Page 45 of Cry of Blood and Joy (French Quarter Vampire Enforcer #2)
The sound of chains rattling filled the humid air as they hoisted Ebony’s arms above her head, securing her wrists to iron loops embedded in the ancient stone. Her long white hair fell around her face, but it couldn’t hide the pain and rage burning in her ancient blue eyes.
Once she was properly secured, Ari turned to me with that same beautiful, terrible smile. “You can release her now, my dear. Your shadows have served their purpose beautifully.”
My hand trembled as I motioned with my wrist, the gesture feeling like signing someone’s death warrant.
The shadows responded immediately to my unspoken command, uncoiling from around Ebony’s body like smoke dissipating in the wind.
They flowed back toward me with fluid grace, merging with the natural shadows cast by the surrounding trees until it was impossible to tell where my magic ended and ordinary darkness began.
The moment my power released her, Ebony’s full weight settled against the chains with a soft clink of metal against stone. She was now completely at their mercy, and it was entirely my fault.
Guilt threatened to destroy me, but I couldn’t give up. I had to discover a way to free all of us. Wait for a time when Marsha and Ari weren’t watching.
Ebony took a deep, steadying breath, her chest rising and falling as she fought to maintain her regal composure. “Ari, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Ari’s beautiful face twisted into an expression of pure contempt, his perfect features marred by centuries of hatred and resentment. “You’re an abomination,” he spat. “Not a pure blood, and soon you’ll be dethroned. The rightful order will be restored.”
Rightful order? Was he mad? What did that mean?
Horns grew out of her head as anger flashed in her eyes. “What?”
My God, what was she? I’d never seen anything like that. None of the other Dark Demons had done this.
“You’ll see, my dear,” Ari said with that same angelic, merciless smile, clearly savoring the moment. He lifted his hand and motioned with elegant fingers, the gesture casual but loaded with malicious intent.
The heavy sound of metal scraping against stone announced the arrival of something that made my blood run cold.
Two guards struggled through the cathedral doorway, carrying between them a silver cage that gleamed wickedly in the morning light.
The metal was intricately worked but unmistakably designed for imprisonment, with bars thick enough to contain even supernatural strength.
“Put the king in there,” Ari commanded with casual authority, as if ordering coffee rather than the imprisonment of Dark Demon royalty.
The guards moved with brutal efficiency.
They grabbed Gunnar—still bound by my shadows and weakened by whatever power had been used on him—and tossed him inside the cage like he was nothing more than a bag of flour.
His powerful frame hit the silver bars with a metallic clang that echoed through the cathedral.
He winced as the cursed metal made contact with his skin.
The cage door slammed shut with a sound like a coffin closing, and then came the definitive click of an enchanted lock being engaged.
Gunnar immediately pressed himself against the far side of the cage, as far from the burning silver as possible, but there was nowhere to escape the metal’s touch entirely.
Ari smiled as if well pleased with himself. “Now he can’t escape.”
How could he be so evil? When would all of this end?
“Ari?” I looked at him with horror. “What... what are you planning to do?”
“Subdue her,” Ari commanded with casual dismissal, his tone carrying the same indifference someone might use when ordering a disobedient dog to heel. My cheeks burned with humiliation and rage.
Marsha approached with predatory satisfaction, the cursed silver bracelets gleaming wickedly in her hands like instruments of torture.
“My pleasure,” she purred, clearly relishing the opportunity to strip away what little freedom I’d briefly tasted.
The metal was ice-cold against my already raw skin as she clamped the restraints around my wrists with unnecessary force, the enchanted silver immediately beginning its familiar burn.
The moment the bracelets locked into place, my connection to the shadows severed completely. The absence of my power was like losing a limb—a hollow, aching void where my magic used to live. My knees nearly buckled from the sudden weakness that flooded through my system.
Ari’s piercing blue eyes turned toward me with calculated interest, and for a moment I saw something that might have been amusement dancing in their crystalline depths.
The expression on his devastatingly perfect face suggested this degrading display was only the opening act of whatever nightmare he had so carefully orchestrated.
“Gunnar Khan betrayed his people by allowing mixed bloodlines to mingle with pure demon heritage,” he declared with the fervor of a religious zealot.
His hands gestured expansively as he spoke, as if he were delivering a sermon rather than outlining genocide.
“I plan to restore the natural order that has been corrupted by his weakness. The Dark Demon race will soon be pure bloods once again, and we will take our rightful place ruling over all the supernatural races.”
He was like a beautiful, insane preacher from some horror novel, wanting to remake the world according to his twisted vision of perfection. The worst part was the absolute conviction in his voice—he truly believed he was saving his people rather than destroying them.
And to my eternal shame, I was helping him. My shadows had been the instrument of Gunnar and Ebony’s capture. My magic had made this nightmare possible.
Disgust at my actions made me feel sick to my core. The humid bayou air felt thick and suffocating in my lungs, heavy with the scent of stagnant water and my own overwhelming guilt.
Enzo, where are you? The desperate thought echoed through my mind like a prayer, even though I knew that his arrival would only complete Ari’s trap.
But I needed him—needed his strength, his fierce protectiveness, his unwavering determination to keep me safe.
Without him, I was just a broken tool in a madman’s hands.