Vincenzo laughed, a bitter, broken sound that echoed off the high ceilings.
"Serapis? You want to know where the old bastard is?" He struggled to sit up straighter, a manic gleam entering his bloodshot eyes. "He found me after your bitch of a mother threw him off that cliff. Showed up like a ghost in Syracuse and said he needed my help. Promised me power, promised me…"
Vincenzo stopped. His body went rigid, spine snapping straight like a puppet jerked by invisible strings. The glass slipped from his fingers, shattering on the marble floor. His eyes rolled back, showing whites, then snapped forward again, but they weren't his eyes anymore.
They were ancient. Knowing.Amused.
"Did you really think that throwing me off a cliff was going to kill me,nipote?" Vincenzo's mouth said in a voice that wasn't his.
Rodrigo's hand closed around Giana's arm, pulling her behind him. Dario and Silas raised their weapons. Athena moved next to Kon, her body coiled and ready.
"Serapis," Rodrigo breathed.
"How lovely to see you all." Vincenzo's face stretched into a smile that didn't fit his features, too wide, too knowing. "Little Leonardo isn't here, I notice. Pity. And you must be the famous Giana Sorrentino." The stolen eyes found her, and ice slid down her spine. "I can see why my great-nephew is so taken with you. So much fire. I always did appreciate that in a woman."
"What do you want?" Rodrigo demanded.
"Want? I want many things, dear boy. But for now, I simply wanted to say hello. Something tells me you wouldn't answer my calls, but believe it or not, I'm not your enemy."
"How can you say that when you attack my family and me?" Rodrigo hissed, pointing his gun at him.
"Nipote, listen to me," Serapis said, and Rodrigo couldn't help the twinge of familiarity. "I don't want to harm any of you. You are my family, and I'm the only one who cared for you boys, unlike your bitch of a mother. She got my Niccolò killed with her fucking games. The Falcones were involved with the Sorrentinos in their plot to kill your father. That's why I went to Vincenzo. I didn't know you had feelings for the daughter of that fucking pig who killed your father, otherwise I would have let her be."
"You say you're not our enemy, then why attack the compound?" Dario demanded.
"Because I needed to clean up loose ends, like Vincenzo here. Stay out of my way. I don't want any of you getting hurt, that includes you, too, Kon and Athena."
"Funny. A few months ago, you wanted Leo to kill us," Athena said, glaring at him.
"Child, if I wanted you dead, I could unmake you with a word," Serapis replied with a tired sigh. "Just do as I say, all of you, and stay safe. Give my love to Altun, won't you?" The air charged with heat, and Vincenzo's smile slipped.
"Get down!" Athena shouted. Vincenzo's head exploded with a burst of red and gray that painted the chair, the wall, and the antique desk behind him. Warm droplets hit Giana's face, her clothes. Someone was shouting. Rodrigo had her pressed against him, shielding her with his body.
Where Vincenzo Falcone had sat, there was now only a headless corpse, still upright in its chair, the blackened hand with its fused ring resting on the armrest like a grotesque sculpture.
"Cazzo," Dario whispered.
Athena moved first. She crossed to the body, produced a knife from her belt, and brought it down on Vincenzo's wrist. The blade bit through flesh and bone with a wet crunch.
"Altun will want this," she said, holding up the severed hand. Blood dripped from the stump, but the ring still pulsed with that faint inner light. She found a decorative vase on a nearby shelf, dumped out its dried flowers, and dropped the hand inside. "Little souvenir for her collection."
Kon moved to her side, his face grim. "The djinn is still bound. I can feel it. It's so angry."
"Altun will know what to do with it. Maybe Iz and her fire magic can get the djinn to calm down so we can release it." Athena wiped her blade clean on Vincenzo's ruined suit. "We should go."
Giana stood frozen, Rodrigo's arms still around her. She was dimly aware that she was shaking from the overwhelming impossibility of what had just happened.
At least Vincenzo was dead. The man who had caged her, tortured her, and tried to claim her was gone forever. Whatever victory she had planned to savor had been stolen by a sorcerer's final trick, but the result was the same.
She was free of the Falcone family's claim on her. Truly, completely free.
"Are you hurt?" Rodrigo's dark eyes searched hers, full of concern and fierce love. He produced a handkerchief from his pocket and cleaned the flecks of blood from her face.
Giana shook her head. "No. I'm…" She didn't know how to finish the sentence. He pressed his forehead to hers, just for a moment. A breath of stillness in the chaos.
"Let's just go home," he said softly, and she nodded.
Rodrigo took her hand and led her away from the blood and the dead body. Behind them, Silas was already on his phone, talking to Iz. Dario had retrieved documents from the deskdrawers. Athena and Kon brought up the rear, the vase with its grisly contents tucked under Athena's arm like a designer handbag.
