Chapter 67
EMBERLINE
Lord Cesare Blackwood crossed the threshold, and the study shrank around him.
He was nearly as tall as Dante, but unlike my husband, he carried himself like the world existed only to serve him.
Darkness clung to his every move, shadows shifting along the edges of his lean form like a mantle of power.
His face was carved with the kind of dangerous beauty that didn’t soften with age; it grew sharper.
Every regal feature was deliberate, like a blade honed to perfection.
And his eyes—almost silver. Calculating. Endless.
He was old. Older than even my uncle. Power emanated outward from him in pounding waves, echoing through my blood, forcing me down, down, down, to my knees.
A true Ancient, then, a thousand years old or more, even though he didn’t look a day over fifty, with the slightest touch of silver at his widow’s peak. Cold, consuming power scraped against my skin like sharpened knives, and he watched my face, expecting me to flinch.
I didn’t.
Dark magic. It had to be.
The rumors were true, then.
Another vampire stopped at the doorway. Broad and tall, he had long pale hair and eyes that glinted green. His gaze narrowed on the soldiers hands, banded around my arms, but he didn’t come any further.
“Stay there, Romulus. This shall only take a moment,” Blackwood commanded and the male dipped his head.
Giovanni’s smile was a thin line of jealousy masked as respect. “Emberline,” he said, as if introducing guests at a dinner party. “Allow me to present Lord Blackwood. From Rome.”
“Well, this is a lucky coincidence,” I said, my tone bored. “You saved me a trip. I was just about to tell my uncle a story. You may want to hear what I have to say.”
Of course, I’d known all about Blackwood’s secret meeting tonight, penciled in on the calendar lying on the desk and just the lucky break we needed tonight.
Giovanni’s eyes narrowed, confusion flickering in their depths before hardening into suspicion. Blackwood, on the other hand, showed his first hint of real emotion, a cruel, fang-ey smile filled with curiosity.
“I remember you.” He approached, and the soldiers holding me prisoner trembled. “You negotiated a trade agreement with your father several years back. I remember being quite,”—his voice dropped as he looked at my boobs—“impressed by your knowledge.”
In an ode to my excellent self-control, I refrained from rolling my eyes.
He should have been impressed. I’d studied trade routes and shipping capacities for months before that meeting. I’d known the details of Blackwood’s operations better than he did, but I’d walked away from that meeting knowing we’d made a deal with the devil.
Blackwood towered over me, and this close, blood hierarchy sent my heart racing, my knees weakening as if they were made of butter. Gods, he was powerful.
“I remember you, too.” I tipped my head back to take in his face. “You had the entire trade committee eating out of the palm of your hand in minutes. I’d never seen anything so masterful.”
Pure pleasure flashed in his eyes, male ego satisfied.
Check and mate, motherfucker.
Giovanni didn’t like where this was going, not one bit. “My niece was just leaving,” he pushed close enough, Blackwood couldn’t ignore him. “You and I have much to discuss… Cesare.”
Blackwood’s silver eyes snapped to my uncle, mouth tight with distaste.
“I don’t wish to burden you with family problems. I’m afraid these past weeks spent with the Dominicos have… been a bad influence on Emberline. Nothing that cannot be put to rights,” Giovanni hurried to add.
“You’re wrong, Uncle.” I lifted my chin. “In fact, I’m thinking quite clearly these days.”
Giovanni’s fingers tightened on the edge of the desk. “Take my niece to the…”
“Please enlighten us with this story of yours, Signora Dominico,” Blackwood interrupted, watching me avidly. “I do enjoy a good family drama. Such riveting entertainment.”
“Trust me, you will like this very much.” I smiled. “My uncle does not have the Basin.”
Silence swamped the room, and the soldier’s sweaty hands slipped against my skin. Giovanni mopped at his brow before he barked out a weak laugh.
“Oh, Emberline,”—he shook his head as if I was delusional—“you’ve gone to such lengths to impress Lord Blackwood, but I’m afraid I must prove to him how pathetic your efforts have been.” He turned to the elder vampire. “I apologize for my niece’s behavior; she is young and foolish.”
Blackwood didn’t laugh.
He didn’t say a word; he just watched.
“You and your band of thieves stole a Basin, I will give you that,” Giovanni crooned, shoulders straightening, once more in total control of the situation. “But not the Basin.”
I widened my gaze to comical proportions. “What are you saying, Uncle?”
“You stole a decoy,” he was bursting with superiority. “A perfect imitation of the real thing, a rock, lacking any true magic or power. I have the real one under lock and key. Where no one will find it, and so well protected that even if you did, you would never get close enough to touch it.”
His gaze flicked to Blackwood, satisfaction gleaming in his satisfied smile. “I assure you, my lord, I have hidden the Basin in the last place these traitors would ever think to look.”
I threw my head back and laughed, the sound cracking through the study, sharp and bright like a slap in the face.
“Oh, sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Do you mean,”—I shook my head, trying to catch my breath,—“in the DiRavello mausoleum? Is that where you hid the real Basin, Uncle?”
Silence stretched between us, my grin filled with such victorious certainty, his face fell.
“By the way, your protections were pathetic.” I shook my head in mock disappointment. “Twelve hired soldiers and a few Ashbound. Honestly, I expected more, given your entire scheme rests on that artifact.” I turned to our still-silent companion.
“Isn’t that right, Lord Blackwood?” The guards beside me were shaking, the scent of their fear sour. “He promised you the Basin, and now he’s lost it.”
Giovanni had gone still, something shining in his eyes I couldn’t remember ever seeing before—fear.
Blackwood’s head swiveled slowly toward my uncle, the air in the room tightening like a noose. One of the soldiers actually whimpered.
“Is any of this true?” he asked in a velvet whisper that sent ice down my spine. This was the kind of male that ended dynasties with a click of his fingers, and right now, the brunt of his rage was focused on a male he didn’t like or respect.
It was thrilling, actually.
Except for the part where I could become collateral damage.
I half expected his henchmen—Romulus—to get involved, but he stayed right where he was, watching avidly from the hall.
“She’s bluffing.” Gio’s voice was high. “Trying to sow doubt between us. She can’t be trusted, she would say anything…”
“Oh, please.” I shifted slightly in the soldiers’ grip.
“I’m his favorite niece, and he’s tried to kill me twice.
My uncle has no loyalty to blood, no loyalty to family.
If he would sell me out, what do you think he will do to you?
Of course,”—I shrugged—“if you didn’t vet your business partner better than this, then I suppose you get what you deserve. ”
The air cracked in half. Darkness surged, violent and suffocating, the narrow space between us shrinking down to nothing as Blackwood lunged, hand outstretched, reaching for my throat.
He was so fast, the soldiers didn’t have time to react.
Neither did I.
But someone else was even faster.
Nico’s shadows exploded through the room, swallowing up the light in a single, heart-stopping second. They curled around me, cold and familiar and safe, slipping between the soldiers and me, ripping me away from Blackwood.
A strong arm locked around my waist, yanked me out of the warm study and into a rush of cold air. Then we were flying over Venice, far away from the palazzo.
“I’ve got you,” Nico murmured, his shaking voice low against my ear. “I’ve got you, Emberline. That bastard will never touch you.”
But his whole body was trembling, so I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him close.