Dante (Blood Brothers Book 5) (19 page)

Black Adder chuckled
. “Didn’t I tell you there’s no point in
masking
your thoughts from me? I can read them
,
if I so choose.” He grasped her chin tightly and brought his face within an inch of hers
. His hot breath bathed her skin
. “If we wanted the Grimaldis dead, don’t you think they would have been? Think about it, Isis. There were way more of us than there were of them. Legendary fighters they may be, but
they’re not invincible.
”

“They certainly could have handled your sorry gang, but who were the others?”
When she saw the
semi
-
visible
rogue
s
,
Isis
didn’t recognize any of them as members of the Serpent Gang.
She didn’t think anything of it at first, but considering how difficult the initiation was to get into the gang she doubted its membership had grown that much since she’d distanced herself from them. But
,
the ones they could see clearly had been members. Isis didn’t understand the difference.

Black Adder rubbed his thumb over her cheek in a circular motion. Her skin crawled, but she fought the urge to push him away. The more information she had, the better. “They were Adonis’s men, sent to assist us. Your
warlock
s and witches shouldn’t have been able to break the visibility spell, not even a little. Seems like someone in your group may have been practicing a little black magic of their own to counter the spell. Probably Giovanni, the interfering bastard,” he muttered that last line more to himself than to her.

His grip
loosened as he talked more. Her hand started
to itch as the bones slowly knitted together. Good.
She needed to
keep him going just a little longer. He tossed his hea
d back, and the small, neat drea
ds that had
framed
his face fell behind his shoulders once again. A
far-off look entered his
gaze and he seemed to go into a trance
. Isis debated whether she should
disturb his thoughts or wa
it for him to continue speaking.

The decision was taken from her when he focused his hard stare on her once again. “There’s going to be some retribution for him for what he’s done.”

She knitted her brows together
. “Who?”

“Giovanni.
Adonis
didn’t want him harmed, but I owe him something for this.”

Isis was more bewildered now than she had been before this conversation. None of this was making sense. “I-I…your gang members were completely visible while the others weren’t. Why was that?”

He laughed. “Oh? You noticed, did you? They were all supposed to remain unseen, but like I said, the spell was countered, sort of. My men were expendable. The spell cast on them wasn’t as strong as the one performed on Adonis’s men. They were only there to beef up the numbers.”

Her mouth fell open. “You sold out your own men? You let them get slaughtered?” It wasn’t that Isis gave a damn about any of the fallen members
of the Serpent Gang
, but considering how Black Adder used to preach about brotherhood among his group, it shocked her that
he would sacrifice them so easily
.

“You see what I’ve done as a betrayal, but I saw it as an opportunity. They promised me ultimate power. Haven’t you already witnessed what I’m capable of?”

“So what? You can teleport. Whoop-dee-fucking-do.”

With a
growl
, he raised her above his head and tossed her against the wall as if she weighed little more than a handful of feathers. The back of h
er head hit the wall so hard it left a
crack
. Before she could recover, he was on her, holding her up by the forearms and shaking her until her teeth rattled. “Shut the fuck up, bitch! I’ll have the last laugh. Your precious boyfriend and his brothers may have won this round, but they won’t survive the next time. Once I’m granted the power promised me, I could take them all out on my own, and Adonis will finally have his revenge. But for now, I’ll have mine.” He raised his fist to punch her, but this time their bodies were perfectly aligned, allowing her to knee him in the groin.

Black Adder hollered in surprise, releasing his tight grip on her. Using his reaction to her advantage, she went into midshift, not having time for a full transformation. It still gave her the extra strength she needed to slash her claws down the side of his face. Her hand, though almost healed, was still in pain, but she used it to shove him across the room. Instead of falling to the ground, he dissipated and reappeared behind her. In a swift move, he grasped the sides of her hea
d and twisted so hard,
the bones snap
ped
. Her body went numb as she fell to the floor in a heap.

In its weakened state, her b
ody shifted back to her human
form. An injury like this would take a lot longer to heal from and this temporary paralysis would be her downf
all. She squeezed her eyes shut. Death was near
and she’d never see Dante again. Never get the chance to
tell
him how much she loved him. There were many things she regretted in life, but that would be her biggest. Tears stung her eyes, but she quickly blinked them back. She wouldn’t let
this bastard
see her cry.

Advancing on her with panther
like strides, Black Adder reached down and grasped her by the arm until her feet dangled above the floor. “Good-bye, Isis.” Arching his taloned hand, he brought it down to deliver the death blow, but the room exploded with a big ball of light before his hand connected.

“Don’t. She’s worth more alive at the moment
.”

Isis almost wept with relief when she heard the sound of a raspy female voice. She’d heard that voice before but in her fight to remain conscious, Isis could
n’t
figure out where. She couldn’t turn her head to see who it belonged to.

Black Adder glared at Isis before looking past her. “She’s no use to us.”

“We’ll kill her, but not just yet. Wait until Grimaldi comes to us and then we’ll take care of her right before his eyes,” the woman replied.

“He’s not interested in this bitch anymore. I’ve taken care of that.”

“
I wouldn’t be too
sure about that. For some inexplicable reason
, the Grimaldis have a soft spot for damsels in distress, and I doubt Dante Grimaldi is any different. Let’s keep her alive long enough for them to come to us.”

“But our army has been decimated,” Black Adder argued.

“Do you doubt the power I possess?” The female’s voice was sinister and cold.

Black Adder shook his head, sending his dreads flying around his head. “No. But
—

“It would behoove you not to question me. Your life can easily be forfeit along with the rest of your
men
. I’m
no
t
pleased that
our plans didn’t play out the way I’d anticipated, but there are plenty more tricks up our sleeves. If we wait it out, they’ll come to us.”

Black Adder tilted his head to the side, his expression one of bemusement. “How would they find us?”

“That’s for Adonis and me to deal with. Do as you’re told.” A cloud of smoke
surrounded them
, and Isis sensed she and Black Adder were on their own again.

A deep growl rumbled from Black Adde
r’s throat before he dropped Isis on the ground
and kicked her in the ribs hard enough to make the bones splinter. Thankful she was beyond the point of feeling pain, she closed her eyes tightly as he stomped on her
leg, shattering it
. “Fucking cunt. Don’t think because of this temporary reprieve I won’t eventually kill you.”

A black haze blanketed her, and though she fought it as best she could, she closed her eyes, wishing they wouldn’t open again.

<><><>

Jagger snapped his shoulder back into its socket, his head still pounding as if he’d been hit with a sledgehammer. How long had it been since he’d jumped out of the tower window of this medieval-style castle? With the slight slant of the castle’s wall, he thought he might be able to slide down, but with two shattered hands, he hadn’t been able to hold on long enough to make it all the way down and had fallen at least fifty feet. He’d crashed into the dried-up moat. Though he had the agility to land on his feet if he maintained concentration, the battle wounds from his escape attempt were too painful to ignore. Jagger cursed under his breath as he gritted his teeth against the immense
ache. He needed
to channel all his energy into getting out of this place without alerting the guards inside.

Jagger uncurled his body and attempted to stand. He crumpled to his knees again as shards of raw
agony
ricocheted through his body like white-hot pins of t
orture. If he were
an
ancient like
his father or possessed the apt magical skill of his mother and uncles, the healing process wouldn’t take nearly as long. Bright lights danced before his eyes, and he felt himself spiraling into a pit of despair. Closing his eyes, he rested his forehead against the cold, dry earth beneath him. A vision of big
brown eyes infiltrated his mind.

Camryn.

His bloodmate.
She was the
reason he still lived.
Jagger
was sure, were it not for thoughts of her to keep him going, he wouldn’t have made it this far. Jagger believed some of the
soreness
throbbing within his heart was partly the pain she
,
too
,
must be feeling at their separa
tion. “I will come back to you, Camryn
,” he whispered. But first he’d have
to get far enough away from the
castle so that the black magic surrounding it would lose some of the pull it had on his power. To Jagger’s dismay, once he’d managed to free himself from those charmed cuffs, he realized the entire structure had been blessed with a black touch, and his powers were still ineffective.

Using strength he didn’t know he had, Jagger swayed to his feet and hobbled toward the edge of the moat. The next challenge was actually getting out of the sunken-in land, and it took him several breathless minutes to succeed. He limped away from the castle as fast as his damaged legs could carry him. Only when he was surrounded by the cloak of the wooded area a few thousand feet away from his former prison did he rest. His one regret was leaving the children behind. Ideally, he would have liked to take them with him, but once he’d made it out o
f his cell a second time
,
he realized
he’d have a better chance of rescuing them if he could locate his mother or uncles so they could pinpoint the children’s location. At least that way, they’d bring reinforcements to save his little cousins.
Besides, none of them would have survived that fall. He was thankful to have found the window that afforded him his escape.

There was no doubt in Jagger’s mind that the redheaded witch intended to kill them. He just had to rely on the hope that his family would get to them before she decided to make her move.

Using the support of the nearest tree, he focused his attention on a chant to communicate with his parents. “
Mama. Papa. Can you hear me
?” He projected his thoughts out as he silently prayed to be heard. When no response came, he tried his uncle. “
Uncle Steel. If you can hear me, please respond
.” When that didn’t work, he called out to his uncles Cutter and Blade. Nothing. Even though he received no reply from anyone he’d called to, Jagger could feel them.
They were close!

He ventured on,
hoping that getting far enough away from the castle would do the trick to establish communication.
Jagger
hobbled along for what seemed like a couple
miles before he tried to contact his family again.
When he tried again,
there was
still
no response from his parents or his uncles.

Fuck! He was screwed. Not only did he not know where the hell he was, but his magic didn’t seem to be working properly. How much farther would he have to go before he could
reach
anyone? Just as
despair began to set in
, a voice penetrated his mind.

“
Jagger
.”

The call was so faint that he couldn’t get a proper handle on who it was from. At first he believed he’d simply imagined it, but when he heard it again, his hope soared.

“
Jagger
.”

“
Papa. Is that you
?”

“
Yes
, mio figlio.
Tell
me this isn’t some cruel joke and it’s really you
.”

Jagger leaned against a tree for support, overwhelmed by his relief to finally have contact with someone. “
It’s me, Papa. I’ve managed to get out of the castle I was being held in, but unfortunately, I couldn’t take the children with me. I’m sorry. I tried
.”

“
Don’t be so hard on yourself.
I’m just happy that you were able to get away.
We’ll rescue the children. Are they all right
?”

“
I’m not sure. But
,
I think so. I saw Jaxson and the baby. They were still alive and well from what I could tell, but I didn’t see Adrienne. I can only assume she’s being kept in a separate room. That witch knocked me out before I could find her, and when I came to again, I knew my best bet would be to get out on my own and get help
.”

“
You did the right thing, Jagger. It’s best you got away so that we can get a lock on your location. We were unable to feel you before now
.”

“
There’s
some kind of dark magic that’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.
It’s surrounding the castle and probably why you couldn’t communicate with me.
There’s a woman there who can do things that no mere mortal should be able to do. Not even those who practice the black arts
.”

There was a pause before his papa answered again. “
I’l
l have to tap into your mother’s or uncles’ knowledge about it. My understanding of it is quite limited, but if we’re dealing with what I think we are, we may be in for more trouble than we imagined
.”

Jagger frowned. “
I’m not sure I follow, Papa
.”

“
I’ll explain as soon as you’re back here with us. In the meantime, get as far away from that castle as possible. She can probably sense your whereabouts, and you need to put some distance between yourself and this woman before she realizes you’ve escaped. Jagger, do you kno
w where you are?
”

“
Judging from the architecture of the castle, I’d
say somewhere in Italy, maybe
the northern part. I’ve just gotten out of the forest and haven’t run into anyone to verify my supposition
.” He began to walk as he maintained communication with his father, but suddenly stopped as a tingling sensation took over. “
Strangely, I feel you too. I mean, more so than before. Are you near
?”

“
We’re outside of Florence, at your Uncle Giovanni’s villa
.”

“
My who
?”

“
We’
ll fill you in when you’re here with us. Your mother and uncles are at this moment working to pinpoint your exact location so we can come get you
.”

There was one thing Jagger needed to know before he forged on. “
Papa, how is Camryn holding up
?”

“
She’s
safe. She has been sent to a secret location with her brother where they are being guarded by several agents. They would protect her with their lives
.”

Jagger
sighed with
relief. Now
,
all he needed to do was survive this ordeal so that he could see his bloodmate again. “
Good
.” A sharp pain tore through his chest as he shifted his weight on the balls of his feet. He inhaled sharply.

“
Are you all right, Jagger
?”

“
Nothing’s wrong that I won’t eventually heal from
.”

“
We’
ll find you. As long as we keep this link between us, we’ll be there in no time
.”

Jagger gritted his teeth and continued on, moving through the pain. Finally, there was hope where there had previously been none. He just might survive this ordeal after all.