, but…” He pauses, shaking his head back and forth. “It would be easier to show you.” He looks at Vivienne. “Can you help?”
The witch looks dubious until she glances at Yves.
“You can trust Willow,” Yves says. “He will not harm us.”
Willow chuckles. “Oh, right. Witches think demons are assholes.”
