Wondering, for the millionth time, if I had gotten my father killed.
The sharp flash of grief was something I should have been prepared for, but it caught me unawares, like someone jabbing a knife into my side.
I still looked for Enzo around every corner, expecting to hear his voice. I’d stood in his office for an hour yesterday, sorting through the papers on his desk, wondering which of them he’d touched last. This grief would cannibalize me from the inside out if I didn’t find an outlet… and soon.
As if he read my mind, Gio counseled, “Enzo’s death does not rest on your shoulders, Ember, nor mine. We were betrayed by powerful enemies.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Enemies we’ll make pay, correct?”
The floor overhead creaked, and we both paused, waiting for Luca’s feet to hit the floor. Then the soft sound of snoring drifted down, and my uncle and I smiled faintly at each other.
“We will make them pay, yes, but…” He went quiet for a moment, as if mulling over the options. “If you wish to pursue vengeance, we must plan carefully. No impulsive moves, no action without my knowledge. I have no wish to lose both my brother and my niece in the same month.”
“Don’t treat me like a reckless child.” I gripped the edge of the table like a lifeline. “I have trained for this my entire life. If we wait too long, we’ll miss our chance.”
Now might be a good time to bring up my foray intoenemy territory, which, in retrospect, may have been ever so slightly reckless.
I cleared my throat. “So, last night, I…”
“You are so like your mother. Always such a temper,” Gio interrupted, staring at me kindly. “I do not doubt your abilities, niece. But getting you and the Don face to face, with no wards, no guards, nosonsto interfere… will take a miracle.”
“What about the Blood Compact?” I mused. “The Don oversees the ceremony. There are families there from all over the world. Faces he might not know, a level of confusion we could leverage.”
“The Don would be in front of the entire Dynasty.” Something bright sparked in my uncle’s gaze. “Every member would bear witness to your accusation. That could work well indeed.”
I held my breath as my uncle gazed into the distance, his dark eyes darkening.
Warmth at his praise flooded through me like honey.He liked my idea of making a public statement.
“What about invoking the Right of Arbitration?” I suggested. “I am entitled to raise a dispute over my father’s murder, and the Don himself must render judgment. In an open forum, with both parties present. Small, private, but formal and on the record.”
My uncle’s slow, thoughtful nod and the tacit approval in his eyes sent another warm gush of pride rushing through me like a heady drug.
I wondered if he would head to Isola della Cenere tonight. The island had once been home to a Benedictine Abbey, before it burned down centuries ago. Now they claimed the misty ruins were haunted, but my uncle said they were beautiful.
According to him, the solitude helped him focus.
My father had taught me to navigate the open waters of the Adriatic and the intricacies of Venetian aristocracy, but Uncle Giovanni had taught me everything else. How to use words like weapons, to listen carefully and pick apart every innocent conversation to find the dark secrets we could leverage. And those skills would help me survive what came next.
“There is still the Draconi Brotherhood to contend with. They will be in attendance, but yes, Ember, I’d say we have the beginning of a plan. A plan that will end with my brother being avenged, and Marcello finally answering for his crimes. The question, my child, is this… are you up for the task?”
“Yes,” I promised, unhesitatingly. “I will practice every day between now and the day of the Right, and we will come up with a plan for every contingency.”
“There is the banquet, after the swearing of the Blood Compact. Invoke the Right, then, niece,” Giovanni suggested mildly, then tipped his head, as if a better solution presented itself.
“Better yet, invoke your rightatthe swearing of the Compact, up on the stage, in front of everyone; that way, Marcello will be forced to accept. He won’t dare refuse, not with all five families in attendance. Not with the eyes of the Shadow Court upon us. There is your opportunity, Emberline, if you are willing to seize it.”
“I will seize the moment, and I will make the other familieslisten.”
My uncle smiled, and for the briefest second, triumph flashed across his features, then vanished behind an expression as somber as a monk’s.
7
GABRIEL
7 days later. The Day of the Blood Compact
Inside the Sala del Giuramento, beneath the blown glass Murano chandeliers and hand-painted frescoed ceiling, hundreds of vampires held their breath.
