Page 99 of Trapped By the Blood Ruby

“Who—“

“Miss Shaw!” Vittorio rushed into the entryway, disheveled. His clothes were torn and spotted with black blood. He jerked to an abrupt halt, eyes darting between me and the demon, who was now sitting on the floor.

“What… What…?” He sputtered.

“I told it to sit.” I shrugged.

“You… You...told it to sit?” He blinked. His wide, disbelieving eyes darted between us.

“Yes. Obviously.” I motioned with my hand toward the sitting demon before lifting my chin. Vittorio was beside himself. There was genuine fear in his eyes. Something in my chest warmed. He’d been worried.

“You told it to sit,” he repeated.

“Should I…not have?”

“Miss… Miss Shaw,” he sputtered.

“I was just about to ask him why he was here.”

“I think that is obvious,” Vittorio tsked. “You are an amplifier and he wants your blood.”

“Okay. Well, do you have a way of capturing this thing? Maybe we can put him down in the cells? Or I can just leave him sitting here.”

“I…” He blinked, then shook his head. “He just did as you asked?”

“I didn’t ask. I commanded.”

Vittorio only stared at me.

“I wonder if it works on vampires, too,” I said aloud. “What do you think?”

Vittorio only stared at me like he didn’t know who I was anymore. That made two of us.

A wicked smile pulled at my lips. “Sorry in advance but, go stand by the front door.”

Vittorio’s eyes widened. He walked halfway across the hall, his motions stiff, like he was being controlled by a marionette, before shaking himself free of my compulsion. Interesting.

“Did you just…?” He spun toward me. I’d never seen him so lost for words.

I motioned. “The demon?”

“Right.” Vittorio moved quickly. One moment the demon was there and the next, he was unconscious on the floor. Vittorio hauled him up over his shoulder. I followed after them, descending through a panel in the wall leading to the cells. I shivered, trying not to let the memory of this place overpower me.

Vittorio dumped the body unceremoniously onto the floor, grabbed the shackles anchored to the wall and secured them in place on the demon’s wrists. When he was finished, he closed the cell door. We stared at the unconscious demon in silence.

A commotion sounded upstairs. “They’re home,” Vittorio said, spinning and urging me back the way we’d come. I ascended, my heart in my throat. There was no telling what we would find.

25

The entry hall was a hive of activity. Vittorio kept close to me. I looked over Laurent’s vampires, their clothes tattered and stained with black gore. Shoulders sagged. Words were hushed.

Relief flooded me at the sight of a familiar face. “Zola!”

“Darling!” Zola opened her arms and I fell into them. She folded me close, her lavender and lemon scent wrapping around me. She was here. She was alive. Safe.

“I’m so glad you made it,” I breathed, pulling back to get a better look at her. “Did they… Did they hurt you?”

“There’s no need to fret. All is well.”