Page 54 of Devoted

“I expect that’s the best offer we’ll get,” Gabriel interrupted. “But if we sense anything wrong, and I mean anything, we’re pulling you out. Dante has confirmed the Basin is still secure.”

All I knew was the artifact rested somewhere at the bottom of the Venice Lagoon, buried in centuries of muck and darkness. There were no maps, no GPS coordinates. The information was locked away in only one place—my husband’s and brother’s heads.

Again, that niggle of worry nudged at my consciousness.

“For what it’s worth, I’m going on record to say I hate this plan,” Gabriel interrupted. “I agree with Dante. If something happens, we won’t be there to protect you.”

“I don’t need protecting, and your opposition is duly noted.” I pretended to write it down, crumple it up, and toss it into the trash can.

And even Gabriel’s mouth quirked at that.

An hour later, I lay on a bed of lumpy, mismatched pillows in the center of the room, staring up at the ceiling, feeling like a complete fool.

“I’ll never be able to fall asleep with everyone watching,” I muttered out of the side of my mouth to Nico, shoulder pressed against mine, totally relaxed. “This was a stupid idea.”

“Again, I’d like to point out I am merely going along with another of your mad schemes,” he teased. “As per usual, princess.”

“Well, you don’t have to rub it in,” I grumbled.

“I would never.” The cushions vibrated as he chuckled. “Of course, if we’re successful, I’ll let you take all the credit, so keep that in mind.”

“Yeah, well,”—I elbowed him in the side—“that will definitely make this all worthwhile.”

Candles burned on the mantle, their flames flickering across stuccoed walls as I debated my terrible habit of coming up with stupid schemes and Nico’s going along with them. Definitely something to revisit in the morning.

Dante, Gabriel, Luca, and Valeria surrounded us, and having them there should have reassured me. Instead, I was even more nervous.

Luca leaned forward, his expression shadowed. “You know,” he said tightly, “I envy you.”

“Why is that?”

“I’d kill for a decent night’s sleep.” Then he went back to chewing his thumb.

What did that even mean? He’d done nothing but sleep since we’d gotten back. I reached out, testing the twin bond and… hit a wall.

My stomach dropped. Like he’d blocked me, or the bond was simply… gone. But that wasn’t possible. We’d communicated this way since before we’d learned to talk, and there had never been a time when Luca cut me off. Never been a reason for him to.

Luca? Stop messing around and answer me. Nothing.

And while not sleeping would explain why he looked so exhausted, there was more to this. Call it sisterly intuition, but my brother was in trouble, and I didn’t know how to help him.

I struggled into a sitting position, debating calling this off.

“Wait,” I murmured. “Just…give me a minute here.”

“We have a narrow window of time,” Nico urged quietly, mirroring my pose. “No telling how long it will take us to find Emilia, and we have to be in and out as quickly as we can.”

No, he’d explained—quickly and not in great detail—the dangers of us being in there too long, and I, for one, didn’t plan to spend the rest of my days in a coma, trying to navigate my way out of my own mind.

“Luca needs…” Me, I was going to say. He needs me, but… I glanced up at Valeria. “Your healers. Can they take a look at him? Make sure he’s… feeling okay?”

“Of course. Gia is the very best.” She tugged my brother to his feet and linked their arms together. “Come with me, and we’ll get you all sorted out.” I watched them go, guilt and unease tangled together until I couldn’t tell them apart.

Gods, it should be me watching out for him. Me, keeping my promises, but I couldn’t be in two places at once, and nobody but Nico and me could wake up Emilia.

And even that was a long shot.

“Luca will be fine,” Nico reassured me softly, pressing me back down, covering my hand with his. “But I agree, having him looked over is a good call.”