Page 43 of Their Reckless Thief
And I couldn’t stand it.
But I couldn’t stop it, either.
What the fuck have you done to me, dolcezza?
I needed to fly.
The night airwas sharp against my skin as I soared above the city, the leathery stretch of my wings cutting through the wind with effortless precision. I didn’t call on them often, but tonight, I needed the release, the solitude.
The Below spread beneath me, a chaotic sprawl of districts and territories with neon lights shimmering against ancient stone. It was a strange place, a world carved out between realms, blending magic and vices into one seething underworld. My territory, the eastern sector, stretched out beneath me like a kingdom, the jagged skyline of black-market shops, speakeasies, and clubs. The Styre River wound like a dark serpent through it all, splitting The Below into sections as it flowed from the center of my lands toward the edges where The Shadow’s territory loomed.
Up here, above it all, I had a clear view of everything.
I banked left, gliding silently over the river, scanning the city as if I could find some tangible explanation for the mess I was in. Borders shifting, Phantomine overdoses, women disappearing. It was all spinning out of control. The Shadow was pulling strings, slipping into my territory like a ghost, and no one had yet figured out how. Not even Luca.
As I passed over the narrowest stretch of the Styre, something caught my eye. It wouldn’t have, were it not so out of place.
There, in the distance, near the riverbank, a figure moved in the shadows. Winged, like me, but smaller. Sleeker. They were gliding low, barely above the water, moving with purpose. My gut twisted as I slowed my flight, watching as the creature dropped something into the river.
What the fuck was that?
I hovered above, my wings beating softly to keep me aloft. The creature—some kind of stealth flyer, dark and scaled—disappeared into the night, but my eyes stayed on the water below. There it was. A small, dark package drifting downstream. It was heading toward the lake that bordered my territory.
I watched as the package floated lazily toward a dock at the far edge of the lake. Three figures waited there. As soon as the package neared the shore, they were on it, pulling it from the water with practiced ease.
I gritted my teeth. That river?My river.That dock?My dock.And yet, somehow, I had no idea what was happening right under my nose.
Fury flared inside me, burning away the calm that had just begun to settle. These bastards were dead. They just didn’t know it yet.
I folded my wings and dived, the rush of wind filling my ears as I hurtled toward the dock. When I landed, the force of it cracked the wooden planks beneath me. The men froze. The package in their hands fell to the ground with a loud thud, but their attention wasn’t on that anymore.
It was on me.
“What the fuck?” one of them gasped, eyes wide with terror.
They knew exactly who I was. And they knew they were about to die.
“Vincenzo—” the one closest to the package stammered.
In a flash, I was on him, my hand tightening around his throat. His feet kicked futilely at the air as I lifted him, watchingthe life drain from his eyes. I could hear his heart pounding, erratic and desperate. I tightened my grip just a fraction, shattering his windpipe, then tossed his lifeless body into the water.
The others scrambled, but I didn’t give them a chance. I lashed out with a speed they couldn’t dream to match. The second man dropped before he even knew what hit him, his skull cracking against the wood beneath my boot. Blood splattered across the dock, staining the worn planks.
The third one, though, tried to run. Idiot.
I spread my wings wide, propelling myself forward, and cut him off before he could take two steps. Grabbing him by the collar, I slammed him into the dock. His eyes bulged with panic, and his breath came in sharp, terrified bursts.
“Talk,” I growled, my voice low and dangerous. “What’s in the package? Where’s it coming from?”
The man’s lips quivered, his eyes darting frantically as if looking for an escape. “I–I don’t know! I just follow orders. I swear I don’t know!”
I could hear the truth in his words, the fear vibrating through his pathetic body. Useless.
I slammed his head against the dock again, knocking him out cold, then ripped the package open. I wasn’t surprised by what I found. Bags of fake Phantomine. I clenched my jaw as I stared down at the vials of purple liquid, the synthetic filth that had been spreading like poison through my territory and killing my people. To the untrained eye, it looked like the real thing, but I immediately noticed the subtle difference in shade, and the slightly thicker consistency of the liquid.
I should’ve known. This shit was moving faster than I’d anticipated.
These men were only the last link in the chain. Whoever was behind this was smarter.Killing these fools wouldn’t stopanything. There were thousands more of them waiting to take up their roles. No. I needed to go to the source.
