Page 168 of Devoted

Which was the entire point.

Giovanni trusted his own cleverness more than actual proof. If the Basin failed to respond, he’d blame the mage before he’d ever question whether he was being manipulated.

“Giovanni has heard the rumors.” My attention remained fixed on the palazzo. “He has Ember’s note. Best-case scenario, the bastard believes he’s the genius, putting all the pieces together exactly the way we wanted him to. Let’s hope he makes his move tonight.”

“Or we’ll be sitting in pigeon shit for a second night in a row,” Nico grumbled. “Not what I’d call quality alone time, if you know what I mean.” Then he sighed, air whistling through his teeth. “I miss the beach. I mean… I really miss it.”

We all ignored him.

If this Basin ruse didn’t work, we’d wasted one of our last advantages. Giovanni wasn’t a fool. If he smelled a trap now, he’d disappear again, and we’d never get this close again.

“Wait… wait.” Nico squinted. “I see them through the window. They’re… arguing. Oh, your uncle is pissed. Now the mage looks constipated. Fiber all around, I suppose. Two of Blackwood’s guards just showed up… no stars, thank the gods. The mage is explaining something… gods, he wears a lot of rings…your uncle’s looking at a map of the lagoon… at the islands on the western end… he’s pointing. He’s still pointing.”

I clenched my jaw, my fingers gripping the edge of the rotting pergola so tightly, my knuckles turned white.

Come on.

Take the bait.

For once, let something go right.

“I can almost… Giovanni’s explaining something. I think he just said Basin. Gods, he talks with his hands a lot. He probably has arthritis. Stiff joints, at the very least. And the mage is explaining something, and now they’re both looking at the map, and I think… I think…” Nico rocked back on his heels, the roof beneath our feet sinking as he changed position.

Every muscle in my body went rigid.

“Yes. He definitely said Ash Island.” Nico pumped his fist, a grin spreading across his face.

“Looks like we’re in business.”

CHAPTER 64

DANTE

Istood on what remained of the abbey’s north wall—two stories of scorched stone and empty archways, open to the sky—watching the trio of boats cut across the dark water, leaving wakes behind them as they slowed their approach.

Chewing the inside of my mouth, I checked off all the reasons why they’d brought three boats.

One to retrieve the Basin, obviously. The damn thing was too heavy to dematerialize with.

That would be the big one, the burcio with the flat bottom, but the other two?

They were covered in tarps and riding low enough in the water that they were already carrying too much weight.

Filled with soldiers… or Drax?

Or did Giovanni have some other horror up his sleeve? Something we hadn’t seen yet?

“At least he’s right on time.” Emberline had been crouched beside me for the better part of an hour, completely focused, body vibrating with readiness as she tracked her uncle’s approach.

The crumbling stone dock was still serviceable enough for them to tie up, and we’d cleared a path into the ruins, creating a deadly funnel for vampires and beasts of every kind, with the Basin on the far end as bait.

Our strategy called for Giovanni to arrive, dock, then for his mage to locate the Basin while their forces spread out and formed a defensive line around the ruined abbey. Hopefully, once they located what appeared to be the very real and very powerful magical relic tucked into a stone alcove in what used to be the rectory, our forces would have surrounded them.

Plenty of time for Severin’s soldiers to gain the high ground.

Plenty of time for Emilia’s warrior priests to spread themselves through the ruins like shadows, their sigils dark, cloaked in ancient, occult magic.

For Nico to position himself above us in the belfry of the last standing tower, ready to drench this entire area with deathly shadows, should the Drax make an appearance.