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Once I could see the bottom, Marcello grabbed me from behind and lifted me off the ladder. He held me in his strong arms and softly brushed his lips against mine. “You did good, princess.”
I smiled. “How much farther do we need to go?”
He pointed down another dark corridor. “Five more minutes in that direction.”
“And then what?”
“Our ride is waiting for us.”
I heard loud noises above us, followed by the sound of shoes slapping the ground. My heart thumped in my chest, and I hooked my arms around his neck.
“It’s just my brothers.” He cradled the back of my head. “Don’t worry, princess. We won’t let anyone touch you.”
“Marcello,” Luca yelled.
He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Down here.”
Seconds later, Luca climbed down the ladder with Bastian and Damian in tow. They hopped down from the ladder, and Luca shot Marcello a strange look.
“What the fuck are you still doing here?” Luca slammed his palm into Marcello’s back. “Get fucking moving, asshole. We don’t have time to dick around.”
Marcello shook his head and groaned, but he didn’t argue with his brother. All five of us headed into the darkness. I slipped my fingers between Marcello’s, feeling less scared with him by my side.
Luca pushed open a metal door at the end of the hallway. Bright light filled the space, forcing me to shield my eyes with my forearm. I blinked to clear my vision. We were in the middle of a field with tall grass.
From a distance, I heard gunshots. I turned my head to my right and spotted The Mansion. It sat at the edge of a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Such a beautiful place for horrible people.
“Time to move.” Marcello yanked on my arm and steered me through the grass behind Luca, who led the pack. “Our ride is on the other side of this field.”
More gunshots penetrated the quiet air, and a whimper escaped my lips. A sharp pain pierced the side of my head, and for a moment, I struggled to hold myself up. I staggered to the side, squeezing my eyes together to regain my bearings. “Oh, no. Not now.”
Marcello dug his fingers into my bicep. “What’s wrong?”
I rubbed my temples. “Migraine. All the gunshots… the darkness. It’s too much.”
He gave me a worried look, then lifted me in his arms and ran through the grass past Luca. “Just hold on.”
His brothers surrounded us, never breaking stride as we bolted through the field. A few minutes later, we hit the end of the field, where a black Escalade waited for us. The back door opened as we approached, and a blond-haired man with tattoos from his fingers to his neck stepped down from the back seat. He was gorgeous. Tanned skin, a dimple in his right cheek, pale blue eyes that sparkled when the sun hit them just right.
Marcello set my feet on the ground and cupped the man’s shoulder with a grin. “You remember Morpheus, right?”
The Serpent Society’s second in command.
I gritted my teeth at the memory of the last time I met The Serpents. “Oh, I finally get to meet the elusive Serpents without them chasing me through Beacon Bay first?”
Bastian moved behind me, his hands on my waist, and kissed the top of my head. “It’s time you meet your loyal subjects.”
“Subjects?”
“The Serpents are under The Devil’s Knights command,” Luca informed me. “Which means one day, you will be their queen, too.”
I stared at the tall, blond, tattooed god and drew a breath from between my teeth. “Then you better get us out of here alive.”
We piled into the SUV with The Serpents. The last time I saw them, they had half of their faces painted with scales, each representing a different snake. I was so traumatized after they chased me through Beacon Bay my grandfather had to hospitalize me for a week.
I hadn’t forgotten that night. Still dreamed of those vicious psychos who tormented me until I felt like I had lost my mind.
Hades sat in the passenger seat, his hands steepled on his lap. Like his friends, ink spread from his neck down to his fingers. As the leader of the group, they aptly named him after the God of Death. His black spiky hair reminded me of Luca’s, only his hair was longer on the top and shaved on the sides.
