Unable to tell her the truth, because it was too terrible.
“I’m pissed because this was dangerous, and you kept me in the dark.” I held up my hand. “And yes,you had good reason not to tell me. But I made you a promise, and it’s time I start keeping that promise.”
“Promise?” She looked confused, her gaze drifting around the smoke-filled kitchen.
“No cages. No protections. Side by side.” I leaned in, close enough, the heat of her skin sank into mine. “You make your own decisions, you go wherever you want, whenever you want. But for my sanity, please promise me you’ll take precautions and never go alone. And leave me a godsdamned note.”
A small, tentative smile curved her mouth. “I thought you had a firework in your chest.”
“I do, but I happen to like written correspondence from my beloved wife stating her intentionsbeforethey occur. Is that fair?”
Gods, letting Emberline jaunt off on dangerous missions without me was like stabbing needles in my eyeballs. And while knowing she’d rather be with Nico was worse, my jealousy aside, he would never let anything happen to her.
I wondered what other stupid shit I was going to agree to. Personal growth fuckingsucked. This was hard work. I’d rather just smash things up with my fists and feel better.
“That’s perfectly fair.” She looked up at me with glowing eyes, and that honey warmth in my chest grew thicker because if I wasn’t mistaken, that was pride on her face.
“What did you find at Rocco’s?” Steam rose from my wet clothes, heat radiating off me like I was a furnace. Inside, the ifrit was gloating, reveling in all this emotional carnage.The fucking nosy bastard.
All traces of amusement fell from her face. “Alotof shit. We need Gabriel here to debrief. But he’s keeping Rocco busy at the moment.”
“Their meeting shouldn’t take much longer.” Nico hadthat pinched look about him, as if everything was about to go sideways. But Rocco had never been a major player, so it couldn’t be earth-shattering.
“Well, at least the old bastard’s not making some back-room deal with Giovanni,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood. “Who’s probably taking one of his midnight strolls around that island… what did you call it? Isola della Cenere?”
The words hung between us, and my wife’s expression shifted.
Her eyes widened. “Isola della Cenere.” She was staring straight at me, but she didn’t see me. “He’s been going there for years. It’s isolated. Rumored to be haunted, so everyone avoids it. A human place, not vampire. If you were hiding something like the Basin, wouldn’t that just be the perfect place?”
My heartbeats stalled, replaced by a slow, reluctant realization.
“You think your uncle hid the Basin on the island,” I said, and our bond flared again, but this time, it wasn’t anger that flowed between us. It was purpose.
And for the first time all night, the fire inside me went completely dark.
46
EMBERLINE
The moment everything clicked felt less like relief and more like a wolf closing its jaws around our throats.
The moment the words left my mouth, I knew—I fucking knew—I was right. That abandoned island was, in retrospect, Giovanni’s most obvious hiding place, but I’d been distracted by the traces of DiSangue magic at the scene, by my own suspicions about Rocco, by underestimating my uncle.Again.
“Isola della Cenere,” I repeated, louder this time. “He visits at least once a week. Says he goes there to think.” I shook my head, hardly believing my own stupidity. “There’s an old human abbey, but it hasn’t been used in decades. I think there was a fire.”
Nico’s jaw tightened. “I’ve heard that place is haunted. I don’t know of any other vampire besides your uncle who’s ever set foot there.”
“Exactly,” I shot back. “Too isolated for civilians to easily reach. Too ruined for vampires to care. And Giovanni…” I dragged out an infuriated breath. “As far as I know, he’s made regular visits my entire life. Always said… it was hissecret place.”
I wanted to slam my face down on the kitchen table.
How could I have been so blind? How could I haveforgotten such a strategic location that checked literally every box?
Dante didn’t speak. His eyes weren’t on me or Nico. They were somewhere else entirely—and deep with those blue depths, twin flames burned.
I took another look around the burned kitchen, some deep, instinctual fear chilling my blood.
I wasn’t a fool, and I wasn’t blind. The new scars. The excessive damage inflicted with cruel purpose. The Overseer had done something to my husband, and now he was fighting tooth and nail to keep himself together.
