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Everyone looked at the demon for confirmation. “It’s true.” Giguhl laughed. “She told Tanith she’d rather kiss a snake than work for a Domina.”
“Now, that I believe,” Adam said. “I have to admit I was having trouble understanding why you’d willingly agree to work for a Domina again.”
The irony was, it looked like instead of working for a Domina, I was about to become one myself if we didn’t find Persephone.
“Don’t worry about all that right now,” Rhea said. “Focus on finding Persephone and getting in touch with Tristan. The rest will sort itself out.”
But would it? Time had proven that the more faith I put into things working out, the worse the surprises.
A few minutes later, we got off the phone with the Queen and Rhea and got busy on our new plans. Adam offered to call Dicky to see if he’d heard from Tristan while I got on the horn to Damiano. The vampire had given me a small ivory business card before he’d driven off with his little gang. I figured our first step in making nice with Persephone was convincing her goons we didn’t mean her any harm.
He answered on the fourth ring. “Pronto?”
“Damiano, it’s Sabina.”
Click.
I pulled the phone away to frown at it. As much as I wanted to believe we’d been accidentally disconnected, I was pretty sure the vampire had really hung up on me.
Highly annoyed now, I called back. This time the phone went to voice mail.
“Damiano, it’s Sabina again. I apologize if my friends upset the Domina earlier. But I really need to speak with her. Please call me back. It’s important.”
Before I could report my failed call to the others, the phone vibrated in my hand. I glanced at the screen and realized it was the same number I’d just called.
“Yes?”
Silence.
“Damiano?”
“Hello, Sabina.”
“Persephone?” Relief flooded my limbs. “Thanks goodness. Listen, I’m sorry if there was some confusion earlier. Alexis and Erron just—”
“Enough. I need you to listen to me.” Something in her voice wasn’t right. I gripped the phone tighter and prepared to receive whatever bad news she was about to share. “Earlier this evening, before your friends visited, Cain paid me a visit. He tried to convince me that you were going to assassinate me.”
I gasped. “That’s insane. I would never—”
“I know. But that’s the reason Damiano attacked Alexis and the mage. I’d told him about Cain’s threat and he assumed they worked for him.”
“Oh,” I said. “Have you heard from Cain again?”
A pause. “No, but it’s only a matter of time,” she said, talking quickly. “I saw what he did to Tanith, Sabina. He will kill me, too.” Her voice rose with a hint of panic. Unusual for a vampire of her status and age. She really was scared and that set me on edge, too.
I blew out a breath. “Okay, I can help you but I need to know where you are.”
“No. He could follow you here. If we’re going to meet, it needs to be someplace public.”
“What do you have in mind?” I glanced at Adam, who had hung up his phone and came to listen on my conversation. He shook his head to indicate that his call to Dicky hadn’t netted any new information.
“Tomorrow night there is a carnevale festival in the Piazza del Popolo.”
“You’re not serious. That’ll be a security nightmare.”
“Fine. I will leave Rome tonight and you will never get your chance to change my mind.”
I gritted my teeth. Gods save me from calculating leaders. “Are you saying there’s a possibility I could change it?”
“There’s only one way to find out. Tomorrow night, Piazza del Popolo. Nine o’clock.”
Click.
I held the phone in my hand for a few seconds longer. I should have felt relieved it had been so easy to get another chance at Persephone. But it was precisely the ease with which it happened that had all my alarms flashing red.
She’d also lied. There was no way Cain could have stopped by to see her before he showed up at the Spanish Steps to spook me. But he could have sent his goons to—
“Holy shit,” I breathed, putting it together.
Adam, Alexis, and Giguhl were surrounding me with tense expressions. I set down the phone and turned to give them the news. “Cain has Persephone.”
“What!” they all yelled.
“She told you that?” Alexis said.
I shook my head. “No. She tried to tell me he came by tonight to threaten her. Said she was spooked and needed my help. She wants us all to meet her at the Piazza del Popolo tomorrow night.”
“I don’t get it,” Giguhl said. “Why does that tell you Cain has her?”
Alexis crossed her arms and answered for me. “If Cain had visited and it scared her that bad, she would have already left town.”
I nodded. “Exactly. But she was definitely spooked, which is why I think Cain manipulated Damiano and his gang into kidnapping Persephone under Alexis’s nose. He’s blackmailing her to get to me.”
Adam frowned. “She’s going to sacrifice you to save her life.”
I shrugged. “Once a Domina, always a Domina.”
Alexis blew out a breath. “So what’s our play?”
Everyone looked at me. “Don’t look so worried, guys,” I said. “This works out perfectly.”
Adam crossed his arms. “Red, how in the hell does walking into Cain’s trap work on any level?”
“Because we’re going to set a trap of our own.” I smiled, feeling more hopeful than I had in weeks. Time to change up the game and start calling the shots for a change. “First we’re going to capture Cain. And then we’re going to blackmail Tristan Graecus into helping us kill him.”
Chapter 14
That night I dreamed we captured Cain and I was beating the ever-living shit out of him. Best dream I’d had in weeks.
Adam, Giguhl, and I were in the old Demon Fight Club ring in the basement of Slade’s club in the Black Light District of New York City. I was straddling Cain’s hips while my fists went to town on his face. A crowd circled us, screaming for me to end him.
Just behind me, Adam and Giguhl cheered me on. For some reason that only my subconscious could fathom, they wore outrageously short skirts and shook pom-poms like Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.
The beauty of beating someone senseless in dreamland is there’s no pesky knuckle swelling or broken bones. Just the delectable high, the tasty flavor of just desserts.
