Page 54 of Cry of Blood and Joy
My grip on his ankles tightened, my fingers digging into his flesh, making him wince. Every muscle in my body went rigid with desperate anticipation. “What about her?”
Steve’s head lolled slightly toward me, his unfocused gaze trying to find my face through the haze of pain and lingering pain. “Ari…” He paused, sucking in another shuddering breath. “Did this to me. Scratched me. He can…he can change. He was Dimitri… but his face melted away. I’ve never fucking seen anything like that.”
Son of a bitch. My hands shook with rage. Ari had been right under my nose and I couldn’t see it. How could I have been so blind?
“Where is she?” I leaned forward over his legs. Joy was out there with a monster who could become anyone, be anywhere, and I was wasting precious time.
Steve’s eyes rolled back slightly before focusing on me again with obvious effort. “In the bayou...” He sucked in another deep, ragged breath that sounded like air being dragged through broken glass. “Lumina Glade.” Another pause, another struggle for oxygen. “St. Louis Cathedral.”
The abandoned, cursed church. It had been stained with malevolence. Foul creatures infested it. Battles between light and darkness had been fought on its grounds. It was the perfect place to hide Joy, a perfect place for corruption to manifest. If Ari had taken her there, to that godforsaken place where screams would never be heard...
Terror and rage warred in my veins, fear clashing with fury.
I spun on my heel and headed toward the front door with determined strides, my hands already clenched into fists as adrenaline surged through my system. The polished hardwood creaked under my boots, and my fangs extended, aching for blood—Ari’s blood. The need to hunt screamed at me to move, to act, to tear through the bayou until I found her.
But Keir’s iron grip closed around my bicep like a steel trap, his supernatural strength easily halting my momentum. “If you’re planning on storming St. Louis Cathedral, you’re making a deadly mistake.”
The winter chill that always surrounded the Unseelie king seeped through my shirt sleeve where his fingers pressed against my arm. I yanked myself free with enough force that I heard the fabric tear, spinning to face him with barely controlled fury blazing in my eyes.
“Joy—” Her name tore from my throat, raw and desperate.
“You don’t know what’s hiding at Lumina Glade,” Keir interrupted, his magical eyes holding mine with unwavering intensity. His platinum hair caught the lamplight as he stepped closer. “If you rush in blind, you could be either killed or captured. Then you’d be no closer to finding out what Ari’s real plans are.”
The logic hit me like cold water, but every fiber of my being rebelled against it. My jaw clenched so hard I could hear my teeth grinding together, and my hands shook with the effort of not putting my fist through the nearest wall.
Keir’s gaze shifted to where Rocco sat slumped in the leather chair, drool still sliding down his chin in silver trails. “I believe the only one who can tell us what really happened is Rocco. There’s a reason someone put him under such a powerful spell.”
Serenity rose gracefully from where she’d been kneeling beside Steve, wiping her glowing hands on a towel Elena had provided. Her blue eyes were troubled as she studied Rocco’s vacant expression. “I heal people,” she said softly. She looked directly at Keir, meeting his penetrating stare. “I don’t have the power to break magical compulsions. You need a witch to unravel something like this.”
Not what I wanted to hear. It was as if Ari had planned this. He was holding a royal flush and I had nothing.
Keir’s lips curved into that enigmatic smile. “Then I believe we need a Nightshade witch.”
Angelo nodded thoughtfully, already moving toward his phone. “Valentin? We have a problem.”
My muscles locked up with pent-up fury. Ari was one step ahead of us, ready to cross the finish line.
Angelo’s expression darkened. “Wait. If Ari can shapeshift into anyone…” His eyes met mine with growing horror. “How do we know he’s not already here? How do we know one of us isn’t him?”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Joy
No!The word screamed through my mind even though I couldn’t voice it. Whatever twisted plans Ari had for Enzo, I would find a way to stop them. I had to. The iron bracelets burned against my wrists as I strained against my bonds, fury overriding the pain. I wouldn’t let them use me as bait to hurt the only man who’d ever made me feel truly alive.
But the more I struggled, the more the bonds tightened. I panted, watching helplessly as the two men forcibly escorted Zoe toward the wall where I was chained. Their grip seemed firm but not unnecessarily rough. They positioned her against the stone surface and secured restraints around her wrists, lifting her arms above her head.
Zoe’s green eyes were wide with fear and confusion as she looked around the abandoned church. Her dark red hair fell across her face as she shook her head.
Helplessness washed over me watching my friend being imprisoned alongside me. If I could access my shadow magic, I might be able to help both of us escape like I had helpedSteve earlier. But every time I tried to draw on my supernatural abilities, the enchanted iron bracelets responded with searing heat that sent waves of pain up my arms. Zoe struggled against her restraints, but it was futile. She was no match for our captors. It was up to me to do something.
I gritted my teeth and attempted to summon even the smallest tendril of shadow, but the magical restraints immediately grew scorching hot against my skin. The burning sensation was so intense I arched my back, pulling against the chains that held me to the wall.
“Keep them quiet,” Ari said with casual authority as he pulled out his phone again, that predatory smile never leaving his face. The candlelight caught the cruel curve of his lips, making him look like a demon wearing human skin.
His voice shifted completely—tone, inflection, even adding a subtle accent—transforming into something warmer, more charming. It was the kind of voice that could convince anyone he was just a concerned friend making a social call. “Hey there, little brother. You’ve got a minute for your favorite sibling? I’m afraid I’m in quite the doghouse with our dear Gianna at the moment.”
Something about the voice nagged at me, familiar but wrong. Then a bell went off in my head, and the blood drained from my face so quickly black dots swam around my eyes. The few times I’d met Dimitri Dragan, he’d spoken with exactly that same smooth tone and casual arrogance. Ari was mimicking him perfectly.
