Page 46 of Chains of Blood and Darkness

“Joy’s older brother, Steven. He taught me after Freddie came after me one night. I managed to get away…” I hung my head and took a shaky, shuddering breath. “But it was too close.”

He scowled. “Steven as in Detective DuPont’s boy? He taught you how to fight?”

“Yes and no. Steven found out DuPont wasn’t his real father and it sent him down a rebellious path, joining a street gang. Last I heard, he was in with the mob. But yes, he’s the one who taught me.”

Angelo narrowed his eyes. “Which family?”

“The Barones.” My heart lurched. “Wait, are they?—”

“Human. If that’s what you’re asking.”

Something in his eyes said this worried him.

“You need to learn how to kill a supernatural, Serenity. I will teach you.”

“You’re going to teach me how to kill a vampire?” I asked, my voice trembling slightly. “Why would you do that?”

Angelo leaned back, his gaze still locked on mine. “Because knowledge is power, Serenity. And in the vampireworld, power is everything. If you’re going to survive, you need to know what you’re up against. You’ll need to know how to fight back, for your own sake.”

His words sent a mixture of fear and exhilaration through me. The thought of learning how to kill a vampire, of having that kind of knowledge, was both terrifying and thrilling. But it was also a stark reminder of the danger I was in, that I was trapped in a world where such knowledge was necessary in the first place.

“Won’t that put you at risk?” I pressed, unable to keep the concern from my voice. “If I know how to kill vampires, doesn’t that make me a direct threat to you?”

Angelo smiled, a slow, sultry curve of his lips that made my heart skip a beat. “Oh, Serenity,” he murmured, “you’re already a threat to me. But not in the way you think.”

He reached out, his fingers brushing against my cheek in a featherlight caress. I shivered, my skin tingling at his touch. “You see,” he continued, his voice low and tender, “the greatest danger you pose to me isn’t physical. It’s emotional. You make me feel things, Serenity. Things I haven’t felt in a long, long time. And that scares me more than any weapon ever could.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, but I could feel the truth of his words, could sense the depth of sincere emotion behind them.

In that moment, I realized my fate was now inextricably linked with his. For better or worse, we were in this together. And if I was going to survive, I needed to learn to trust him, even as I learned to fight against everything he represented.

Chapter Twenty

Serenity

Angelo’s soft words stirred something in me again. It scared me. The touch of his fingers on my skin sent a shiver down my spine and sent my heart racing in my chest. I wanted to lean into him, to feel his strong arms around me and his lips pressed against mine. The memory of our last kiss danced in my memory—the taste of him, the way his mouth had moved against mine with such passion and hunger.

But even as these heady thoughts flooded my mind, I couldn’t shake the fear that this might all just be compulsion. How could I be experiencing these feelings for not only a vampire, but also the very man who had taken me captive? It made no sense.

And yet, even as I tried to convince myself that it was all just a magician’s trick, a callous manipulation of my mindand heart, I knew deep down that I was lying to myself. The attraction I felt for Angelo, the desire that now coursed through my veins whenever he was near, was real. It was terrifying and exhilarating all at once, and I didn’t know how to reconcile it with the reality of my situation.

I needed to change the subject before I lost myself completely in the depths of his eyes and the magical intensity of his touch. There was too much at stake, too much I still didn’t understand about this world and my place in it.

I cleared my throat. “Did you find out who killed Jacques?”

He held my gaze, his eyes cold and unflinching. “Yes, I did. Or at least, I should say I found out who plotted it, even if he did not strike the blow. The bastard refused to spill the truth on that, even when I had him at my mercy.”

My stomach twisted into knots at the hardness in his voice, the barely restrained fury simmering beneath the surface.

Angelo’s jaw clenched, and he looked away for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts. When he spoke again, his voice was low and unhurried. “No one has ever ordered a hit on Crimson Manor. But I have reason to believe that Freddie was involved, or at least had knowledge of the plan.”

I staggered back a step, my breath catching in my throat as the implications hit me like a baseball bat, stunning me. “Freddie? But how? And why?” I felt like the ground had been yanked out from under me, leaving me disoriented and struggling to regain my balance. My thoughts raced, trying to make sense of this new information, but it was like trying to put together a puzzle with half the pieces missing.

Angelo sighed, his shoulders sagging slightly. “Freddie had connections, Serenity. He was a lowlife scum, but he was a lowlife scum with his ears to the ground.”

What did that even mean? The last thing I wanted to do was run into him. I looked around wildly, expecting Freddie to pop out like the boogeyman at any second. “Is Freddie here? I mean…I won’t run into him, will I?” Fear was in my every word.

“You never have to worry about Freddie again,” he said softly as he gently rubbed my back.

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