Page 54 of Fratelli: Eternal Bloodlines

“Of course, the brothers are waiting for you,” Phoenix said.

She held her hands out before her. Phoenix put cuffs on her wrists, crafted from the same crystalized magic that had created the net. He was careful not to touch her.

Sonya smirked.

“Touching me is like a dream come true,” she teased. “Isn’t it, Shakespeare?”

“Fuck you!” Shakespeare sneered.

“Maybe later,” she winked. “I prefer you do me than Raven.”

Raven's brow arched over the rejection.

“She is reading your fucking minds, idiots. Stop with the games and letting her in. You can’t beat her that way,” warned Phoenix.

“Put her in the trunk, since she lacks the respect we showed her. Let’s teach her some manners on the drive back to the hotel,” Phoenix ordered Raven.

Raven gave her a psychic push that she tolerated. Sonya walked to the back of the car and climbed into the darkness of the trunk. The lid shut down on her like a coffin.

Phoenix looked down at the concrete. He paused at the sight of the carnage. He picked up the Guardian’s weapon. Shakespeare collected Sophie’s head. He remained weak with grief and regret for how he had treated her.

“Sophie was consumed by her madness. She prophesied that a dark force was coming. It was stupid and insane,” said Raven.

“She wasn’t. She had visions, dreams,” Shakespeare said. “She saw her own death. She said she would die this way. I never listened.”

“We are of the dead. We don’t dream,” replied Phoenix. “It had to be madness over her Draca consuming her. Either way, she is gone. Now you need to pull yourself together. We have a problem here. A big one.”

“I can’t leave her body out here like trash!” Shakespeare shouted at Phoenix and Raven. “I won’t!”

“Fine. Take her to the Venetian and put her in the vault. Then meet us, brother.”

“Why hasn’t she turned to ash?” Raven frowned. “That is the true death.”

“Not if taken by a guardian. She is condemned and her body will rot until the last of the Draca in her fades, and her soul turns to ash.”

Raven's eyes stretched. “Without her head, the Draca lives? Since when. She should be dust.”

“What’s left of the Draca is being preserved by the powers summoned through the darkness. That guardian is the Defender of the Pain. Trust me, there is no coming back from her judgment. Shakespeare, you are fucking lucky. She didn’t take you instead,” said Phoenix.

Shakespeare frowned. Several times during the fight, he felt the guardian hold back when she could have used the baton to end him. He thought it was a weakness. But now he saw it differently.

“The death the Guardian gave her is filled with suffering.” Phoenix looked up at the moon. They could hear the howl of the wolves in the distance. “If we keep fucking up, we might lose control of Vegas. The supernatural’s are on the hunt. Let’s move!”

The consiglieri could see Sophie’s hands twitch, and her face contort with pain, but her eyes remained shut. It scared Shakespeare and Raven to their core. They had not believed all of Phoenix’s stories and teachings. Now they saw proof. There was something worse than the true death by fire. Something much greater.

Shakespeare gave an obedient bow of his head. Phoenix and Raven returned to the car with Sonya in the trunk and sped off into the night.

Chapter 23

The Reckoning

The Pink Pussy - Las Vegas, Nevada

April 17, 2018

(4 Days Before Death)

The three brothershad finally compromised on a meeting location devoid of their consiglieri. They left the Bellagio for the more secure Palazzo Tower. Lucio seemed overly agreeable to the idea. It served him well to keep his brothers away from his lady love, which worried Sebastiano. Despite respecting his older brother as their leader, every warning from their father about the “chosen” one and her potential to destroy and divide the family seemed to be coming true.

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