Spell Bound (Darkly Enchanted) (55 page)

She had to have slipped in one of those times.

Damn it, he should have been able to tell. His magic had never been powerful, which is why he needed their children, but somehow, he should have known.

He’d been so careful never to make a woman pregnant, not wanting to curse his child with the life he lived and the danger he faced.

Old anger welled in him now, drowning out other emotions. Anger against his own father who’d only had enough love for one son, but who’d used his others like pawns in a chess match.

Christo, the bastard, had brought on their father’s madness with his death. He was the only one their father had ever really loved.

Remo, the eldest, should have taken on this burden, but he’d already been doing his father’s work. With the strongest magic of them all, Remo had been given to the
Mal
as a child. Dario had seen him only occasionally growing up.

Parente had escaped into the priesthood, though how he’d fared there, with the level of magic he possessed, was a matter of debate whenever they’d crossed paths in the last couple hundred years. Which hadn’t been often.

And yet they had been close as children, he and Parente, closer than the others. They’d shared common goals and beliefs.

Dario sighed at how much those could change over the course of a few centuries. Parente still believed they could do good. Dario had no such illusions left.

The world in which they lived now was not so different from the world into which they’d been born five hundred years ago. Poverty, war, starvation, intolerance—they all remained. Only the gulf between the classes was more pronounced and the toys men used today to torture and kill were different. Shiny, new and no less effective.

Peter slid into the front seat, a grim look on his face. Dario felt tension move up his spine like a snake.

“Have you found Kelsey?”

Peter shook his head and Dario had to restrain himself from physically striking the terrified man. He would find Kelsey himself. Later.

“We need to leave for the rendezvous, sir.”

“Yes. Let’s get this over with.”

* * *

“Matt, you have to go faster.”

Shea cringed as soon as the words left her mouth, because it was the third time she’d said it. It wasn’t helping anyone’s stress levels, certainly not her own.

“We’ll get there.”

Even though Matt answered with the same calm tone as the last two times, she could tell he wanted her to shut up. Only his strong will kept him from yelling at her.

She slid a glance at Leo, who gave her a tiny attempt at a smile. It nearly broke her heart.

Goddess, please give me the strength to do this.

If she couldn’t go through with her plan, her brother would never live in peace. And the women she’d been born to release from their curse might never know freedom.

They were headed back to the city. Matt had called Gabriel under the pretense of making sure he didn’t want backup and Gabriel had told him he was following Serena to City Park and that he didn’t need a fucking babysitter. And to make sure Shea and Leo stayed far, far away.

Yeah, right. Shea clutched her backpack tighter. She couldn’t forget to take it with her. She didn’t think she would, but with her state of mind, she just might. She needed—rather, believed she needed—its contents.

And she’d already made sure Menrva’s nail hung around Leo’s neck.

“We’re here.” Matt’s drawl broke into her thoughts. “It’s show time, kid.”

* * *

Dario instructed Peter to park the Mercedes on Constitution Street behind the band shell. Drivers used the street to cut through the park but there were no other cars in the vicinity.

He saw two people sitting on a bench facing the stage. Serena and his son. The word sounded foreign.

Behind the Mercedes, the white van holding the
versipellis
pulled to a stop.

He took a deep breath, anticipation making his heart race. Soon. This would soon be over. After he convinced Serena that his plan for their release would work, this miserable existence would end.

* * *

Gabriel stiffened and turned to watch the brown Mercedes park at the curb, followed by a windowless white van.

Dario. The man who’d fathered him was here. He felt absolutely no emotion at the thought.

He was going to get rid of this bastard once and for all. Whatever it took.

Standing, he watched Dario leave the Mercedes along with two other men. Another man got out of the passenger side of the van.

Which probably meant there were another two men inside the van, at least. Not great odds, but not impossible. Not with his mother’s power combined with his.

They could get out of this without losing anyone but first he had to get Quinn out of the van.

Dario motioned the two men to stay at the tree line near the cars as he continued to advance.

“I didn’t know you would be here, son.”

His mind screaming at the word coming from this man’s lips, he managed to rein in his anger. He wouldn’t give the bastard the satisfaction.

“Where’s Quinn?”

“In the van. Restrained but unharmed. I thought we could sit and talk for a few minutes first.”

Gabriel had nothing to say to the man. Nothing at all. He only wanted to fight, to hit something, feel bones break, anything to get rid of this building sense of foreboding.

He had to think, had to be ready for whatever came next.

* * *

“Damn it,” Shea cursed, breaking her own rule about swearing.

As soon as they’d turned off Eleventh Street and into the park, Shea had seen Serena, Gabriel and another man standing in middle of the seating area in front of a large stage.

“We’re too late. Matt—”

“Sit tight,” Matt said as he slammed the car into park. “Don’t go—”

Shea had the door open before Matt brought the car to a complete stop. She had to get to Dario, had to make him see she was the one he wanted, not Serena.

“Dario Paganelli,” she called.

The little group turned to stare at her, as did the three men standing guard at the rear of the seating area. They reached under their coats and withdrew guns the size of small bazookas.

“No, don’t shoot!” she said. “I need to talk to Dario.”

“Shea, get back to the car.” Gabriel practically growled the words, his face a tight mask of tension.

She ignored him, concentrating on the man who…oh, Goddess, he looked so much like Gabriel.

“Dario, I’m the one you want. Not Serena. I’m the one. You want to break the curse. You need me. You agree to let everyone here leave and I’ll go with you.”

Again, silence.

She refused to fail. Stepping closer, she raised her arms to show she had no weapons in her hands.

Dario stared at her, seemingly unmoved by what she’d said. “And what would I need with you?”

“I’m the answer. I’m the one you need to break the curse.”

She watched Dario’s expression tighten as she drew closer, close enough for him to see her eyes. Close enough for her to feel Gabriel’s anxiety like a force field around him.

Finally Dario’s eyes widened. “What are you?”

“I’m the key.” She had to make him see, had to make him believe. “Can’t you tell?”

She held out her hand but, at that moment, a shot rang out. Not a normal gunshot, but a blast from an attonitum, like the one she had stuffed in the back of her shorts. She hadn’t known Dario’s people had the specialized weapons.

She screamed, but she was too late. Her heart stopped in her chest when she heard Leo cry out Matt’s name. In her peripheral vision, she saw Matt fall to the ground, a spreading bloodstain on his shoulder.

“Peter, stand down at once.” Dario paid no attention to Matt, kept his gaze focused on hers. “What kind of a trick is this?”

She wanted so badly to see if Matt was okay, but she couldn’t fail at this. Not now. “It’s no trick. I know how to end the curse.”

He cocked his head as if considering his options, but she knew he wouldn’t pass up this opportunity. “And what assurances do I have that they,” he pointed in Gabriel’s direction, “won’t come after us? Though your one
grigorio
is injured, I know the boy has power and my son…my son is strong, as well.”

His son? Oh, Gabriel, I’m so sorry
. “I can assure that they won’t come after us.”

“Truly?”

“Yes.”

* * *

Adrenaline pulsing through his veins like magic, Gabriel knew he wouldn’t want to live if anything happened to her.

“Shea!” He yelled, not bothering to contain the fear in his voice. “Don’t do this.”

“Son, I think she’s already made up her mind.” Dario never took his gaze from hers. “But what makes you think I won’t kill the men and take the boy anyway?”

Her chin tilted up just a fraction. She wasn’t kidding when she said, “Because I’ll kill myself if you do. And your life will continue.”

Dario raised an eyebrow. “Then I guess we’d better leave. Peter, let’s go.” He waved a hand toward the car.

“Shea.” Gabriel could barely get the word out around the knot in this throat. She would not leave with Dario, not if he had to kill every man between here and her to do it. As he made the slightest move toward Dario, the man who’d shot Matt trained the attonitum toward the other
grigorio
again.