Page 61 of Chains of Blood and Darkness

The implications of his words sent a cold silence creeping into the room. Serenity’s face drained of color, her eyes widening with fear. “You mean the Mafia?”

Dimitri, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, finally chimed in with a sardonic smirk. “No, sweetie, he means the local knitting circle. They’re vicious with those needles.” His eyes glinted with dark humor as he turned to Enzo. “I guess Joy missed the ‘Don’t feed flyers to vampires’ memo. Paper cuts are a real pain, you know.”

Gianna scowled. “Dimitri.” Her tone less than pleased.

He flashed her a debonair smile and shrugged but bit back on another retort.

Enzo didn’t answer, his focus remaining all on me. He took a deep breath before continuing, his voice low and urgent. “Joy was a block away from Crimson Stakes when the explosion happened.” He gestured toward Steven. “He was with her. I’m not sure if he played a part in the explosion since I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they seemed to be arguing.”

Enzo cursed under his breath, then scrubbed his face. “I ran inside. I assumed the bastard would protect his sister. People were streaming out of the casino, pushing and screaming. It was pandemonium.”

A wave of unease washed over me, quickly replaced by a simmering anger that threatened to boil over. If Steven was involved in the explosion, it wasn’t something I could let go unpunished. Joy’s brother or not, he would suffer consequences for participating in a hit on Crimson Stakes.

I clenched my jaw, my fingers tightening around the glass in my hand so hard it was a miracle I didn’t break it. I would get to the bottom of this, no matter what it took. If Steven was guilty, he would suffer my full wrath.

Serenity had locked her gaze on me as if she were reading my thoughts. She would consider me punishing Steven another betrayal, I was sure, but at the same time, I couldn’t show weakness when it came to the Santi family.

I turned away from her, picturing the awful scene—the smoke, the flames, the terror on the faces of the patrons as they fled for their lives. My mind raced, trying to figure out whohad started this, but I kept my jaw set tight, not giving any thoughts away.

Enzo would never have abandoned Joy. Maybe the Barone family knew he was watching Joy, and the explosion had all been a ploy to distract him so they could snatch her.

“We have to find her,” I said, my voice low and intense. “And when we do, the Barone family will pay for what they’ve done.”

Enzo nodded, his eyes hardening with determination. “But are we sure it’s the Barone family? It could easily be the wolves or the dark Fae.”

“That’s what we have to find out,” I grumbled.

Serenity stepped forward, her eyes wide with concern. “But what about Joy, Enzo? Did you see what happened to her?”

Enzo hesitated, his gaze flickering to the floor before meeting Serenity’s eyes. “No. I lost sight of her in the chaos. By the time I made it back outside, she and Steven were gone.”

Serenity gazed at me, the unspoken question in her eyes—did I order Joy to be taken because she was handing out those flyers?

I put my wine glass down. “Steven must know something.”

Serenity looked between me and him. “What are you going to do?” I could hear the panic in her voice.

“Get the truth.”

She rushed over to me and put her hand on my arm. “Please, don’t kill him.”

I met her gaze. “You’re going to have choose betweenthem, Serenity. Steven works for the Barone family. They may have Joy, and the Barone family is neck deep in human trafficking.”

She shook her head. “No, Steven…he wouldn’t…he couldn’t…his own sister?”

I looked down at her. “I can find out the truth right now if you let me. If you don’t, and we waste time investigating, she’ll probably vanish, and we’ll never pick up her trail again.”

Beads of sweat broke out across Serenity’s forehead, glistening in the dim light of the room. She stared at Steven as if seeing him for the first time, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and disbelief.

Gianna stepped forward and wrapped a comforting arm around her slender shoulders. “Serenity, compulsion won’t hurt Steven physically. You want to find out what happened, don’t you?” Her voice was soft and reassuring, but there was an underlying urgency to her words.

Silent tears welled up in Serenity’s eyes, spilling down her cheeks in rivulets. She nodded numbly, her body sagging against Gianna’s. My sister gently guided her to a nearby chair, easing her down into the plush cushions.

Taking a deep breath, I focused my mind and drew upon the ancient power of compulsion that coursed through my veins. Earlier I had just wanted them to sit on the couch, but for this, I drew on every ounce of compulsion I could muster. I felt the power surging through my body, pulsing in my temples and crackling at my fingertips.

I sat down on the coffee table directly in front of Steven, my gaze boring into his. Beads of sweat formed on my browas I channeled the immense energy, directing it like a laser beam into Steven’s mind. “Steven, tell me what happened to Joy earlier tonight when she disappeared.” My voice was low and commanding, infused with the irresistible force of my will.

As I pushed my power toward him, I felt an invisible barrier push back against me, resisting any intrusion. It was the same strange sensation I had encountered when I tried to compel information out of Freddie, but this time it was even stronger and more malevolent. A cold, evil presence emanated from Steven’s mind, chilling me to the bone as if I had plunged my brain into a vat of liquid nitrogen.

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