Page 59 of Chains of Blood and Darkness

“Tell me…boy.” I drawled out the last word. “Are you in Barone’s inner circle?”

“I’m his driver.”

I chuckled. “That doesn’t exactly make you important,boy. Unless Maximo Barone is in the habit of telling his chauffeur his business.”

I ignored the fact that my brother-in-law was my chauffeur and he knew most of my business. That was different.

I watched Steven closely. Hesitation flashed in his eyes, but he kept his jaw clamped tightly shut. I’d definitely hit a nerve though. If the Barone family was behind the attack on my casino, there would be hell to pay.

Even as I considered the possibility of human treachery, a nagging doubt chewed at my mind. The wolves had been my prime suspects, but could I have been wrong all along? Could the humans be playing a longer game than I realized? That didn’t feel right, but suddenly I wasn’t sure.

“Look, Santi,” DuPont said, his voice laced with rage. “I don’t care what’s going on between you and the Barone family. All I want is my daughter back.”

I held DuPont’s gaze, letting a hint of my power bleed into my words. “I give you my word, I do not have Joy. But I will find out what Enzo was doing following her.”

I wasn’t about to tell them Enzo was following Joy under my own orders.

My gaze still focused on them, I tilted my head toward the door. “Dimitri.”

Dimitri raced inside. His sudden actions caught even me off guard. In a blur of motion, he disarmed both DuPont and Steven, sending their guns clattering to the floor. The two men stared at their empty hands in shocked disbelief, their faces paling as they realized how easily they’d been overpowered.

Dimitri stepped back, a smirk playing on his lips as hetwirled one of the confiscated guns around his finger. “Gentlemen, I hate to break it to you, but you brought guns to a vampire fight. Next time, try holy water. Or better yet, an invitation.”

I ran a cool eye over the two men. “And now, I’ll use my powers of compulsion on you.”

DuPont blinked. “Compulsion? What do you mean?”

I drew on my power, my heart quickening, never taking my gaze off them as I spoke. “You will both sit down on the couches quietly. You will only answer questions when I ask them. You will not remember anything that happened here and will leave no longer believing that I’m responsible for Joy’s disappearance.”

DuPont and his son’s eyes glassed over as they sat on the couch, staring straight ahead.

“Did you have something to do with Joy’s disappearance?” a soft female voice asked from behind me.

I turned around to find Serenity standing in the doorway, her delicate face lined with suspicion and concern. The white robe she wore over her nightgown accentuated her ethereal beauty. Her blonde hair was disheveled, making her look even more beautiful. But it was the look in her blue eyes that stopped my heart. She had already convicted me of the crime.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Angelo

This night was going from bad to worse. “Serenity, what are you doing down here? I thought you were asleep.”

Ignoring me, Serenity hurried over to the couch and waved her palm in front of DuPont’s and Steven’s faces. Neither of them blinked. She turned to me, her posture tense and her eyes flashing with accusation. “What did you do to them, Angelo? Why are they just sitting there like that?”

I held up my hands in a placating gesture. “Serenity, please, let me explain?—”

“Explain what?” she cut me off, her voice rising. “That you used your powers on them? That you’re manipulating them? Maybe you manipulated me too!”

Her words cut me to the quick, but I forced myself toremain composed. “Serenity, I didn’t manipulate you. I would never do that. I only used compulsion on them to keep the situation from getting out of hand.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “Like you did on me so I would be your little plaything?”

I flinched as if she’d struck me even as fury rattled through me at her sharp tone. No one had spoken to me like that in centuries—not unless they wanted to be a corpse.

Tears blurred her eyes, but she blinked them away. I went to comfort her, but she clearly wouldn’t hear of it. She turned her head away from me, leaving an emptiness in my chest.

I cursed myself inwardly. If she stayed angry with me, she might not help me rejuvenate the Aeternum Stone, leaving my family vulnerable. Forcing her wasn’t an option; a Nephilim had to give their power freely. I had just fucked this up, big-time.

Dimitri cleared his throat, a smirk playing on his lips despite the tension in the room. “Well, this is awkward. Should I start taking bets on who wins this lover’s quarrel? My money’s on the angry angel, by the way.”

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