Page 54 of Blood & Heartache

“Three.”

The elbows are an awkward thing to shoot. You had to make sure you had the right angle for it to shatter, causing the most pain possible. The first round didn’t hit the sweet spot, so I fired off another, and the keening howl that burst out of my holy flesh pinata told me I hit the mark that time. I figured I could take out the other elbow before everything became too much, and he passed out. Wanting to speed things along, I placed the ball of my foot on his ankle and slowly started to put weight on it. With the busted kneecap, he had a hell of a time trying to get his foot away from me.

“After your mother died, your father announced he was holding the underboss position for his daughter and then hid you away. I knew doing that would enrage the founding families, so I tried to force your father into making you have an arranged marriage with the son of Marcelo De Santis. If you were promised to his son, then no one could harm you, and it would be a shield from everyone as you grew up,” he explained. “Of course, your father wouldn’t hear of it and almost killed me himself when I’d explained that I had already approached the De Santis family about the idea. Those were dark days and the first time your father stopped trusting me. The De Santis family was so enraged when your father sent back their offer stuffed in the mouth of the messenger’s head, they nearly declared war between our families.”

“What stopped them?” I questioned, feeling it had to be something they feared to keep from retaliating.

“Your grandfather,” he answered.

“How?”

“Threatened to wipe them from the face of the earth if they dared raise a hand against you. He also pointed out that because you’re an heir to both lines, then both would have to agree to the marriage. I believe the sentiment he left with De Santis was… over his dead body would he allow it to happen. Frediano is a mean bastard who doesn’t need a reason to spill blood, so giving him one would put the world into chaos.”

This. This right here was the secret he’d held onto the longest as he was riddled with bullets and broken bones, refusing to admit this situation happened. Now is when I could cause him the greatest pain imaginable, making him live with the fact I know. It was clear I’d gotten everything out of him as he lay there prepared to die, so I headed for the door. Pulling it open, I was greeted by a whole group of people watching me with wary expressions.

“Don’t let him die if at all possible,” I ordered the man who’d tried to stop me earlier. “Do whatever is needed. The bastard isn’t going to get off that easily if I have anything to do with it.”

The blubbering man nodded and entered the room quickly, followed by his help. Staring at the guard who was still weak as fuck, looking like he was going to piss himself in fright, I asked, “Where is the other one?”

“W-who?” he stuttered.

Snarling at him, I tossed my gun into the air, gripped the barrel, and pistol-whipped the asshole. “Fucking useless waste of air,” I spat. “I’ll find him on my own.”

“Astin,” one of the men called as I charged down the hall.

That wasn’t my name, it was her name. I suppose I should be thankful she gave me a name and a rather fitting one too. Until they figured out what my name was, I knew they weren’t anyone important to me or trustworthy.

“Darkness,” the same voice said, his voice reverberating off the walls of the hall.

Pausing, I glanced over my shoulder. There stood a man with amber eyes, piercings, and tattoos covering his attractive body. The way he moved as he walked toward me displayed a lethal grace I could certainly appreciate.

“Can I ask what your plan is? We have people coming fairly soon to give their oath of loyalty to Astin so she can claim her place as head of the Caprioni Family,” he informed me.

“I’m well aware of what tonight is,” I said and continued walking.

The sound of feet jogging after me told me this man wasn’t happy with the answer I gave him. “Does that mean you’re going to give her back to us for that, or do I need to make you leave?”

Snarling and baring my teeth, I turned on him, thrusting the gun against his chest. “You can try, but those words will be the last you ever speak. This time she welcomed me with open arms because she needed me. When the place you must go is too dark for any light to shine, you ask the Darkness to guide you. That’s what she said when she gave me my name, Darkness. Right now, she’s asking me to guide her, and that’s what I’ll do. Trying to stop me will only get you killed, and that will hurt her.”

He searched my face as if he could find her if he just looked hard enough. What no one, not even Astin truly understood, is that I was her. Splintered and fractured in her mind, Astin created me to protect her, then others made her fear me, but I’d done nothing but keep her safe from those who wanted to harm her. Now that Astin was learning the truth and the memories I’d guarded were starting to leak through, who knew how long I’d still exist.

One day she might not need me anymore.

But until that day, I would be her Darkness.

Chapter 24

What I said must have been good enough for him because he reached up and grabbed the gun but didn’t try to move it. “Does it ruin your hunt if I show you where he is?”

A smile pulled at my lips. “No.” Dropping the gun, I took a step back. “Go, we don’t have lots of time. There are people coming over.”

“I see not all of Astin is lost when you take over,” he said with a wry tone heading down the hall.

“It’s different this time,” I offered, unsure of why I needed to carry on a conversation.

Talking, negotiating, caring, it all seemed pointless. Negative feelings and pain are what created me in the first place. Positive feelings, in general, I didn’t understand, but pain, on the other hand, I knew well and was far more comfortable with. It was easier to do my job when nothing mattered but the objective, and right now, it was to make the next piggy squeal like his brother.

“Different how?” he asked.