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Chapter One
Luciana
Sebastian Black is going down, and I’m going to be the one to bring him to his knees. The entire Night Guild with him.
And the strange thing is, I’ve never even met the guy.
But you know what they say about the company you keep…
“Go through the list again,” Blake says from across the mahogany table, his fingers steepled together on top of a piece of paper.
My hit list, so to speak.
We’re sitting in my house in Scotland—the house I share with my sister Tamsin—next to a roaring fire. The wood crackles and lets off sparks. I keep my gaze focused on those instead of Tamsin, who is sitting rigidly in one of the wing-backed chairs a few feet away. Blake, her fiancé, is much more supportive of my upcoming undercover adventure.
I clear my throat and start going through the list again. The list of all the demons jockeying to assume control of the Night Guild. That is, the list of those we’ve identified thus far.
“Azazel Thorn, goes by Aza. Greed demon. Owns a half dozen investment firms and financial management companies around the world...”
“Name the companies,” Blake interrupts.
“GrayStar, Landings and Moore, AT Investments, Midas, Silver Group, and my personal favorite, Luciferian.” I snort and cross my arms over my chest.
He raises a brow in challenge. “Her assistant’s name?”
“Ariel. Rumored to be more than just her assistant…”
Blake nods. “Continue.”
I keep milling through the details of known Night Guild associates. I’ve been memorizing this data for more than two weeks, ever since the Raven Society trapped Darkness, the ancient being who’s been running the Night Guild. Now there’s a demon summit, a gathering of all the Night Guild leadership under one roof to elect the next leader. Well, elect makes it sound so democratic. I imagine it’s probably more murder and manipulation, last-demon-standing style.
But we only know five of the attendees so far.
That’s where I come in. I’m going undercover at the Inferni Paradisi Winery and Resort in California, where the summit takes place. A winery owned by the brother of Caspian Black, thought to be one of the top contenders for next leader of the Guild. That brother, of course, being Sebastian Black.
My primary target.
Tamsin gets up out of her chair and starts pacing back and forth in front of the fire. Our dog, Thistle, looks up from where she’s been napping on the floor and whines. “It’s not too late to back out of this, Luciana.” Tamsin pins me with her dove-colored gaze. “You’re going to be walking into the literal devil’s den. It’s the last thing you need to be doing right now.”
I let out a sigh, and Blake shoots me a here-we-go-again look. We both know how incredibly stubborn my sister can be.
“Tams, we’ve been through this a million times,” I groan.
“And I’ll go through it another million if it changes your mind.” She pauses, arms crossed over her chest.
“It won’t.” I get out of my chair, too. She’s not the only stubborn-as-hell Scottish woman in this room. “You know how important this is. We’ve got one shot to find out who all the big players are and take the Guild down once and for all. With Darkness gone, we’re so close to ending this forever.”
“But it doesn’t have to be you,” she growls. “You’re my baby sister. You’ve been through too much already.”
“That’s exactly why it has to be me,” I snap. “I’m the one the Night Guild abducted. I’m the one they turned into a demon-witch hybrid. I’m the one who was in a coma for nearly a month, my psyche trapped in Hell.” I’m so furious just thinking about it that my whole body starts to shake. “And I’m the one who will never be the same because of it.”
Tamsin’s eyes glitter with tears. “I just got you back,” she whispers. “I don’t want to lose you again.”
My sister had been the one to find a cure… to suppress the demon side of me, turn me back into a witch. Our parents died when we were in our teens, so we’re the only family we have left. But I won’t let Tamsin hold either of those things over me. I have to do this, and I won’t back down. I can’t.
Because if I back down now, I’m going to be afraid the rest of my life.
“I appreciate that you cured me,” I say in a soft simmer. “But that doesn’t mean you get to make my choices for me.”
