Fuck. That had worked. And I hadn’t even died.
We’d arrived at the rendezvous point, the darkened corner of a wide, mostly empty piazza on the eastern edge of the city, the Arsenale casting long shadows across the stones. Electric lanterns flickered against ancient brick, and over by the fountain, a violinist played for a tourist crowd, his case open in front of him, trying to collect some last-minute euros.
“We’re first.” Nico gripped my hand, monitoring the humans’ movements, gun in his other hand, thumb on the safety as he double-checked our two exit routes.
We were tucked into the far corner, hidden from view by a closed-down newsstand, but Nico spooled up some of his shadows, spinning a dark shield between us and the rest of the piazza. Behind us, a crooked, narrow alley led to a canal.
Once he was sure we were clear, he holstered his gun and cradled my face with shaking hands. “Fuck, Ember,don’t ever do that to me again. If I’d known Blackwood would show up, I’d never have agreed to any of this.”
“Two birds, one stone.” I shrugged, even though I was still trembling myself. “I think we were fortunate he was there. Now, let’s hope the others had equally good luck, or…”
The air rippled, then a grinning Luca stepped out of a shimmer of nothingness, Gabriel slung over one shoulder. My heart clenched at Gabriel’s battered face, swollen eyes, and the pained wince as he tried to hold himself upright.
“He’s bleeding bad,” my brother muttered, lowering him to the ground. “But we had to get him out of there.”
I knelt down, checked him over, and thankfully, found nothing life-threatening this time. “You’re too injured to dematerialize,” I scolded, but gave my brother a look of thanks. They’d done it. They’d gotten him out.
Now, where was…
Dante rematerialized with a crackle and an eye-watering stench, a towering mass of muscle with an old, dirty blanket wound around his waist, ichor and blood splattered over him, as if he’d just emerged victorious from the Pits.
We were all alive.
Something inside my chest broke free, and I was moving, crossing the space between us in a heartbeat. He caught me up in his arms, and for a second, neither of us spoke. I pressed my face into his shoulder, my eyes burning, throat tight.
“You really need to do something about this clothing situation. You smell like dead fish.”
“So I’ve been told,” he muttered into my hair, voice thick.
I let out a laugh that dissolved into something dangerously close to a sob.
“We all made it. And the Basin?”
“Safe. Hidden. Where your uncle will never find it, that I promise.” His grip on me tightened for a second before he exhaled, tension bleeding out of his big body as he curled himself against me.
“I’ve been out of my mind with worry. Next time,” he said, voice a rasp, “we come up with a plan that doesn’t involve you being the bait.”
A smile tugged at my lips. “I wish you had seen Giovanni when he found out he’d been outmaneuvered. His expression was amazing. And by amazing, I mean he looked like he was going to throw up.”
Dante frowned, rubbed his thumb down my cheek. “What’s this?” He came away with a smear of blood.
“Might be from Blackwood?” I murmured, shaking my head. “He was reaching for me… he could have touched me before Nico got us away.”
“What do you mean Blackwood reached for you?” Flames ignited in his gaze. “He was there? Emberline…were you alone in a room with Lord Blackwood and your uncle?”
Behind me, Luca huffed out a brotherly sound of disgust. “If you two are done arguing, can we actually start celebrating?”
“It’s too early to celebrate.” Gabriel held his side, his other hand braced on the cobblestones. “Giovanni’s sending soldiers to the island, everyone there is in danger, we have to…”
“We already evacuated the island,” I cut him off with a satisfied grin. “Everyone who mattered is safe, including your horrible aunts and cousins and the staff. There’s no one left for them to capture. Or use as hostages.”
“Andwe left them a parting gift,” Nico added, darkness flickering behind his eyes.
Gabriel’s brow lifted. “Definegift.”
“Let’s just say… whoever gets to the castle first won’t be leaving the island. Ever.” My brother’s toothy grin was almost as feral as my husband’s. Maybe pairing the two of them up had been a mistake; I didn’t need Luca learning any bad habits.
But for a heartbeat, I let myself celebrate the victory.
