I couldn’t move, chest heaving, his blood seeping out all around me. My hands trembled, slick with blood—his, mine, I couldn’t tell anymore.
A shaky breath tore from my lungs.
I was alive. By some miracle, I’d survived, and Bruno was dead. I had to get the fuck out of here before Giovanni returned with Luca and…
My gaze snapped toward the door, and I staggered toward freedom on legs that barely worked, leaving Bruno’s brutalized body behind.
I should cut off his head. I really should finish this.But I barely had enough strength left to turn the doorknob, hang onto the doorjamb for dear life, and sigh in defeat as I sank to the floor. The corridor might as well have been fifty miles long as fifty feet.
But I wasn’t leaving here without those letters.
54
DANTE
Iwatched from the corner of the library as Rocco explained an overly complicated plan to access the complex where Blackwood had taken my wife.
Something about his explanation felt…off.
The details were right, Nico nodding as Rocco went over security measures and the number of guards we could expect. But there was something too practiced in the cadence of his words, in the way he stopped for a leisurely sip of brandy, his expression almost… pleased.
Out of nowhere, the bond flared to life.
Terror hit me like a blade driven straight through my chest—air ripped from my lungs, my body locking as something cold and violent and suffocating flooded my lungs.
Whatever was happening to Emberline…was happening to me.
The frantic, choking pull for breath that never came. Darkness sweeping in. The void that followed.Water. She was in the water.
I staggered out into the hallway, slapping a hand against the stone to keep from collapsing. My heart kicked into a savage rhythm as I fought for air, then Gabriel was there, bracing me up. “She’s drowning,” I choked, the words tearing up my throat. “They’re drowning her.”
Then the bond went eerily, horrifyingly still.
Like a flame snuffed out forever.
My vision blurred. For a split second, I couldn’t move. My eyes swung up to Gabriel’s, my brother catching my arm before I went down.
The bond surged again, and my knees buckled. “She’s back, but I can’t track her,” I growled, fury and helplessness twisting together. “I feel her emotions all over the place, but there’s no way for me tofind her.” I slammed my fist into the wall.
“Then stop getting caught in her fear and startthinking,” Gabriel snapped. “Nico.Get out here.”
Nico strode out, took one look at us, and somehow knew.
“He can feel her?”
“Flashes,” Gabriel snapped, bracing me upright. “But it might be enough…”
Nico dropped to one knee, pressing his palm flat against the floor. Dark, ancient magic coiled around him, then me—something dark that stained the air black. This tasted raw, almost familiar… like… pagan magic. Like the kind Albrecht used to wield.
But this was Brotherhood magic.The DiSange priests had their spells and rituals, but the Brotherhood commanded their own arcane magic. Utilitarian spells for protection, defense… tracking.
I’d heard these forbidden spells were used only during times of great need, at the request of their master, Severin…or the Don.
“Yeah, this isn’t strictly legal, since you’re not officially Don, so chances are, I’ll be paying for this,” Nico muttered before his voice dropped into a low and rhythmic chant, words not meant for our ears.
The air around us tightened. Cold crawled over me, as if I was covered in spiders, every nerve in my body coming alive in horror as the sensation spread, then intensified.
“Focus,” Nico ordered. “Focus on the bond, wait for it to open back up.”
