Page 73 of Beast of Blood and Roses
“I’m not lying, Angelo.” I remained calm despite the ice forming in my chest. “Trystan’s standing right here, and he can vouch for where I’ve been.”
Rosalie’s hand found mine, squeezing gently, as Santi family politics crashed back into our newfound happiness.
Chapter Forty-Two
Aurora
Fierro handed the phone to Trystan. I couldn’t stop shaking, my entire body trembling as if I were freezing. Angelo Santi had always terrified me, even when I didn’t know he was a vampire. And now I realized he was Fierro’s boss—the most feared man on Bourbon Street, the one whose very presence could silence an entire room.
I’d served him drinks countless times at the casino, watched him conduct “business meetings” that left grown men pale and sweating. I’d seen the way everyone deferred to him, the way conversations died when he walked by. Now I knew why.
“Yeah, Angelo,” Trystan said into the phone, his voice carrying the authority of an alpha addressing an equal. “You’re not going to believe this, but the creature in the bayou, the beast everyone’s been talking about? That was Fierro. He was cursed.”
My stomach clenched as I listened to Trystan exposeeverything so casually. What if Angelo didn’t believe him? What if this made things worse for Fierro?
He glanced over at Tinker Bell, who watched the conversation with mild interest. “Tinker Bell,” he confirmed. “Yeah, the witch.”
I followed his gaze to Tinker Bell, who watched the conversation with mild interest. Even after everything she’d done for us—lifting the curse, revealing my true identity—something about her still made me nervous. She was too powerful, too unpredictable.
He shook his head at whatever Angelo was saying. “No, Enzo’s definitely not here. We would have smelled him the moment he stepped foot on this property. Trust me, I don’t know where the hell he and Joy are hiding.”
I pressed closer to Fierro, seeking comfort in his solid presence as my past and present collided in the most terrifying way possible.
“Go bother Rankin with your problems. He’s the one who keeps track of every lowlife in the city.”
I felt my blood turn to ice. Rankin? Did he mean Keir Rankin? I’d served him once at Crimson Stakes. He was almost too beautiful to be real: white hair like spun silver and those incredible blue eyes that seemed to change color with the light. I’d thought he was just another wealthy customer, but now...
A bone-deep weariness bubbled up inside me. How many supernatural creatures had I unknowingly served? How many dangerous beings had I been completely oblivious to while I poured their drinks and took their orders?
The thought that I’d been surrounded by monsters my entire working life—vampires, wolves, who knew what else—and never realized it made me feel sick to my stomach.
Fierro picked up my hand and kissed my knuckles, his lips warm against my cold skin. “Are you okay? You look pale.”
His soft kiss sent shivers through me despite everything we’d just been through. It was strange seeing him like this, human, vulnerable, so different from the beast I’d fallen in love with. I rubbed my slick forehead with my free hand, trying to process everything. “All of this is… is just too overwhelming.”
Trystan handed the phone back to Fierro, his expression grim. “He hung up. I wouldn’t want to be in Enzo’s shoes. Angelo considers him a traitor.”
I thought about Enzo—stern but fair, unlike Angelo’s cruel unpredictability. The idea of him being branded a traitor troubled me more than I expected. If Angelo was turning on his own enforcers, if even Enzo wasn’t safe, what did that mean for Fierro?
Fierro didn’t make a comment. I could feel him stiffen next to me.
Tinker Bell held up The Witch’s Heart, its dual colors catching the light. “Trystan, you won’t be getting this. I plan on bringing it home where it belongs.”
Trystan’s ice-blue eyes narrowed dangerously, his alpha authority bristling at being dismissed. My breath caught in my throat. For a moment, I thought Trystan might actually challenge her, and I had no idea what would happen if two beings that powerful clashed. When he shrugged it off, I realized I’d been holding my breath, but the tension in the air still crackled dangerously.
But then he shrugged with casual arrogance. “I’ll let you have it this time, witch.”
Tinker Bell’s eyebrows rose, and there was something deadly in her smile. “Let me?”
“You heard me.” Trystan flashed her a debonair smile.
The air between them crackled with magical tension as if even the slightest spark could ignite a powder keg.
But then Trystan began to shift back into his magnificent wolf form, and this time I could see the entire transformation in vivid detail. His bones cracked and popped as they reformed, the sound echoing through the destroyed living room like breaking branches. His muscles stretched and bulged beneath his skin as his human frame expanded into something far more primal and powerful.
His face elongated into a lupine muzzle, his teeth becoming razor-sharp fangs. White fur erupted across his skin in waves, covering his massive form until he stood before us as the enormous alpha wolf I’d first seen attack us weeks ago. His ice-blue eyes remained the same—intelligent, calculating, and still holding that arrogant confidence.
He was truly magnificent in his wolf form, pure lethal beauty. Even knowing how dangerous he was, I was awed by the sight.
