62. Pedro
Pedro
“I’m sorry, brother. We really weren’t prepared for that ambush…” I say, feeling the weight of my mistake. It was partly my fault Alin was there—I’d commanded, in Myko’s name, to bring her.
Luca doesn’t respond, his gaze fixed on Alin’s unconscious body lying on his bed. His eyes are bloodshot from crying, and he seems too consumed by grief to even acknowledge my words.
Mariano’s hand rests on my shoulder from behind, while Cora, on the other side of the bed, has her face buried in Luca’s sheets, sobbing.
I feel tears sting my own eyes—guilt, grief, and anger are all pressing in on me, and I’m at a loss for where to direct them.
But I have to believe in Bay; she’s our best hope.
She’s the one linked to the Guardian with the power that hit Alin.
“Bay will be back soon,” I say, breaking the silence, hoping my words offer even a glimmer of comfort. “I think she has a solution.”
Both Luca and Cora snap their gazes to me, drained but suddenly alert. “She has a solution?” Luca rises from the bed and shoves me back against the wall, his voice a low, pained roar. “And you just let us grieve like this?”
Before I can respond, a soft glow intensifies from Alin’s mouth. My gut clenches— the dragon is close; I’m sure of it!
“Bay’s here. Let’s see what she says,” I say quickly, sidestepping Luca’s fury.
My brothers look confused, but Luca’s gaze shifts to Alin’s mouth, his expression twisting in fear. “What’s happening?” he asks, panic tightening his voice.
“When the dragon’s near, her mark glows brighter,” I explain. “I’ll fill you in later—let’s get downstairs,” I urge, gesturing for them to follow me down to the entrance of Luca’s apartment.
“Where is she?” Luca asks impatiently as we wait for over ten minutes at the apartment entrance, holding the door open. We all look like a mess ever since I carried Alin’s body into his place.
“She’s here; I’m sure of it. Let’s stay together.
She’ll know to come here,” I say, trying to hold myself together and reminding myself to trust Bay.
She had something she wanted to try, and at this point, it’s the only option.
The two women Luca loved most in this dark, bloody life were taken from him—by the same force. And the last one… is on me.
Luca’s phone rings, making all of us jump, and he immediately answers, tension etched on his face. We watch him with held breath, all too tightly wound to think straight.
“What? The roof? What are you talking about?” His voice is tense, and from the look on his face, this isn’t good news.
“What now?” I mouth the words silently.
He ends the call quickly, checks his gun at his back, then heads out into the corridor.
“What’s going on?” Mariano asks as we all follow Luca, Cora included.
“Stay back.” Mariano’s voice is firm as he glances at her, sensing the urgency in Luca’s face.
“No way, and don’t even think about stopping me. I’m not in the mood,” she fires back venomously, and honestly, no one’s about to argue with her.
“Someone’s on the roof. Mateo went up when the alarm went off, but he couldn’t see anyone. Looks like someone got into the building. Stay alert!” Luca informs us, tapping on the marble wall to open the hidden door to the stairwell.
Mariano loads his gun, following Luca up the stairs to the rooftop, and my mind races. Bay has to be close. “It might be Bay,” I toss out. But why from the rooftop, unless…
“You don’t think she actually flew that dragon here over all of Manhattan, right?” I mutter, swallowing hard as tomorrow’s news headlines flash through my mind. They all turn to look at me.
“Shit. But if she did, where’d she disappear to?” Mariano asks, his eyes wide. A huge dragon landing on our family’s building would grab way too much attention. Bay, what the hell are you doing?
“It might not be her. Don’t let your guard down,” Luca says, keeping his pace as we reach the final step, just outside the rooftop door. He presses his finger to the scanner, and it clicks open.
“I don’t see anyone,” Cora says, jumping forward to peek out, like Bay is some kind of messiah here to save us.
“Cora,” Mariano hisses. “Until we’re sure it’s her, stay between me and Pedro. Got that?” She nods.
“I’ll stick with Pedro. Bay’ll come to him first—like a magnet,” she teases, clutching my arm. Mariano sighs, moving cautiously with Luca, while I let out a chuckle.
“I’m sure it’s Bay. No way it’s a coincidence that Alin’s mark glows, and then this. I just don’t get where she went.” I walk forward, not bothering to stay quiet, while Cora stifles a laugh.
“Mateo, where are you?” Luca says into his phone, as Mariano covers him instinctively. They move like a single force.
“The alarm went off in the basement too. Someone’s in the building!” Luca barks to us, putting on his earphones and instructing Mateo to keep him updated.
“I don’t want to doubt your hunches, but you might want to be ready to fire your electric thingy. Something feels off.” Cora clings to my back, looking nervous.
Before I can even process what’s happening, at least ten men, masked and dressed in black, rappel onto the rooftop, sliding down a line like they’re some kind of stunt team.
“Luca, duck!” I shout, sending a quick electric pulse right into the forehead of a guy coming at Luca with a knife. My pulse slows as the man hits the ground, and now Luca’s standing back-to-back with Mariano.
“What the fucking hell?” A voice, scratchy and unmistakable, breaks through the noise. The man removes his mask, stepping into the light near an antenna.
“Dad?” They lower their weapons in unison, stunned. Cora lets out a heavy sigh.
“What are you doing, Dad?” Luca demands, challenging him, but before any of us can respond, the roar I was waiting for rattles the entire rooftop.
“That’s Bay and Myko,” I say to calm Cora, who looks pale now. Where are they? I can’t see a thing. I look everywhere.
“What the hell is going on?” My father repeats, now muttering in Italian, like he’s forgotten any other language.
A dark, fog-like cloud rolls toward my father’s men.
The instant it touches one of the men at the back, he starts screaming, his skin eaten away like some kind of parasite is devouring him.
That’s exactly what Myko did to Jocelyn.
But where the fuck are they? Cora screams so loud in my ear it brings tears to my eyes.
“Pedro!” Bay’s voice calls out, but I can’t see her.
“Where are you?” I ask aloud, watching the fog creep toward three more men. “Bay, if that’s you, stop it now! Those are my father’s men!”
A long second passes before I hear her command, “Myko, stop!”
The fog dissipates instantly, leaving four of my father’s men nowhere to be found, the fog has vaporized them.
“I think I’m going crazy…” My father mutters in Italian, holding his head. Luca and Mariano rush over to him, shooting me a look that says we’ll deal with you later . I sigh. My woman’s done her thing, and here I am, catching the heat.
“Pedro, are you okay?” Bay appears naked next to me out of nowhere, and I nearly jump.
“How the fuck did you do that?” I gasp, but before she can answer, Cora throws herself at Bay, sobbing into her shoulder. I quickly take off my shirt and put it over her head.
“Please tell me you can save Alin,” she whispers, and Bay’s face hardens.
“I’ll definitely try; I’m not giving up. I think I have an idea—it might be a bit insane, though.” She looks at me, and I nod.
“That’s Myko’s power. I was surprised too,” Bay says with a shrug as I stand there waiting for an answer. “I was about to have him drop me at the front, but then I saw these men hanging by the building and figured you might need some backup.” She glances over my shoulder.
“That’s my dad over there,” I say, seeing her trying to place who Luca and Mariano are talking to. “You, uh, took out four of his guys…”
“Oops?” She gives a half-smile. “In my defense, I thought you were surrounded, and I was trying to save you.” I take a deep breath as my family approaches.
“Pedro? What happened to your eyes?” My father’s panic is obvious. He hasn’t seen me in over a year, and now he’s discovering my powers and witnessing Bay’s show all at once. This is going to be… difficult to explain.
“No!” Bay suddenly says. “Myk—” her shout is cut off as her dragon materializes in the sky. “Oh, great.” She sighs, as my father swallows hard, wide-eyed.
“Nice to meet you, Francesco. I’m Bay, and this is my dragon,” she says with a heavy sigh, and then chuckling awkwardly, extending her hand in a gesture she’s seen us do a hundred times.
“Y-your dragon?” he stammers, avoiding her hand clearly reeling. For the first time, I see my father completely thrown off, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it a little. Luca catches my smirk and raises an eyebrow in warning.
“What?” I mouth at him, and he sighs.
“Dad, why are you here?” I ask, keeping my voice calm.
“He’s here to test our reaction time,” Luca explains as our father stares up at Myko. “Said he left us alone too long and we’ve caused too many problems.”
“And now he’s going to learn why.” He turns back to our father. “Let’s head inside. I’ll explain it all.” He says it so smoothly, the perfect son act making me snort.
Suddenly, a familiar purple glow blinds us, and I’m already used to it—Myko’s retreating into Bay’s chest. My father gasps. Again.
“That wasn’t even the main show,” Bay says to him, then looks at Luca. “We brought her back.” She points to a glass case I now recognize and swallow hard as Luca raises an eyebrow.
“Your mother,” she says, then turns to my father, “and your first wife.”
“Shit,” Cora murmurs.
And that’s it—my dad looks seconds from passing out.
“Going inside’s a good idea,” Mariano says nervously, leading him toward the door.
“You pussies over there,” I yell to my father’s men still hiding, clearly terrified. “Carry the case inside.”