Page 144 of Devoted

Blood soaked nearly every inch of her clothes.

Far too much blood for her to be upright and conscious.

One of the guards—a blunt-faced male with sandy hair—gripped the back of her neck, whispered something in her ear. With a small sob, she bowed her head, a curtain of blond hair hiding her face, her shoulders shaking. With a satisfied smile, the male stepped back.

Dante and I traded a look.

That fucker would be the first to die once we got free.

Luca—Blackwood—took his place beside Giovanni, black rot marring his face, his expression composed, dark gaze drifting over us with detached curiosity, as though he were taking inventory rather than watching his own sister on her knees in the dirt.

Somewhere, locked inside that head, Luca was screaming. Every so often, I watched his expression shift—from controlled calm to utter terror—only for a second before my father wrestled back control.

But Luca was in there.

And he was fighting to survive.

“Gabriel Dominico. I charge you with high treason against the Dynasty, conspiracy to overthrow the Don, sedition against the high council, and breaking your sacred oath of fealty, according to the laws of the D’Immortali Dynasty.”

Giovanni’s voice was measured.

Full of righteous anger.

“That’s a long list of grievances. Are you sure you got everything?” Gabriel tipped his head. “What about escaping your shit prison cell or stealing the Basin right out from under your nose? I don’t want you to execute me and find you’ve missed something. Kind of hard for a do-over when I’m missing my head.”

Giovanni’s constipated expression turned thunderous.

“Gods,” I muttered. “The fucker has a stick so far up his ass, he can’t even take a joke.”

“You’ll be executed at dawn tomorrow.” Giovanni’s nostrils flared. “In front of the entire Dynasty. Brought to justice for your many crimes.”

Gabriel yawned, and honestly, I’d never respected him more.

“Best get us to the dungeons so I can get some sleep, then.” Gabriel’s teeth flashed before a guard stepped up and brought his fist down. The impact of knuckles on bone had me cringing, but Gabriel just shook off the blow, flashing a bloody, unrepentant grin.

Giovanni crossed the dusty ground, putting distance between himself and the guards. Out of my father’s hearing, he stopped before us, ash from the fire staining his bare toes and the bottom of his robe.

“As for you…” Giovanni looked down at me, pursing his lips as if he’d just stepped in a pile of dog shit. “Your father has arranged your freedom. Yours and Dante Dominico’s. You will be held at La Sala with the others, then, after tomorrow’s executions, you’ll be taken to Rome. Gods help both of you.”

“Somehow,”—I grinned up at him—“I don’t think the gods are listening to you, false monk.”

I could practically see smoke coming out of Giovanni’s ears, but I had news for him. My fucking father wasn’t taking me anywhere because the moment I was clear of this fucking island, I was going to swallow their entire world in darkness.

Then Dante could burn whatever was left to the fucking ground.

Giovanni slowly looked up and down the bloodied line of vampires, all of us on our knees and shackled. “You have failed in your attempt to take the Dynasty through force.” Giovanni’s entire demeanor changed as he puffed out his chest. “I want it known that I have won, and you have lost. The true Basin is now in my possession. My mage is, as we speak, unraveling the magic at the heart of the stone, and soon enough, the Dynasty will answer to me.”

“How lucky for them,” I muttered, and Gabriel snorted.

Giovanni glanced nervously over his shoulder to where Luca waited, hands behind his back, adopting my father’s usual stance.

“Perhaps I will delay your departure until after the executions. You… all of you are owed a lesson in humility. My dear niece will be the first to die, and it will do you good to see her suffering. Your father has strict instructions to let his creatures take their time, and I expect her demise will be quite… distressing to watch.”

Dante burst up from the ground, lunging at Giovanni, teeth bared, movements wild.

But Gabriel beat him there, crushing the monk down to his back, pinning him down in the dirt with his body, Giovanni flailing, squealing like a stuck pig.

My eyes never left Luca’s face, and… there it was. A break in his cold expression, a flash of desperate fear, his eyes moving straight to his sister.