Page 86 of Devoted

“An Emissary? Of Death? Are you being serious right now?”

“Deadly serious,” Nico said, without a hint of sarcasm.

“Gods, help us. I see a lot of death-related humor in our future,” Gabriel rolled his eyes. “How does this change our situation?”

“Blackwood will redouble his efforts to locate me, which puts us all in danger. Any self-control he’s exercised up until now will be gone. There is nothing he wouldn’t do to get a hold of power like this, including razing Venice to the ground.”

Gabriel snorted. “I’d say sending a dozen soul-sucking, eight-legged monsters to kill us is hardly self-control, but if he’s escalating, we have no choice but to move. Severin’s reinforcements are nearly ready. With Emilia’s return, we’re in a less vulnerable position.”

“As an Emissary, what are the limits of your magic?” I demanded, with more force than I’d intended. At my wife’s stern glare, I reined my temper in. “Fine. How would Blackwood leverage your abilities if he did capture you?”

“I wouldn’t know. In this realm, my magic is locked down tight by a containment spell. That’s why he appeared in my dream, because he knew…” Nico’s eyes turned unfocused as he muttered to himself, “But how did he know? How did he know that was the only place I could access my other form?”

“We’ll figure that part out later.” I pressed, “So, here, in this time and place, your magic is what… controlled?”

“Locked down, more like. Emilia’s containment spell doesn’t allow anything to slip through, and any time the spell weakens, she strengthens the bindings.”

“Like she did after she woke up.”

He nodded. “That was the longest I’ve ever gone between her… treatments. Perhaps that was how my father sensed my magic in the dream realm. Or, given his own dark magic, he has some innate attraction to dark-leaning power.”

So, Emilia used her magic like the Druid used his tattoos—a cage to keep a bigger monster trapped. And if Nico’s magic was anything like mine, this… emissary was aching to escape.

“Or he sensed your blood.” Gabriel was nodding, as if this logic made the most sense. “Blood recognizes blood, after all, and your father is old as fuck.”

Rumor was, Lord Blackwood was an Ancient, over a thousand years old, and as such, had powers we could only dream about. Enhanced strength, arcane magical abilities, heightened senses. And whatever his magic, he was capable of creating monsters that sucked out your soul… which made him absolutely terrifying.

“How does he make them?” I wondered. “The Drax? How does that all work?”

“My father does not make the Drax, at least, not directly. Instead, he chooses the strongest of his guards and creates a wound—an opening—infusing some of his dark magic into their blood. The change is permanent. Most don’t survive, perhaps three out of ten.” Nico shivered. “It is an ugly death, but survival means even greater suffering.”

I didn’t bother asking what sort of suffering. Given what I’d seen of Blackwood so far, I already knew enough.

“He calls them Summoners. The guards see this as a great honor, to be graced with an echo of his power, but they don’t live long, even after they survive the ritual. A few pain-filled years, perhaps, until the corruption consumes them completely. But in that time, each is able to create hundreds of Drax.”

Since Nico was the only one of us who could hold his own against those little fuckers, we’d be smart to kill the guards before they created any more of those spiders. But first, we had to get into La Sala and see what we were up against.

“Let’s talk about Severin’s message. His soldiers are ready. Emilia is back in action and has offered us the services of her priests. Given recent developments, I say we fast-track Giovanni’s execution and get Blackwood out of our city as soon as possible.”

“Works for me,” my brother said, crossing his arms over his chest. “The sooner we regain control of the council, the better.”

“What do you mean Severin’s ready?” Emberline asked. She was still so pale, her usual calm poise replaced by an exhausted tension that made me want to scoop her up and hide her away. But…

I stared hard at her hand, firmly clasping Nico’s, and a violent spasm rocked my body.

Whatever this Emissary was, I didn’t want him anywhere close to my wife. Every realm had its own rules, and those rules did not play nicely with ours.

“Severin’s been pulling Draconi soldiers in from all over the world,” Gabriel explained. “He’s consolidated his forces on the island and is confident they’ll make a stand against Blackwood’s guards. The Drax will be our real problem.”

“Even Dante’s fire won’t slow them down.” Nico pursed his lips. “My magic can stop them, but I’m only one person, and that building is like a maze. Only certain guards possess the magic to create those nests.” He tapped his collarbone. “They’re marked by silver stars here, on their collars. We take them out first. That will keep them from making more.”

“Luca and I saw hundreds of those things in the council chamber,” Emberline quietly reminded us. “Who knows how many there are now?”

“We need to get someone inside the Sala del Giuramento, and no, you are not going.” I glared at my wife, suddenly perking up at the suggestion of danger. She bristled but for once didn’t argue. “Severin can poke around after the next council meeting. Make the usual excuse about extra security or some such bullshit.”

But even Severin was running out of time.

Blackwood allowing the Draconi Master to continue attending meetings was a ruse to keep up appearances, but he had to know Severin was working against him. Still, betrayal and treachery were vampire nature, and the council had always been a mix of enemies and allies.