Steven couldn’t work up the energy to be surprised. “And you just noticed this?”
“Yeah, well, I had my mind on other things. Look, I gotta find somewhere to put us down before the plane goes down by itself and we really don’t want that to happen.”
It might’ve been funny if circumstances had been different. As it was… Hell, it fit right in with the rest of the day. “What do you need from me?”
“You have to wake Diego. I need him up here in the copilot’s seat. He’s got his pilot’s license and, if anything happens to me, he can take over. Just get him up here now.”
“I don’t think he’ll be much use to you right now. He’s really out of it.”
“
Shit
.” Marco’s expletive sounded as sharp as broken glass. “
Vaffanculo
. Strap in to the copilot’s seat and hang on. Do what I tell you when I tell you. This could get really fucking rough.”
* * *
Diego jolted awake when the plane wrenched to a stop.
He had a magic hangover he knew would take a while to dissipate. He also knew something was wrong because Marco was a much better pilot than that landing indicated.
Blinking, he tried to get his eyes to focus while he picked apart the voices. Steven calling for Bella. Marco cursing.
“Hey there, Pretty Boy. I suggest you wake up now. We gotta get off the plane and you’re a mite too heavy for me to carry.”
Amy Jo.
He saw the outline of her face leaning over him and let his blurry gaze connect with her pure blue eyes. He blinked a couple of times trying to bring her into focus.
“What’s going on?”
“I’m assuming something happened to the plane,” she said. “The pilot landed us then jumped out about a minute ago, cursing up a storm.”
His vision became clearer by the second as fear began to settle in. He sat straight up. “Did we crash? Is everyone okay?”
“Whoa, now, just settle down.” She laid a hand on his shoulder and warmth seeped through him. “We all seem to be fine, but I think we better get off the plane.”
He blinked faster until the blurriness faded and he saw her clearly. She smiled, her blue eyes a little too wide, but she didn’t seem injured.
And he really didn’t like how much that relieved him.
“Are you okay?”
He reached out to push her disheveled hair from her face so he could check for bruises. She didn’t push his hands away and it took him a full minute to realize his fingers had gone from checking for injuries to caressing the fine bones of her face.
“I seem to be in one piece.” Her voice sounded huskier than normal and she dropped her gaze.
“I see you’re awake.”
Diego dropped his hand and turned toward Marco’s voice. He found his brother standing in the open hatch on the left side of the plane, watching them with an indecipherable expression.
“What the hell happened?” Diego jumped out his chair at the sight of the blood running down Marco’s face. “Are you okay? Do you feel faint? Is your vision blurry?”
He grabbed Marco’s chin and turned his face to the side. The cut looked deep but not life-threatening and Diego let out a relieved sigh.
Marco may hate him but he was Diego’s only remaining family and that meant more than Marco would ever know.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m fine. Stop pawing me.” Marco drew back, out of reach. “And get the hell off the plane. I don’t want to have to explain to Cole why you were still on it if it blows up.”
Turning, Marco climbed down the ladder and out of sight.
Shit
. Marco had needed him and he hadn’t been there. Again. Didn’t matter that he’d been passed out.
Shit
.
Diego turned to find Amy Jo staring at him.
She smiled, just a short quirk of her lips. “Family can suck.”
Her words held a wealth of compassion and understanding. Then she moved past him and down the stairs, missing the ghost of a smile that curved his lips. Even after everything she’d been through, she still managed to hold it together. Hopping over the last step to the ground, she made straight for Bella and Steven, standing several yards away from the plane.
He caught the flash of her silver-blond hair shining in the sun. Blonde didn’t usually do it for him. But that tight little ass in those jeans that only reached her knees made his skin feel too tight for his body. And the bounce of breasts under the blue t-shirt that matched her eyes… His cock hardened, throbbing and insistent.
Fuck it all. It was a bitch of a time to notice the way the woman moved, but he couldn’t help it. He wanted her. Wanted to throw her over his shoulder and find somewhere private and screw her brains out.
Which just made him feel like an animal.
Even from this distance, he could see the bruise on her chin where he’d hit her. His fingers throbbed in response. He wanted to put his hands on her and heal her then put his lips there and kiss the spot, slowly moving to her—
“Diego, get the
fuck
down here so we can figure out what the hell to do.”
Marco stared up at him from the bottom of the stairs. The wound on his forehead had yet to stop bleeding. But it was the hint of fear in Marco’s eyes that got him moving despite the pounding headache threatening to split his head open.
Outside, he took stock of their surroundings. Marco had put them down on what appeared to be the only strip of flat land in sight. Hills ringed the area and a forest covered the hills.
It had taken tremendous skill to do what Marco had done. His little brother was a damn fine pilot. No matter what Marco might think, Diego was proud of him. Except when he wanted to kill him.
Marco had ducked under the plane and now stood on the opposite side from Steven, Bella and Amy Jo. Diego locked gazes with Steven for a brief second, shaking his head just once. Steven nodded in acknowledgement. They’d be left alone.
Diego walked over to Marco. “Let me see your head. I don’t want you to bleed to death on me.”
Taller and stronger though he was, Diego knew Marco could be on the other side of the plane in two seconds if he wanted. Marco had inherited his
versipellis
nature from their father, but he’d learned how to flash—to move from one point to another in a second—from his half-
linchetta
, half-human mother, Paloma.
Diego took it as a good sign that Marco didn’t pull away when he put his hand over the bloody gash.
“What would you care?” Marco didn’t bother to put much heat in his words. This was an old fight, one Diego despaired they would ever find a way to end.
Still… He caught and held his brother’s gaze, so like their father’s. “Grow up, Marco. The only person here with a problem is you. You may not want to believe this but you
are
my family. We may not have had the closest upbringing but I love you more than anything in the world. Now, shut up for two seconds while I fix this. Then we’ll try to figure out what to do.”
Marco’s eyes widened in shock for several seconds before he wiped his expression clear.
Despite how similar they looked, Diego was more than seven years older. Neither had known the other existed until Marco was a young teen and Diego almost twenty-one. They’d met over their father’s grave.
Needless to say, it hadn’t been a good day.
Their father had a lot to answer for. Too bad he’d died before Diego could kill the son-of-a-bitch for completely screwing up his sons.
“We don’t have all day here.” Marco’s low growl pushed through his memories.
Diego sighed and shook his head. “Shut up, Marco. Just…shut up.”
Surprisingly, he did, and Diego forced himself to concentrate on healing his brother’s forehead. The blood they shared should have made it easier, but emotion got in the way.
He remembered Marco’s fear of him the first time they’d met. His own initial rejection. His mother’s quiet sobbing after the funeral. The hatred in Paloma’s eyes as Diego took his father’s ring from his dead hand before they lowered the casket into the grave.
That ring was his birthright as the oldest son of Gilbert Falco, only son of Vincent. Should anything happen to him, Marco would take the ring.
Of course, as of now, if anything happened to both of them, their line would die. There were less than twenty
versipelli
Iberian lynx left in the world. He and Marco represented the last hope of their kind.
And neither of them seemed inclined to find wives and produce heirs.
“Diego.”
He didn’t answer right away. He knew he’d finished healing Marco’s injury but hadn’t removed his hand. He waited a second before he moved it to Marco’s shoulder. Marco shrugged it off and turned to pace.
Damn stubborn fool. Diego wanted to slap his brother’s thick head. Wanted to tell him how much of what his mother had ingrained into him had been flat-out lies.
Sighing, he shook his head again. “So, what happened and where are we?”
Marco stopped but didn’t turn to face him. Instead, he looked out over the trees.
“We’re in the southern Appalachian Mountains, Georgia. The bastards hit one of the gas tanks. I didn’t send out an SOS, but I can’t be sure no one saw us go down. I hate to leave the plane but we need to get out of here.” He paused, appeared to weighing his words. “I thi— We need to split up. Steven and Bella should fly ahead. We take the girl in the car.”
Diego didn’t say anything right away, watching as Marco stiffened, just waiting for Diego to shoot him down.
So he had to fight back a smile when Marco’s jaw dropped as he said, “You’re right. Let’s go.”
* * *
“So, Castiglione is with the wolf bitch, the
grigorio
, and three others.”
Remo repeated what his enforcer had just told him. Just to make sure he had it correct.
Damien swallowed audibly. “Yes. We believe they’re headed for New Orleans.”
Of course they were headed for New Orleans. Cole’s
congress
was being held there.
The
grigorio
was an unexpected bonus because where there were
grigori
, there were bound to be cursed
streghe
. And Menrva’s nails.
How perfectly wonderful for the Etruscans to gather all the pieces together for him in one place. Unknowingly, of course, but that just made it all the better.
Veive wanted Remo to put the
lucani
on notice that they were under attack and vulnerable. The god wanted Cole dead. And since Veive didn’t want all-out war with the other Etruscan deities, he’d chosen Remo as his instrument of delivery.
The deities would think nothing of the
Mal
going after the
lucani
. Business as usual.
After Remo had delivered Cole on a plate, Veive would give him the
streghe
. And the nails.
And, of course, he’d have Steven.
First things first, though. Remo kept his gaze on his underling. “And you were doing
what
exactly in Pennsylvania?”
Damien didn’t answer right away. Which meant Remo wasn’t going to like what he had to say. Still, the man was
Mal
, and pure
Mal
were hard to come by. Remo could build an army of
eteri
willing to do his bidding for the right price, but a pure-blood
Mal
was worth his weight in gold.
Even if he was an occasional idiot.
“Looking for
grigori
, like you told us.”
Yes, Remo had told his men to look for
grigori.
If he happened to find a few nails without Veive’s help, so much the better.
Still, Remo paused, knowing there was more to the story than Damien was admitting to. “Is there something I should know?”
Damien didn’t hesitate. “It’s under control.”
Remo wondered for a second if he should push it then decided it didn’t matter. All that mattered were finding the nails. “Then get on a plane for New Orleans. I’ll meet you there.”
Chapter Nine
“So, we’re splitting up?”
Amy Jo sat on the bed dressed in new khaki shorts and a blue t-shirt, her hair still damp. Bella had just walked out of the motel bathroom, a towel wrapped around her head, dressed in new clothes, as well.
How the woman could make Walmart denim shorts and a five-dollar tank top sexy confounded Amy Jo. Must be magic. Of course, the woman was a by-god princess.
It hadn’t taken them long to find a path that led to a road off the mountain. Though she hadn’t liked it, they’d stolen a car at the first house they’d come across then stopped at the first chain department store they’d passed, buying food and clothes and a few things Amy Jo wasn’t sure she wanted to know about.
Diego had paid for it all with a credit card that didn’t have his name on it.
They’d found a motel no one would look at twice. The boys had one room, the girls the other. Bella had let her shower first, the hot water washing away some of the stress of the past hours. Still, she couldn’t help feeling she had a huge target on the back of her head and, sooner or later, someone was going to take her out.
Bella huffed and tossed the towel on the floor in a ball. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s what the guys are deciding. They think we don’t know they’re over there hatching plans. Wouldn’t it shock the shit out of them if we decided to leave without them? It’s not like we’re incapable. Bastards.”
“I don’t particularly like feeling helpless either, but it’s nice to have someone else do the thinking, at least for a little while.” Amy Joy couldn’t contain her sigh as she fell back on the full-size mattress and closed her eyes. “I feel like I haven’t slept in years, I’m so tired.”
The bed dipped beside her as Bella sat. “How
are
you feeling? I know the past two days must have seemed surreal to you. Especially on top of everything else.”
Amy Jo snorted. “Yeah, you could say that.”
“Are you worried about being alone with Diego?” Bella rushed on as if Amy Jo was going to stop her. “He can be hard-headed and close-mouthed. But he really is one of the best
grigori
and he’ll keep you safe. I don’t know Marco but Diego will keep him in line.”