Page 108 of Devoted

“They’re dead.” She slumped in my brother’s arms, her fingers slipping from his shirt, as if she’d lost all her strength.

“Giovanni claimed it was a question of loyalty, but our bloodline has always been loyal. Always.” Her voice broke on the last name, and she pressed her fingers to her mouth for a moment. “They were slaughtered. On the council chamber floor. They turned them into shriveled husks, and… Blackwood controlled them. They came at his bidding, and they killed everyone, and I thought they were going to kill me, but Severin gave me a signal, so I stayed in my seat and didn’t interfere, and now they’re dead, and I could have saved them. And I didn’t.”

Her words echoed in the dead quiet.

“How did he kill them, Valeria?” Gabriel asked, his voice cold as ice.

“He used those… Drax… things.” The words slid out between panting breaths. “They obeyed Blackwood. He cast some sort of spell, but I wasn’t close enough to see. There were hundreds of them, just like you said.” Her gaze drifted to me, then she stared down at her trembling hands, as though she wasn’t sure they belonged to her.

“The things dropped from the ceiling. Devoured my family like they were food. And. I. Just. Sat. There.”

A muscle worked in Gabriel’s jaw, while Nico stayed utterly still.

“After they were… done, I kept waiting for Giovanni to end me. I thought, he knows. He knows I’m plotting against him, and he’ll give the order, and one of those things is going to drop down on me, and the last thing I’ll hear is that awful clicking sound as they…” She took a wet, shuddering breath. “Then he just… finished the meeting. We talked about renegotiating smuggling routes while their blood dried on the floor.”

“You got out.” I reached out and took her hand. Her fingers were freezing, stiff, shaking. “You got out, Valeria. You’re safe, at home, protected by wards that have never been broken. And there was nothing you could do to save them. When Giovanni sets a trap, he always catches his prey, except this time, he didn’t catch you.”

“I didn’t do anything,” she said quietly, her fingers curling around mine. “I watched them die, and I didn’t even make a sound.” She looked at Gabriel. “You have to stop him.”

“We will, I swear,” he said quietly.

“After they… dragged out what was left of the bodies, Giovanni calmly informed us the executions would continue. For as long as it takes, he said. He’s trying to draw you out. He has to know I’m working with you, and he’s sending a message.”

“Or he suspects Severin,” Dante put in. “If he was sure about you, Valeria, you’d be in a cell right now, answering questions.”

We traded a look. She was scared enough already. Answering questions was better than torturing the truth out of you.

“He gave Blackwood the order to call in the Drax. I saw it. Blackwood wasn’t happy about it, but he obeyed. There’s been a power shift. Giovanni is back in charge.”

This changed things. I’d been so sure Blackwood had outmaneuvered my uncle, but it seemed Giovanni did what he always managed to do. Come out on top.

“You have to stop him,” she said again, quieter. “Before there’s no one left to save. I can’t go back. I can’t go through that again.”

The silence only amplified the tension pressing down on the room; the fight we’d all known was coming, but none of us were prepared for. We’d been moving too slowly, putting together a plan. Emilia awake at last. Severin gathering his forces. The Basin safely hidden. All parts of a bigger puzzle we’d been slowly fitting into place.

Always hoping we had more time.

“We’re not ready,” Dante said without apology because that was my husband—saying the blunt truth out loud when nobody else would. “We’re close, but we’re not there yet. If we move before we’re ready, we fail.”

“Yes,” Gabriel agreed. He was quiet for a moment. “But how many more families does he slaughter until we’re ready? How much longer can we afford to wait now that Giovanni has thrown down the gauntlet?”

Nobody answered.

Because there was no answer. There were only however many bloodlines Giovanni was willing to burn through until he drew us out of hiding.

“So, Blackwood needed a spell to control the Drax?” I leaned forward. “Are you sure?”

“Very sure. I watched his fingers, but he moved too quickly for me to decipher anything.”

“We have to get ready.” Gabriel rose to his full height. “We put a plan together with what we have in place right now. This cannot stand. I will not allow it to stand.” His voice thrummed with the gravity of the mafia heir who had made his decision and would stand by it to whatever end.

“We’ll get started right away. We need Severin and Emilia here, everyone in the same room for as long as it takes to hammer out a strategy that doesn’t get us all killed.”

I looked over at Valeria, watching us both with red-rimmed eyes and something that, beneath the shock, might have been relief.

Luca’s arms were still loose around her, and I nudged against that wall again. Nothing. And even worse, it seemed like nothing waited on the other side.

Like there was some kind of void.