Page 1 of Unbound

Chapter 1

Minerva

The breaking of a blood spell is no easy thing. It’s not like breaking a nail, or a promise, or a window. It’s not even as straightforward as reversing a hex or disrupting a curse. Any of that, I can do in my sleep. But a blood spell? Especially one as ancient and powerful as this? Well, that’s a whole different ball game. A whole different league.

It helps that I’ve encountered it before—both Rosa and Luca agreed to me testing them a week or so ago, so I’m familiar with the spell’s scent, its twists and turns and snake-like slithers through their very essence. It was like tracking an invisible beast, something mythical and rare, a creature of legend hiding away in their souls. Almost as though it was part of their DNA.

That first time, it started with the slightest trace, the faintest hint of magic—barely there, so subtle most witches would have missed it. If I do say so myself, though, I’m not most witches—and I grabbed hold of that hint and held on tight. No matter how hard it bucked, how many times it tried to shake me off, I didn’t let go. Followed it all the way to the source. To the secret cache of enchantment that was so deeply entrenched in them both.

I was in awe, mesmerized, totally overshadowed by the artistry of that spell. It affected me deeply. A blood spell that has bound two people together over centuries, cast before one of them was born ... Well, that’s heady stuff. So skillfully executed and expertly hidden that nobody even knew it existed until they met, and when they did? Fireworks. Explosions. Great big kabooms all round. Even secondhand, it was intoxicating, stealing my breath, flooring me with its intensity.

The binding was drenched in artistry and sheer skill, flowing with addictive flavors, so densely packed with lust and love and need that I felt it right smack-bang in my lady parts, a physical and emotional sizzle that had me sighing. I was only on the edge of that flame, but I felt its heat—while Rosa and Luca were directly at the heart of the inferno.

Since the day they met, they’d been pulled to each other, drawn in a way that neither of them understood. The sex? On a whole new level. The emotions? So heightened, they were practically in orbit. The connection? So strong that they could literally talk directly into each other’s minds. Absurdly deep—the stuff of legends.

Of course, neither of them is truly human. Luca was, once, centuries ago—but he was transformed into a vampire when he was in his teens and remembers nothing about the time before. Rosa? She’s more human, as a Vecchissime, a member of one of the four ancient families that act as guard dogs for humanity against the vampires and supernaturals they unwittingly share this world with. But “more human” does not mean “totally,” and her bloodline is as old as his, if not older. Not long ago, I saw this woman literally incandescent with rage—sparks flying from her fingertips, eyes glowing, shining with power and fury when she thought she’d lost her man. So, not what you’d call your average couple then, even without the mind-blowing blood spell tying them together.

I stare at them, sitting at the kitchen table in Luca’s Brooklyn brownstone. His safe house, the one only a few of us know about. Matteo, Luca’s second-in-command, is in the next room, and I can hear the dull thud of a ball being thrown for his pit bull, Moonface, and the clatter of her claws on the parquet as she chases it. Matteo is a good man, one of the sweetest I know, with a mile-high streak of compassion—but he is still a vampire, and he still struggles around blood. Last time I searched for this spell, there was a little slicing and dicing involved, and he’s taking no chances.

It’s just me, Rosa, and Luca. Sitting so close, they’re almost inside each other. Hands entwined, her head leaning against his broad shoulder, thighs pressed together. Damn. I can almost feel the heat from here.

They both look a little tired. It’s been a pretty busy week. It started with a bloodbath at the Firenze court, the death of that evil prick Don Vincenzo, a showdown with Rosa’s almost-as-evil prick of a grandfather, and Luca becoming the new leader of the Cosca. Plus, there’s been a lot of sex, the kind that most people spend a whole lifetime searching for. Why do they want to break this spell? Why would they want to have this magic between them, and then lose it? What if nothing ever feels the same again? Even I will be devastated, never mind them.

“Are you sure?” I ask. I have asked before, and I still don’t really understand their motives. They are the very epitome of “you complete me.” But I guess I’m a witch, and I’m happier with the idea of spells than most people. “You definitely want to try and break this spell? Not many people are lucky enough to find what you guys have together. It seems kind of absurd to consider throwing it away.”

Rosa smiles at me, and Luca puts his arm around her shoulders, pulling her hard against him. She flares with desire as her hands go to his chest, and it licks over me like someone is dripping honey onto my tongue. Jesus. Maybe I’m just being selfish here—even the pleasure that I pick up from simply being around them is pretty much the best sex I’ve ever had. Maybe I need to join a witchy dating app, or finally give in to temptation and find me a nice vamp to rock my world ...

“We’re sure, Minnie,” Luca says, his voice a deep rasp. “She needs to know, and I already do. This isn’t a blood spell. This is stronger than that. This is love.”

Rosa nods, and I hope he’s right.

I light my herbs in their burners and waft the scent around me. I begin to chant, to allow myself to sink into the moment. No, it’s really not like breaking a nail, or a promise, or a window—but maybe a heart or two, if this goes wrong. I sweep my concerns away. They have made their choice. I concentrate, allow myself to be swallowed whole by the magic I am chasing. It’s more familiar to me now—its camouflage gone—and I find it much more quickly.

I seize the spell—and I break it.

Chapter 2

Rosa

Istare at Minnie, at her cute pixie cut and her big blue eyes, the slightly elfin features that make her look harmless. The kind of woman you’d meet at a farmers’ market or in one of those stores that sells healing crystals.

Huh. Harmless my ass. Like all witches, she is incredibly powerful—but so far, she has been one hundred percent on our side, and I have no reason to doubt her now. I have to do this. I have to trust her, to quite literally put my future in her hands.

The cynical part of me has its concerns. What if she, I don’t know, messes around while she’s in there? What if she can’t resist meddling and leaves her own spell in place? I mean, she’s looking all mystical, her lids closed, but her eyes roaming around beneath them. The herbs in her little bowls are stinking the place up, and she’s making weird chanting noises under her breath. So far, so witchy. But am I imagining it, or is she also looking a bit ... pale?

I feel Luca’s hands on me. His arm around my shoulders, his hard body crushed against mine. I press myself even closer, and he lifts me and swoops me into his lap, nestling my head against his strong chest as though I’m a child. He kisses my hair and encloses me in the steel embrace of his grip. Not so long ago, I’d have fought against that protective instinct of his, asserted my independence. I’m the Capelli family Seer, not some damsel in distress that needs rescuing.

Now, though? I do not fight it. I let myself sink into him, let my fingers slide beneath his T-shirt and make contact with his skin. We protect each other, that’s the deal. You just can’t tell from looking that it goes both ways, what with him being all big bad vampire Mafia boss, and me being ... well, whatever the fuck I am. I used to know, but these days, everything is up in the air.

The only thing I’m sure of is him, this creature that fills all my senses. The man I love in a way I have never loved before. I trust him. I adore him. I need him like I need oxygen—so, what the fuck are we doing, letting a witch rummage around in our minds? Letting her break the very spell that brought us together?

I feel a blur of static in my mind, kind of like a radio channel before you hit the right frequency. Luca, checking in, using the handy little telepathic link that we share. It sure came in useful when we were on the run from the Grand Ball Sack—my evil megalomaniac granddaddy. Even more so when we were facing Don Vincenzo, a corrupt centuries-old vampire Don who literally oozed evil. Since then, it’s been ... more fun. I’ve buzzed in to tell him I’m in the shower naked and need my back scrubbing, which resulted in him slamming the door open within three seconds. He’s dropped into my mind during one of the surprisingly dull meetings a vampire Mafia leader has to sit through, telling me he was so bored he was considering staking himself. We’ve discussed everything from the Thai takeout I wanted him to pick up for me to our deepest dreams and hopes—all without saying a word out loud.

I glance again at Minnie, at her clenched fists and the herby smoke that is now doing a weird wafting thing in a circle around her head. What if she breaks the spell, and that’s it? No more mental chat? What if she breaks the spell, and we don’t love each other anymore? Or I suddenly find him physically repulsive, or even worse, he finds me so? I squirm on his lap, rubbing my ass into his crotch. I feel his dick go hard, and I grin. Yep. Still got it. Now, let’s hope we keep it ...

Does she look a bit odd to you? he asks me, his voice clear inside my mind. We could just talk like normal folk, of course—but maybe he doesn’t want to disturb Minnie while she’s doing the witch equivalent of a complex surgery. Or maybe, like me, he’s worried we’ll lose this connection and wants to use it as much as possible while we still can? And can you please keep still, cara mia? Or I might forget we have company and fuck you right here on the kitchen table.

Heat flares inside me, and I make a noise that sounds like an actual purr. I stroke his strong jawline with one hand and explore his abs with the other. He shoves me away from him with a gravelly “Merda!” and I see the clear outline of his erection beneath his sweatpants. Just for a fleeting second, I forget everything else and want him to do exactly what he threatened ... fuck me on this kitchen table.