Page 19 of Devoted

Because of the iron, he couldn’t heal.

And Giovanni had left him here to suffer. To bleed to death.

Genuine regret crossed my friend’s face. Because that’s who Gabriel was. Beneath all his ruthlessness, under that cold, calculating exterior, he actually cared. “I didn’t… I thought he’d go straight to a healer after I sent him away. Giovanni must have gotten him first.”

“He stalled us while Emberline was being tortured. That’s the kind of male he is, Gabriel. Don’t waste your regret on this bastard.” I reminded him as I knelt down, pressed my fingers to his bony wrist. A thready pulse fluttered weakly, faint enough to know he wouldn’t have made it to morning.

A shame. He would have missed his own execution.

“He’s alive. Barely.”

Rocco’s eyelids cracked open. “Who is that? Nico Draconi? Come to finish me off?”

“Gods, I wish. Funnily enough, we’re here to rescue you, you ungrateful bastard. Not that you deserve it, but we owe your daughter a favor, so here we are. How would you like to get the fuck out of here?”

“Yes, I want out. But you’ll never get past those… things.”

“Those things are the least of our problems. Up you go,” I lifted him into a sitting position, and Rocco braced his feet on the floor, then immediately tried to stand. His bowed legs buckled, and I caught him before he hit the floor. The amount of blood he’d lost was staggering, given how soaked the mattress was, and he’d lain in that mess for two days.

“We can’t dematerialize with him in this condition.” Gabriel stared down at Rocco with that steady calmness that told me he’d already mapped out our entire route back to the boat. “It’ll kill him.”

And what would be so bad about that?

I bit back my retort and heaved the old goat to his feet and threw one of his arms over my shoulder, Gabriel propping Rocco up on the other side. “Then we do this the hard way. I’ll keep us shielded until we reach the end of the hall. We have a boat close by. Valeria has healers waiting at the rendezvous point, and we’ll get you back to the island.”

“You’re working with my daughter?”

“On a trial basis,” Gabriel hissed through gritted teeth. “Now save your strength because chances are, getting out will be harder than getting in.”

“Prove it,” Rocco’s bristly eyebrows knit together as he dug his heels in and turned into dead weight. “That Valeria sent you.”

“Fucking stella marina. Is that good enough for you?” I snapped. “If it’s not, we’ll leave your worthless ass here to rot. I’m sure your execution tomorrow morning will be fucking spectacular.”

Rocco’s jaw worked as he tried to come up with a retort, then a sound echoed down the silent hallway.

Pop. Pop. Pop.

I went still. “Were those…?”

“Fucking gunshots.” Gabriel was already moving toward the door, dragging Rocco and me across the floor and out into the corridor from hell. The old vampire moaned out a little sound of horror at Dante, still burning like a pillar of fire.

More gunfire, louder this time.

“We have to fucking go, come on.” But Gabriel’s and my every step was bogged down by Rocco’s weight, his utter refusal to move his own godsdamned feet.

To survive the scorching heat, all three of us had to stay within my shadows, which meant we were stuck limping along at a fucking snail’s pace, giving Dante a wide berth as we passed.

“Get your fucking ass in gear, stronzo,” I snapped on our way by. “That was gunfire you heard.”

I wasn’t even sure Dante registered our presence, and maintaining the shield while hauling Rocco’s bulk stretched my strength—and my magic—to the absolute limit. By the time we reached the storage room, my shadows failed completely, heat searing my face.

“Fucking move your ass, you old vulture,” I hissed, my nerves shredding in my panic to get to Emberline.

Something had gone wrong.

She was in danger.

And we were moving too godsdamned slow.