Page 6 of Unbound

“I had a memory,” he says, his voice low and ragged. “Of being human.”

My eyes ping open, all the gentle post-sex euphoria batted away. I sit up, stare at him. “You did? Luca, that’s huge. What was it? What did you remember? Anything that might help us figure any of this out?”

He laughs, and his eyes flicker over my naked breasts. Even at that quick glance, my nipples harden. I shake my head, telling myself as much as him that no, this isn’t the time.

“No, bella, nothing useful at all. I remembered that when I was a kid, I was apparently interested in booze and girls, like most teenage boys. But I will admit it was ... strange.”

“I bet it was. I wonder if you’ll remember more? We should tell Minnie. It’s got to be related, right? None of this can be a coincidence. Breaking that spell unleashed some freaky witchy juju.”

“Yeah. I think that’s the technical term for it. And you’re right, we do need to find out more. But I also have a court to cleanse, a Cosca to rebuild. I have power plays coming at me from all corners, and your grandfather is still out there doing fuck knows what. He doesn’t seem the type to give up on his ambitions. Plus, did I tell you about the damn dungeons? Fuck, the sights down there ...”

If he thinks the dungeons are bad, then they must be. He has his own dungeon in the basement of this house, which sadly he uses for torture and not sex, so he is a man who knows what he’s talking about. I shudder a little at the thought.

“You’ll get it all done. I believe in you, big boy. Plus, don’t think I didn’t notice you changing the subject there.”

He shrugs and gives me a smile that is tinged with sadness. “I am ... what would you young folk say ... a little freaked out? I have lived for centuries with no memory at all of my human state. Even a hint of that makes me feel off-balance.”

“And that, of course, is one of your favorite ways to feel.”

He nods, and I feel yet another giant whoosh of love for this great big brute of a man. A monster, a creature I know has killed hundreds if not thousands. A vampire who can slaughter and maim with ease. All of that is still true, all of that is still there, but it’s no longer the only thing I see. Now, I see the man who holds my heart in his huge hands, and who holds it gently, like it’s made of glass.

I drop a kiss on one of the silvery dragon wings and pull the sheets up over us. “That’s okay, Luca. We’ll fix it all. Whatever is happening, we’ll face it the way we always have.”

“By kicking the shit out of it?”

“We’ll face it together. And yeah, if needs be, by kicking the shit out of it too. Now sleep.”

It takes him a while to drift off, and I wish I could follow him. My brain has other ideas, though. My brain wants to take me on a magical mystery tour of all the challenges we face. Stupid brain.

I wrap my arms around him, his chest barely moving with the minimal breath he takes, his heart thudding at regular but distant intervals. I gaze at his face and see that his thick hair is rippling slightly. There’s no breeze in this room, none at all. A shimmer of silver floats into the air, tiny bright motes against the darkness. I reach up to touch it, and sparks fly from my fingertips, blending with the silver. Then it’s all gone so quickly I could have imagined it.

I blink and stare at my fingers. No marks, no pain, no sign of what just happened. Luca’s not in any distress, and neither am I. All is well, I tell myself. Just another day at the office, but I’ll stay awake just in case. I will keep him safe, even though he never thinks he needs it.

Chapter 5

Luca

Idust myself down, wiping blood from my face before I walk into my office. Yeah, I have an office. I’ll never quite get used to that. I also have a schedule, a diary, and meetings. Meetings that have taken up way too much of my time in the last few weeks.

Vincenzo pretty much held court wherever he wanted, his age and power corrupting him to the point where he believed his own delusions of grandeur. He thought he was invincible, right up until the moment a girl he’d tormented since she was a child rammed a stake through his heart. He also, I have since discovered, paid not a single shred of attention to the actual running of the Firenze Cosca.

He exiled his consigliere, Aidan Flynn, and banished his council of advisors to New Jersey. His adopted daughter, Sophia, was sent away to Toronto, and bit by bit, every voice of reason was removed from his circle. He was left listening to himself, his sadistic human servant Carlos, and the sycophants who were so far up his ass they could see his intestines. Somewhere along the line, he forgot what a Cosca is—part family, part army, part business. He made it his plaything, his ego-boost, his circus.

Now, I’m trying to undo the damage he wrought over decades, and none of this shit is easy. Not least because I’m getting maybe ten challenges a day. Anybody can challenge the Don of a Cosca and have the right to face him in battle. It was me using the right to challenge that led to Vincenzo’s long overdue death, even if I didn’t deliver the final blow myself. Since I took his place, it’s been like an asshole parade in court. Each day, I arrive here in Hell’s Kitchen, where we own two whole blocks, and find myself surrounded by pricks looking to prove their worth. Looking to take my power while I’m still new. Maybe they think “new” means “weak.” Maybe it’s a normal part of any succession.

None of them have been any trouble at all to dispose of, and I’ve done it swiftly and efficiently. I don’t enjoy killing, and I don’t make anybody suffer for my own sick pleasure. There’s been too much of both, and if the Firenze Cosca is going to survive, we need a time of stability. I just wish the rest of the world had got the same memo.

“You look like crap on legs,” says Aidan as I walk through the door. “And you have what looks like a pinky finger bone in your hair.”

He has his head in some ancient ledgers, trying to figure out what Vincenzo did with a bunch of hostages we were keeping in the dungeons. Some were minor-league players from the other Coscas, held for bad behavior on our territory, others were not so minor. Not the kind of people you should lose, especially not now, when I’m trying to build links with the other families and clans, in the Americas and the rest of the world. I fucking hate politics, even more than I hate getting vamp grit in my teeth.

I pick the pinky bone out and crush it to dust in my fist. “I am getting sick of this shit. I’m gonna change the rules. Make it so my second can deal with challenges. Matteo would actually enjoy this.”

“You can’t do that,” Aidan says, looking up at me from his desk. He’s a handsome guy: green eyes, dark auburn hair, nice smile. At least Rosa tells me he’s handsome, and Minnie always flirts with him. I just know he gives me sound advice, and the fact that Vincenzo despised him is an even bigger recommendation. “The challenge tradition has been in place forever. Change it now and people will think you’re weak.”

“I’m not weak. I’m fucking busy!” I say, slamming my fists down on the desk. My laptop falls off the edge, and I kick it across the room.

Aidan raises one eyebrow at me. “You want some council right now, Don Luca? You’re being a dick. Chill the fuck out. What do we do with Felicia?”