“Then you die,” Giovanni sounded almost bored. “But you were prepared to die tonight on that dais. At least this way, you die on your own terms with a chance to do real damage first.” He didn’t sugarcoat it, and in a perverse way, I preferred this brutal honesty over his smooth lies.
I let a wave of rage and grief roll through me, then forced myself to turn.
Both of them were watching me—the uncle who had shaped me into a weapon and the brother I’d sworn to protect at all costs.
I stood there in my ruined gown, my palm still throbbing from the oath, my throat tight with disappointment and failure.
“You’re asking me to be your sacrifice.” I rolled my shoulders, feeling something inside me shatter. “To smile at our enemies until they hand me the keys to their kingdom.”
My uncle, the male who’d turned me into a weapon, made me trust him, inclined his head. “Yes.”
I sighed, not daring to look at Luca as I sent him a plea,If I do this,I need someone I can trust. Can I count on you, brother?
He didn’t look at me, either.I don’t like this, Em, but if yougo through with this insane plan, then yes, I’ll always have your back.
“Fine,” I sighed. “You have a deal.” I stared Gio down. “But you even think about selling me out or leaving me to rot with our enemies or sacrificing me again for your own greed, you will find yourself at the end of my blade,Uncle.”
Giovanni’s expression didn’t change, but darkness flickered in his eyes. “In three days, the ceremony will take place. We must craft our plan carefully.”
“I want to be part of those meetings.” Luca’s dark gaze swung between us. “You’re not keeping me in the dark anymore. Either of you.”
Giovanni smiled faintly. “Fair enough.” He cradled the brandy glass. “The family business rests on your shoulders now, Luca.” He took a long sip. “Both of you have opportunities in front of you. What you do with them will decide whether your sire died for nothing.”
Suddenly, the weight of the night pressed down on me—the ceremony, the Basin, Marcello’s sad eyes, Gabriel’s hot and cold act, Giovanni’s smooth bartering away of my future. But the opening he offered gleamed like a poisoned chalice.
Drink deeply and live long enough to strike.
Refuse and die a martyr, leaving my brother to pay the price of my sins.
I thought of my father’s hands, steadily tracing ancient trade routes on maps, showing me how life used to be.We work with what we are given, stella,he’d told me once when a storm had destroyed one of our fleets.We bend, or we break. But we never stop moving.
“This isn’t what father would have wanted,” I offered softly.
“No,” Giovanni agreed. “Enzo trained you to take overthe business, not fight a war.” He gestured around the study. “But he’s not here now, is he?” He drained the last of his brandy and set the glass down with a soft clink, right where it would leave a ring on the desk, and I hated him for that, too.
“We’ll talk in the morning.” Then he was gone, my brother and I silent until his footsteps faded down the hall. Luca sank back into his chair, elbows on his knees, head in his hands. For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
Ember,he sent finally.Tell me you’re not going to do this.
“I have to.” My mouth was dry because for the first time all night, the truth tasted worse than any lie.
19
GABRIEL
Fog rolled in off the lagoon, curling around lampposts and blurring the already murky line between water and land. Venice always smelled different at night—brine and crumbling brick and the boggy scent of stagnant water, soft and familiar as the city’s slow pulse.
Once again, the hair on the back of my neck prickled in warning, and I resisted rubbing the spot, forcing myself to stay focused on tonight’s task.
Vampires had ruled Venice since the city was nothing but mud, and we’d rule this place long after they were gone. Mortals were transient, impermeant, but they, like this city, were mine to protect.
Violating the no-hunting rules during the Blood Compact was punishable by death, and yet, every single time, some idiot broke them. Since I was the one tasked with enforcing our laws, here I was, tracking the assholes down.
Well, me and Nico.
But someone else was watching.
It was hard to say who. Every family had spies spread through this city, watching each other, posted on rooftops and in dark corners. But this felt different.
