Page 127 of Fratelli: Eternal Bloodlines

Sonya shifted her eyes to Shakespeare. She noticed the tight clench and release of his fists. His body tensed like a coiled spring, ready to protect her at any cost. But she knew—this was no ordinary fight. He would be outmatched, and she wouldn’t stand idly by.

Phoenix came to a halt. The wicked curve of his lips twisted into a smirk that sent ice through her veins.

From the shadows, two more figures stepped into view. Cloaked in darkness, they flanked Phoenix on either side. Sonya’s frown deepened; her pulse hammered in her ears. To Phoenix’s right, Raven stood—a ghostly figure with skin so pale it looked drained of life. His throat was a grotesque ruin, slashed and barely held together by what appeared to be jagged stitches,as if death had claimed him and then carelessly returned him, pieced back together. Head nailed to his shoulders.

“Sophie,” Shakespeare muttered, voice taut with disbelief.

Sonya’s gaze snapped to the other figure. Sophie stood on Phoenix’s left. She was slow to lower her hood, her face and throat stitched together in a macabre imitation of life. Dark lines crisscrossed her skin, and pulled her features into something both beautiful yet horrifying, as if Phoenix had crafted her from broken parts.

Phoenix’s smile widened. A twisted triumph gleamed in his eyes. His creations, sewn from the dead, stood before them as a mockery of life itself.

“We’ve been waiting,” Phoenix drawled.

A warmth radiatedthrough Domencio’s chest. It cut through the oppressive darkness that had choked the life from him. His body relaxed. The compression lifted from his soul as cool relief surged through his veins and freed his lungs. He gasped for air, his limbs trembled, and the sensation returned.

When his eyes blinked open, he expected to see Darlene—he thought she had come back for him. But it wasn’t her.

A young Black woman's face hovered over him. She had a kind face that, though young, and worn from a hard life, her clothes tattered and strange, as if she’d stepped out of another time. There was something about her, something that tugged at the edge of his memory. She smiled. A softness surfaced in her eyes that felt like home.

“Sit up, chile…” her voice carried the weight of familiarity, a gentle command wrapped in warmth. “It’s me. Yo Maman. Julia.”

“Maman?” Domencio rasped, disbelief took over his voice. He moved too quick. His muscles screamed as if they’d been crushed beneath a thousand-pound weight. But Julia's touch was warm. It grounded him at the moment. She had come for him.

“Time is short,cher,” she whispered. Her hands steadied him as he struggled to sit. “Mah babies are in danger. All mah babies. Too many dead, too many.”

Domencio’s mind went blank, confusion thick as fog, wrapped around his brain. He couldn’t form words—couldn’t make sense of it. His surrogate mother here, after all this time? How was this possible?

“I have to show you something,” Julia continued, her voice urgent. “Before Legba finds me. Before he knows I’m here. I never meant to lose you, Domencio. Or for the Chosen to be reborn. Mah anger… mah need for vengeance twisted everything. I wanted justice for what Vittorio did. I thought mah boys would bring it, that they’d make him pay. But Legba—he’s no good. He’s a trickster. And I let him fool me.”

Her words rattled him. His mind raced to keep up, his body weak but beginning to recover under her touch.

“Darlene… Dolly… need ya,” she pressed on, her voice rose with urgency. “You’ll all die because of mah mistake. Legba poisoned you through Darlene’s blood. But that’s only part of it. The real threat—he’s out there still.”

Julia helped him to his feet. She found a robe to cover him. He leaned against the cold stone wall, gasping for breath, but he listened intently now.

“You can fight the darkness in you, chile,” she assured him. “Legba’s poison can be purged. But the other—the one who lured me into his trap, into dark magic—he’s the veritable monster. The Phoenix.”

Domencio’s heart stilled at the name. “The Phoenix? You mean our Phoenix?”

She nodded. “The Phoenix hates Vittorio. He blames him for the death of his wife. He’s waited. He killed mah Chosen One. I never knew. He has been the orchestrator the entire time. Walking the crossroads between the old and new Gods—fueling the hatred and war. He’s used old magic with me and mah new magic, to gain this day of revenge. He came to me long ago. Helped me save many of mah enslaved people. Helped me understand the powers of the realm when mah Chosen One would not. And when I made my vow to Papa Legba, Phoenix offered Legba your father and his sons with mah help. I sorry for it chile, for what I did. I sorry.”

“Why? Why wouldhedo it?”

“He wants to unleash the Draquria, to tear open the layer of the universe that keeps the realms separate. To force the world into eternal darkness. If he succeeds there is a chance his wife Aries could return to save this world—since he used those cult people to bring back the guardians. He thinks the great ones, the ancient ones beyond mah understanding would have no choice but to let them return and restore the cosmos. He has been grooming you and your brothers from the very start. Each of you plays a role. Marcello helped create the magic tools that paralyze you now.”

Domencio was rendered speechless. He tried to remember what Marcello had said about Phoenix.

“He used magic to erase me from your hearts. I waited for you in that swamp, hoping you’d come back so I could make a change, amend my evil doings. But you never returned. He made sure of it,” she said sadly. “There was no atonement for me.”

Julia shook her head. Sadness clouded her eyes. “It doesn’t matter now. We’re out of time. Come. I have to show you before it’s too late.”

Chapter 51

The Last One Standing

Vittoria’s Home - Syracuse, Sicily

April 21, 2018

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