Page 70 of Cry of Blood and Joy
Ari’s expression shifted into something far more sinister, his perfect features hardening with cold calculation. “I’ll continue to rip through his flesh with my talons,” he said conversationally, extending his razor-sharp claws for emphasis. The weapons gleamed wetly with Enzo’s blood, still dripping with poison. “It will take quite some time, and it will be extremely painful, but eventually the toxin will stop his heart completely.”
“No, no,” I shook my head frantically, pulling so hard against my restraints that I felt something tear in my shoulders. Thethought of watching Enzo die slowly, agonizingly, while I hung helplessly here was more than I could bear.
“After I kill him,” Ari continued with clinical detachment, as if he was discussing his favorite recipe rather than describing torture and murder, “I’ll move on to sweet little Zoe. Then Rose, of course—can’t have her interfering with my plans. And finally, our regal Ebony.” His gaze swept across each of his captives like he was mentally savoring their destruction. “The choice is entirely yours, my dear. But I should remind you—the first one to die will be your beloved Enzo.”
The ultimatum slithered around me like a poisonous snake, its invisible coils curling tight around my throat and cutting off my ability to breathe. The cathedral’s stale air felt thick and suffocating in my lungs, heavy with the scent of old stone, spilled blood, and the acrid residue of dark magic that clung to everything like invisible smoke.
I met Enzo’s gaze across the hollow space between us, drinking in every detail of his beloved face even as pain contorted his features. His dark eyes—usually so fierce and controlled—were glazed with agony, but they still held that unwavering determination that had made me fall in love with him. Even now, even suffering as he was, he was silently pleading with me not to give Ari what he wanted.
The memory of Angelo’s torture crashed over me like a tidal wave, as vivid and horrifying as if it were happening again. I could still hear his screams echoing in my mind—raw, animalistic sounds that had torn from his throat as supernatural agony overwhelmed even his legendary control. The sight of him broken and bleeding had made me physically sick, bile rising in my throat as I’d watched someone I cared about reduced to nothing but pain and desperation.
But this was Enzo. This was the man who’d become my entire world, who’d shown me what it meant to be cherishedand protected. The man whose arms had become my sanctuary, whose steady heartbeat had lulled me to sleep on nights when nightmares threatened to consume me.
I loved him with every fiber of my being, with a devotion so complete it felt like drowning in the most beautiful way possible. The thought of watching that light fade from his eyes, of hearing his voice go silent forever, was a torture more exquisite than anything Ari could devise.
I couldn’t watch him die. I couldn’t survive in a world where his laugh didn’t exist, where his protective fury wouldn’t flare whenever someone threatened me, where his gentle hands wouldn’t trace patterns on my skin in the quiet moments before dawn.
Hot tears streamed down my cheeks in silver rivers, carrying with them the salt of desperate love and crushing guilt. My pulse thundered in my ears, each beat echoing through my chest with painful intensity.
I’d do anything to save him—anything at all, even if it meant damning the entire supernatural world. Even if it meant he’d never forgive me for the choice I was about to make. Even if he’d spend eternity hating me for putting his life above countless others.
Because a world without Enzo wasn’t a world worth saving.
Chapter Forty-Six
Joy
“I’ll do it, damn it. I’ll do it. Just don’t let him die.”
Ari’s smile was a thing of terrible beauty as he produced an ornate silver key and unlocked my manacles with deliberate slowness. The cursed metal fell away from my raw wrists with soft clinks, and blessed relief flooded through my arms as circulation returned in painful waves. “I thought you’d see it my way,” he purred with obvious satisfaction, his fingers immediately wrapping around my freed wrist in a grip that was deceptively gentle but unmistakably possessive.
A tall figure approached us from the shadows near the altar, his heavy boots echoing against the cracked stone floor with each measured step. He had long blond hair that fell past his shoulders and a thick beard that couldn’t quite hide the cruel curve of his mouth. An aura of violence shimmered around him like heat on summer pavement.
“Is this her?” The scent of sulfur and charred flesh clung to him like expensive cologne, making my nose wrinkle with revulsion.
Ari’s grip tightened on my wrist, his fingers digging into the tender flesh where the manacles had left their mark. “Yes, indeed. Joy, I’d like you to meet Faas—my most talented associate.” Pride shone in his eyes as if he was showing off a prized possession. “He has the rather impressive ability to throw fireballs, and he’s been serving as my plant in the New Orleans Police Department, thanks to one of Marsha’s more sophisticated glamour spells.”
He leaned closer to me, his breath brushing against my ear. “He’s been the one framing your dear mate for those delightfully gruesome murders.”
My face contorted with rage and disgust. “Why?” The question tore from my throat, raw with fury and disbelief. “Why would you frame him for crimes he didn’t commit?”
Faas’ lips stretched into a grin that revealed teeth stained yellow from his own fire magic, the enamel cracked and blackened around the edges. His eyes held the gleeful madness of a true pyromaniac—someone who found genuine pleasure in destruction and suffering. “Because it’s fun,” he said with childlike enthusiasm that was somehow more terrifying than outright malice. “I like to burn things. People, buildings, evidence—it all makes such pretty flames.” He flexed his fingers, and small sparks danced between his knuckles like deadly fireflies. “Your boyfriend just happened to be a convenient scapegoat. Made my job so much easier when the police were busy chasing him instead of us.”
The easy way he discussed destroying lives—reducing human beings to ash for his own amusement—made bile rise in my throat. This wasn’t just evil; it was the kind of senseless cruelty that belonged in nightmares.
Faas gave Ari a toothy grin as Ari took firm hold of my arm. His fingers dug into my flesh with bruising force as he escorted me toward the massive double doors where Marsha waited withpredatory patience, her lips curved in a cruel smile as shadows danced across her face in the flickering candlelight.
“Don’t…do… it,” Enzo gasped. He seemed to be fighting to get the words out. “Joy, please. I can take this. I can survive whatever he does to me.” But I wasn’t so sure. He was an ancient vampire, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be killed—a slow agonizing death. That’s something I couldn’t bear, wouldn’t bear.
Rose shook her head violently, her blonde hair whipping around her tear-streaked face. “Please don’t do this,” she whispered. “There has to be another way.”
I squared my shoulders with grim determination and forced myself to stare straight ahead, refusing to meet their desperate gazes. Their disappointment pierced my broken heart, but I couldn’t afford to waver now. Once again, everyone I cared about would hate me for the choices I was forced to make. But I had to save Enzo, even if it meant damning myself and everyone else in the process.
Marsha dug her fingernails into my shoulder, squeezing hard. “All you have to do is draw on your shadows, little witch,” she said with false gentleness as she then removed the restraints from my wrists. The moment the metal fell away, blessed relief flooded through my arms. “My magic will guide them exactly where they need to go.”
She guided me with firm hands toward the cathedral’s entrance, my legs unsteady after hours of suspension. Each step felt like walking toward my own damnation, but Enzo’s labored breathing behind me drove me forward.
The front doors groaned open on their ancient hinges, revealing a hellscape beyond. Fire and mayhem surrounded the cathedral like a scene from hell itself. Towering cypress trees were engulfed in supernatural flames that reached toward the gray sky like grasping fingers. Black smoke billowed across thebayou in thick, choking clouds that made me cough violently and burned my eyes until tears streamed down my cheeks.
