I told him there wasn’t anything more powerful than the being locked inside me, twisted with hate and a need for blood.
“Your scars are lines of weakness the ifrit can exploit, but I can make you stronger. So strong, you will become unbreakable,” he’d promised, then he’d begun. A few runes a day, until I was covered in a web of markings, woven together into an inescapable prison, strong enough to contain a supernatural being.
He covered every silvered scar on my torso, murmuring words I didn’t understand.
Every marking burned, but not like the fire trapped inside me. These were colder, heavier, as if they’d been forged in the Underworld and branded into my flesh. Once it realized what was happening, the ifrit fought Albrecht tooth and nail, slamming against the prison he was building, trying to break through.
“The creature is strong, but this will hold,” he explainedwhen he was finished. “But if the marking ever fails, you must have the will to keep the demon contained yourself.”
“And if I don’t?”
His eyes met mine.
“Then the creature will wear you until there is nothing left.”
45
DANTE
The front door slammed open.
The sound yanked me out of the past hard enough, my teeth snapped together.
Nico came in first, footsteps quick and sharp.Angry.Emberline was right behind him, her presence hitting me like a spark to dry tinder.
Relief was followed by a sweep of gut-tightening jealousy, every muscle clenching with the need to toss Nico against a wall and…No. I trust Emberline. Trust is the foundation we’ll build our lives on.
I pushed to my feet, soaked to the skin from the rain, and headed inside.
“Fuck, Dante…” Nico surveyed the damage with pure awe and a low whistle. My wife, on the other hand…
“What happened here? Were we attacked? Was it Giovanni? Are you alright?” Emberline’s questions came faster than gunfire as she ran her hands over my arms, my chest, cupping my face to stare up into my eyes with enough worry, I finally managed to shake my head, flinging water all over her.
“We weren’t attacked. Everything is under control,” I lied.
Nico snorted. “Tell that to the cabinets. They look like they spontaneously combusted.”
“I said everything is handled.” My wife’s gaze snappedback to my face. The feminine smell of her hit my nose—delicious and citrusy and sinful—and fear flooded through me, along with the urge to never let her out of my sight again.
“I take it the Basin wasn’t at Rocco’s?” I asked instead of throttling Nico for dragging my wife into danger.
Silence dropped between the three of us, sharper than a guillotine blade.
Nico shifted his feet, tension coiling in his shoulders. “Look, I know you’re pissed, but it was a last-minute thing. Gabriel set up a meeting with Rocco, so we capitalized on the opportunity. We weren’t gone long, and the danger was minimal.”
So even my brother was part of the plan.I ignored that little stab of betrayal.
“Oh, I know, because if there had been danger, I would have been there.” The words came out rough as I rubbed my chest. “The blood bond’s real helpful like that.”
Emberline stilled. “You weretrackingus?”
“Hard not to when you light up my entire chest like a godsdamn firework.” I tried to smile. “A note would have been nice.”
“I-I’m sorry.” She dipped her head. “I just thought…”
“That I’d pitch a godsdamned fit and forbid you from going?”
“Yes. That. And now you’re angry.” She sounded wretched, and I couldn’t stand it. And she was right not to tell me anything. I was acting like a fucking pussy. Stuck in my head and lashing out, losing control because I couldn’t handle my…feelings.
