“Wait.” The Overseer stepped into view, and his presence was a heavy, cold stone against my chest, crushing the air from my lungs, making me feel like I was drowning all over again.
The silence between us turned hungry, every guard salivating as their master approached. I held myself still, forced my breathing to level out.I’ve faced monsters before. But this…this one was different. This one didn’t play by the same rules I was accustomed to.
My fingers flexed, wishing for weapons that were gone.
He punched me with his closed fist.
One powerful blow to the cheek that spun me completely around had me clawing the stone to stay upright. Stars danced in my vision, my breath went wonky, and pain radiated through my skull in sickening waves.
“That’s for maiming my guard.”
He leaned closer, eyes reflecting the torchlight, until I saw the rough texture of his skin, the way the brand on his cheek puckered. He reached out and dragged his finger through the fresh gash.
Possessively. Like a lover.
I went perfectly still, every muscle coiling, stomach churning.
He inspected the end of his finger, glistening with my blood, bright red beneath the torches. Then he popped it into his mouth, made a show of tasting…me.
“More delicious than I could have imagined,” he murmured. “Clean and bright. We don’t get that here very often. And when we do, they don’t remain that way for long.”
My stomach flopped over and over at the raw greed in his eyes.
“What do you want?” My voice came out steadier than I felt.
That soft chuckle sounded wrong coming from him. “Want? What could I possibly want from you except to break you into pieces and see if I can put you back together again?”
He gathered more blood from my cheek and brought his finger back to his mouth.
Licked it clean, holding my gaze the entire time.
Oh, fuck no. My skin crawled violently, but there was no place for me to go, hemmed in by guards, stone walls, and a cell meant to trap me.
His mouth curved, long fangs gleaming like knives. “Still tastes like it did in Venice. In that house. You left a bit of yourself behind, little bird.”
Every hair on my body rose.
My breath caught. “You weren’t there.”
“I was,” he said, voice smooth as oiled iron. “In the wreckage of the burned-out house. The fires were still burning, the ash still drifting when we captured your…husbandand hauled him here.” A pause. “And here you are. A delightful treat, fallen right into my lap.”
My pulse slammed. The burned-out house—Dante’s capture, the chaos, the flames, the way I’d barely gotten out. A trap set by Giovanni, enacted by this fucker. Everything rushed back, how Nico and I had watched the house burn from the rooftops,then Nico thought he saw something moving in the flames.
He hadn’t been imagining things, after all.
Dante must have gone straight from the palazzo to theburning house to look for me. And this asshole had been waiting.
“We’ll escape this place.” I held his gaze steadily, even as I wanted to throw up. Even as his hand slid to my jaw, tipping my face upward. His grip was firm—not painful, not yet, but the threat was there.
“You’re brave,” he murmured. “Or a pretty fool. They are so similar in the end, it hardly matters.”
“We are going to escape,” I repeated, jerking my chin free. “But before we do, I am going to kill you,” I said, voice shaking with fury.
Another slow inhale. Another indulgent pause. “No, little bird,” he replied, as calmly as if correcting a child. “Your life is now forfeit. You belong to the Fossa now. Which means you belong to me.”
I forced myself to breathe through the stench, through the fear, through the animal part of my brain screaming to run, even though there was nowhere to run to. Nothing was waiting for me except the cell right in front of me. And whatever came after that.
“I do hope you know how to fight,” he said conversationally. “Though you don’t look like much. And the DiRavellos…” He made a tsking sound with his tongue. “Perhaps you should have remained in the city, princess.”
