Page 22 of Crown of Blood and Vengeance

The world tilted sideways as understanding crashed through me. My face drained of color, skin going cold and clammy as bile burned its way up my throat. My muscles betrayed me, going slack as the fight drained from my body like water through cupped hands. Even breathing felt like an impossible task.

“Execution?” The word came out as barely more than a whisper, my voice cracking on each syllable.

His smile widened, revealing teeth that seemed too sharp in the dim light. “Yes, Angelo will die today at noon.” He paused, savoring my horror like fine wine. “But don’t worry, he won’t die alone. Enzo will join him.”

Each word was another bullet tearing through my gut. Angelo, who’d protected me despite barely knowing me. Enzo, who’d risked everything to help me. Their deaths would be on my conscience, another burden to carry alongside my worry for Joy and Steve. The room spun around me as darkness crept at the edges of my vision. Their faces flashed before me—strangers who’d become unlikely allies in this nightmare.

“Julienne, you better drag our little Nephilim over to the couch.” Balthazar’s voice carried the casual air of someone discussing the weather as he studied me, tilting his head with the mechanical precision of a clockmaker examining broken gears. “She looks like she’s about to pass out. Maybe you should give her some more blood.”

Hot tears carved paths down my cheeks, each one burning with rage and self-loathing. The demon stood there, so callous, so insufferably sure of himself, wearing victory like an emperor’s robes. My fingers curled into claws—I wanted to scratch his eyes out, to tear that smug look from his face. But I couldn’t even dothat. My attempted deception had exploded spectacularly in my face, as if he’d been writing this tragedy all along and I’d just been reading my lines without knowing it. And now Enzo would pay for my failure with his life.

The weight of my catastrophic mistake pressed down on me like a mountain of guilt, making each breath feel like swallowing glass. He’d known—somehow he’d known all along, and I’d walked right into his elaborate game like a pawn thinking itself a queen.

“Make sure she’s ready for her next lesson when I return. I’ll be very put out if she’s not.” His words sank into my consciousness like poison, each revelation spreading through my system until I could barely breathe.

I knew he wouldn’t hurt me—he needed me intact for whatever twisted plans he had brewing. But Julienne... my stomach churned at the thought. He would torture her just like he had Shannon, the memories of that horror still fresh and bleeding in my mind. I could still hear Shannon’s screams as blood cascaded from her ravaged throat, her life force draining away until she was nothing but an empty shell. Or worse, he’d feed Julienne to the hellhounds, their crimson eyes gleaming with infernal hunger—all because of my failure.

Balthazar snapped his fingers, the sharp sound echoing like a gunshot, and disappeared in a whisper of sulfur and shadow.

“I’m sorry, Serenity.” Julienne’s fingers tightened around my hand. Her voice dropped to a whisper as if she were afraid he was listening. “Balthazar wants to possess you, body and soul. This is his way of breaking you down.”

I could sit here drowning in despair, but suddenly Angelo’s face blazed in my mind—his fierce determination, his unwavering strength. He might be captured now, but I knew him. Angelo was a force of nature, unstoppable as a hurricane. He would find a way to escape. He had to.

Something primal awakened inside me, my body going rigid with the effort to contain it. I wouldn’t let his best friend die. Not Enzo. Not while I still had breath in my body and fight left in my soul.

The truth burned like acid in my veins: he played at being king down here in his twisted corner of hell, expecting me to be his obedient little puppet. But he’d learn the hard way—I didn’t break, and I sure as hell didn’t bow. Let him try to control me with fear and guilt. I’d show him exactly how sharp a puppet’s strings could be when they snapped back.

“I’m not going to break like a twig.” My voice came out stronger than I felt, defiance masking the tremor underneath.

“Then what are you going to do?” Her eyes searched mine.

I swallowed hard, my mind racing. “Steven. Maybe I can make him appear just long enough for Enzo to not die. It’s not much, but it will foil his plans.” Even as I said it, I knew how fragile this thread of hope was.

“If you’re worried about me, don’t.” A fleeting, bitter smile ghosted across Julienne’s face, never touching her eyes. “Like you, I’m his pawn. As long as I’m alive and unharmed, Vlad will play along with his game.”

I scrubbed my face with trembling hands, trying to erase the nightmare that wouldn’t end. “If we’re all just pawns to him, what about Joy? Will he still allow Maximo to sell her?” My voice cracked on my best friend’s name, the possibility too horrific to fully comprehend.

Julienne sighed heavily, the sound ancient with sorrow. “Perhaps. Or he will use the threat to control you. He knows that would destroy you completely. Watching Joy vanish into that world of endless darkness...” She left the rest unspoken.

Some part of me knew this might be exactly what Balthazar wanted—this desperate determination—but I didn’t care.Sometimes walking into a trap was better than doing nothing at all.

I braced my shoulders, muscles coiling tight as steel cables, and drew on my power. The Nephilim energy burned through my veins like celestial venom, setting every nerve ending ablaze. Hell’s hounds slammed against the door, their massive bodies making the hinges shriek in protest. Their snarls carried the stench of brimstone and rotting flesh, but I forced myself to focus through the nightmare chorus of their howls.

I reached deeper inside, past the fear, past the exhaustion, into that well of power that marked me as something more than human. It felt like plunging my hands into arctic water, the cold so intense it burned. My vision blurred at the edges, darkness threatening to swallow me whole as I channeled everything I had into making Steve visible.

I believe in you, Angelo.The thought blazed in my mind like a prayer, bright and desperate.Find Joy.My body trembled with the effort, sweat rolling down my temples as I pushed harder, fighting against the limits of my own strength.

Chapter

Twelve

Angelo

Time flies super-fastwhen you’re about to die. The bright New Orleans sun streamed through the barred window, mocking the darkness churning inside me. Guards and Vlad approached my cell, their footsteps echoing off the concrete walls in a death march rhythm. My heart pounded fear through me, cold sweat beading on my neck despite my vampiric nature. My fingers trembled as I clenched them into fists, fangs aching to descend. Death didn’t scare me, but dying did—especially when it included torture.

The biggest regret I had was not seeing Serenity again. My chest constricted at the thought of my mate, our bond pulling tight like a wire about to snap. I failed her. The memory of her smile, her scent, her touch—everything I was about to lose forever—made bile rise in my throat. I just hoped Enzo could free her.

My jaw clenched as I swallowed back a growl of desperation. But even if they ended my physical existence, I wouldn’t truly be gone. My soul would find a way through the barriers of hellitself to reach her. Death wouldn’t be enough to stop me from protecting what was mine. And if I couldn’t break through, all my hope rested with Enzo. He would move heaven and earth to find her—I had to believe that.

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