Page 18 of Crown of Blood and Vengeance

“Well, it’s a dangerous game you’re playing. Just be careful that you don’t find yourself the loser.” Her voice was gentle but her grip on my thigh tightened with warning. “Sometimes the price of survival is higher than we expect.”

“I know.” Besides my soul, what else would I lose before this was over?

Balthazar opened the door. “Our special guest is here.”

The moment Steve walked in, my world cracked. I wanted to burst into tears. Steve DuPont—my big brother, my heart’s guardian—stood there with his usual scarf over his head like some motorcycle gang member, but the dark suit he wore was all wrong. Steve never wore suits. It was like seeing a wolf in a collar. His blue eyes, usually sharp with laughter and mischief, were glossy and vacant. Obviously, he was still possessed, still a puppet in Balthazar’s cruel game.

My throat closed up as memories flooded back—Steve appearing at Shadowmoon Plantation where I was held. Balthazar had forced him to use his magic to lure victims there, each one dying because of Angelo’s supposed bloodlust. But this wasn’t Steve—not the man who’d stood between me and danger more times than I could count, who’d shared blood and brotherhood with me throughout my childhood. NowBalthazar was using him again, twisting him into something unrecognizable just to force me to learn cloaking.

The question burning in my mind was why? What game was Balthazar playing? If I could just figure it out, maybe I could get another message to Angelo. But looking into Steve’s empty eyes, seeing the hollow shell of my brother, my protector—it felt like someone was carving out my heart with a dull blade, twisting deeper with each passing second.

Chapter

Nine

Serenity

I restedmy head in my hands then scrubbed my face. The sulfurous air of hell made my skin prickle, a constant reminder of how far I was from Earth…from Angelo. Damn, Balthazar. It was as if he was obsessed with the DuPonts. There had to be a reason. I dropped my arms and leaned back against the sofa, its leather unnaturally warm against my back—everything in hell burned, a stark contrast to the cool touch I longed for..

“I see you’re disappointed,” Balthazar drawled. He lounged across from me like some infernal rock god, his long black hair falling in silken waves past his bare shoulders. The leather pants rode low on his hips, his exposed torso a masterpiece of sculptured muscle that would make Renaissance artists weep. The perfect features of his face twisted into a smile that would make most humans sell their souls on the spot—and many had.

Julienne reached over and clasped my hand, her vampiric touch blessedly cool against hell’s perpetual heat. She squeezed it, trying to give me reassurance, but the only one that could do this for me was Angelo. Who knew where he was up on Earth?The vampire who held my heart was an entire dimension away, and I missed him so much my chest felt hollow.

Don’t cry Don’t cry Don’t cry.

Balthazar fed on tears, enjoyed watching people suffer, and I wouldn’t give this beautiful bastard that satisfaction.

Steve stood there like a statue, not moving. He didn’t drool, he didn’t glance at me, didn’t show a single sign of life. The emptiness in his eyes made my stomach turn—he was as lifeless as a mannequin in a department store window.

Balthazar reached past Julienne and patted my knee, his touch burning through my jeans like a brand. “Are you ready to begin your lesson?”

I braced my shoulders, my muscles coiling tight enough to snap. Uncontrollable anger surged through me, hot and bitter as bile in my mouth. I wanted to scream and tell him to go fuck himself, to rip that smug smile off his perfect face—but the memory of Shannon’s blood splattering the floor from last lesson froze the words on my tongue. I couldn’t watch Balthazar tear out Steve’s throat like he had Shannon’s because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.

Julienne gave me a sad look, the kind reserved for watching someone sign their own death warrant. Maybe that’s exactly what I was doing. But getting back to Angelo was worth any price—even if that price was pieces of my soul.

I reluctantly pushed myself off the couch, each step toward Steve feeling like I was wading through quicksand. He was so still I didn’t even know if he was breathing. My fingers trembled as I clasped his hand—ice cold, corpse cold. The question hit me like a punch to the gut: was he even human anymore? Had his soul leaked away like smoke, the way Louis’ had?

I bit my lip hard enough to taste copper and released him, trying to ignore how my hand shook.

Balthazar studied me, his eyes glittering with something that made my skin crawl. “If you’re wondering if his soul’s intact, it is.”

I wasn’t sure I believed him. Balthazar was a house of lies, each one more seductive than the last. Every word from his perfect mouth could be poison wrapped in honey.

He clasped my arm, his touch burning like frostbite on my skin. “For this lesson, I want you to draw on your power and say ‘Tenebris Velare’—‘tenebris’ means shadows, and ‘velare’ means to conceal or veil. As you speak the words, picture wrapping Steve DuPont in darkness.”

I eyed him warily, dread coiling in my stomach. The spell had to do more than just cloak someone—and I now knew it was likely to tear away a piece of my soul with each use. My mind raced, searching for an anchor against the darkness. Angelo’s face bloomed in my thoughts, and with it came a surge of pure, fierce love. That was my weapon. Something clean and bright that Balthazar, for all his power, couldn’t touch or understand. Maybe it was strong enough to shield my soul from whatever darkness lurked in his lessons.

I took a deep breath, tasting sulfur and ash. On the couch, Julienne sat ramrod straight, coiled like a spring ready to snap. Her ancient vampire eyes never left my face, watching... waiting. Was she ready to stop me if the spell corrupted me? If I went dark side like so many others probably had?

“Say it, Nephilim. Draw on your power.” Balthazar’s words slithered through the air like smoke.

I wanted to tell Steve I was sorry, but I didn’t know if he could hear me through whatever prison held his mind. But what if he could? What if he was screaming inside, trapped in his own body?

Angelo would know. His handsome face flashed in my mind. I could almost feel his lips next to my ear whispering that I was his and he would protect me.

Angelo, where are you?

The moment his name crossed my mind, my heart fluttered like a caged canary. Tingles swept over my skin, and warmth bloomed through my chest as if his strong arms were wrapping around me from across the realms. I tilted my head back, drinking in the phantom embrace, clinging to this thread of connection.

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