Page 25 of Devoted

He started shaking his head, and I yanked him back to me. Hard.

Someone has to warn the others. It’s me Giovanni wants, not you. I’ll keep him distracted long enough for you to get out. Tell them what’s happening here. Tell them about the… spiders.

Fine. But I don’t have to like it.

I blew out a breath and pushed open the bronze door.

The council chamber stretched higher than a cathedral.

A soaring space to make you feel small.

Five familiar gold chairs ringed a polished table, each of them emblazoned with a family crest—wolf and serpent, swan and dragon, and then there was Rocco’s—the raven, keeper of secrets. I had to admit, right about now I wished we’d never agreed to rescue the lying fucker.

Because in the Don’s chair—the one that rightfully belonged to Gabriel—sat Lord Blackwood.

9

EMBERLINE

One ankle rested casually across Blackwood’s knee, a smile on his still-handsome face.

He was immaculately dressed in a mix of old-world elegance and a vampire’s love of luxury, the exquisite mix of brocades and silks stopping just short of foppishness. His dark hair was parted in the center, framing an aristocratic face and gleaming silver eyes.

Like before, his superior power hit me like a fist, pounding through my blood, softening my knees. Only my determination not to bow to this fucker kept me upright.

Beside me, Luca was panting, his body trembling as he fought the same smothering compulsion to obey.

At Blackwood’s side stood the same male I’d seen in my father’s old study.

Tall, white-haired, green eyes glinting like emeralds, he was motionless, expressionless, showing no more animation than one of the pillars of marble holding up the ceiling above my head.

Blackwood regarded us with the expression of someone mildly entertained, but there was an edge of fury to his cold smile. Anger seeped from the Ancient’s every pore, and I knew one thing for sure—whatever came next, it was not going to be pretty.

“I wondered how long it would take my little pets to herd you here like rats in a maze,” he murmured, staring down at us like we were dirt under his manicured fingernails. “I wonder, did you believe you’d escape, or did you realize you were already caught the moment you set foot inside this building?”

“If you’re just planning to kill us, stop talking and get on with it.”

He smiled. “If I wished you dead, child, you wouldn’t be standing there, your eyes burning with hate.”

That’s it, I thought, keep all your attention on me.

Luca, you need to get ready to run. I rubbed my fingers together. I had one more knife, one working hand, and I’d send that blade spinning through the air before this bastard could so much as blink. I’d bet good money even Cesare Blackwood wasn’t faster than me.

He can’t kill you, Em. He wants the Basin, and he thinks you know where it is.

Gods, even now my brother was poking around in this bastard’s head, which would definitely get Luca killed, or worse, given the varieties of monsters wandering the hall outside these doors.

Instead of positioning himself to escape, Luca stepped beside me.

Don’t do anything stupid, Em. He’s not planning on hurting us. He… wants something, but I can’t see clearly enough to know what.

Blackwood folded his hands. “Let me tell you a story.”

“I’m not interested in anything you have to say.”

“And here I thought you thrived on family drama, Signora Dominico. You told me your tale, now let me tell you mine.” Those silver eyes settled on my brother, curiosity brewing as he studied Luca with an intensity that had my skin prickling.

“Do you know how your mother died?”