Page 11 of Love At the Gates of Hell (The Seven Sinners Trilogy #1)

“Like my retinol.”

"Your what?" Gideon's brow furrowed.

"Skincare, brother," Luke said with a wave of his hand.

“Is that essential?”

“You’re talking to a thirty year old woman, Crawford.”

“It’s hard to tell, sometimes,” he told her, resting his forearm on the table.

She propped her chin up with her palm, a wide smile stretching across her mouth. “I know I have this wonderful youthful energy, so I’m going to take that as a compliment.”

There was something disarming about that smile, the way it made her dark eyes glimmer, the way it twisted something up inside of him.

“Unless you’re with us, you’re staying in the loft,” he plowed ahead, fingers drumming on the formica. “We can’t risk you getting hurt or abducted again , so our place is gonna be your new home and we’re gonna be your new best friends.”

“Well aren’t I a very lucky girl.”

Gideon sighed, “Is there an off switch on this? Or are you going to be a giant pain in the ass this whole time?”

“Varying levels of ass pain,” she replied brightly. “Depending on my mood.”

“The trouble I have with that is I can’t tell if you’re going to be worse the happier you are or the sadder—”

“Well, that’s the fun of it.”

Before Gideon could respond, Jackie returned with Luke’s milkshake, and they all gave their orders.

Turkey club for Gideon. A side of fries for Luke.

A short stack of pancakes, a side of bacon, and a mint chocolate chip milkshake for Benedetta.

Jackie hovered at the table for a second, eyeing Benedetta with a soft glance before she gathered up the menus and disappeared behind the swinging doors that led into the kitchen.

“Okay, let’s act like grown-ups now,” Luke said once they were alone. “I am going to fling myself into the sun if you two don’t stop this funny little banter. You’re ruining this milkshake for me.”

Benedetta glanced at Gideon, “Is your brother always this dramatic or has it increased since he’s become one of the living dead?”

Luke slurped at his straw in a way that did not scream grown-up. “I have always been like this and can we be quiet on the dead thing? There are children present.”

One child, who likely did not share his brother’s elevated hearing.

“Are you a kid-friendly vampire?” Benedetta whispered, leaning forward.

“I’d kill at your story hour,” he replied.

She squeezed her eyes shut and it seemed she was trying to keep her composure, a smile twitching at her lips. “You might want to consider a better word choice.”

Luke let out a burst of laughter.

Gideon was going to open his mouth to say something, but he couldn’t help but become distracted by her wrists.

They had been rubbed raw when they found her but some of that bruising looked like it was beginning to fade.

Even the mark on her jaw was already yellowing.

He didn’t know why he was so surprised. He’d seen wounds heal on his brother in a matter of minutes.

But Benedetta wasn’t a vampire.

“You’re healing.”

She looked up, eyes blinking, surprised.

“Yeah, I figured as soon as I kinda got back to normal,” she said, with a small shrug. “I mean, I’m not, like, immortal or anything. But Stregas heal faster than a typical person, or even a typical witch, I guess.”

“What do you mean, a typical witch ?” Gideon asked, his voice quiet. Would he ever catch up on what was out there in the world? “What kind of other witches are there?”

“Oh, loads,” Benedetta replied. “Healers, hedge witches, Seers—”

Luke shifted in his seat as he dug a spoon into his milkshake.

“Witches all have their own unique talents,” she continued. “My grandmother had the gift of Sight. She had visions all the time. And my mom…”

Benedetta frowned as she picked at a corner of her placemat.

“She was incredible in a million different ways, but she was a kitchen witch. When she cooked for you, it was like she could share a little bit of her magic with you. She could soothe your soul.”

Gideon felt all of those past tenses more than just heard them. And he saw something pained, furrowed in the space between her brows.

“My coven,” she said, clearing her throat. “Olivia’s really good with potion work and she’s never without her cards and Imani— she’s like my mom. She’s got a bakery in Northern Liberties. Her croissants will make you see God.”

“And you?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Stregas can Heal, and we can play with energy but I’ve never felt a strong calling in any direction until…”

When she didn’t continue, Gideon leaned forward slightly.

“Until?”

Something like guilt flashed across her face.

“That night on the dock was the first time I’ve ever used my magic defensively,” she said as she leaned back, her palms pressed against the edge of the table as her fingers flexed. “I’m not even sure how it happened.”

Gideon could feel his brother’s eyes on him.

They had both been shocked by what they saw that night, the way she destroyed that vampire with such ease. It had been one thing when they both thought that was something she did purposefully. But knowing how new this was definitely presented some challenges.

Was it something she could control?

“I don’t know any other Stregas who’ve ever turned their light into something…” She paused as she seemed to search for the word.

“Explosive?” Luke ventured, the corner of his mouth twitching.

“I guess.”

“Do you think you could do it again?” Gideon asked.

She seemed unsure of how to answer.

“Do you know what I think?” Luke started, cutting his elbow into Gideon’s side. “Seems like something you could work out in a ring.”

Gideon couldn’t imagine anything worse than getting into a boxing ring with Benedetta. “Oh, no, that’s—”

“Wait, yeah,” Benedetta cut in, looking back and forth between them. “Can we? I want to be able to figure this out. Maybe that could work.”

“Sure,” he said, surprised by her response. “We can give it a go.”

“Do you think that’s why you were taken?” Luke asked suddenly. “They knew how special you were?”

“We have to stop throwing that word around,” she said. “I’m just… on the endangered species list.”

“What do you mean?” Gideon asked, not liking the way that sounded.

“Stregas don’t tend to live out their golden years,” Benedetta said carefully. “Our average life expectancy is shit. A vampire can pick a Strega out of a crowd pretty easily. We’re hunted. It’s why my father is so upset I practice. My mom died when I was a kid, and he still blames himself.”

“Vampires?”

Benedetta nodded.

“Is that what you think this was?” Luke asked. “A hunt?”

“Could be,” she said, shrugging. “My blood can get you thousands on the black market. It’s pretty easy money. Keep me alive just enough—”

She paused, seeming to talk herself out of that scenario. Which Gideon was grateful for. The idea of her being used as some kind of blood bank made him feel uneasy. There was a lot of gray to his moral code, but that kind of shit was always off limits. The Crawford brothers didn’t work in people.

“But I think it was more than that,” she said, fingers resuming the small tears she made at her placemat.

“The way they talked about me, there seemed to be an end. There are rituals I’ve read about.

Spells you can do that call for a witch’s blood.

And some that need Strega blood specifically. That could be a good place to—”

She cut herself off again, her eyes catching something behind him.

Gideon turned in his seat to follow her gaze and noticed a breaking news bulletin interrupting the weather report. “FIFTH MISSING TEEN” flashed on the chyron. His brow furrowed as he looked back at Benedetta. He didn’t like the look on her face one bit.

“Hey, Jackie,” he called out. “You think you can turn on the volume?”

The waitress popped her head out from the kitchen.

“Sure thing, doll.”

“—and the search continues for sixteen-year-old Abigail Milligan who went missing over the weekend after she was seen cheerleading at the Central High School football game on Friday night,” the news anchor said.

“Local authorities believe that this matches four similar missing persons cases in the city. Each one reports a teenager disappearing one week apart—”

“Shit,” Benedetta muttered. “Shit, shit, shit.”

“What?” Luke asked, in between slurps of his milkshake.

“One week apart,” she repeated, her fingers pressing against her bottom lip, and it took Gideon an embarrassingly long time to tear his gaze away from her mouth.

“This is maybe a little crazy, but rituals are no different from a science experiment. Everything needs to be done exactly. Five kidnappings, all exactly five weeks apart.”

“You think that’s related to you?” Gideon asked, gesturing back toward the television, not sure he bought into her theory.

“I did this paper early on in grad school on the societal response to sacrifice. Particularly the impact it had on virginity as a construct, and I’d bet you everything my father said he’s going to pay you that all of those kids are virgins.”

She made a face.

“It’s bullshit,” she continued, raking her fingers through her hair, pulling at her braid.

“Virgin blood is bullshit . It’s a mistranslation.

Most of these texts call for the blood of innocents , not virgins, but men can hardly tell the fucking difference, I guess.

So, for all of that to be happening at the same time I’m snatched from my bed? Yeah, I think there’s a connection.”

Gideon sat for a moment, unsure of what to say. What had the agreement been? Keep Benedetta safe. Do a little bit more digging. But with the way Benedetta was fidgeting in her seat, she wanted to do a hell of a lot more than just dig. She wanted to act.

He could see it written all over her face. And he found he couldn’t blame her.

But could he join her? Let himself run head on into whatever supernatural shit she got roped into? It was wildly out of his wheelhouse. And while his brother had the luxury of an immortal life, Gideon was squarely human. With human strength. Human mortality.

Human fears.

“You think you can call up that old friend?” she asked.

“Abso-fucking-lutely,” Luke said, seemingly excited by this whole idea.

She sighed, sinking back into the booth. “I need a very strong drink.”