Page 54 of The Curse of Blood and Silenc

The fresh blood continued its macabre dance across the sheets:

PRESTO... IL TUO SANGUE SARÀ MIO

Gianna murmured, translating with growing dread. “Soon... Your blood will be mine.” Her eyes widened. “What does that mean?”

“He plans on possessing Serenity,” I said grimly, rage coiling in my gut like a serpent. “Blood possession—one of the oldest, darkest forms of demon magic.”

To take control of another’s blood was to own their very essence, to make them a puppet dancing on crimson strings. It’s what he’d already done to Louis DuPont. I refused to allow him to do the same to Serenity.

“Someone’s feeling theatrical tonight,” Dimitri murmured coldly, eyes fixed on the forming letters. “Though I have to admire the dedication to interior decorating.”

Serenity’s knees buckled, and Enzo slowly released his grip. “Angelo, please. You don’t know what he’s planning. Everything…kidnapping me, sending this message… It’s all part of his twisted game.”

I caught her before she could fall, my grip gentle despite the fury coursing through my veins. The same hands that had thrown Luigi against the wall for failing to protect Serenity.

“Look at me,tesoro.” When she wouldn’t meet my eyes, I tilted her chin up. “Balthazar made one critical mistake.”

“What’s that?” she whispered.

“He forgot who rules this city.” My voice was soft, but it carried all the weight of my sovereignty. “I didn’t become king by showing mercy to traitors.”

More droplets began to surface on the sheets, bleeding upward against gravity to form new words with deliberate, taunting slowness:

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

“Angelo.” Serenity clutched at my shirt, her fingers trembling against the silk. “The others?—”

“Let them come,” I cut her off, wiping a tear from her cheek with a gentleness that belied the murderous rage in my veins. “Every last one of them. Balthazar needs to be reminded why even the oldest vampires kneel in my presence.”

“Well then,” Dimitri drawled, his eyes darkening with bloodlust as he watched the blood letters shimmer in the dim light. “Shall we find out where this big party is going to be held?”

I studied Serenity but she avoided my eyes. “You know where, don’t you?”

“No, I don’t.” She yanked her arm away from me and I released her, noting how her pulse had jumped at the lie.

“Serenity.” I lifted her chin, my thumb gentle against her jaw. “He showed you, didn’t he?”

“No—yes—but you can’t go there, Angelo! I won’t let him kill you.” Her blue eyes filled with fresh tears, confirming my suspicions.

“The confrontation is coming whether you like it or not, Serenity. He wants you just as much as the other kings do—as much as I do,” I said softly, remembering my own obsession when I first saw her. “He might even want you even more. That’s what I have to find out.”

She stared at me for several heartbeats, conflict warring in her lovely eyes. “He said… He said he knew my father. Do you think that’s true?”

I shrugged, though the implications sent ice through my veins. “Possibly. Demons and angels are aware of each other.” She gave me a puzzled look and I drew in a deep breath. “Serenity, surely you know your father has to be an angel. Which one, I’m not sure.”

“Do you think Balthazar’s plan has anything to do with my father?”

I drew her into my arms, breathing in her scent—sunshine and something otherworldly that even all my centuries of existence couldn’t identify. “I don’t know, Serenity. That’s what I have to find out. If I knew his plan, then I’ll know how better to protect you.” I stroked her hair, feeling her tremble against me. “Please. Tell me.”

She braced her shoulders, that stubborn light I’d come to both love and fear entering her eyes. “If I tell you, you have to take me with you.”

“Never.” The word came out like a growl.

She gripped my shirt, her knuckles white with desperation. “Listen to me, Angelo. I was able to make a shield in the library?—”

I wasn’t going to let her be a hundred miles near Balthazar. “Yes, and you also contacted Balthazar unknowingly.” The memory of finding her in that hysterical fit after the dream terrified me.

“But—”

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