Demon Blood

no one cares to ask.”
    “I’m asking. But you’re evading.”
    “I’m not evading.” He’d cared to ask. That hope in her heart grew steadily higher, lighter. “I’m formulating.”
    “A long version or a summary?”
    She laughed. “The summary is easy: The girl who believed that good always won learned differently.”
    Surprised by her own answer, she fell silent. That response had come out of nowhere.
    Deacon regarded her with a hint of a smile. “Considering this path we’re on, Rosie, one of us needs to be thinking that good will win out.”
    “It can’t be you?”
    “I got that beaten out of me,” he said. “But there must be some of that left in you, if you’re going this way.”
    She shook her head. “I don’t just believe anymore that it’ll turn out right. The only way it will is if I do something. So I’m doing.”
    He stared at her. “It’s a shame you’ve been hiding so long, Rosie.”
    “Because everyone could have used me doing before, instead of just believing?” She glanced down, where the moonlight painted a bleak stripe on the dark water. “I know.”
    “And you’re still evading.”
    She tried to smile. “The long version?”
    “We have time?”
    She gauged her speed. Not enough time for all of it. “Probably not before we reach Rome.”
    “Do you have another demon lined up after that?”
    “I’ll remember that you want two a night,” she said dryly. “Tonight, though, I have to take over for Vin and Gemma.”
    Vincente was convinced that St. Croix was human. Rosalia needed to determine for certain whether he was Malkvial, so that they could either take the next step or move on to another possibility.
    And she needed to check in on them. “I’m bringing my phone out of my cache into your hand. Will you look for a message?”
    The white glow from the phone illuminated the sudden tension in his expression.
    “What is it?”
    Deacon read, “ ‘Target stopped at Lorenzo’s place.’ ”
    A chill rippled over her skin. That couldn’t be a coincidence. “When did he send that?”
    “Four minutes ago. Tell me what that means, Rosie.”
    She shook her head, trying to think. “I don’t know. I sold it a month ago—Lorenzo’s house, and everything inside. That monstrosity. It was just . . . I didn’t want to see it again, think of it again. And I couldn’t believe that anyone bought it. But they did.”
    “Who?”
    “A property developer.”
    “Not St. Croix?”
    Heaviness settled into her stomach. “Not him, personally. Perhaps one of his hold—” Another alert sounding on her phone interrupted her. “Did he text more?”
    Deacon’s face told her it was bad. “St. Croix has vampires with him.”
    “How many?”
    “At least two.” He read more from the screen. “And a human, restrained.”
    Had the vampires crossed the line and broken the Rules? If so, they might hurt her son. They might hurt Gemma. And she needed to be in Rome, now . “Tell him to retreat. We’ll arrive in a—”
    A small figure appeared in front of them. Steel glinted in her hands. A dark psychic scent swamped Rosalia’s mind. She barely had time to register the black feathered wings, the drawn face, and the empty obsidian eyes before Taylor swung at Deacon’s head.
    Rosalia rolled, folding her wings forward to conceal him. She caught Taylor’s strike through her back. Icy steel sliced between her ribs, through her lungs.
    Blood erupted into her mouth. Pain ripped through her chest in a hot wave. Rosalia fought past it. One strike couldn’t kill her. She just needed to slow Taylor down until the other Guardian regained control. Taylor drew her hand back for another swing.
    Still rolling forward, Rosalia slashed out with her foot. Her heel caught Taylor’s throat, ripping it wide in a spray of blood.
    Holding Deacon tight, she dove. She wrapped her Gift around them, a cocoon of shadow and silence. Gathering the night, Rosalia built it into a massive black wall, and hid within its depths.
    Taylor hovered in the sky, searching for them.
    Rosalia took a second to look at Deacon. His face was taut, his voice burning with frustration.
    “Drop me,” he growled.
    She shook her head.
    “Michael’s after me , Rosie. You get out of here.”
    Taylor moved closer to the deep wall of shadows. From outside, it would appear perfectly black and solid, but it was no more substantial than air. Even if she flew into its depths, however, she wouldn’t see them within it.
    “You