Chapter Two
Enzo
Agony upon agony pumped through my body; hot sweat drenching my skin and leaking into my eyes. I had to get out of this fucking spiny cocoon, but every time I struggled, the vines squeezed tighter and tighter, their thorns ripping my flesh.
But that wasn’t the worst part. It was the damn demon blood burning through my veins.
Joy had opened the portal to the Elder Dimension.
The thought was like a punch to the gut, stealing what little breath I had left.Christ.She hadn't done it willingly—I knew that with absolute certainty. But Angelo wouldn't see the coercion, the impossible choice she'd been forced to make. All he'd see was the forbidden door hanging open, spewing ancient horrors into our world.
And Keir—fuck—Keir would lose his mind. He had been guarding against this exact catastrophe ever since Cormac’s Supernatural War. Most of the Unseelie had been banished into the dimension, but he and his men had fled, retreating to New Orleans and being branded traitors. Joy wasn't just facingAngelo's wrath anymore. She'd just painted a target on her back for every Unseelie in NOLA. They'd hunt her to the ends of the earth.
Marsha's silhouette filled the doorway, her long dress billowing as acrid smoke poured in behind her. The stench of burning cypress and something far worse—charred flesh—hit my nostrils and made my stomach lurch. Through the gap, I caught a glimpse of the bayou changed into a nightmare of flame and smoke. Towering flames licked at the sky, turning the familiar wetlands into an orange nightmare that painted Marsha's cruel face in demonic light.
My chest tightened. Angelo. Serenity. The others. Were they caught in that inferno? But even as panic clawed at my throat, logic kicked in. They could escape fire—vampires and the Unseelie were fast, resilient. They'd survived worse than Faas’ pyrotechnic tantrum.
What worried me was this goddamn fortress. I tested the vines again, feeling fresh thorns bite into my already shredded wrists. Blood trickled down my arms in warm rivulets as I strained against my bonds, my muscles cramping and spasming. The demon poison burned hotter with each movement; liquid fire racing through my circulatory system.
Joy.Her name echoed in my mind like a prayer, like a curse. I had to get to her. Had to find her before?—
My breath hitched, the only protest I could make without triggering the vines to tighten. The others could handle themselves, but Joy was out there somewhere, probably terrified, possibly hurt. And I was trapped here like a fly in a web while she needed me.
I gritted my teeth as Marsha approached me. “Where the hell has Ari taken her?”
“Into the Elder Dimension.” Marsha crossed her arms, looking entirely too pleased with herself.
Fuck, it was even worse than I thought. “Why?”
“Because Ari wants to meet with Queen Alanna. He needs her forces to reclaim what was stolen from the Dark Demons, to restore the old kingdom that was lost during Cormac's War.”
Pain gripped me again like white-hot knives carving through my chest, but I swallowed the scream and forced myself to focus on Marsha through the haze of agony. Sweat dripped into my eyes, stinging and blurring my vision as I glared at her with every ounce of hatred I could muster. “What the fuck are you babbling about?”
“Mixed bloodlines.” She said it with a yawn, as if the topic barely warranted her attention. “Don’t worry. The mafia families are safe. None of you have any mixed bloodlines.”
My stomach lurched as the implications hit me. Mixed bloodlines. Whatever sick plan she had brewing, it targeted specific people—people like Joy.
Marsha's attention shifted away from me, smooth and unhurried. Her heels clicked against the stone floor as she stalked toward the two forms wrapped in vines near the altar. I knew one was Rose and the other Alice, but I had no idea which was which until Marsha drew her leg back and delivered a vicious kick.
The sound of boot meeting flesh made me flinch. Rose's agonized groan tore from her throat, raw and broken, as she curled in on herself. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, dark against her pale skin.
"But this little bitch," Marsha purred, nudging Rose's trembling form with the toe of her high-heeled shoe, "and the current Queen of the Dark Demons, won't be so lucky."
Across the cathedral, Valentin was still staked to the pillar, his arms stretched high over his head, blood staining the stone beneath him.
A muffled thud drew my gaze toward the shadows on the opposite side. Dark Demons were bricking up a doorway, their movements methodical and silent. Through the shrinking gap, I caught a glimpse of white hair—Ebony Khan. Gunnar's queen.
Was Marsha fucking crazy?
I stared at Marsha's satisfied smirk, at the cruel pleasure dancing in her eyes. She and Ari were completely unhinged—sociopaths playing with lives like they were nothing more than toys.
I panted. “Then…why take Joy? She’s of…a mixed…bloodline.”
“We need her…” An evil smile like the Grinch’s lit up her face, making my blood run cold. “For now.”
"You won't fucking hurt her. She's mine." I struggled, arching my back and then my arms. The thorns dug even deeper, fresh blood streaming down my chest. I was mad with agony.
Marsha tilted her head back and laughed. “There’s nothing you can do, enforcer. You’re trapped in my poisonous vines. There’s no escape.”
