Page 137 of Devoted

There was no sign of Gabriel.

But Luca was sitting up.

Not the weak, confused surfacing of the past few days. Luca tracked our entry with the composure of someone in complete control, his body relaxed, heavily lashed brown eyes open, though they were not really his. Not anymore.

Yes, they were the same chocolate brown as my own.

But something deeply malevolent stared out at us, an arrogant smirk on his lips that my brother would never be comfortable wearing.

Rotting blackness trailed from Luca’s right eye down his arm and side, spider-like veins spreading from the edges, the fingers of his right hand terminating in what were starting to look like claws. Every bit as sharp and black as the tips of the Drax’s legs.

Luca lifted his arms, as if he were conducting an opera.

Then his fingers danced, weaving a complicated spell my brother could never know.

Frenetic movement erupted from all directions, amplified by the marble and stucco walls, growing louder and louder. The first Drax burst through the open door, a second right behind it. A third crawled in from the ceiling outside, a fourth positioning themselves over our heads. They surged through that opening until the room was full.

Not four. Not ten.

Dozens.

Until they filled every corner and the ceiling, formed a circle of teeth around us we’d never escape, while my brother sat in the center with his hands still raised and his eyes fever-bright with the promise of death.

Putting our backs together, Dante and I circled, flames at his fingertips and me with my knife, but this was hopeless. No matter how we positioned ourselves, we were outnumbered, and nothing could so much as scratch one of those hardened shells.

Not fire.

And certainly not my paltry knife.

“Luca, listen to me. Blackwood’s in your head; he’s the one making you do these things. This isn’t you.” I started, as if logic might somehow get through.

“Oh, but it is, little bird.” The amused tone that came out of my brother’s mouth sent goosebumps erupting over my skin, and a growl spilling out of Dante’s mouth.

Little bird.

The same name the Overseer called me.

Hearing those words come out of my brother’s mouth made me want to vomit, but we had to focus on surviving this. Maybe, if I could reach Luca, trapped somewhere inside that shell of a body, he could buy us some time.

And then what?

Leave my brother here?

Fuck, fuck, fuck. I gripped the knife tighter, back pressed to my husband’s, sorting through a list of shrinking options. No windows, only one door.

We could dematerialize, but to where?

Even if we did, we’d only leave everyone else inside the villa vulnerable.

And where was Gabriel? Nico? Valeria? Were they alive, or… I shook my head from side to side, telling myself not to go down that road, not to borrow trouble, as Enzo always said.

The air turned ripe.

Hot.

Reeking with the creature’s foul breath, the thick stench of decay and the tang of fresh ozone. Dante’s fire burst from his hands, pouring over the Drax like a golden wave, sending sparks flying, scorching the pristine walls black. The Drax didn’t die.

“Your fire is nothing against my magic, boy. Flames cannot touch the darkness.”