Didn’t I fucking know it?
Bruno picked the perfect moment to come alive, clawing at the hook in his neck—perfectly positioned for what I had in mind—frantically scanning the room before landing on Gabriel, Nico… then me. His bleary eyes instantly cleared.
He pushed unsteadily to his feet, and I let him. Let him fumble around on the metal tray for a weapon. Let him get himself situated while Nico carefully draped his coat around my wife. Grit my teeth every time she winced in pain.
“Take good care of her.” I dragged my knuckles gently down her cheek. “I’ll be with you soon,tesoro. I expect to find you fast asleep and following Gabriel’s orders to the letter.”
“Speaking of letters…” She sucked in a breath when Gabriel adjusted her weight in his arms, “We need the ones that prove Rocco’s involvement with Blackwood.”
Across the room, Bruno’s movements turned frantic as he palmed a gun, a lot of fucking good that would do him, but I stepped between him and my wife, just in case he decided to do something stupid.
“You’re heading straight back to the island. You need to see a healer and go to bed,” I told her sternly.
“Nico,” she urged, “Tell them.”
“Ember’s right. Rocco has a treasure trove of incriminating evidence down here, proving his and Giovanni’s involvement with Lord Blackwood.”
Bruno was limping his way toward us, a determined look on his face, and I lifted my hand. Sent a stream of fire spurting from my palm. He reeled out of the way, arms wheeling comically.
Emberline’s eyebrows dropped as she studied my hand, the trail of smoke coming out of it. “If I show the letters to Emilia, maybe she’ll forgive us for trespassing.”
Highly doubtful, but I didn’t want to rain on my wife’s parade, not when she looked so hopeful. “Get your letters, then straight back to the island, see the healers, and straight to bed.” Giving her orders made me feel like I was doingsomethingconstructive. I kissed her temple, careful not to press too hard.
“Letters, healers, sleep,” I repeated.
“Yes, bossy husband. I heard you the first time.Be careful.” She gave both Nico and me a stern look before her hand closed around mine, that chain rattling before I snapped the link and let it fall to the floor.
“Come back to me,” she whispered. “Whatever it is you are thinking, whatever this is…” She pressed her palm to my chest. “Come back tome, Dante.”
Inside of me, the demon purred like a kitten, and a broken laugh escaped me, half surprise, half disbelief.
Gods, it was true. Everyone did fall in love with my wife.
“That proof will get Emilia to listen to us,” she added, her voice steadier now, despite everything she’d been through. “It has to.”
57
NICO
Bruno was never built for pain. He was built for cruelty.
I smiled, a dark sort of anticipation tightening my belly at what was to come. Those males always broke the quickest when the roles reversed.
I leaned back in the chair, watching him struggle, hanging from the same chains he’d put on Emberline. Blood ran down his arms where the metal bit into his wrists. His feet didn’t touch the floor. One fancy loafer—still marked by Ember’s blood—was across the room, kicked off during his frantic flailing.
I’d tortured many vampires in my life.
Some for the Brotherhood, some for Gabriel, some for my own purposes.
But I’d never felt the kind of rage I felt right now, looking at this sick bastard hanging from the ceiling. And while I normally kept myself detached from this sort of brutality, today I was fully vested in this fucker’s suffering.
I wanted to fucking taste his pain. I wanted to hear his agony in every scream.
Dante, on the other hand, hadn’t said a word since we dragged Bruno in here.
Those fucking flames hadn’t made a reappearance, but I knew it was only a matter of when, not if, and I had nodesire to be inside this room when he changed into… whatever the fuck he was now.
This tight, concrete box would become an oven.
