Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Rocco
Asshole.
That’s what I was. A goddamn asshole. All because of fucking Angelo Santi.
I leaned against the closed door at the end of the hallway, my chest tight. The muffled sound of applause drifted from the ballroom behind me. The toast. I’d slipped out during the toast, when the lights were down and everyone’s attention was on Julienne.
I stole the keys out of Selena’s purse.
I was breaking her heart. Again.
But it was better this way. She needed to move on. Find someone else. Someone who wasn’t a disaster wrapped in a tuxedo. Someone who wouldn’t use her and leave her wondering what the hell happened.
Except the thought of her being with anyone else made my fangs lengthen, pressing against my lower lip.
She’s not yours, I reminded myself. You made sure of that.
I shoved off the outside door. Evening air rushed over me, cool against my skin. The party noise faded behind me as I headed for Iris Hall, where Julienne Piaget’s office was located.
I slipped between the magnolia trees, moving silently through the manicured grounds of Red Rose Academy. I’d walked these grounds just a few years ago when I was a prince. Back when my future stretched out before me, full of promise. Back when I still believed I deserved good things.
Now I was just a thief in a borrowed tuxedo.
I thought I heard a twig crack and whirled around. I looked back toward the outside door but I didn’t see anyone.
Fuck. Just fucking move.
I reached the hall and glanced over my shoulder to see if anyone was following me, but only magnolia tree branches fluttered in the wind. I took a deep breath and forced myself to focus on the damn mission.
This time I was saving Mom, but no one would ever know.
Except the bastard forcing me to do this.
I slipped the first of Selena’s keys into the lock and let myself inside the hall. The door clicked shut behind me, the sound too loud in the silence.
I froze.
Footsteps. Behind me. Maybe.
I narrowed my eyes, pressing myself against the wall. Dante? Trystan? Someone who’d noticed me slip away?
I scanned the shadowed corridor, every sense on high alert.
Nothing.
No movement.
No heartbeat except my own.
Maybe I was just being paranoid. Or maybe someone was better at hiding than I was at looking.
I forced myself to move.
The last thing I wanted was a fight. I just wanted to grab the damn shard, get back to the party, and take Selena home. Pretend this night had been nothing more than a date. Pretend I wasn’t the worst thing that had ever happened to her.
This fucking nightmare should be over by midnight.
Then Angelo could stuff the damn shard up his fucking ass.
According to Angelo, Julienne’s office was on the second floor. Room nineteen.
I raced up the stairs, taking them two at a time, my footsteps silent on the marble. The hallway stretched before me, dark and empty, moonlight filtering through tall windows.
Room nineteen. End of the hall.
I tried the second key. It didn’t fit. I tried the third. It turned with a soft click.
More footsteps.
I bared my fangs, muscles coiled to fight. But the corridor was empty. Nothing but shadows and silence.
Maybe it was my imagination. Maybe guilt was making me paranoid.
Or maybe someone was following me and I was about to get caught.
I slipped into the office and eased the door shut behind me, barely breathing.
The room was elegant—dark wood furniture, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, a massive desk near the window. It smelled like old paper and jasmine. Julienne’s space, through and through.
Angelo had said it was a shard. Said I would know it when I saw it. Helpful as always.
I scanned the bookshelves first, running my fingers along the spines.
Leather-bound volumes, ancient texts, nothing that looked like a magical artifact.
I moved around the desk, checking drawers, rifling through papers.
Nothing but schedules and correspondence and framed photographs of Costin—smiling, serious, caught mid-laugh.
The perfect husband. The perfect life.
I shoved the drawer shut harder than I meant to.
Where was the damn thing?
“What are you doing in here?”
I jumped back, my fangs extended, my fists up.
Selena stepped into the moonlight.
I immediately lowered my fists. “Did you follow me?”
“You left me at the dance.” She grabbed her keys off the desk. “And stole these from me. Why?” Her voice cracked. “I want to know why?”
Moonlight shone in her eyes—the hurt, the pain, the betrayal.
“Is this why you asked me out?”
The words hit me like a blade between the ribs. Because the answer was yes. That was exactly why I’d asked her out. And seeing the hurt in her eyes—knowing I’d put it in there, again—made me want to tear myself apart.
But I couldn’t tell her the truth. Not without signing my mother’s death warrant.
I looked away and stared out the window. From here I could see Crimson Stakes, and my fingers ached to strangle Angelo’s neck.
“Rocco, answer me.” Selena stepped in front of me, blocking my view. “Look at me. Tell me the truth.”
She deserved an answer. “I’m sorry. I didn’t have a choice.”
She stared at me then folded her arms across her chest. “Angelo Santi?”
I didn’t want to pull her down that rabbit hole. The less she knew, the better.
But she was holding the keys I’d stolen from her purse, staring at me with eyes that demanded an answer. There was no lie good enough to explain this away. She’d caught me. I owed her something real.
“I need to find the Lapis Umbrae.”
Her anger shifted—replaced by something sharper. Alarm. “You mean the sacred shard?”
I sighed. “If that’s what you want to call it.”
She put her hand on her chest. “That’s not what I call it, jerk—it’s what Costin calls it. The shard protects Julienne. If you steal it...” She shoved me hard. “He’ll fucking kill you, idiot.”
“If I don’t steal it, Angelo will send Enzo to murder my mother.”
She gasped and put her hand over her mouth. “You’re not serious?”
“Yeah, I am.” I met her eyes, letting her see everything—the fear, the desperation, the rage. “Do you think I really want to work for that fucking asshole? I don’t have a choice, Selena. This is the only way I can save my mom.”
The anger drained out of her face, replaced by something worse. Understanding. Her lips parted, her eyes widening as the pieces fell into place. She looked at me the way you look at someone who’s drowning—desperate to help, terrified you can’t.
“We could tell Costin and Julienne. They could—“
“Start a war.” I cut her off. “Why do you think I’m here, Selena? Angelo knows that. He couldn’t get his paws dirty. He needed a patsy to go in.” I slammed my palm against my chest. “Me. Someone who had nothing to lose. Someone who was labeled a traitor. Someone who was expendable.”
She gritted her teeth. “The bastard...”
“Do you know where the shard is?”
“I’m not going to tell you, Rocco.” Her voice softened. “You’re not expendable.”
But she gave herself away. Her gaze fell on a painting of Costin hanging on the wall behind me.
There it is.
I headed over to it.
Something surged through my chest — not triumph, not exactly. Relief. The kind that made my knees weak. One shard. One handoff to Angelo. And then I could disappear back into my miserable life and my mother would be safe.
She grabbed my arm. “Rocco, no.”
“I’m not going to let my mom die.” I jerked free of her grip and took down the painting. Behind it was a safe.
Fuck.
Selena paced behind me, her heels clicking a restless rhythm on the hardwood. Every few steps she paused at the window, peering through the glass like she expected someone to come through the door any second.
I glanced over at her. “Tell me the combination.”
“No.”
The word hit me like a slap. I grabbed her shoulders, my fingers digging into the soft curve of muscle and bone, and pulled her close until our faces were inches apart.
Her eyes widened—not with fear, but with that stubborn, infuriating defiance that made me want to shake her and kiss her in equal measure.
“Tell me the fucking combination.”
She struggled beneath my grip, her hands pressing flat against my chest, pushing back. But she didn’t look away. Didn’t flinch. Her jaw was set, her eyes blazing, and I could feel her pulse hammering beneath my fingers—fast, furious, but steady.
“I’m not going to let you die.”
I wanted to stay angry—needed the anger, needed the fire, because without it there was only fear and I couldn’t afford fear right now.
My fingers bit into her shoulders. “So you’d let my mother die?”
Panic bloomed in her eyes—not from my grip, but from the accusation. I watched it land, watched it cut, and hated myself for throwing it at her. But my mother’s face flashed behind my eyes, and the guilt burned hotter than the shame.
“No.” Her gaze held mine like iron. “We have to tell Costin. It’s the only way.”
I stared into her eyes, searching for a crack. A hesitation. Anything I could pry open and exploit.
There was nothing. She’d made up her mind, and no amount of pleading or threatening or breaking apart in front of her was going to change it.
I released her shoulders and stepped back, my hands trembling at my sides.
Think, man. Think.
Costin.
That was the key.
I released her. Every student at Red Rose Academy knew Costin’s birthday—it was practically a holiday. I punched it into the keypad.
It didn’t work.
My mother used to talk about Costin and Julienne like they were royalty—which, I suppose, they were. She’d always sent them flowers on their anniversary.
So I punched in the date.
Nothing.
Then I smiled. I remembered something my dad told my brother and me. Something only royalty would know. I pushed the buttons and it clicked—Costin’s birthday. His real birthday. When he was human.
The safe swung open.
The Lapis Umbrae shard sat on a velvet cushion inside a crystal cloche, no bigger than my thumb — dark as obsidian, veined with threads of deep violet light that pulsed like a heartbeat.
The glow cast strange shadows on the walls of the safe, and the air around it hummed with a low, almost inaudible vibration that I felt more than heard.
My chest loosened for the first time all night. This was it. My mother's life, sitting on a velvet pillow.
“Rocco, no.” She grabbed my arm.
I broke free. “I’m taking it. There’s nothing you can do about it.”
“Yes, there is.” She ran toward the door. “I’m going to tell Costin. I won’t let you die.”
I beat her to the door before she could open it and placed my palm flat against it. “No, you’re not.”
“Rocco, let me pass.”
I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her against me. My fangs extended, and I bit her on the neck, sucking hard.
“Rocco, stop.” She pounded on my chest, trying to break free.
Her blood was intoxicating—hot and sweet, staining my lips and chin—and something ancient and primal roared to life between us. Electric. Overwhelming. Too much. Too fast. Her struggles weakened as the taste of her consumed me.
God, I really was a bastard.
I looked down at Selena in my arms. Her head lolled against my chest, her dark hair spilling across my sleeve.
Blood—her blood—smeared across her neck in two thin lines, already starting to slow.
Her face was pale, her lips parted, her breathing shallow.
She looked fragile. Breakable. Nothing like the fierce woman who’d been pounding against my chest seconds ago.
What the fuck had I just done?
I had only one choice.
I fucking called Angelo.
He answered on the first ring, like he’d been waiting. “Did you get it?”
“Yes.” I could still taste her blood on my lips. “But we have a problem.”
Pause.
“What kind of problem?”
“Selena caught me, and she’s threatening to tell Costin.”
Silence stretched across the line. Then, in that voice that made even the fiercest vampire quiver: “That’s unfortunate.”
That’s unfortunate. Like she was a broken vase. Like she was an inconvenience to be swept away. My grip tightened on the phone until I heard the case crack.
“I’m not going to kill her, Angelo. Don’t even ask.”
“I wasn’t going to.” His tone was almost amused. “Dead bodies raise questions. But you’re going to have to take her with you.”
Take her with me. Drag her deeper into this nightmare—the woman I’d already bitten, betrayed, and used as a pawn. Every step I took made it worse for her.
But leaving her here meant Costin would find her in Julienne’s office with an empty safe and blood on her neck. She’d take the fall. And Costin wasn’t known for his mercy.
“Where?”
“My houseboat. The Sangue Reale. It’s docked in the bayou. Dimitri can’t drive you there—someone might see you.”
He rattled off the directions. I committed them to memory, my teeth grinding hard enough to crack.
“And Rocco?” Angelo’s voice dropped. “Don’t disappoint me. Your mother is counting on you.”
The line went dead.
I stood there for a moment, phone in hand, staring at Selena’s unconscious form on the floor. Her dark hair fanned out around her. The bite mark on her neck was already healing, but I could still see the faint imprint of my fangs.
I’d done that. I’d bitten my mate. Knocked her out. And now I was going to kidnap her.
Monster, a voice whispered in my head. You’re no better than the demon that possessed you.
I shoved the phone in my pocket and grabbed the Lapis Umbrae from the safe. It pulsed faintly in my palm, warm and humming with ancient power. I tucked it inside my jacket, against my chest.
Then I lifted Selena over my shoulder, one arm locked around her thighs to keep her steady. She was lighter than I expected. Or maybe the adrenaline made her feel that way.
I slipped out the window and dropped to the ground below, landing in a crouch. The night air was thick with the scent of magnolias and the distant thrum of music from the party.
They’d notice she was missing soon. They’d notice I was gone.
I had to move.
I took off across the grounds, using every ounce of vampire speed I had. Trees blurred past. The wind roared in my ears. Selena’s body bounced against my shoulder with every stride.
It was going to take all night to get to the bayou, even running flat out.
And I just hoped she didn’t wake up before I got there.