The thought makes me hold him tighter. I wish I weren’t too sore to take him again. I’d make him fuck the darkness from my skull and chase the fear away. I’d make him own me until I cease to remember anything—or anyone—else before him. My fingers twitch at the prospect, and I glance up, observing the planes of his face through the darkness.
Within a second, I know I don’t have the heart to wake him. The devil is as exhausted as he is powerful. I think of those dark days when he huddled on his bed in terror. I wonder if he’s ever had a good night’s sleep. When I drag my fingers along his chin,he doesn’t wake, but his brow furrows, resisting any comfort even while unconscious.
I’m halfway toward caressing a trail to his nose when a sudden sound breaks the quiet. I flinch, bolting upright, but the devil at my side doesn’t even stir. My first thought is that one of Mack’s men is trying to break in, but the sound is too...musical? It’s a sharp, mechanical melody, like that of a ringtone.
Rolling to the edge of the mattress, I scour the room, but the only clue I have is a strange whirring sound that comes from the duffel Espi gave me, tucked against the wall. Faint light of dawn creeps in through the window and guides my way to the corner of the room. I unzip the bag and find something I missed during my first search at the bottom of it. It’s a cell phone, small and pink. A yellow sticky note obscures the screen and the note scribbled across it readsI’ve got this number programmed into mine.If you need anything, give me a ring, Pyro.
A tired smile shapes my mouth. When I peel the note away, the nameEspisidolights the screen up as an incoming call. After a glance over my shoulder to make sure Dante’s still sleeping, I creep into the hallway and into the bathroom. I run the water in the sink at full blast, and then I tentatively bring the receiver to my ear and answer the call.
“Espi?”
“Lynn,” a gruff voice replies. “‘Pyro Girl.’ Somehow, I knew it was you.”
My entire world stops spinning. Time is reduced to nothing. Only the sound of rushing water ties my soul to the present as, as if from far away, I hear a strange woman speak. “V-Vinny.”
“It’s a shame,Mi Bella,” he croons into my ear, his voice disrupted by static. “I hate to punish you, but it is the only way you seem to learn.”
My stomach drops even before he murmurs the next words the same way a caring teacher might announce the day’s lesson.
“You are going to listen,Mi Bella, while I kill this man. At first,I assumed he was the bastard you fucked, but at least, when I cut his balls off, you will remember your purpose...”
I hear screaming, distinctly male. The sound battles with the running water, piercing my eardrums, and my blood runs cold with recognition. Espi!
“No! No! Vinny, no!” I lean forward as my voice comes out as a strangled whisper. In an instant, Daniela dies, and Lynn is resurrected in her place. She knows that the only way to Vincent Stacatto’s twisted, black soul is to beg. “Please. Please. Please. Don’t hurt him. Please—”
“Give me one reason why,” Vinny commands, his accent riding the words more strongly than I have ever heard it. These past few days have strained his control, and when Espi shouts again, I know that Vinny’s the reason why.
“You are going to listen, Mi Bella, while I kill this man.”
“M-me,” I manage to croak. “I’ll come back to you. I’m the one you want. Please. Let him go. Please. I love you. Please—”
“You love me,” Vinny growls, a laugh tainting the words as if they were some sick joke. “Were you thinking aboutmethese past few days, Daniela? Were you thinking about my love when you threw my goddamn ring?”
Espi cries out—no, an animal does, releasing a plaintive, inhuman howl, high-pitched with pain...
“P-please,” I beg, but my voice has gone cold. I’m reading from an old script I thought I’d never have to open again. Lynn knows Vinny. She knows how to keep his hand steady when he aches to slap her. She knows how to get on her hands and knees. “I...I d-deserve to be punished,” I hear myself say. “I’m so sorry, Vinny, but please don’t hurt him. I’ll come back. I’ll come back.”
For a moment, I hear nothing but static, and the only ounce of comfort I have is that the screaming’s trailed off. For now.
“You have thirty minutes,” Vinny tells me. “If you’re a minute late, I’ll kill him and drape his body over your bed as a present for when you come home.”
“Thirty minutes,” I repeat, sounding so damn hollow. “Thank you, Vinny...”
He hangs up, and time begins to tick again with mocking speed. I’m numb as I climb from the toilet with the phone clenched in my fist. I’m a ghost drifting through the air when I reenter the bedroom and spot Lucifer on the bed, still asleep.
My mouth opens...but no sound will come out. Lynn may not be as brave as Daniela, but she isn’t stupid. If I bring Dante or his men, Vinny will know... Hell, I think he’s expecting it. Espi is a toy—but Dante is the real object of his rage. Only God knows what he would do to him. He’d chop the devil into pieces and make me swallow them.
And Dante... There is no way in hell he wouldn’t fight for Espi. He would meet Vinny head on like a true beast, and he would die. He would die...and I would be forced to watch.
And I can’t. My soul is a fragile shell, and I know without a doubt that nothing would be left of it if this man dies because of me. My beautiful fallen angel wouldn’t miss one less lost soul, but he would never survive without Espi.
And preventing that is worth any sacrifice.
Vinny’s timeline is in my head as I grit my teeth and search the duffel for a fresh sweatshirt that isn’t covered in blood. In my search, I find another object I missed—a book of matches with a smiling cartoon moose on the front, and I can’t stop myself from tucking it into my pocket.
Espi. I have to bite the pain and guilt back as I stagger into the living room and cram my feet into my borrowed shoes. I leave the shower in the bathroom running and close the door, hoping that the ruse is enough to keep the devil off my trail for even a second.
That’s all I need.
