“All ofus,” Dorian said, rising from his chair. He gripped Aiden’s shoulder, holding him tight. “All ofusdeserve to be brothers again.”
Aiden nodded, a smile touching his lips. “Oh, very well. But Irefuseto adopt the title of princeling. It’s beneath me, Dori.”
From somewhere deep in Dorian’s chest, a genuine bout of laughter broke free from the darkness, and with no more than a last, passing glance, he tossed the book—the brutal reckoning of his past sins—into the fire. Together, Dorian and his best friend watched the pages curl and blacken, just as they’d watched the remnants of his father’s dining room do the same, and for the first time in nearly fifty years, Dorian felt as if he could truly breathe in his own home again.
Aiden was, as ever, right.
His brothers, despite their mistakes, despite the shadows that lived inside every one of them—Dorian most of all—were part of one another’s hearts. No matter what challenges they’d faced—no matter what storms still gathered on the near horizon—they were stronger together.
“One thing’s for certain,” Aiden said, draining the last of his scotch. “If the presence of the princelings at Ravenswood is to become a more permanent arrangement, we’re either going to need more booze or less drama.”
“Perhaps a bit of both,” came the response, and Dorian and Aiden turned to see Gabriel lingering in the doorway, his face inscrutable. “But the less-drama bit may have to wait another day.”
Dorian had no idea how much, if anything, Gabriel had heard.
No idea what, if anything, to say.
Gabriel spared him the awkwardness of fumbling for his words by speaking first. “I just heard from one of my guys. Rudy and his man Travis slipped up. We’ve confirmed Sasha’s location.”
Dorian’s heart nearly burst with relief, and a surge of adrenaline flooded his limbs. “Aiden, will you go upstairs and wake Charlotte? And phone Cole and Isabelle?”
“Already on my way.”
Turning back to Gabriel, Dorian said, “Where is she?”
“They’ve got her stashed in the apartment above Bloodbath. Rudy and Travis are there with her now.”
Dorian was already heading for the door, but Gabriel grabbed his arm, stopping him.
“My guy says the place is crawling with enemies, Dorian. Duchanes vampires, Chernikov demons, witches, grays. It seems they’ve turned the club into their own personal hideout.”
“I don’t care if they’ve turned it into a full-on army barracks. We need to get her back, Gabriel.”
“Dorian…” Gabriel sighed and shook his head, and Dorian waited for him to try to talk him out of it. To remind him that no human was worth risking so much for. That he never should’ve gotten involved with Charlotte and Sasha in the first place.
He was already gearing up for another argument when Gabriel finally met his gaze again, and the briefest flicker of warmth shone in his steely eyes.
“I need to change into my demon-stomping boots first,” Gabriel said. “And you, brother, need to make a phone call to our new Russian friends.” He smacked Dorian on the cheek and grinned, then headed out.
Dorian pulled out his cell phone and thumbed through the contacts. He’d known he’d have to make this call eventually, but he hadn’t expected it to come so soon.
“All right,comrade,” he muttered, then hit the call button. “Let’s see how badly you want this bloody blade.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Looks like they got her in the front room there,” Cole said, passing the binoculars to Charley.
After Cole had called in a favor to his cop buddies to get the neighboring buildings evacuated on account of a so-called gas leak, they were all crowded inside the top floor apartment on St. Mark’s Place, right across from Bloodbath—Dorian, Gabriel, Colin, Cole, a half-dozen of Cole’s wolf shifters, Isabelle, and Charley herself—trying to piece together some semblance of a plan.
Peering through the binoculars, Charley got her first glimpse of Sasha—sitting on the couch in a sweatshirt and yoga pants, watching television and shoveling popcorn into her mouth.
“She’s okay!” Charley nearly wept with relief. “Definitely compelled, but she looks unharmed.”
“My guess is all the demons are on the main level with the witches and the Duchanes vamps,” Cole said. They really had no idea, as all the lower windows were heavily tinted, some of them bonded up after the cops raided the place and shut it down. “Grays are probably in the mix too. Gonna be one hell of a fight, Red.”
Dorian nodded.
“Where’s Rogozin?” Charley asked.
