Page 90 of Inked & Bloodbound
“I see.” Lazaro taps his fingers on the mahogany table, suddenly looking bored. “Julian, perhaps our guest needs a little more convincing?—”
The threat doesn’t sit well. In fact, it prompts white-hot rage to rise like bile acid in my throat. Julian still has the crossbow trained on the center of my chest. It hasn’t moved an inch. Nor have his eyes, which stare endlessly at me like he’s willing me to commit the tiniest infraction so he can kill me. I wonder if I could make it across the room before he could fire that thing?
Maybe I’d make it? If I did, I’d rip the crossbow out of his hands and ram the stake through his smug face, then I’d tear Lazaro apart for even suggesting he’d harm Lily.
But I’m not stupid. I know the risks are too high. My strength is still in the process of returning, and there’s no guarantee I could do it. If I wasn’t quick enough, and something happened to me, she’d be alone without my protection, and that can’t happen.
She briefly acknowledges the threat, and a flash of fear sparks on her face, but she regains her composure. Doubling down and becoming even more stubborn. Even more fearless. Even more Lily.
“So, come on. What are you going to do to me?” she says.
Stop it, Lily. Don’t antagonize him.
“That depends, dear. Can you be convinced otherwise?” Lazaro asks, giving her one last opportunity to save herself. “Answer wisely. The offer will not come again”
“I won’t be anyone’s pet psychic,” she says defiantly, her gaze locked on Lazaro. “I won’t help you manipulate people for more power. I won’t be your weapon.”
He lifts his hands and gives a nonchalant shrug. “Very well. Such a pity.” He takes a sip of his blood wine, and the red liquid catches at the corner of his mouth, giving him a sinister joker smile. “You willhave to be dealt with, you understand? A prize as lovely as you cannot fall into the hands of my enemies.” He lets out a sigh of resignation with a final shake of his head. “Such a pity. Julian?—”
“Wait.” The word tears from my throat before I can stop it. The atmosphere stills, and every pair of eyes in the room turns to me. “Wait. Please. I have another offer.”
Lazaro raises an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
I clench my hands into fists and press Lily’s silver necklace deeper into my palm. The burning sensation grounds me. I know what I have to do. I know the sacrifice I need to make for her to be safe.
“Let her go. Take me instead.”
A sick smile creeps across Lazaro’s face. “What an interesting turn. Are you going to tell me you’re a medium too, Cassini? Is that what you’re offering me?”
“I’ll do it. I’ll bind myself to you,” I say, the words coming faster now, desperate. “The Sangretà. I’ll take the blood oath. Complete loyalty, complete obedience for eternity. I will be your loyal dog. Just…let her walk away from this. Please.”
The silence that follows feels endless. Lazaro studies me with the kind of calculating look a Grandmaster gives the board before delivering checkmate.
“Interesting,” he says finally. “You would trade your freedom for hers?”
“Yes.” No hesitation. No doubt.
“The binding is permanent, Cassini. Eternal. You will be giving up your bloodline. You would never be able to harm me, never be able to disobey a direct order. Your will would become mine forever. As if you were a son of my very own.”
My throat feels like sandpaper. “I know.”
“And you believe she’s worth such a sacrifice?”
I look at Lily—beautiful, fierce, stubborn Lily who deserves so much better than this nightmare of blood oaths and darkness. “She’s worth everything.”
Lazaro’s smile is slow and predatory. “How romantic. Very well, Cassini. I accept your terms.”
Relief floods through me so powerfully I nearly collapse. “You’ll let her go? You’ll leave her alone?”
“I am a man of my word. I’ll let her go…but I will not leave her alone.”
I almost rise from my chair, but Lazaro continues with a smirk.
“I believe it’s best that I place her under the protection of the Sixth indefinitely. She will become untouchable under my ward. A creature as special as she could surely come to harm without a powerful custodian to watch over her.”
He gestures dismissively toward Lily. “It is done. Angel will escort you home and make the necessary arrangements.”
She looks across at me, concern etched on her face, but her posture buckles under the guilty weight of her own reprieve. When Angel appears silently at her side, she stands and holds my gaze for a long moment, tears threatening at the corners of her eyes.