Page 4 of Cry of Blood and Joy
Joy looked up at me and yawned. “And now what?”
I clasped her hand, feeling how cold her fingers were. “You’re exhausted. You need rest.”
“We all do,” she corrected.
Sleep wasn’t an option, not with Angelo hunting us down like a bloodhound. But we had to try.
“Steve, you keep first watch. Once the sun comes up, I’ll take over.” I led Joy down the narrow hall and was about to turn into the master room, but she pulled on my hand.
“No. Not that room.”
Freddie’s legacy still haunted her. I understood. I opened Serenity’s door. “Then it’s this room.”
“Good night,” Steve called from the living room. I hoped like hell he didn’t fall asleep on the job. This was a decent hideout for now, but Angelo had eyes everywhere in this city.
But right now, my distraction was Joy. She was the one that needed my attention. I wanted to see the guilt and misery wash away from her beautiful face.
I had a plan on how to do that…
Chapter Three
Joy
The room was even smaller than I remembered. No posters on the walls where Serenity used to tape up pictures of her favorite bands. No small dresser with her mother’s picture on it—the one she’d whisper good night to every evening. No beanbag chairs that we used to curl up in, talking until almost dawn about everything and nothing.
Serenity’s twin bed had been positioned near the bedroom window, almost like an escape plan if she needed to jump out fast. I’d always wondered about that. Unfortunately, she’d never had a lock on her door.
Freddie had seen to that.
He was such a bastard.
Enzo flicked his gaze around the room. “This place brings back memories?”
I sighed, my chest tightening as I looked at the empty space where so much laughter and tears had been shared. “When Freddie wasn’t bothering us and Serenity’s mom was alive, I had some of my best sleepovers here.”
“And after her mother died?”
I ran my finger over the windowsill, feeling the dust that had accumulated since Serenity had last touched this surface. I noticed the window was painted shut. One of Freddie’s maneuvers to keep her trapped in this place. My throat constricted with those darker memories. “It became more of a reconnaissance mission—trying to keep her safe.” My voice dropped to barely a whisper. “Steve and I taught her how to fight, how to use a knife. What kind of childhood is that?”
The guilt crashed over me again, but this time it was different. This wasn’t just about my shadows hurting her—it was about failing to protect her from a lifetime of monsters, starting with the one who should have been her guardian.
Enzo wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed the back of my neck. I leaned into his warmth, finding comfort in his solid presence. “Trust me. Freddie paid for what he did to Serenity. We protect what’s ours.”
He’d proven that to me—fighting the Dark Demons, coming for me when I needed him most. A shiver of emotion ran down my spine as I turned in his arms and cupped his cheek with my palm.
He looked down into my eyes, his thumb tracing my jawline. “You should sleep.”
Sleep in this place? I would only have nightmares here. Every shadow seemed to move, every creak of the old house set my nerves on edge.
His smile was soft and knowing, filled with promises that made my pulse quicken despite my exhaustion. “Let me show you how to relax.”
“How?” I started to ask, but the word dissolved into a breathless sigh as his lips found the sensitive spot just below my ear. Heat bloomed across my skin where he kissed me, spreading through my body like warm honey.
My racing thoughts—Angelo’s fury, Serenity’s injury, the guilt that had been eating me alive—all of it began to fade as Enzo worked his way along my neck with deliberate, gentle kisses. Each touch of his lips sent little sparks of electricity dancing across my nerve endings, and my rigid shoulders finally started to relax.
My palms flattened against his chest, fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt as I anchored myself to him. The steady beat of his heart beneath my palms was reassuring, a reminder that despite everything we’d been through tonight, we were here, together, safe for this moment.
“Enzo,” I whispered, his name coming out like a prayer. The stress and fear that had been coiled so tightly inside me began to unwind, replaced by something warmer, something that made me forget, even briefly, about the danger lurking outside these walls.
