Chapter 35
NICO
My life as a soldier revolved around order.
Order kept the nightmares at bay and the past firmly locked in place.
Order was the only way the world made sense. And puzzles without solutions went against that order.
For the past twelve hours, I’d been racking my brain, trying to solve this godsdamned puzzle.
Even now, in the middle of the night, I leaned over the balcony, ocean brine coating my now-healed skin, scanning the terrain below. Every cloud that blew past the moon made the ground come alive, my pulse jumping every time I thought I saw something move.
Those guards had been killed by a pair of Drax.
All the signs were there.
The bruises—upon further inspection, both guards had the same mark, the size of a thumbprint—and a concerning lack of injuries. But we’d searched the island, the outbuildings and every inch of the villa and hadn’t come up with a single solid shred of proof.
I peered inwards, let my Truthtelling magic rise, instincts prickling.
The Drax were here. Somewhere.
Nestled deep in a hole or shadow, waiting to creep out and suck us dry.
Nobody was sleeping, and all of us knew it was only a matter of when we found the next body. Which could be any one of us.
Even Emberline.
I shuddered, my stomach churning at the knowledge I’d missed something. The island was bigger than I’d given it credit for, full of small, rocky holes in the coral rock, a million places for one of those little fuckers to hide.
But how had they gotten here in the first place?
I tapped a finger on the railing. That was the real problem Gabriel, Dante, and I had discussed ad nauseam. Being welcomed back into the fold felt good, but if we didn’t figure this out—and fast—we were all fucked.
Rocco was my most likely suspect, but there was no evidence he’d left the island.
One of the Demente soldiers was my second-best guess, but according to Severin, they checked out.
Much like Valeria herself said… this felt like something more sinister at work.
Something I couldn’t quite see, but could feel well enough, at the base of my skull and the pit of my stomach, in the depths of night when I listened for the skittering of claws coming to claim the people I loved.
There was one sure way I could locate the Drax.
And even as I cursed myself for considering this as a viable option, I couldn’t stop returning to the idea, again and again. As the Emissary, I could easily track the little beasts. He would smell them from any distance, reeking like the bowels of the Underworld.
But something else haunted me, a terrible realization only confirmed by my Truthtelling magic.
Once I transformed in this realm, once I fully embraced my fucking destiny, if you wanted to call it that, I was fully committed.
Once I did this, I would become Death’s Emissary.
And I doubted there was any turning back.
I didn’t fully understand what that meant—twelve-year-old me hadn’t exactly read the fine print before signing on the dotted line—but I’d done enough research in libraries all over the world to know I’d be bound by my supernatural oath.
An oath that would require a fuck ton of responsibility.
Would I ferry souls through the veil?
Or would I have to reap them?
Neither prospect thrilled me, and I already had a job. I’d much prefer to spend my days as a Draconi soldier than some spectral version of… Death.
“Can’t sleep?” Emberline padded out of the dark behind me—alone because she never listened—and out onto the terrace, moonlight picking out the silver edge of her pupils, beautifully bright, like twin crescent moons. “Yeah, me, neither.”
She braced her elbows on the balustrade, peered down. “Where are they, do you think?”
“A dark hole, somewhere out there. At least the villa is secure.”
“Or a prison, to hear my brother talk. Valeria stopped all deliveries. Fresh food will run out in a week, staples after that. I expect that’s Blackwood’s plan if he’s behind this. Starve us out and force us into the open.”
That was the leading theory at the moment. That my scheming father—somehow—knew we were here and had planted two Drax on the island as a way to flush us out. Force us to reveal ourselves.
Again… that explanation felt wrong.
“My father doesn’t know where we are.” This I knew for a fact. “He doesn’t know because if he did, he’d already be here, dragging me back to Rome. I don’t know where the Drax came from, princess, but they didn’t come from my father. Well, not from his guards.”
“Then from where?”
“I’m working on that.” I grit out when the hair on my nape lifted. A small, dark shadow flew across the uneven ground beneath us, and we both leaned over the edge…
“Only a rabbit.” Emberline’s heart was thumping loudly enough for me to hear every frantic beat. “Gods, for a moment, I thought it was something else.”
So had I.
“I’m going back to the fortress in the morning.” The words dragged out of my mouth, horror churning in my gut as I embraced what I was committing to. “I want… no, I have to try again.”
Emberline remained quiet for a long, long time, until finally, “Why would you take such a risk, Nico?”
“My other form can see the Drax. I have a hunch he can destroy them, and until we do, this island isn’t safe for you or anyone else, and I won’t be able to sleep a fucking wink. I have to do this.”
“Not to be a downer, but things didn’t go so great last time. You were nearly burned up, Dante was practically carved in half by those shadows of yours, and it will take an army of abjurists weeks to repair the fortress walls.”
“Wow.” I ignored the way my palms had turned sweaty. “That was inspiring. Next time I need a pep talk, I definitely know who to come to.”
“I’m a pragmatist, Nico. You explained all the reasons that was a mistake, and none of us listened.
We were wrong, and, as a result, you could have been killed.
So could Dante if things had gone differently.
I’d rather spend my days hunting spiders than lose either of you, so I say no, I don’t think you should try again. ”
“Severin told me to embrace what I was. That Dante struggled with these same fears and ended up being able to control his demon. This is me, trying to face my fears because if I don’t...
” I swallowed, throat tight. “If I don’t do this, my father will come for you.
With the Drax, none of you can stand against him, not even your husband.
It has to be me, princess. There’s no one else. ”
“And if this doesn’t work?”
I’d thought about this. A lot.
“Then I’ll do what I did before.” I managed a wicked smile that didn’t fool Emberline one bit.
“When I reach the Underworld, I’ll make a new bargain with Death.” I spread my arms wide and winked.
“I mean, come on. Who wouldn’t want me as their Emissary?”