“Gods, you’ve always had such high standards.” He glanced past me, down the alley. “Where is Severin? We need to get these bodies moved before dawn.”
Not two seconds later, the Draconi Master himself appeared with five of his soldiers, rolling the bodies up into plastic and materializing them away with the promise to emphasize to the rest of their clan the seriousness of their crimes.
“Sucks to be them,” Nico observed, after Severin vanished.
I looked up at the slice of sky between the rooftops.
In twenty-four hours, Emberline DiRavello would stand beside me in our family’s private chapel on our island, swearing an oath that would taste as bitter on her lips as it would on mine.
Nico nudged me. “Don’t overthink this,” he counseled, like he was a marriage counselor. “You’ll charm her, andshe’ll either stab you or kiss you. Either way, I’ll be there to witness the glorious event.” He brandished his cell phone. “Maybe get a video to post online. You could go viral.”
“You’re not invited to my wedding,” I growled.
“Fuck that, my friend. I’m your best man. Just try to stop me.” Nico chuckled as we walked out of the alley together, a pink dawn rising over the basilica, boots echoing over the stones, the same words ringing inside my head…
Duty.
Honor.
Marriage.
“Actually, Nico.” I cracked my knuckles, already second-guessing the words that were about to come out of my mouth. “Thereissomething you could do for me.”
21
EMBERLINE
My thoughts were a jumbled mess when I slipped back into the palazzo from the roof, right over the heads of my unsuspecting Draconi guards, sliding through the wards like they were made of water and wishes.
One of the first skills my father ever taught me was neutralizing protective magic, and Dominico magic, much like the Dominicos themselves, wasn’t overly complicated.
As one of the Pentarch heads, he was privy to certain useful spells, like that unsealing charm, which he’d helpfully shared with me.
I dusted pigeon shit and city grime off my coat and pants, replaying the way Gabriel hadreached into a fucking vampire’s chest and crushed his heart.I blew out a breath, telling myself I was not impressed.
That it wasn’t just a little bit… hot.
Still, I’d never seen anything like that before. Not the sheer brutality of the act itself nor his clinical coldness as he’d ended the piece of shit’s life with a smile that chilled my blood.
I sobered up.Nor the fact that was exactly how my father had been killed.
And Nico… that lunatic was more dangerous than I’d ever given him credit for. A regular slaughtering machine. I’d been a fool to ever think I could go up against him and win.
But worst of all, tonight had shown me Gabriel Dominico—the male I was supposed to hate, the husband I was supposed to kill—was a genuinely good person. And, to a lesser extent, so was Nico.
That thing with his bloody fingers in the shape of a heart… was actually kind of endearing.
Stupidly endearing, actually, the way that ridiculous image kept replaying inside my head.
I headed down the steps to my training studio, my thoughts disorganized, my revenge plan already falling apart.
So, Gabriel really did take hiswhole honor and nobility thingseriously. They’d saved humans. Three of them, something I wasn’t sure even my father would have done. I knew how my uncle would have handled the situation, and with his thirst for absolute power…
I had a lot to think about.
And the best way to think was by stabbing something.
In less than twenty-four hours, I would be marrying Gabriel. Then I was supposed to bring his kingdom crashing down around his head. Well, his father’s head, but by extension, his head, too.
