Demon Blood

she put effort into it. Within minutes, Rome lay beneath them, and they were diving. His fingers clenched involuntarily on her arm, then she swooped and settled on the ground next to the van. She vanished her wings and set him down, but he still felt like he was dropping, his head spinning.
    And he’d kill himself before admitting that.
    The van’s side door slid opened to the sound of Gemma retching into a waste bin. Rosalia patted her shoulder as she stepped into the vehicle. She stopped by Vin’s chair and made a single gesture at her throat.
    “You can’t talk?” Vin turned to Deacon, standing in the open door. “What happened?”
    Rosalia cut him off with another gesture. She poked at the infrared screen, her expression fierce.
    Vin got the message. The human mattered now. “We tracked St. Croix here. He went in. A few minutes later, the Davanzatis show up.”
    “Davanzatis?”
    “Vampires,” Vin answered Deacon, then turned to Rosalia again. “They drive into the garage and wheel out the human, strapped to a gurney. He’s got an IV dripping blood.”
    “And it’s not someone just using it to heal?” Deacon asked. A transfusion of vampire blood could speed healing—or, in the case of terminal illness, strengthen the recipient.
    “This guy was struggling. Damn hard. He broke from the restraints once—just his arm—and St. Croix strapped him back in. They registered the same temp.”
    So that proved St. Croix wasn’t a demon. A demon couldn’t hold a human down, not without breaking the Rules and calling in one of the nephilim to slay him.
    “Now where are they?”
    “They’re too deep in the house, and the stone walls are too thick. I can’t get a reading.”
    Rosalia looked to Deacon. The question in her eyes was clear: Was he ready to go in?
    “Are you still playing a human?”
    She nodded.
    No worries. Two vampires, he could handle. And a human St. Croix wouldn’t likely pose a threat. “Can you give me the layout? Your brother never invited me over for dinner.”
    She smiled and pulled out a sheet of paper, quickly sketching the floors and rooms. The main floor included several parlors, a study, and a library. The three levels upstairs contained bedrooms and private parlors. Downstairs, her brother had kept a dungeon.
    He read that label again. “You’re fucking with me. A dungeon?”
    Vin shook his head. “She’s not. He even threatened to put me down there.”
    Rosalia’s expression froze. She stared at her son before glancing at Gemma. The younger woman gave a weak smile.
    Ah, so Vin wasn’t supposed to know that. Had this happened when he was a kid?
    “How long ago?” Deacon asked.
    Gemma sat next to Vin. “About a month before Lorenzo made his deal with the demon, and Rosa disappeared.”
    Not when he was a kid, but less than two years ago. And after his threat, Acciaioli had gone after Rosalia instead of her son—either trying to get rid of her or make her pay. Deacon looked to Rosalia. “What did you do to him?”
    Her lips pressed together and she shook her head.
    “It must have been bad for him to retaliate like he did. He risked a bargain with a demon.” Deacon had to grin at that. “You must have scared the shit out of him.”
    After a moment of surprise, her son began grinning, too, but Rosalia wasn’t looking. She finished the sketch, then wrote, “Reinforced doors and windows. We’ll make noise getting in.”
    “Do we care if we make noise?”
    She shook her head, and a long black cloak formed over her shoulders. She slung a crossbow across her back. A long, thin sword appeared in her head. All she needed was a mask, and she’d look like a female version of Zorro.
    That sly fox had always been one of Deacon’s favorites.
    Vin stood and retrieved a shoulder holster from a locked cabinet. Rosalia gave him another fierce look.
    “The trouble is, Mama, you can’t stop me. And I know you’ll stop him from stopping me.” He jerked his head at Deacon.
    Judging by her expression, Deacon wasn’t so sure that she’d prevent him from chaining her son to his seat. He raised a brow at her. She seemed to contemplate his offer for a moment before shaking her head.
    Vin faced her again. “Your hands are tied if the humans in there do anything. And you need someone to watch your back. So does he.”
    Wearing a headset and rolling her chair along the van’s floor, powering up various equipment, Gemma added, “And if something goes wrong between Deacon and