Chapter 26

There was no mistaking that white-blonde head anywhere as the bleeders ripped off his helmet, nor that infamous Marchese glare he shared with his sister as he snarled at me. All my suspicions, my gut instincts, had led me right. There was something wrong with Aramis, and I'd given him the opportunity to hurt my family—my wife—when I gave him the keys to my guesthouse.

If it had been anyone else, they'd be floating to the void by now. But I couldn't kill the bastard with Milla watching.

I settled on punching him in his face.

"Nico!"

His nose gave away beneath my knuckles, giving a delicious crunch and certainly breaking it, while providing enough whiplash from the strike to send him flying back a few feet.

"Fuck!" He held his face and lashed on the ground. "What the hells was that for?"

"What was it for?" I asked, incredulous. "What was itfor?"

Milla called my name once more, but I was caught in a delirious fury, and Gideon was holding her back. Her blood was still warm across my palm, and I clenched my fist, letting it fill the gaps between my fingers. My false hand hung useless at my side, but my punch had dealt enough damage that I didn't need it.

He stood quickly, wiping his face with his sleeve. "I was saving my sister from a watchman who clearly had a remnant. Which is a hells lot more than I can say about you, your family, or any of these so-called powerful descendants."

"How did you know he had a remnant?" I asked. "You just got here!"

He spat a mouthful of blood across the pavement, wincing. "Have you forgotten who you've had me contact in the Districts? She's mentioned things about the Watch and their implementations in the Society."

"Then why haven't you told me any of this? If you knew the Society had stolen our remnants somehow, why did you say nothing?"

"My apologies, I'll request a meeting with you next time." Blood flicked from his lips with every harsh syllable. "Perhaps you won't leave Camilla's family behind next time you put her in danger."

Selfish prick.

"Watch it, Marchese," Luther spoke lazily behind me. "We're her family too now."

Aramis glared at him and scoffed. "I did what I had to do to protect Camilla. My bullets are always laced with glint, and I'll provide her with a dose if a remnant ever tries to threaten my sister again."

"She doesn't need that shit," I spoke through my teeth.

He cocked a brow. "Oh? And you know everything, do you?" He gestured to the mountain of rubble behind me. "Did your bombs do this? Or did my sister lose control of that thing inside her and wipe away an entire building and everything in it?" Aramis shook his head. "You're just like our father. Only cared about making her happy at the expense of the rest of us."

If that made me similar to Giovanni Marchese, then so be it. "Am I?" I said, feigning interest. "Perhaps that's why Milla calls me Daddy every night."

Disgust twisted his face. "You son of a—"

He returned the blow I'd given him, and I ducked out of the way just in time, catching his arm on the follow through and twisting it behind his back. "Don't embarrass yourself. These Blood descendants already think poorly enough of the Marchese line."

"Burn in every hell," he spat, just before I released him.

"Enough!" Luther shouted. The tone startled me enough to turn around and discover Gideon and another man we hired at Milla's side, helping her mount a horse they'd brought down. "Your wife needs to see a haelen. We've been told there's a few posted at Sabina's manor just a few blocks from here."

My heart softened watching her struggle to get on the steed, her cheeks wet with tears and her jaw locked. The venom in my veins only worsened for her brother.

Forgetting him for the time being, I reoriented my priorities. "I want every healer in the city down here this morning. No one goes without treatment. Get statements of what the bleeders witnessed from the Society. I want anything out of the ordinary that they saw this morning in an official report. Sabina will have to take care of notifying the families and organizing the clean-up, as this is her ground."

Luther fell into step beside me. "Anything else you need me to take care of, boss?"

"Yes," I said quietly, approaching Milla's horse. "Get those two prisoners we spoke to in the engine room. Vesper and Callow. Bring them to Sabina's."