Page 64 of Cry of Blood and Joy
“What do you want from me?” I demanded as we approached the heavy wooden doors.
Marsha’s lips curved into a cruel smile. “You’ll see soon enough. Any tricks, any attempts at heroics, and your little friend pays the price. Do you understand me?”
I swallowed hard, tasting fear and determination in equal measure. “I understand.”
Ari waited for us at the crumbling entrance of the church, his stolen face wearing Dimitri’s characteristic smirk but with something darker lurking behind those familiar eyes. He raised one finger to his lips in an exaggerated gesture for silence, the movement fluid and theatrical in that distinctly Dimitri-esque way.
The sound of approaching footsteps crunched through the debris outside—heavy boots on broken glass and scattered stones. My heart leaped with desperate hope. Someone had come. Someone was here to help.
“Gunnar, Ebony,” Ari called out in Dimitri’s smooth, honey-laced voice, which had none of his usual sardonic warmth. Instead, there was something predatory in the tone, like a spider greeting flies to its web. “You found me. I thought you might have stopped for pie along the way—you know how I love a good dramatic entrance, but punctuality was never really my strong suit.”
The casual, almost flippant greeting delivered with Dimitri’s characteristic charm made the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up. But hearing it from Ari’s lips felt like watching someone desecrate a grave.
“Where is everyone?” A deep male voice asked from just outside, rough with concern.
“Inside, unfortunately,” Ari replied with mock regret. “They have Kara and Killian cornered in the back chambers. Quite the predicament, really. I barely escaped myself—had to play dead for a while. You know how much I hate getting my hands dirty.”
The lies rolled off his tongue, making me cringe.
“They are?” A melodious female voice asked, skepticism threading through her words and making my heart sink.
I wanted to scream that it was a trap, but I heard Zoe’s mumbled cries of pain. There was no choice. I was a slave.
Again.
Chapter Forty-Two
Joy
“Now,” Ari murmured over his shoulder.
Marsha’s fingers worked quickly at the silver bracelets around my wrists, the metal cool against my fevered skin as the restraints fell away with soft clicks. The moment my shadows were unbound, they stirred eagerly beneath my skin as if awakening from forced slumber.
“Use your shadows to bind Gunnar and Ebony.” She twisted her fingers in my hair and yanked my head back. Her breath was hot and rank against my cheek as she whispered, “Do it or Zoe dies. Right here, right now.”
She shoved me roughly through the doorway, and I stumbled into the harsh morning sunlight. The brightness hit my eyes like needles after hours in the dim cathedral, forcing me to squint and blink rapidly as tears streamed down my cheeks. The humid Louisiana air felt thick and oppressive against my skin, heavy with the scent of stagnant bayou water and decaying vegetation.
Ari’s hand closed around mine with possessive firmness, his fingers intertwining with mine in a mockery of intimacythat made my skin crawl. His stolen face wore Dimitri’s most charming smile as he stepped forward with practiced grace.
“Joy,” he said warmly. “I want you to meet some very dear friends of mine. This is Gunnar and Ebony Khan, King and Queen of the Dark Demons.”
My breath caught in my throat as I took in the approaching figures. They were breathtakingly beautiful in the way only powerful beings could be. The man—Gunnar—walked forward, his long white hair catching the morning light like spun silver. Even the guards straightened unconsciously in his presence, and Marsha’s grip on my hair loosened slightly.
Beside him walked a woman, her hair flowing like liquid moonlight down her back. She must be Ebony. When Gunnar shifted left, she moved right without looking, covering his blind spot. When she hesitated at the threshold, scanning the room with suspicious eyes, he stopped mid-step, their movements perfectly synchronized.
Even with Ebony’s caution, Ari’s deception was working. It was as if he had spun a spell around him. For all I know, he had. They were approaching what they believed was a friend in need. Everything in me screamed to warn them, to shout that this was a trap, that the man they thought was Dimitri was actually their enemy wearing his face like a grotesque mask.
But then I heard it—a small, choked gasp from behind me and all my defiance died. The sound was barely audible, but I knew it was Zoe. I could picture her with terrifying clarity: the cold steel pressed against her vulnerable throat, her green eyes wide with terror as she waited to see if I would sacrifice strangers to save her life.
My shadows writhed beneath my skin, eager to be unleashed, but my heart felt like it was being torn in two. Every fiber of my being rebelled against what I was about to do, but I couldn’t let Zoe die.
Not when I had the power to save her.
Ari pulled me close against his side, his arm snaking around my waist with possessive force that made my skin crawl. I could feel the heat radiating from his stolen body, smell the lingering scent of Dimitri’s expensive cologne. But there was something else—something that reeked of sulfur and decay.
“Do it now.” He ran his fingernails down my arm, the deadly points barely grazing my skin—one small scratch would mean agonizing death. “Bind them with your shadows.”
The command was so cold, so merciless, so final I thought I might be sick. But the image of Zoe with a blade at her throat burned in my mind, overriding every moral instinct I possessed.
