Page 88 of Devoted

“This is a terrible idea,” I muttered beneath my breath. “The worst so far.”

Emberline punched me lightly in the shoulder. “You always say that. Things usually work out in the end.”

“Except when everything ends up on fire.”

“Hmmm. Well, I did say usually. But look around, everything is made of stone and seems practically indestructible. I’m sure this will be fine.” Her face brightened. “In fact, if you…”

I pointed my finger in her face. “Do not make a death joke right now. I mean it, princess.”

She stuck out her bottom lip.

“There he is,” Dante announced as Severin stalked across the grass toward us, broad shoulders rolling with every step. “Thank you for letting us use the training yard; I know you’re busy.”

“Anything for Nico, and besides, I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” Severin slapped me on the back, hard enough to knock the air from my lungs. “And anything to bring that fucker Blackwood to his knees and put Giovanni in a shallow grave. Burning him is too good a fate.”

“This is a bad idea, Sev.” I decided if anyone was going to listen to reason, it was my master. “My magic isn’t meant for this realm. The destruction I could cause…”

“Will be nonexistent. We’ve prepared a warded training area especially for you. Walls strong enough to stand up to anything. Fire. Lightning. A nuclear blast. First, let’s see what you’re capable of, then I’ll plan my attack around your powers.”

“My magic is like none of those things.” I shifted my weight, studying the older vampire. “It’s not elemental, Sev, it’s… primordial. Cosmic. In other words, not meant for the physical constraints of this realm. And besides, it’s locked down by Emilia’s magic, which none of us can undo.”

I felt better saying that out loud.

My get-out-of-jail-free card, my one saving grace, since everyone around me had lost their godsdamn minds.

“Who do you think cast the wards?” He winked, sounding far too jovial for someone who was about to die. “They’re clever, really. You step through, and every trace of Emilia’s containment spell is removed. When you exit the training area, her spell locks back into place. Nothing to worry about.”

“Do you remember that mission we went on in the mountains of Romania? The one you said not to worry about? The one that ended up being a total clusterfuck? This will be a hundred times worse.”

“Nonsense. Nothing could possibly be worse than Romania.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised,” I muttered.

He just clapped his beefy hand on my shoulder and steered me past the high stone walls and the groups of sparring trainees, more than I’d ever seen on the island at once.

“I see you’ve pulled everyone in. How many soldiers total?”

“Nearly four thousand. Better trained than Blackwood’s guards, even if they don’t all have magic. Still, a knife slips between ribs just as easily, whether you’re gifted or not. We know every meter of this city, and Lady Valeria has graciously given me access to her spy network, which has proven invaluable.”

Four thousand.

I did a quick calculation as we rounded the high outer wall and crossed the churned-up training fields, avoiding clumps of grass where booted feet had dug in during mock battle.

That might be enough. We didn’t have solid numbers on the guards, but they couldn’t number more than a few hundred. And while Giovanni had paid mercenaries and a few turncoat Dynasty soldiers guarding him, they couldn’t amount to more than a few dozen. A faint flare of hope ignited at the thought of driving my father out of Venice for good.

But right now, I had to talk sense into my old master.

We crossed the wide training field, heading for a squared-off area of rocky, uneven ground, surrounded by a shimmering energy field.

The place I was probably going to die, I thought grimly.

“Sev, this is a mistake.” I stopped, and after a few more steps, he turned to face me, brow pinched together. Severin was a battle-scarred warrior, broad and bulked out with muscle, used to barreling through whatever barriers stood in his way. But releasing my magic without fully understanding the consequences wasn’t something any of us—especially me—should rush into.

“No, it’s not. I’ve always seen something special inside of you, Nico, something bigger than all of this.” He swept a scarred hand across the fortress, the training grounds, and my friends watching the two of us. “Even as a boy, starved from the streets, darkness burned inside of you, more brightly than anything I’d ever seen. You were exceptional, Nico. Then Emilia locked it away,” he said, somewhat sadly.

Truth, my magic murmured.

I turned so Severin didn’t see my throat clogged with emotion, how my heart burned beneath his praise. No one—except for my friends—had ever believed in me. And after everything my father had done and said, I was afraid to believe I was worth anything at all.