Page 49 of Cry of Blood and Joy (French Quarter Vampire Enforcer #2)
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 with predatory 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 the bayou in thick, choking clouds that made me cough violently and burned my eyes until tears streamed down my cheeks.
Faas glanced at Ari with obvious excitement, his pyromania practically radiating from his scarred frame.
“I’ll keep your friends busy while you work,” he said with gleeful anticipation.
Massive black wings erupted from his back with wet, tearing sounds as they burst through his clothing.
Within seconds, he launched himself into the air and disappeared into the smoke like a demon returning to hell.
“Draw on your shadows, my dear,” Ari commanded softly. His grip on my shoulder tightened. “Enzo’s life depends entirely upon your cooperation.”
More tears slid down my cheeks in hot tracks, carrying with them all the shame and self-loathing I’d been trying to contain. But I raised my trembling arms anyway, feeling the familiar sensation as power awakened within my chest like cold fire spreading through my veins.
The fluttering sensations moved through me with electric intensity, racing down my arms and concentrating in my fingertips until they buzzed with energy.
My shadows responded to the call, emerging from every corner and crevice in the cathedral to dance before me in graceful spirals, waiting for my command like obedient servants.
Marsha began to chant in that ancient, terrible language that made reality itself seem to recoil. “ Umbra et ignis, porta aperire! Dimensio veterum, veni ad nos! ” The words reeked with evil and malice, hurting my ears and cutting into my very soul.
Red stars materialized around my shadows, Marsha’s fire magic taking the form of burning points of light that pulsed with malevolent energy. They pushed against my darkness with insistent force, guiding the shadows out through the open doors and into the smoke-filled chaos beyond.
The shadows and red stars began to swirl together faster and faster, creating a vortex of light and darkness that defied the laws of physics. The air itself seemed to tear like fabric as dimensional barriers strained under the pressure of our combined magic.
Then, with a sound like reality screaming, a portal opened in the swirling maelstrom.
A solid metal door materialized from nothingness, its surface covered in symbols that hurt to look at directly.
The door hung suspended in midair, but there was no visible lock or handle—just smooth, ancient metal that seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it.
The red stars seemed to guide my shadows with predatory intelligence, leading them underneath the mysterious door like ethereal skeleton keys. I watched in horrified fascination as my own power was used to unlock something that should have remained sealed forever.
A loud click echoed across the bayou, the sound somehow audible even over the roar of supernatural flames. The door swung open with ominous silence, revealing nothing but yawning darkness beyond.
Ari’s hand clamped down on my shoulder with crushing force, his fingers digging deep enough to leave bruises. “Good girl,” he purred with obvious satisfaction, his beautiful face radiating triumph. “You’ve just opened the Elder Dimension.”
The moment the words left his lips, inhuman wails erupted from both outside in the burning bayou and from behind me in the cathedral. The sounds were filled with such primal terror and rage they seemed to bypass my ears and go straight to my soul.
Not only had I just become enemy number one to every supernatural being in existence, but I had also lost Enzo forever. The look of devastation and betrayal I glimpsed in his dark eyes before I turned away would haunt me for whatever remained of my miserable life.
I had saved the man I loved by potentially dooming the entire world.
Want to continue with Enzo’s and Joy’s story? Price of Blood and Joy is the final book in the series!