Page 105 of Devoted

Or were they sending a message?

“Please,” Sophia whispered, lifting her gaze toward me, and then, when she found nothing on my face except indifference—the others. “We’ve given our lives to this Dynasty.”

Her plea echoed against the soaring ceiling, my heart racing as Giovanni leaned forward, his round face glowing with anticipation.

“And so you shall.”

My heart beat faster when he looked over at Lord Blackwood, who scowled, then begrudgingly lifted his hand, fingers flicking in a pattern too complicated to be anything but a spell.

The air inside the chamber rattled, the hair on my arms lifting, my body stiffening as black, skittering spiders, bigger than dogs, poured through all three entrances, crawling across the walls, up onto the ceiling.

They had no… faces.

So many legs the walls seemed alive.

Mouthfuls of teeth and elongated mandibles, honed like razors. The body was a smooth, black shell, supported by spindly, jointed legs. Shock made time move differently, my mind fighting the horror I was seeing play out right in front of me.

The air thickened with a chemical reek that made me gag, stomach lurching, hands squeezing the arms of my chair, unable to move, even while my head was screaming for me to run, run, run.

Then everything happened in slow motion.

The way the guards stepped back, dropping my uncle to the ground, my aunt tugging at his arm, trying to drag him toward the doors, leaving a smear of crimson-bright blood against the white stone.

My cousins scrambled to help her, feet slipping on the slick marble, picking up their father’s other arm. My aunt begged them to leave her behind and flee.

And then they all looked up.

Froze.

I followed their gaze, and everything inside me went quiet. Still.

Some primitive instinct was taking over, warning me to stay invisible if I wanted to survive.

Black spiders—Drax—dropped from above, landing on jointed, outstretched legs before they pounced, taking down my family like prey. Screams echoed my every heartbeat as my cousins and aunt were slaughtered, those mandibles clicking and clicking until that was the only sound I heard.

They saved my uncle for last, feasting on him for what seemed like hours, his body desiccating down as if he’d been mummified.

Then Giovanni clapped his hands, and the beasts skittered back up the walls, leaving four ruined husks on the floor for the guards to haul away. I’d watched my family be slaughtered, and I hadn’t said a word.

Hadn’t moved.

Couldn’t fucking move.

I choked on my fear, waiting for something to drop on top of me and start ripping.

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“Well, that was an unexpected detour.”

The villa was just in sight when I pulled my husband closer for another kiss. Honestly, we’d drifted apart since we’d arrived on the island, and carving out these few hours together had made me realize just how much we needed this.

“I want to go there again,” I sighed. “I feel really relaxed.”

“Good.” Dante’s raspy growl was pleased. “That was the whole point.”

The far side of the island even smelled different from the sunbaked rock near the villa.