Page 25 of Oath of Blood and Joy

I looked over at Zoe, who still had her gown bunched up around her neck, and saw my own horror reflected in her eyes. In trying to protect her, I’d revealed the very weapon they would use against both of us. Against everyone I cared about.

Henry staggered to his feet and glared at me with pure hatred. “Bitch.”

He struck me with a closed fist, the impact cracking against my jaw. Pain ricocheted inside my skull as my head snapped sideways. The room tilted violently, darkness rushing in from the edges of my vision until consciousness slipped away entirely.

Chapter Seventeen

Enzo

I licked my lips, tasting the lingering metallic sweetness of Angelo’s blood, and leaned against the headboard as it coursed through my veins. The warm sensation swelled from my core outward, like a lake swollen from the rain, lapping over every muscle and organ. Where there had been searing pain before was now replaced with a tingling sensation of healing, slowly erasing the poison that had been destroying me from within.

My body shuddered involuntarily as damaged tissues knit themselves back together. I gasped for breath. My lungs drank in the air greedily, the knife-like pain of earlier breaths now just a memory. The relief was so intense it brought tears to my eyes, and I wiped them away with trembling fingers.

“Better?” Angelo stood at the edge of my bed, studying me with an intensity that suggested he was monitoring every subtle change in my condition.

“Much.” I cracked my neck, the sound echoing in the quiet room as tension radiated through my shoulders. “We have tofind Joy. I suspect that Maximo plans to use her for some dire purpose. Why else would he want her so badly?”

“If Balthazar is behind this…” Serenity folded her arms across her chest, standing rigid at my bedside. A faraway look glistened in her eyes, pupils dilating with remembered terror, as if she was reliving a horror when she was trapped in hell. She swallowed hard before continuing. “Then just like he tried to do with me, his plan is for her to go dark side.” A single tear slid down her cheek, which she brushed away with an angry swipe. “Every time she uses that power, she’s probably losing a piece of her soul.”

“Tell me more about this power,” Angelo said. “Did Joy use a spell when she called upon the shadows?” His fingers absently traced the small puncture on his wrist where he’d drawn his own blood for me.

I shook my head, wincing slightly as the movement sent a final wave of dizziness through me. My stomach lurched with the unpleasant sensation. “No. I don’t know how she did it.”

My skin crawled as if insects were marching beneath it, goosebumps rising on my arms as I recalled the eerie sight. “It was like... like she pulled the shadows from the room somehow.” My fingers made grasping motions in the air, trying to illustrate what words couldn’t fully capture.

“The shadows formed a protective barrier, hiding the girls behind her at Ravenwood Estate and then me when Maximo stood over me.” A mixture of awe and fear swelled inside me as I remembered what she had done. She was powerful and she was mine. “The darkness seemed to respond to her—obey her—as if it were alive.”

Angelo frowned. “I’ve never heard of anyone possessing this type of power without using a spell or some kind of magical object.” He glanced warily at Serenity who had bowed her head. “Unless she’s cursed.”

Serenity raised her head slowly. “We have to find her, Angelo.”

I nodded. “I think this is just beginning of Maximo exploiting Joy’s power. What if she can control those shadows to do more than just protect people?”

Angelo’s eyes darkened. “Then she would be a threat to our family.”

A threat meant elimination—plain and simple. For centuries, that had been my calling card as Angelo’s enforcer. My chest tightened as I weighed the unthinkable. I never hesitated in putting down our enemies before, making problems disappear without leaving a trace. It was business, never personal. But I wouldn’t hurt a single hair on Joy’s head. Not even if it meant a war between Angelo and me. Some lines even an enforcer won’t cross.

Serenity ran over to him and put her hand on his arm. “You can’t hurt her.”

Angelo ignored her and focused on me. “We need to find out Maximo’s plan. Most likely he took her back either to Ravenwood Estate orTreméHouse.”

I clenched my jaw at the mention of the old Creole mansion in the heart of the historicTreméneighborhood, a place I knew all too well. Despite my vampire abilities, the Barone family had made that property nearly impenetrable even to my kind.

The ornate wrought-iron balconies and weathered facade concealed powerful magical wards—ancient spells that burned like fire when crossed. I’d discovered this the hard way decades ago, leaving with scars that had taken weeks to heal. The human guards with their weapons were no concern, but those blood-bound enchantments that Maximo Barone had commissioned from Marsha… those were another matter entirely. If Joy was being held within those walls, freeing her would require morethan just vampire strength and speed. It would require cunning and possibly sacrifices I would have to make.

“We need to find out which one,” Angelo said, his voice carrying that deceptively casual tone that I’d learned centuries ago always preceded his most dangerous decisions. He paced across my bedroom, his footsteps silent despite the hardwood floor, a predator’s instinct never fully suppressed. “I want to see what Joy can do myself.”

A cold weight settled in my stomach as I shifted uncomfortably against the pillows propped behind me. The meaning was clear—he’d assess whether she would live or die, expecting me to carry out the deadly blow if she was deemed a threat. My hands clenched, the silk sheets twisting between my fingers.

“I could get us intoTreméHouse,” Steve said as he rubbed his neck, a nervous gesture that drew attention to the red marks where Angelo had choked him. He stood awkwardly at the foot of my bed, his eyes darting between Angelo and me, seeking approval. “I know the security codes.”

Angelo rolled his eyes, the gesture somehow more threatening than a shout. He stopped his pacing and turned sharply toward Steve, his silhouette cutting an imposing figure against the dim light from the windows. “Maximo isn’t a fool,” he said, drumming his long fingers against the mahogany bedside table, each tap like a tiny gunshot in the tense silence. “He would have changed those codes by now.” His signet ring caught the moonlight, the ruby at its center gleaming like a drop of fresh blood.

“We need to split up,” I said. “Half of us go toTreméHouse and the other to Simon’s.”

Angelo locked his gaze with mine. “Pascal, Steve, and Lorenzo will pay a visit toTreméHouse, and Enzo, Dimitri, and I will pay another visit to Simon.” His eyes darkened, pupilsexpanding until they nearly swallowed the iris. His fingernails lengthened slightly, a subtle tell of his barely contained rage. “Simon’s played his very last game.”

I flipped the blanket off me with a swift, decisive motion, ignoring the sharp twinge of pain that shot through my still-healing wounds. The cool air hit my skin as determination burned through my veins hotter than fever. “Then we need to move now.”

---