Kat POVI could still feel his lips on mine as I undressed and laid the dress carefully over a chair in the corner of the bedroom. Careful not to wake the sleeping children, I crept to the bed and slid beneath the sheets. “Did you have a successful evening?” Giulia whispered to me in the darkness. I contemplated telling her about the Castello, but decided not to. As much as I trusted her, I didn’t really want her to tell Fabio. Chances were that her boyfriend would freak out and make a bigger deal out of it than what it was worth. “Yeah, I think I have got enough to make Mother happy,” I responded, my mind returning to the necklace which was still hidden in my boot. I lay awake for at least an hour, my mind wandering down dangerous paths until I finally fell asleep. I woke up much later than I usually did and had made up my mind. I was going to take the piece of necklace back to Castello. Only, when I fetched my boots from the cupboard and plunged my hand into the one I had hidd
Kat POV“What do you mean, it's gone?” Castello growled at me, his voice low and oozing danger while his face was filled with rage. I stepped backward, bumping into the back of a fancy settee in my efforts to get away from him. “I don't know! It was hidden when I left for the fundraiser, but this morning it was gone. And so was all the money I was going to use to buy my freedom,” I whispered, preparing for the worst possible reaction. A deep growl came from Castello’s direction and I felt cold fear wash over me. No man should be able to make that sound, and yet he almost certainly did. It reminded me of the stories about him - the Dark Prince who prowls around at night, more beast than man. And for the first time since I had heard those stories, did I think that there might be some truth behind them. “Are we just going to pretend that she doesn’t look like her?” Eli piped up as he returned with a bottle of water. “It doesn’t matter who she looks like. She isn’t her. She is human
Kat POVI sat outside the address Castello had given me for hours after the sun had set, waiting for the man and his wife to finally go to bed so that I could break into the house. “Come on,” I groaned, looking at the watch on my wrist. “It’s almost midnight! So much for old people going to bed early.”I twisted my necklace around my finger, playing with the pendant - a nervous habit that I had picked up at some point in my life, I just couldn’t pinpoint when it would have been. Maybe from a time beyond what my memory allowed me access to. I had tried time and time again to remember something from before Giulia found me on the streets in Rome, a gash on the back of my head, blood matting my hair and staining my nightgown. Before that was a blank slate apart from a faint memory of a boy with white hair and eyes of a pale blue calling me as I laughed and ran away through the trees. “It’s not funny, Kat! You’re going to get us both in trouble,” he had shouted in my direction. That was
Kat POV“That’s the third letter delivered,” I announced as I entered Castello’s hotel room, heading straight to the settee and collapsing on it as if I was exhausted. Which I was. I had almost been caught this last time, and I practically ran half the way back to the hotel. Serves me right for pulling something like this off in broad daylight. “You’ve done well,” Enzo said as he came and sat beside me, a slight smile tugging on the corner of his lip. ‘Only four more to go.”I groaned and covered my eyes with my hands, peeking through my fingers when I heard his deep laughter.“It’s not funny,” I snapped at him, folding my arms. “This week I have been attacked by a tiny dog, a rose bush and a man dressed in just a towel. What next?” He tapped his chin thoughtfully, a glint in his eye which should have given away that he wasn’t going to answer my question seriously. “Maybe a car full of clowns.”I shuddered at the thought, “one clown and I am out, Castello. I might need your help, b
Kat POVI knew that I had to tell Giulia everything that had happened over the last two weeks, and I did exactly that. We sat together in the old, candle lit church, nestled in the corner where no one would bother us. The priest was ancient and half deaf, so not many people actually visited the church, making it the ideal spot for Giulia and I to talk without the fear of being overheard. “Why didn’t you tell me all of this sooner? I am sure we would have found you a way out of this hole without you digging an even deeper one,” she grumbled, rubbing her temples as if I had given her a headache with my story. I shrugged, “I didn’t want to make you worry - and I know how much I had lectured you about staying away from Fabio because he is a Castello, and now look.” Giulia laughed prettily. “And now you’re the one lusting after a Castello. Is he as disfigured as they say?” I shook my head and fought the blush which threatened to spill out onto my cheeks. “He’s got a scar across his eye
The second death was discovered the following day - the man had been found sitting in his car with a gun in his hand and a bullet in his brain. Franky had taken great pleasure in showing me the pictures and I immediately recognised him as the man who had run after me in just his towel after I had slipped the envelope under his bathroom door. My blood instantly ran cold and I had to fight the waves of nausea as I tore my eyes from the pictures. “Second lieutenant that Milano has lost in a week,” Franky said with a smile. “You know what that means?”I didn’t answer immediately, so he continued on with his explanation without even bothering to wait for me.“It means that new lieutenants will take their places, and that there will be space for more soldiers. I might finally have a chance!” He sounded so darned excited that I didn't have the heart to douse his enthusiasm with my complete horror at the gruesome images of death. Nor did I have the heart to disillusion him about being a so
Enzo POVThat woman was going to be the death of me. As much as I wanted to keep her at arm’s length, I felt drawn to her like a moth to a flame. And it was only a matter of time before she would burn me. I had been seconds away from kissing her once again. Seconds away from taking her in my arms and claiming her as my own in every way. Hell, I had even considered marking her and making her my mate, but there was no guarantee that a human would survive in my world. “She might look like the princess, but she’s not,” Elijah had firmly reminded me when I had told him about my urges. “You’re just projecting your feelings onto her because of the resemblance.” But I wasn’t. I didn’t like her because of who she looked like, I liked her because of her witty comebacks and the way she melted in my arms whenever I held her, as if she were made to be there. I listened carefully for the door to open and close as Kat left the hotel room, and only then did I let out the sigh I had held back as I
Enzo POVShe was dressed in a little black dress which was far too short and far too revealing for my liking, as she gripped the man’s arm as if she were nervous to enter the club. I was a second away from charging over to her and dragging her out of the club when Eli’s words stopped me. “What the hell is one of your soldiers doing getting friendly with two Milano women?” Eli asked angrily, his eyes narrowed. It was only then that I recognised the man that Kat was with as being Fabio, a soldier a few years older than me that had more muscles than brains. And on the other side of him, giggling prettily as she pressed tightly against him, was a woman with long dark hair that I had never seen before. “Who is the other one?” I asked Eli cooly. He downed what was left of his brandy in one gulp before he responded. “That’s Giulia Rossi, Milano’s favourite whore. At least, she used to be. I hear he likes them a lot younger so she’s probably too old for him now.” My eyes fixed on the tri
Jurgen POVI had expected a tough battle - I think we all had - but some part of me had envisioned it happening on the hills of the Slovenian countryside and not in the parking lot of Enzo’s nightclub. The rogues rushed at us in waves, hoping to overpower us by their sheer numbers, but they were untrained and their fighting was sloppy. Perhaps that was why the Council decided to send in their brainwashed drones.The first soldier who attacked me took me by surprise, his strength and technique so vastly different to that of the rogues. I barely managed to drop him when another launched at me, and then another. I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears as I was confronted by three of the Council’s soldiers, and for a brief moment I doubted my abilities. “You are a blessed wolf, Jurgen,” I gave myself my go-to pep talk. “You were touched by the light of the moon, and you can get through this.” I guess it helped as my hands were soon coated with the blood of one of my attackers, the ot
Enzo POVIt happened so quickly that it was almost as if it had been practiced, like some choreographed scene in one of those cheesy action movies Luca loved. The whole room seemed to shake as the back wall of my club crumbled, and rogues covered in dust and building debris stormed in. I barely saw Jurgen and Vasilios exchange a glance, their unspoken commands to each other once again reminding me of why they were such a great team in battle. If it hadn’t been for the pair of them and their cohesive strength, I would probably have died back when I was being held prisoner by that band of sadistic humans. The sound of Vasilios’s battle cry yanked me from my memories, and I watched as he charged toward the sea of rogues, my brother close behind. “We have to get Kat to safety,” Jurgen shouted above the chaos, grabbing her around the shoulders and steering her back to the front door of the club. “If we can get her into the parking lot, we can hide her away in one of the cars.”Kat opene
Kat POVUnder the cover of darkness, Vasilios’s plane taxied down the short runway and came to a complete stop before the occupants moved an inch. I could see Vasilios’s phone light up as he dialed his mate, the phone ringing only once before I heard Cassie’s concerned voice on the other side of the call. “Are you safe? They haven’t laid any traps, have they? You’re all still alive?”Even in the darkness I could almost see Vasilios roll his eyes in response, and yet he still managed to hide any frustration with his wife as he reassured her that we had arrived back in Slovenia safely. “I still don’t understand why Elle and I have to sit this fight out,” Cassie huffed, and Luca’s head snapped in the phone’s direction at the mention of his mate. Vasilios let out a long sigh, as if he had been waiting for her to say something along those lines. “Love of my life, you need to look after our son. This is going to be a war, and I will not have you in the line of fire - just as Luca would r
Kat POVWhat Fabio had done to Guilia was beyond description, having abused her in absolutely every way possible. The look in her eyes as I had helped her shower, washing the months of filth off of her skin and out of her hair which had become a matted mess, it made me wish that I had stopped her from going with him so long ago. “He lied to me, Kat,” she whispered to me as she sat on my bed while I brushed the knots from her hair. “He said that we were soulmates, but he lied. He has a woman he is mated to, and she’s just as sadistic as he is - if not worse.”I frowned, having suspected that he may not have been her mate. I couldn’t possibly believe that anyone would be able to commit such vile acts against their own mate. “What actually happened?” I finally gathered enough courage to ask her. “You seemed well when I saw you last - but then maybe I wasn’t just paying attention to you with the whole ‘you’re a princess’ revelation.” Guilia turned slightly, taking my hands in her own a
Kat POVA gut wrenching scream filled my ears, and I wasn’t sure if the awful sound was coming from Cassie or Elle. Either way, I couldn’t focus as my body turned cold and I started to shiver as Fabio slumped against me and knocked me to the floor. “Kat!” I heard Enzo shout before Fabio’s weight was hauled off of me and I was scooped up into Enzo’s strong arms. My eyes met his and I could see the unshed tears which glistened in those deep pools of green, paired with that rugged scar across his eye making him look more like a battle weary warrior than the viking. “I’m ok,” I whispered, cupping his face with my right hand. My left hand? Well, it hurt like a bitch! I briefly glanced at it before I looked away, the blood draining from my face as the pain became more acute - almost as if the pain I had felt throughout my body had suddenly shifted to pure agony in my hand.“Fuck, you were shot?” Enzo’s voice dropped an octave as he noticed my bleeding hand. “Of course she was fucking
Kat POVI tasted the bile in my mouth as I watched Fabio’s weapon run up and down Cassie’s arm as he pressed his pelvis against her backside.“What’s wrong, princess?” Fabio chuckled, his hand reaching out to pull Cassie’s hair away from her neck, revealing her mating mark. “Are you jealous that your friend is getting all of my attention? Don’t worry, you will have your turn.”Fabio inspected her mark carefully with his eyes before he bent toward it and licked it, and Cassie reacted in a way any sane woman would. She spun around, her brain taking a backseat in the situation as her hand lashed out and slammed into his cheek in a loud slap.“You bitch,” he raged, pushing her away from him with force.Cassie tripped and fell, her head smashing into the corner of the decorative entrance table.“Cassie!” Elle called out as we watched Cassie collapse, blood oozing from her forehead as she lay on the ground.Elle darted to Cassie’s side and I was about to follow her when I felt Fabio’s hand
Kat POV“Luca has mindlinked me - they shouldn’t be too much longer,” Elle announced as she checked on the sourdough bread she was baking in the oven. Cassie sighed and picked up an orange from the bowl on the kitchen counter. “I still envy your ability to mindlink like that,” she said as she peeled the orange. “Although, knowing Vasilios, he would probably abuse that ability far too often.” She pulled a face as she popped a segment of the orange into her mouth and I bit back a giggle. “Oh, Luca abuses it too,” Elle replied with a wink. “But I guess he likes knowing that I am always there whenever he needs me.”I found myself smiling at the way she described their relationship. “You guys seem like the perfect power couple,” I gushed, leaning against the counter. “I can only hope that Enzo and I can build a relationship as strong and unshakable as yours.” Elle blushed prettily as Cassie smacked me lightly with the back of her hand. “And mine? I hope there is something in my relatio
Enzo POVWatching as that barn burned to the ground evoked dark emotions in me - emotions I had spent the last few years pushing down into the depths of my soul. Emotions of hatred, guilt and despair which ran so deep within me that I had stopped recognising them. But as the flames engulfed that barn of horrors, memories filled my mind and I found myself grappling with the overwhelming emotions once again. “Are you alright, child?” I felt a small hand touch my arm and I looked down at the bruised face of a woman, her split lip and blood-streaked hair a blatant testament to the strength the tiny woman had displayed at the hands of her captors. I nodded, unable to trust my own voice as I turned back to the flames.“You’re lying to me, young man,” she chastised, her hand gripping my arm tighter preventing me from walking away from her.“And what if I am?” I asked boldly.She chuckled lightly, drawing my gaze to her and I almost stumbled backward when my eyes met hers. It was as if she
Jurgen POVWe watched in numb horror as the helicopter set off, only for another two helicopters to join it - each massive machines which could easily carry twelve people. “They’re evacuating!” Enzo shouted, anger turning his voice into a harsh bark. “They would rather run away than face us and fight! Fucking cowards!” Vasilios kicked the barn door, the sound echoing in the silence of the night as he swore under his breath. Luca was equally frustrated by the turn of events, but instead of lashing out like the other two, he stood in silence, his hands in fists by his side as he watched the now empty sky. I sighed inwardly as I shifted back into my human form, the snow crunching beneath my feet and the cool breeze tickling my skin. “Well, what now?” I asked, stretching my neck. Luca shrugged, turning to face the barn and the atrocities that had been committed in its dark interior. “I guess we need to find out how many of their victims are still alive. We need evidence that this was