He’d chosen the former because if mortals loved anything more than money, it was breathing.
The mortal was an integral piece of today’s success. Giovanni had spies everywhere—vampires in every city, every port, hidden in every shadow. That crafty vampire knew everything that happened within our world.
But using humans as allies?
A human might as well have been invisible.
So, our arms dealer had slithered out of Venice like a rat from a plague-infested ship and become our wrathful god from the air. Dropping bombs. Blowing up the perimeter, punching holes through ancient stone and centuries of arrogance.
And as long as we were on one of those helicopters within the next fifteen minutes, Giovanni, even with all his power and influence, would never get here in time to stop us.
The thought filled me with cold satisfaction as I broke free of the crowd and approached my brother. Blood stained his mouth and chest. He’d fed then, and beneath the layers of filth, he was healing. Those guards holding his chains looked nervous as fuck because even weakened, my brother could tear them limb from limb.
Dante’s head lifted, a vicious smile creasing his lips as our eyes locked.
Hello, brother. Come to join the fun?
You have a strange idea of fun. Half the prisoners and guards are pulped beneath the roof.
Pity about that.Dante peered behind me, a crease in his brow. Where is she…
The Overseer shouted, the executioner swung up his axe, easily five feet long, the head forged from a solid hunk of iron, etched with markings.
I didn’t think. I moved, throwing myself between that blade and my brother.
But Emberline was faster, materializing out of the gloom like a wraith, sword gripped in both hands as she surged forward from behind. The executioner, lifting the heavy axe up over his head, didn’t stand a chance.
His body bowed as she stabbed the blade into his back, the tip punching out through his sternum. The axe clattered to the ground as Dante moved, swinging those chains out in a wide circle, looping them around the nearest guard’s neck, snapping his head sideways. Nico and I took out the remaining guards.
We formed a defensive line while Dante reached for Emberline, his fingers skimming her cheek, when a guttural laugh rolled through the dust and noise.
“What a sweet reunion,” the Overseer’s voice boomed over the chaos. “Too bad it will be your last.”
Somehow, the bastard was still alive, cleverly out of our reach on the floor of the pit, surrounded by eight burly guards. He was still naked to the waist, something my brother didn’t miss.
“He’s mine,” Dante murmured, pulling Emberline against him, where I was forced to watch them stare into each other’s eyes as she used those keys to unlock his shackles. He dragged his knuckles down her bruised cheek. “Are you alright,tesoro? You gave me a scare out there.”
“You gave me a scare for the past month, so consider us even. How long do we have, Gabriel?”
I swallowed down my jealousy and checked my watch. “Ten minutes until extraction. Let’s wrap this up.”
Dante’s eyebrows rose in a silent question, then his attention was wholly focused on the grinning monster we all wanted dead.
25
DANTE
Icouldn’t believe they came for me.
Couldn’t believe we were all still breathing.
If we got out of here, I was kicking all three of their asses from here to the fucking Underworld.
“Here.” Nico reached out for the executioner’s axe. “Chop off the fucker’s head, then we can go home. I wouldn’t be opposed to blowing this shithole off the face of the earth on our way out.”
Out of the choking dust, a guard barreled straight toward us, and my heart caught in my throat as, without hesitation, my wife stepped in front of me, tossed her broken sword away, and angled her body to intercept.
“Getdown, Emberline.” I shoved her to safety with one hand, then swung the axe with the other.
