Dante (Blood Brothers Book 5) (8 page)

Chapter Six

“Sweetie, I know you’re scared. I am
,
too
,
but you have to remain where you are so you’ll be safe. Don’t leave for anything, not to go to the store, or to take a walk. Don’t even look out the window if you can help it. If you need anything, call one of the numbers GianMarco left for you and someone
can
take care of it. There are several agents guarding the house and there are wards to keep out our enemies.” Maggie spoke as calmly as she could to calm down her near hysterical daughter.

“Wards? You mean a spell like that witch put on the house to keep out the people who took Jagger and Gianna?”

Maggie held the phone away from her ear at the sound of Camryn’s high-pitched wail. “It’s a different spell, a more powerful one. This one won’t allow anyone in who has ill-intent. The first one—”

“Didn’t work because I invited that bitch into the house.” Camryn began to sob.

Maggie’s heart broke. After Jagger and the children had gone missing, they’d all tried to piece together what had happened. It was then Camryn had told them about meeting a mysterious woman when she’d gone for a walk. And then later
,
she’d dreamt of the same woman asking for an invitation to come inside. Camryn had let her in, but it hadn’t been a dream at all.

Maggie wished she could hold her daughter and assure her everything would be okay, but she couldn’t. For one, she was on a plane, several thousand miles away, and second, Maggie wasn’t completely sure herself. Her newborn baby was in the hands of a madman and there was no telling what he was doing to her at this very moment. Still, she needed to alleviate Camryn’s worries. “Baby, you’re going to need to stop blaming yourself. It wasn’t your fault. Whoever this woman was,
she
obviously charmed you in some way.”

“But because of me, Jagger, and Gianna are gone. And Jaxon and Adrienne too. Everyone must hate me but I can assure you, they can’t hate me as much as I hate myself right now.”

“Stop it. You’re talking nonsense. No one hates you and no one blames you. I’m on a plane right now as we speak and I won’t come back until Jagger and the children are safe. You have to trust me okay?”

Camryn sniffed. “I guess so.”

“You have to be brave okay. I’m sure that’s what Jagger would want.”

“Mom…what if I don’t see him again
?”

“You will. Now
,
put your brother on the phone.”

“Okay.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line before her son’s rich baritone greeted her ear. “Mom?”

“Yes, it’s me. How are you holding up?”

“Fine, although I’m not sure why we have to stay in this house the entire time. I’m missing work and my partner. Can’t one of these guards just shadow my movements?”

She’d expected to be met with a little resistance from her older children on their forced isolation but when it came to protecting them, there was no negotiating. “Bryan is welcome to visit whenever he wants. He can stay there if he’d like, but no other visitors. But as for you and Camryn staying put, this isn’t up for debate. Like I told her, if you need anything, have someone get it for you. You’re not to leave the house. There are very dangerous people out there who want to harm our family. I already have one missing child. I’ll be damned if anything happen
s
to you and Camryn. So do me a favor and not argue with me about this.”

Darren released a slow huff. “You’re right
,
Mom. I’m sorry. Me missing a few days of work and sleeping at my own place can’t compare
to
what you’re going through right now. How are you holding up?”

“As well as can be expected. I just wanted to call and check up on you and your sister. I need you to watch out for her, keep her calm.”

“I will. I just want you to take care of yourself. You say these people are dangerous and that worries me.”

“I won’t be alone but I appreciate your concern. I’ll be back home before you know it with you
r
baby sister.”

“I love you, Mom.”

“I love you
,
too. I’m going to end the call now because the service is breaking up a bit.”

“Bye Mom.”

“Bye, sweetie.”

Maggie wiped
away a tear that slid from the corner of her eye as she put her phone away.
She was anxious to get to Florence and find her child. Why was the plane ride taking so long? She’d been to Europe a handful of times before, yet this trip seemed to take much longer.

Her poor baby, Gianna, needed her mommy and daddy. She hoped GianMarco was safe wherever he was.
She hadn’t heard from him since his team had departed from Dante’s penthouse.
He’d probably be furious to know she’d disobeyed his orders, but there was no way she was going to stay behind when their daughter’s life was at stake.

Christine stir
red in the seat next to her. “How are Darren and Camryn holding up?”

“Camryn is pretty much the same. She still blames herself for everyone being taken. Darren is feeling a bit inconvenienced because he’s holed up in one place for an indeterminate amount of time. But what’s a little inconvenience when it comes to safety? How about you? You holding up?”

Christine laughed without humor. “I’m a wreck but I’d be even more of one if I had stayed behind at the penthouse.
Romeo’s going to be pissed when he learns what we’re up to,”
she
mused, looking out the window. “God, why can’t we get there faster? You’d think a private jet would get us there quicker than a commercial flight.”

“I was just thinking the same thing. Is Sasha asleep? I haven’t heard a peep out of her since we got on the plane.”

Shrugging, Christine rested her head against her seat. “I think she said something about communicating with her brothers. Apparently
,
it takes a lot of concentration.”

“I’m glad she’s
with us. Her powers will come in handy.” Maggie paused for a moment before dropping her voice to a whisper. “
What do you think of
Liliana
?”

Christine dipped her dark head closer to Maggie’s.
“She’s all business. I don’t get any bad vibes from her, but we’ll still need to be careful until we’re one hundred percent
sure of her motives
.”

“That’s a good idea
. Are you nervous about meeting up with Giovanni?”

Christine nodded. “You know we won’t hear the end of this when we see the men again, don’t you?”

Maggie
firmed
her lips. “They did what they had to do and we’re doing the same. Besides, we’ll worry about them later. For now, I have my child to think of.”

“But still, there’s really nothing we can do about it until we land and according to
Liliana
, that won’t be for another couple hours. We’ll have to sit tight until then.”

Maggie
groaned, sinking deeper in the leather seat.
“Easier said than done. You know, when GianMarco
made me a vampire,
I knew there would be dangers involved
in being immortal
, but not once did I believe I’d have to worry about my children. Camryn
can’t stop crying since
Jagger was taken, and she
blames herself for letting Liliana inside the house
.
One missing child is about all I can handle right now. I can’t imagine how I would cope if all
—
I’m sorry.”

Christine squeezed Maggie’s hand in reassurance. “Don’t worry about it. I know you meant no offense. Yes, it’s pretty hard
that both of my kids are missing but I lay the blame squarely
on
the ones who took them
.
They’re my babies and it’s killing me on the inside that I can’t be there to comfort them right now when I know they’re probably frightened out of their minds.
What really gets me is when
Romeo and I
took them in
,
we swore to protect them and ensure no one could harm them again. I believed we were giving them a better life.”

Maggie frowned. “What do you mean? You are giving them a better life. They have two loving parents and some much-needed stability. Who knows what would have happened had you and Romeo not adopted them? It’s quite possible they could have ended up like me, growing up in different group homes, living off the system’s charity, and being miserable for it.”

“I
appreciate you saying that
, but Jaxson and Adrienne have been through so
already
. That monster who had custody of them abused
them in ways that pisses me off just thinking about it. Jaxson suffered a few
broken ribs and a fractured wrist from being kicked repeatedly when the state finally intervened. Adrienne was only
twelve
pounds at two years old
because they nearly starved her to death
. When I think of the hell they’ve already suffered only to
go through this
, I could just scream, cry,
and
tear shit up
.” Christine burst into body-shaking sobs.

Maggie, understanding exactly how her sister-in-law felt, threw her arms around her. “It’s okay, sweetie. We can’t give up hope.” She held Christine until her tears subsided.

Finally Christine pulled away with a sniff, drying her wet cheeks. “Thank you. I think I needed a good cry.”

“Sometimes
,
it helps.”

“Are you ladies okay?”
Liliana
appeared beside Maggie’s seat as if from nowhere. “I’m sorry for eavesdropping, but I couldn’t help but overhear the two of you talking. The children are fine for now. Adonis wants them to be found alive. It’s his plan to kill them in front of his brothers.”

“Why?” Maggie demanded. “He’s been tormenting our men for years, yet no one seems to know why. How could someone do this to his own brothers?”

Liliana
grimaced. “Giovanni will be able to enlighten you as to the whys and hows, but in the meantime, I can tell you about myself. I know you’re wondering who I am and what my role in all this is.”

Christine leaned over. “The thought had crossed my mind.”

“Mine
,
too
.
”
Maggie agreed.

A slight smile turned the corners of
Liliana
’s lips. “My tale isn’t a new one. It’s one of revenge
, something I plan on getting very soon
.

“About three centuries ago, I was still quite young by immortal terms, not quite one hundred. I was apprenticing under my aunt, a power
ful
witch in our community. Our family was strong in the ways of nature
and my
aunt was teaching me to
hone my skills. Around that time
, people were wary of witches even though most of the ones accused of being
witches
weren’t. My family rescued and gave refuge to those who were wrongfully branded for practicing witchcraft. One of those missions turned out to be our downfall. There was a young woman in the village, a widow who lived on her own, accused of murdering three women in our little community. But there was no evidence she’d laid a hand on them. They labeled her a witch, of course, and condemned her to be burned at the stake. When my aunt learned of this, she risked exposure to save this woman. We took her in and had planned to get her out of the area to somewhere safe. What we hadn’t counted on was the claims being true.” She paused, her brows knitting together as if reliving the memory was painful.

Maggie patted the witch’s hand in comfort. She wasn’t completely sure about the details, but she had a pretty good idea where this was headed. “But didn’t you sense she was a witch?”

Liliana
’s lips tightened briefly and her green eyes flashed fire. “She wasn’t, but we were unaware of her dealings in black magic or that she didn’t live alone. With the help of her
sinister partner
, she stole my aun
t’s spell book and killed her. They came after me as well but
I was saved by someone who
has come
to mean a great deal to me.
”

“Giovanni?” Maggie guessed.

Liliana nodded. “Yes. From then on, I’ve been helping him in his endeavors.”

“Who was this woman?” Christ
ine asked with
a frown marring her brow.

“Her name is
Beatrice. She came to our village after wedding a local farmer
. He eventually died, but no one suspected foul play at the time because he was quite old. A lot of the single men in the village courted
Beatrice
after his death, but she turned them down, which was one of the reasons why my aunt believed in her innocence. She’d suspected
Beatrice
could have been set up by one of her spurned suitors, especially as it was a couple of them who leveled the accusations against her
in the first place
. What is that term people use?”
Liliana
tapped her finger against her chin. “Ah, yes. Sour grapes.”