Page 139 of Devoted

“Very efficient,” Blackwood crooned. “Have you come to threaten me?”

“I came to make you a deal.” Nico turned to the bed. “You’re going to get the fuck out of Luca. You do that, and I will come back to Rome with you.”

“No.” The word exploded out of my mouth as I reached for him. “You can’t, Nico. There has to be another way.”

“There is not.” Nico turned to me, his face a map of ruin. “This is the only way to end this, Emberline. I give this bastard what he wants, and your brother goes free.”

No. I looked between Nico and Luca, the impossible decision I couldn’t be expected to make. If Nico went back to Rome, his father would break him—break our entire world—but if he possessed Luca, what chance did my brother have?

Your brother is already mine. Blackwood’s voice roared inside my head through the mental bond I shared with my brother, shattering whatever wall had been between us.

Nico is mine, too.

In fact, you’re all mine.

I put my hands over my ears, trying to block out that purr of satisfaction in his voice.

“I’m afraid it’s too late for deals, son. We have the Basin. We have the Drax. In fact, we have everything.” I took a halting step toward my brother, and he lifted his finger in warning. “Your brother is quite breakable. Even now, he’s screaming, trying to get out. I’m afraid he’s not quite so resilient as you.”

“I’m going to get my brother back. And then I’m going to kill you.”

“Oh, I think not, little bird. I think you will scream instead.” That awful, crushing pressure filled my head, white spots exploding until they took over my vision. I hit the floor, twitching uncontrollably on the hard, cold stone.

“Stop.” Nico’s enraged hiss came from very far away. “Stop hurting her.”

“Or what? You’d never harm Luca; it’s not in your nature. You’re just like your mother, Nicolò—too much heart, not enough grit—but we’ll fix that. Once you’re back in Rome and this nonsense is behind us, you’ll serve me well.”

“Let Luca go, Father,” Nico pleaded, his voice cracking. “Take me instead. Use me. Use my magic.”

“As it turns out, the boy has something valuable as well. The boy is so very tired of suffering.” Blackwood licked his lips. “He’s been fighting for days. It’s exhausting, the resistance. Admirable, really. I’ve broken stronger men in hours.”

“Plee….eease.” The word was dragged from me, a plea that wouldn’t be heeded, but I had to try, anyway.

Dante curled his massive body around me like a shield, warm as an oven.

But he couldn’t block out this pain.

Couldn’t stop the pressure swallowing me whole, crushing my brain, turning it into soup. Something warm and metallic seeped out of my nose, my mouth, but I couldn’t move, my cheek flattened to the cold floor, limbs heavier than lead.

The last thing I registered before white swallowed everything up was Dante shouting my name.

Then nothing.

CHAPTER 53

DANTE

Iscooped my wife up off the floor at the same moment the wards came down.

I felt them collapse—my ears popping as the air pressure changed, the prickle of magic across my skin as ancient protections shattered apart.

There was no sound, only the absence of safety as we were exposed.

Beside me, Nico tensed, the terrible stillness of a soldier who sensed the incoming attack before it happened.

I gathered my magic, tightened my grip on Emberline, and willed myself to dematerialize.

And… nothing happened. I reached again, digging even deeper, and found a strange stillness, as if my magic was right there but wouldn’t do what I needed it to.