Page 57 of Love At the Gates of Hell (The Seven Sinners Trilogy #1)

thirty-eight

Benny

Benny found herself trapped in a luxury penthouse.

It was a far cry from the first place they kept her.

That room had been cramped and small and stale.

The windows had been blacked out and a pile of blankets on the floor was the only thing to give her any kind of grace while she was chained to the radiator.

They had been purposeful then in keeping her as drained of energy as possible.

They wanted her weak and pliable while drawing her blood.

And when they transferred her to the shipping container, they had forced a potion down her throat that reeked of valerian.

She had woken up alone and terrified, and it was only when she heard the voices of the Crawford brothers that she thought she might have a chance at getting out there.

But this was different.

Because she had gone willingly. And no one was coming to save her.

Frank had ensured that.

It felt like he wanted to keep her close this time.

Like he could no longer trust his men to do the job for him.

It was evident when they left the hotel, Frank grabbing at her arm roughly as he dragged her into his car, forcing her in the backseat with two large vampires on either side of her.

The cool demeanor he had in the hotel had vanished when he had her within his grasp.

Like he was hungry for her.

“I should apologize, Benedetta,” he said, wiping at his mouth with a cloth napkin. “I had this whole thing all wrong. I should have brought you here from the very beginning.”

She was seated across from him at a long dining table, each wrist bound tightly to the arms of the chair, watching as he cut into a steak and took a slow bite.

The ropes itched against her skin as she flexed her hands.

A tingling feeling was creeping into her fingers, like she was losing circulation.

She glared at him.

“Especially considering how much you’ve made me recently,” he continued casually, as if she wasn’t wishing she could burn him alive on the spot with just her eyes. “Do you know how much your blood goes for these days? It’s a pretty penny.”

She grit her teeth. She knew it.

“Don’t you think this is overkill?” she asked. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He smiled.

“No, you’re not, are you?” he asked, a glimmer of something wicked behind his dark eyes as he reached for his wine glass. “Still, I like the look of you all tied up.”

Heat flared in her skin, and she grimaced. “Is that what I’m here for?”

Frank chuckled, the glass hovering at his lips.

“You’re right,” he said, before taking a sip. “You’re here for so much more than that, Benedetta. You’re going to give me something I’ve wanted for a very long time.”

No, he wasn’t hungry. He was ravenous.

Fifteen years.

It had been fifteen years since her mother’s death. Since the last time everything seemed to fall in Frank’s favor.

“What exactly is your end goal?” she asked. “You won’t be invincible for very much longer, and I can’t imagine it’s gonna be good for business when you grow a tail.”

A flicker of amusement flashed across his face.

“Don’t you ever think about what you can do?” He fixed her with a steady look, like he was trying to pull the answer from her. “Don’t you ever let yourself feel the power you have?”

The last time she had, she’d killed someone.

By the look on his face he seemed to know exactly that.

He rose slowly from his seat, and she watched as he crossed the room toward her.

She tried to slink back as he approached, but the ropes didn’t give her much slack.

She could feel her heart start to thump in her chest. The sharpness in his eyes relaxed as he perched himself on the edge of the table, close enough that when he leaned in she could feel his breath on her skin.

“Wasn’t it nice?” he asked her. “Didn’t it feel good?”

That wasn’t a fair question.

She was trying to protect herself. Protect Gideon.

But it did. It had given her a realization of her own body, of her own abilities in ways she had never understood before. But Frank didn’t need to know that. She didn’t want to fuel whatever this was. She swallowed the words she wanted to say, her jaw clenching.

“ Ahh .” He reached for her, his finger hooking beneath her chin. “It did feel good.”

She jerked her head away from him.

“Do you know why?” he asked. “Do you understand what’s actually in your blood?”

She refused to meet his eye.

“It’s the demon in you,” he said, looking smug. “This little power you have—it’s demon blood, Benedetta. That’s what gives you the craving.”

There was no way that was true.

Demon blood? No. Benny couldn’t accept that.

“Fuck you,” she snapped.

He leaned back but stayed close, his lips curving into a smile.

“I can see why Gideon likes you so much. You’re like two sides of the same coin.”

She scowled at him.

“Are you going to keep me out here all night?” she asked, trying to ignore the bait. “Might as well send out the dessert course.”

Frank considered her for a moment, his hand reaching out to twirl a tendril of her hair around his finger.

A silence passed between them, the whole penthouse feeling eerily silent.

She knew they weren’t technically alone; Frank’s vampire bodyguards were lingering outside the front door. But the quiet was so unnerving.

“We could work together, you know,” he said. “We’d be unstoppable.”

“I’d rather die.”

The words came quickly, but they were no less true.

His mouth widened into a wolfish grin.

“If that’s what you want, Benedetta.”

She was dreaming.

The room was quiet and dark and endless.

No matter where she turned, Benny couldn’t quite make out where a door or a window could be.

It was all hazy. The walls, the ceilings, everything blended together into black.

But she didn’t feel the urge to panic or flee.

She mostly wandered, waiting until something would come.

Because deep down she knew something would.

Something always did. She just didn’t know what it was going to be.

Until a soft humming caught her attention.

She knew that sound.

She knew that voice.

“Mamma?”

Suddenly her feet were carrying her toward the song, hoping to meet it before it disappeared.

It was the same silly tune her mother would sing to her when she was little, when she swore there was something in the closet or under the bed or hovering near the window.

Benny was always easily spooked as a kid.

She was afraid of the dark until she was twelve.

A very silly thing for a witch who could summon light.

But her mother had always known how to soothe her.

She would tuck Benny back into bed and press a kiss to her forehead and sing until Benny fell back asleep.

She missed that sound so much.

But the more she walked, the farther away it felt.

She hurried her steps, her bare feet cold against the floor, until the room flipped unexpectedly and everything turned into a bright, incandescent white.

The sudden change brought a warmth along with it, and Benny’s skin seeped it up, thirsty for it.

Like the sunlight had found her here to keep her strong.

“Be careful, Benny,” a voice came, the sound drawing a rush of tears to her eyes. “You’re going to burn yourself.”

Her mother appeared as if she was always there, as if she was just waiting for Benny to arrive. The sight of her stopped Benny in her tracks. Like if she stepped too close, she’d disappear. But there she was, and Benny wasn’t sure when she would get another chance.

Sofia Russo welcomed her with open arms.

She looked just as Benny had always remembered her.

Bright and happy and full of life. The same dark curls, the same strong brow, the same lopsided smile.

God, she even smelled the same, the vanilla and sandalwood lingering in her hair.

Benny inhaled the scent as she sank into the hug. She felt fourteen all over again.

When was the last time she had been hugged by her mother?

“Oh, my beautiful girl,” Sofia said, her hands cradling at the sides of Benny’s face, the touch like a light tingle in her skin. “You have so much ahead of you.”

“I don’t understand,” Benny replied. “I’ve never dreamed about you before.”

Not once in the last fifteen years.

She’d never really understood why. But she felt the loss of it all the same.

“You’re not dreaming,” Sofia said with a faint smile. “But we don’t have much time.”

“What?” Benny asked. “What do you mean?”

Sofia stepped back, her hands falling from Benny’s face and twisting against each other as she considered her daughter. It was when she moved farther away that Benny could see the marks on her neck, the vampire bites and the scars they’d left behind.

“I’m not allowed to interfere,” Sofia replied with a wave of her hands. “But you’re my daughter. How could they just expect me to sit back like this—”

Her mother stopped herself, her eyes closing briefly as she inhaled.

But Benny was stuck.

“This is real?” she asked softly.

“In some way, yes,” Sofia replied ruefully. “A part of me, anyway.”

“How?”

“Benny, baby girl, listen to me.” Sofia stepped closer, her hands gripping at Benny’s shoulders. “The sun is rising, and I could get called back at any moment. I need you to pay attention.”

She swallowed and nodded her head.

“The power of our line grows stronger each generation,” Sofia said. “You must do everything you can to stop this ritual. Do not let Frank walk out of that church, do you understand? Do not repeat my mistakes and temper your abilities. They are a part of you. They will help to keep you alive.”

But she wasn’t sure that keeping herself alive was an option.

She might have gone with Frank willingly based on his promises, but she knew he wasn’t going to just hand her over after he had what he wanted from her.

Gideon had known it. She could see it in his eyes at the hotel. But what choice did she have?

She couldn’t bear to see anyone else get hurt on her behalf.

Especially not Gideon.

“I don’t want to die,” she confessed, voice small.

“Oh, honey.” Sofia sighed, resting her forehead against Benny’s. “Death is a funny thing. It’s not always what it seems.”

“Frank won’t let me go,” Benny whispered.

“Frank Markos has no idea what he’s unleashed,” Sofia said, straightening and fixing her daughter with a stern glance. “But you’re not in this alone.”

Benny chewed on her bottom lip.

“Let them help,” Sofia told her with a knowing smile. “Let him help.”

She shook her head.

“He is quite fond of you,” her mother continued with a warm laugh.

“How do you know that?”

“I’m your mother,” Sofia said. “I see everything in life and in death.”

Benny blinked back tears. She let out a breath, the words stumbling from her lips before she could stop them. “How are you here? Where have you been? What are you?”

Her mother’s smile grew.

“There is so much I want to tell you,” Sofia said. “But I’m afraid—”

The light in the room started to darken and the air grew colder.

“Oh, Benny,” Sofia said, reaching to cup her face. “I love you so much.”

“No,” Benny cried. “Please, don’t go.”

But her mother was fading, the brush of her fingers against Benny’s jaw growing lighter and lighter with every moment.

She tried to reach for her, to bring her back, but her hand moved through what remained of her body like it was translucent.

Like her body had dissolved along with the bright light of the room.

Benny stood there, alone, in the endless room.

She could feel the space begin to shift again.

Was she going back?

“Trust yourself,” Sofia’s voice came from the darkness. “You can win this.”