Page 175 of Devoted

Ever so slowly, light filtered back in, shafts of moonlight gilding ruined stone and the curled-up husks of hundreds of Drax, littering the incline all the way down to the docks. Three hundred or more, all of them downed in the space between heartbeats.

The Emissary stood on the peak of the tower like the captain of a galleon coming into port, wind lifting the gauzy black robe around him in undulating waves. Forbidding. Otherworldly. Beautiful.

“What the fuck?”

I was still coming to grips with the fact we hadn’t become Drax-treats when Severin materialized into the center of the carnage, blowing out a low, unbelieving whistle.

“I don’t know whether to congratulate you for surviving or throw you all in cells for being too dangerous to live.”

“It was all him.” Dante jerked his thumb at the Emissary, still looking all epic up on the belfry tower, hands on his hips, a steady wind now blowing his cape backward from his shoulders.

“I think he’s doing that on purpose,” I muttered beneath my breath. “He’s going to be ridiculous to live with. You know that, right?”

“Nico…” Severin cupped his hands around his mouth. “Come down from there.” Then he turned to me. “We have to get off this island. More guards and three more boats are on their way. I think Giovanni really means to kill you this time, and he’s taking no chances.”

“We head back to Emilia’s,” I decided, even though I feared even her protections wouldn’t stand up to the full assault of Blackwood’s magic, not when he’d been building his power—and his Drax army—for months now.

“I have a better idea.” Severin jumped slightly when Nico materialized between us, still in his Emissary form.

“We go somewhere even your uncle can’t get into without an invitation.”

CHAPTER 66

EMBERLINE

The room we’d been given at the Draconi fortress was barely one step above the barracks’ primitive starkness—three narrow, serviceable beds we’d pushed together, a long waist-high dresser to pile weapons, and a door that locked.

But it was the fifty-foot stone walls around the cramped room and the impenetrable wards beyond those that made this place home.

For the next few weeks, at least.

A deep, far-off boom echoed through the torch-lit halls of the ancient fortress, followed by the gritty grind of stone on stone, a faint haze of dust filtering from the ceiling. I looked up from where I sat cross-legged on the bed, smiling as I turned my attention back to the book on my lap.

The Emissary was getting better at wielding his magic in our realm.

So much better that for the past two days, Emilia hadn’t repaired so much as a wall or window. Gabriel and Dante were doing their own training in one of the yards, burning off some of their frustration, and I was researching.

Hunting for a means to free my brother from Blackwood’s poisoned grasp.

I didn’t possess magic of any kind.

Didn’t know much about the arcane.

But ever since I could walk, I’d been trained by Enzo in the ways of business. I had spent my life learning everything there was to know about legal contracts, and what was a magical bargain but a contract?

If the bargain could be made, then it could be broken.

I just had to figure out how and save Luca in the process.

“Hey.” Valeria leaned in the doorway, one hand nervously plucking at the bottom of her shirt, though her face was impressively serene. “Are we still on for our lesson?”

I looked her over, then nodded. She’d forgone her usual makeup and fancy clothes, dressed instead in simple black pants, a dark shirt, and sensible rubber-soled boots.

“Give me a minute to finish this up.” I turned the last page, running my index finger along the lines of text, already knowing I wouldn’t find what I was looking for, but unwilling to skip a single step when it came to Luca.

No, I was saving my brother.

Whether it was through intelligence or violence… or both.