Page 132 of Devoted

Emilia stood at the foot of the bed, her back to us, her dark hair pinned back with glittering diamonds today, deep red dress better suited for a formal ball than an infirmary. She stood over Luca, hands held flat, magic spilling from her palms, drifting down over his body in slow, heavy waves.

Luca’s arm was wrapped in fresh bandages, but the black had migrated.

The branching lines were far past his collarbone, up the right side of his jaw, one stubborn vein reaching nearly to the outer corner of one eye. Against his pallor, they looked like cracks. Like he was broken, and some foul darkness was leaking out through the fractures.

I swallowed hard. Like an Ashbound in reverse.

His eyes were closed, chest heaving erratically, as if his lungs had forgotten how to draw air.

Where was Emberline?

There… standing in the corner behind us, completely focused on her brother’s face with a lost expression that cracked my chest straight down the middle.

Forgetting all about the Basin and our war, I crossed the room, pulled her against me, and buried my face in her hair, breathing her in, citrus and lavender momentarily drowning out the medicinal smell.

“Gods, Em.” My voice came out quieter than I intended. “I’m sorry.”

She burrowed into me, hands clutching my shirt. “I have to believe he’s still fighting.” Her lips moved against my chest. “That he hasn’t given up. Neither will I.”

Emilia turned toward me, her somber expression saying everything she couldn’t speak out loud.

He’s lost. I cannot bring him back.

“Emilia.” Gabriel’s tone was gentle but edged with authority, the heir taking control of an impossible situation, and I thanked him for it. “Tell us what we’re looking at.”

“Blackwood didn’t intend to kill Luca,” Emilia explained, every word measured and sure. “This dark magic… was only meant to create a connection between them. One Blackwood could exploit. Which he has for the past week, at least.” She paused. “I’m sure of it now. Luca’s mind opened up, along with every memory, ripe for plunder.”

“So, close it,” Emberline hissed, looking only at her brother. “Break the connection. You’re powerful, aren’t you? Fucking help him.”

“Blackwood is already inside. I have tried every spell, every scrap of old magic I know,” Emilia said, with exasperated frustration. “The infection has spread to his blood. His bones. It’s everywhere. I cannot kill the disease without killing your brother.”

Luca’s erratic breathing rasped in the silence, the wheezing slowly becoming words.

“Ooold witch.” His voice sounded hollow, like sound traveling down a long, empty hallway. “Older than these bloodlines, yet weaker than me.”

“I know what you are,” Emilia purred, more and more magic spilling down from her hands, a flood of power that nearly consumed Luca. “You are the muck at the bottom of a pigsty. The residue in the bottom of a commode. You are nothing.”

Luca’s eyes opened, and the monster wearing his face smiled.

Emberline tore away from me before I could stop her—closing her fingers around her brother’s hand. That devouring smile on Luca’s face vanished, replaced by pure fear. His eyes went wide, the pupils contracting to show the dark brown, and his voice thickened into a plea.

“Em. Help me.”

Then his ruined body arched up off the bed, and the sound he made was not at all human.

I dragged my wife away and shoved her toward Gabriel. He caught her in his arms, not letting her go, even as she fought, all elbows and claws, her attention locked on her brother with a desperation bordering on hysteria.

“Let go of me…” I stepped between her and Luca.

“He’s not safe to be around right now.” I kept my voice flat as my heart broke into a thousand pieces. “Emberline, you have to stay back.”

“He knew me, knew who I was. You all saw it. Let me go.”

“And Blackwood knows you, too.” I caught her by the chin, forcing her to look at me. “That’s not Luca on that bed. That’s a trap. Blackwood owns your brother now, and there is nothing we can do for him.”

She went very still, sagging against Gabriel, as if her legs couldn’t hold her up any longer.

Luca opened his mouth and laughed, a screeching rasp that sent fear racing down my spine, the dark lines on his jaw pulsing like living veins, then expanding a little more, spreading across his face.