Page 46 of Depths of Desire (The Emerald Dagger Mafia #3)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

T he air is soft and still as I walk across the terrace, moonlight reflecting off the edges of the balustrade beneath my hands. The scent of jasmine wraps around me. I breathe in deeply and let out a small sigh. There’s salt in the air too, faint but sharp—I can taste it on my tongue.

Nico must be feeling better.

After what just happened… I bite my lip, the ghost of a smile on my face. Sex with him is nothing short of extraordinary—like being struck by lightning and wrapped in velvet all at once. My body still hums from it. My skin still glows with our passion.

But the smile doesn’t last. It slips away with the cool night breeze, replaced by the weight pressing down on my chest. If only it could stay like this. Just us. Hidden from the world. Removed from la famiglia, from the politics, from the blood-stained loyalty that binds everything in this life.

Nico says all the right things—how we can stay here, away from the noise. How he’ll shield me from it all. But I’ve lived this life too long to believe his sweet lies. The truth is ugly and simple: once you're in, there is no out. There’s always another war. Another enemy. Another secret.

And if I refuse to be part of that world, then he’ll have to keep a part of himself separate from me. That silence between us will stretch and grow, and eventually, it will crack us open.

I watched it happen with my parents.

My mother believed my father when he whispered promises.

He told her she’d never have to lift a finger.

But loneliness crept in, so they went to the witch and had me.

And when I didn’t give her what she wanted, she sought comfort in status.

In influence. In control. In being one of them.

She traded me, her own daughter, to stay on top.

As did Nico’s mother. In the end, her goal was the same, and Nico almost suffered for her greed.

I couldn’t stand with one foot in the dark and one in the light. Not with la famiglia. You’re in or you’re out—and Nico will never leave his family. Which means I’m in.

I can't run. I love him. We’re bonded in ways that defy reason—stitched together by magick, by blood, by fate.

I can’t tear myself away from that, no matter how much I want to.

I’m stuck. Bound to a man I love, but trapped in a life I swore I’d never live.

My shoulders sag beneath the weight of that realization.

I am exactly where I never wanted to be.

“Trouble in paradise?” a voice slithers out of the shadows behind me.

My blood runs cold.

I turn slowly, my hand tightening on the balustrade.

Malrick ventures into the moonlight like a demon dressed in black silk.

“How did you get here?” I demand, voice sharper than I feel.

“The trouble’s over,” he says with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “Didn’t you know? Nico eased up on the guards. It was simple, really. Too bad he didn’t value you enough to keep you safe.”

“That’s not true. He’s been…” I stop. Don’t give him information. Don’t show weakness. Nico isn’t well, and we both know it, but saying it aloud amounts to handing Malrick a weapon.

“He’s been what?” Malrick presses, stepping closer.

“Not important. The vampire kings made their ruling, so what do you want?”

He tilts his head. “I don’t care. You were promised to me. And I mean to have you.”

My heart skips. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I’m married to Nico. Get over it.”

Malrick laughs—a sharp, cruel sound. “You still don’t get it.

The marriage was a formality. A pawn in a larger game.

I’m not here to honor old rules. I’m here to take what’s mine.

You will work for me. Report on the magickal creatures you see.

You’ll do it as my companion... or as my slave.

Makes no difference to me.” His eyes gleam, pupils dilating, and his fangs extend with sick anticipation.

Panic seizes me. I try to step sideways—he’s too fast. In an instant, he’s on me, seizing my arms with bruising force.

He shakes me, and my teeth clack together.

I try to scream, but terror clamps around my throat like a vise.

I can’t breathe. Can’t react. I thrash and push against him, but he’s stone.

“This is going to be fun,” he hisses, his breath hot against my neck as he lowers his fangs.

My lungs unlock and I scream—raw, loud, desperate.

“Let her go, Malrick,” Nico snarls from the darkness.

Malrick stiffens, then turns, dragging me with him. “Why should I?”

“She’s mine,” Nico says as he steps onto the terrace. “You lost. Accept it gracefully, and I won’t let the vampire kings kill you.”

Malrick laughs again, darker this time. “As if you could stop them. Word is, you’re not much of a threat these days. And I know it’s true, because if you were strong enough, you’d already be on me. You’d already have torn me away from her.”

I glance at Nico—my heart clenches.

He’s in nothing but pajama pants, one hand braced on the back of a wrought iron chair.

He looks calm. But I know him. I see the truth in the paleness of his skin, the slight tremor in his fingers.

We’d just… and now…Malrick is right. Nico doesn’t have the strength to fight him right now.

And my heart sinks all the way to the stone beneath my feet.

Malrick’s grip tightens on my arms, claws digging in just as Nico takes a single step forward.

“Let her go,” Nico says again, calmer now. Deadlier.

Malrick grins, his fangs glinting in the moonlight. “You really want to test me, cripple?”

Something shifts in Nico’s posture. His spine straightens.

His eyes darken until they’re endless pools of shadow rimmed with light.

“You have touched what’s mine. And you will pay for that transgression.

” He reaches behind the chair and draws out a sword—long, dark with age and etched with glowing, ancient runes—I swear the air itself stills in reverence.

Malrick grins. “I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.” He throws me aside like I’m nothing. I hit the terrace hard, pain radiating down my side, but I manage to scramble back and get to my knees, watching as the two vampires circle each other like predators.

Malrick lunges first, fast and brutal. Nico parries, but the movement is stiff. He’s still not fully recovered, and his weakness shows.

Malrick slashes again, and Nico narrowly ducks, the blade slicing a lock of his dark hair. He twists and counters, the sword moving with uncanny grace, as if it knows the shape of vengeance.

Then it happens—Nico’s entire body erupts in a glow, a faint silver light pulsing beneath his skin like liquid starlight. I blink, stunned.

Malrick hesitates for half a second—and that’s all Nico needs.

He lifts his free hand and unleashes a crackling arc of blue-white energy. It slams into Malrick’s chest, sending him skidding back against the stone balustrade with a roar. Smoke curls from his blackened jacket.

“You little bastard,” Malrick snarls, his voice feral now. “What did you do to yourself?”

“Evolved,” Nico says flatly.

They clash again. Nico’s movements grow stronger, faster, and the glow beneath his skin pulses brighter every time he calls on the power. Another blast of energy sends Malrick reeling. Another strike with the sword drives him to one knee.

But Malrick doesn’t stay down. He rises with a roar of pure rage.

“If I can’t have her…” he growls, voice crackling with fury as he turns to me.

“Then no one will.” He’s on me in a blink.

I try to scramble back, to move, to scream—but I’m too slow.

His blade slices across my torso—deep, vicious, a red line of agony that opens up beneath my ribs.

I collapse to the ground, choking on pain and blood.

I hear Nico’s voice. Not words. A roar. A storm made flesh.

Magick explodes from him—so bright it lights up the entire terrace.

Malrick stumbles, stunned—and Nico moves like lightning.

In one heartbeat, he’s across the terrace, and in the next, the sword in his hand arcs high.

The blade slices clean through Malrick’s neck.

Silence. Malrick’s head hits the stone with a sickening thud, followed by his body.

Then Nico throws away the sword and drops to his knees beside me. “Luna,” he breathes, voice cracked open. His hands press against my wound, desperate. “Stay with me. Please, stay with me.”

“I’m… okay,” I whisper. It’s a lie. Everything hurts.

The world sways. Blood pools beneath me—so much blood.

I never realized how much blood is in the human body.

My body. Only now it’s not inside. It’s on the terrace flagstones.

Life is ebbing out of me as the pool grows.

I meet Nico’s gaze. “I love you,” I murmur before the world turns black.