Page 20 of The Curse of Blood and Silenc

Chapter

Ten

Serenity

When I woke up,my skull felt like it had been bouncing around a pinball machine. Sunlight streamed through the barred window, sending fresh spikes of pain through my temples, and I winced.

“I’m sorry Gage hit you,” Balthazar said softly. It sounded like he was right next to me.

I scrambled to the other side of the bed, my heart pounding. The sudden movement made the room spin. Balthazar sat beside the bed, staring at me with those unsettling eyes. His long black hair flared over his muscular shoulders and once again, he was shirtless. His legs were crossed and he had on a pair of jeans. High black boots hugged his calves. The casual pose didn’t fool me—there was nothing casual about being locked in a room with him.

“I didn’t mean to frighten you, beautiful.” He sighed, and regret crossed his face. “Gage hit you before I could stop him. It was my fault.”

The acrid smell of smoke still hung in the sparse room, a reminder of my failed escape attempt. Through the barred window, Cypress trees draped with Spanish moss swayed in the breeze. Somewhere in the distance, a bird called out across the bayou. I was miles from civilization, miles from help.

Miles from Angelo.

I clutched the blanket tightly, trying to hide the way my hands shook. “What are you doing here, Balthazar?”

He shrugged, the movement making his muscular shoulders ripple. “Protecting you. What else?”

“From…?”

“You didn’t think Gage would be content with just hitting you once, did you?” Something dark flashed in his eyes.

I thought of Gage’s threat, and fear jumped into my heart. “He won’t kill me, will he?”

Balthazar walked over to the window and peered out, his reflection ghostly in the morning light. “No. At least… Not yet.” A bird’s cry echoed across the bayou, as if in warning.

His broad back blocked my view. “What’s going on out there? What’s happening?” I asked fearfully.

He turned back to me, and for a moment, the way the sunlight caught his face made him look almost angelic. But I knew his beauty was a mask for something ancient and deadly. “Nothing that concerns you.”

Another lie. But instead of confronting him, I changed the subject, trying to ignore how my head pounded with each heartbeat. “What did you mean when you said I had to be willing to heal the crystal?”

“Tell me...” His voice dropped lower, more intimate as he moved closer. The air seemed to thicken at his nearness. “When you healed the Aeternum Stone, did Angelo force you?”

The memory rose up sharp and clear—Angelo revealing how the stone was all that stood between him and Dracula’svengeance. He hadn’t begged, hadn’t threatened. Just spoke a truth I couldn’t bear: his death if the stone failed. Angelo was a killer, a monster by any human standard. But the thought of him being destroyed had left my heart aching with a fear deeper than any moral judgment.

I shook my head. “No, I wanted to.”

“Because you love him?” His lips curved into a wicked smile. “Sweet, but your love won’t save him if he tries to interfere. I could end him with a thought.”

His words made me uneasy and I didn’t respond. The way he watched me—like he could see right through my silence—made my skin crawl. He moved with the fluid grace of a creature that had had centuries to perfect its predatory movements.

“Why didn’t Gage kill me?”

“Because I told him I could teach you how to use your powers to heal the Crystal.” He grinned, and there was nothing human in that expression. “That is, if you wanted to.”

“That’s why you want to teach me? So I can heal the Crystal?”

He chuckled, the sound turning my insides to ice. “Not exactly. I couldn’t care less who is wolf king. Trystan, Gage, it means nothing to me.” He traced a finger idly along the window bars.

“Then why?”

Balthazar turned to me and ran a finger along my jawline, his touch electric against my skin. “Because you’re a Nephilim and possess power that I want. Your father... He’s quite something, isn’t he? All that celestial blood running through your veins. So much power, just waiting to be unleashed.” He leaned closer, his breath ghosting across my cheek. “Don’t you want to know who your father was? What you really are? I could show you things Angelo never dreamed of.”

My heart slammed against my ribs. After years of questions, someone finally had the answer. “You know my father?” The words came out raw, desperate. “Is he a demon?”

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