I’d heard the whispered stories—blood rites inunderground chapels, bodies that should have stayed buried getting up and walking under DiSangue sigils, vampires who were never truly vampires again.
“There has to be another way. Any other way,” I groaned, but my voice lacked conviction because even that future was better than a future with no Emberline in it.
“You want her back?” He jerked his chin toward her body. “Or do you want to sit here and argue while she slips away from us?”
“I would give my life to have her back,” I said without hesitation.
Nico’s brow pinched even tighter. “Emilia’s wards will gut us the moment we cross,” he warned. “And we don’t have time to ask for permission.”
“Then let’s not die getting her there.” I slid my arms under my wife, lifting her gently. Her head lolled against my shoulder, wet hair cold against my neck. “At leastshewon’t feel anything. Us… we won’t be so lucky.”
With that warning, Venice broke into shadow and light as we flew through time and space, where there was no up, no down, only crushing pressure and freezing air blasting my face, the sensation of falling.
Dematerializing with another person was difficult. With a limp, unresponsive body in my arms, my mind a tangled mess, and my own magic badly depleted, this was like dragging a stone up a mountain.
Then the world slammed back into place.
My knees hit a rocky shore, arms wrapped around Ember, holding her tight as I crashed through invisible wards. Hungry, vicious magic snapped around us like a thorny web woven from lightning. Wind howled, lashing my face.
My body ignited with pain, a thousand hot needlesdriving through already over-taxed flesh into bone. I curled myself around Emberline, trying to protect her from the worst of Emilia’s wards.
“Fuck,” Nico groaned, his head snapping back. Shadows leapt from his skin, meeting the magic head-on, smoking everywhere they touched until he looked like he was on fire. “This is fucking…”
Centuries upon centuries of wards layered upon each other, wicked, forbidden spells and ancient blood rites, occult magic wove together to form an impenetrable shield.
One that only recognized DiSangue blood and invited guests.
We were neither.
I threw every drop of magic I had left into a protective shield around Emberline, my muscles seizing as I started going into shock. Beside me, Nico torqued and cursed, skin flaking to ash, his eyes finding mine for one agonizing second.
Nico was burning, blisters bubbling up on his exposed skin, but I was immune to fire, so the wards were shredding me apart, instead, ripping long, jagged gashes into my skin.
We’re going to fucking die.
Pain cut off like someone had thrown a switch, the abrupt absence almost as brutal as being flayed apart.
I found myself on my knees in a wide courtyard lined with ancient olive trees, Emberline clutched against me. My clothes were smoking, torso and arms lined with bleeding wounds where the wards had chewed through flesh.
Backed by four of her silent priests, Emilia DiSangue stood at the top of a set of marble steps leading into the main palazzo, her silhouette framed by a hazy red glow, or maybe my fucking eyes were just bleeding. She wore a red negligee like a splash of blood against her white skin, darkeyes reflecting light like a predator’s, a fresh bite mark on her throat like a badge.
“Of all people, you two should know better than to…” Emilia’s gaze dropped to the body in my arms, and her expression sharpened.
“Well, well,” she purred. “Il piccolo DiRavello. La prescelta per il sacrificio.”
I forced myself to my feet. Every muscle protested, but I locked my knees and bowed my head, just enough to be respectful without subservience.
“Emilia,” I rasped. “We need your help.”
“I do have eyes,” she said dryly. “You have brought me a dead female.”
“She isn’t—” My throat felt like I’d swallowed glass. “There was… she was underwater for too long. I was too late.”
Emilia’s dark, calculating gaze slid to Nico, his burns still smoking.
“And you two thought that if you brought me her corpse, I would what, precisely? Bring her back to life using ancient magic that is expressly forbidden by Dynasty laws?”
I tightened my grip on Emberline. “Please,” I begged, not caring how I sounded. Pride was a cheap luxury I couldn’t afford. “I will pay any price you ask, do anything you want, just help her.”
