Page 71 of Unbound

He looms above me, smug and self-satisfied. He puts one foot on my chest, holding me in place, and grins. Grins so widely I see … fangs.

“Have you figured it out yet, tesoro?” he asks, gleefully.

Fuck. My evil Grand Ball Sack of a grandfather, a centuries-old Vecchissime elder, is now also a vampire. No wonder I couldn’t quite get the smell. This has never happened before, as far as I know. The Vecchissime are raised to believe that vampires are their enemy, that we were put on this earth to control them. Now he’s turned his back on all of that in a way I never could have predicted.

He grinds the heel of his shoe into my breastbone, clearly enjoying the flicker of pain that crosses my face. “I suppose I have you to thank as well, sweet Rosa. You were the one who awakened me to the potential of … diversity, shall we say? Why spend all that time and effort trying to defeat the vampires, when I could just become one and take what they have for myself? And now, as you see, I’m better than ever. Isn’t it marvelous?”

“Yeah,” I mutter. “It’s a hoot. Now you look like a monster as well as behave like one.”

He frowns and tuts disapprovingly. I push up, trying to rise, but he kicks me in the jaw so hard I fly across the room. Fuck. He wasn’t kidding. Something about the combination of his natural Vecchissime powers and his newfound vampdom has given him incredible levels of strength. I’ve fought some of the biggest and the toughest, and the heft he’s putting into these blows is right up there.

I can take him, I tell myself as I clamber to my feet, feeling a tooth loose in my jaw. I’m a goddamn Seer. I can absolutely take him.

I stagger towards him, still somehow clinging to my stake, blood pouring from my nose. He slaps the stake from my hand with no effort whatsoever, then punches me in the face. I hit the deck yet again, seeing stars this time.

“I can’t tell you,” he says, dragging me along the floor by my feet, “how much I’m enjoying this family reunion of ours …”

I’m about to black out; I know I am. I’ve been here before and I recognize the signs. I try to send a last-second callout to Luca, but either my brain is too frazzled by that super-powered punch, or he’s too busy to hear me.

God, I think, as I trail along the awful rug. He’s going to be so pissed …

Chapter 29

Luca

“Fuck off!” I snap, pushing him away from me so hard he hits the ground. I have limited amounts of time for Pietro when I’m in the best of moods and right now? I’m not in the best of moods.

It’s been nonstop bullshit since we all came back to Hell’s Kitchen. Debates. Demands. Everyone wanting their slice of the pie, their place at the table. Everyone jostling to make sure they get what they think is theirs.

All the thoughts I had about creating a more united world, a better one, are fading fast. I’m starting to think I’ve made a fucking huge mistake. There’s no way to work with all these different tribes without them killing each other. Or, more likely, without me killing them. I’m starting to really understand the appeal of the dungeons. I’ve even considered locking myself in them. Is this what I killed the other Dons for? To rule this bunch of pricks?

No, I remind myself. Not just for that.

Now, I’ve stepped out for a sanity break. There are way more shifters in that room than I ever want to deal with. It’s hard to stop the assholes when they crawl under the doorframe in the shape of a ladybug and then change into a six-foot-tall dickhead in front of your eyes.

I need to breathe, to calm myself. It’s been a fuck of a night, and I feel a strong urge to punch something. With perfect timing, Pietro had appeared, hobbling towards me as fast as he could.

“Listen to me!” he says, scrambling to get up from the floor. “You fucking asshole, listen to me. Why haven’t you been answering your damn phone?”

Because I didn’t have my damn phone is the simple answer. We’d all agreed to set them aside, to focus on who and what was in the room. I wasn’t worried about it. I knew Rosa could always reach me our own way, without the need for a handset.

“Been busy, fuckface. Now what do you want? I warn you, I’m not in the mood for any more bullshit!”

He glares at me, his fury equaling mine. “Rosa is in danger. You are in danger. We’re all in fucking danger.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I demand, shoving him against the wall. “Rosa said she was heading back to Brooklyn. She should be with you.”

“Yeah, well, she’s not. She—we—found him. Our grandfather. We found him, and I told her not to go in, and she promised she was going to call you, that she’d wait until you were there … but that was ages ago, and I’ve not heard from her. She’s not answering her phone, and neither were you, and this whole thing is fucked up. The app’s started going haywire, Matteo’s getting messages, and all kinds of crap is going on with it. Now let me go, you stupid fucker!”

I don’t let him go. I grab the front of his shirt and twist it in my fist, pressing him even harder into the wall. “Listen to me, Pietro. I don’t give one single shit about the app, the game, or the potential loss of human life. Not if she is in danger. So, stop bleating on about that crap and tell me where she is. Right now.”

“You’re not fucking listening to me.”

“Where is she?” I bellow the words, so loud that he grimaces and holds his hands to his ears. He mutters an address, and I drop him.

I kick open the door to the meeting room, glare bloody murder at them all. “This is over,” I announce. “Matteo, Donna, I need you. The rest of you … just fuck off for now.”

Aidan looks confused but doesn’t argue. He knows I mean what I say. One of the shifters objects, and I lift him up and throw him across the room. He crashes into the wall, transforms into a ginger cat, and lands on his feet, hissing at me. I stare it down. I will happily use up every one of its nine lives if I have to.