Chapter 3

CHAPTERTHREE

On her list of Spectacularly Shit Nights, Stella was living one that topped them all.

The afternoon had gone to plan with her seeing Pietro off on his trip before going with Luca to inspect Claudia’s apartment.

By the look of things, there hadn’t been anyone there in days: spoiled food sat in her fridge, and the pile of unwashed laundry next to her bathtub smelled musty. Claudia loved her clothes and wouldn’t have willingly left them in that state for long.

"I’m still hoping for the sex marathon outcome," Stella said stubbornly after they relocked the apartment.

"Me too. I swear if she is with Andreas, I am going to murder her myself," replied Luca.

It was already dark and raining steadily as they crossed the Accademia Bridge and walked onto the streets of San Marco.

The Swords Districts, ruled by the Aladoro’s on the Council of Ten, were always orderly, spotless, and well policed, unlike everywhere else in Venice.

Even the buildings were perfect, as if the neighbors were in constant competition with each other to have the cleanest building and prettiest window boxes.

The patere on the houses tended to be made of marble, unlike the plaster of less wealthy areas, and were carved expertly with sword motifs of varying shapes and sizes.

On nearly all the buildings were a variety of landing platforms for the winged shifters to meet and spy on their neighbors.

They took the narrow stairs up to the top floors of the building, and Luca pointed out the one he was sure belonged to the owl shifter.

"If we wake up some angry old nonna, I’m going to blame you," Stella said before banging on the door. When there was no answer, she bent down and looked under the gap of the door. "There are no lights on."

"And I can’t hear anything," Luca replied from beside her, his ear pressed to the door.

"Move."

Stella had acquired many useful skills over the years, and picking locks had to be one of her favorites. Pulling two thin picks from her bra, she got to work on the three locks on the door. When the last one clicked, the door swung open to reveal a dark corridor.

"After you," Luca whispered.

"Such a gentleman," Stella replied, pulling out one of her stilettos from the inside pocket of her jacket.

They closed the door behind them and switched on the nearest artificer lantern. Stella’s stomach dropped.

There was blood smeared on the wall, the plaster broken where someone had punched it.

Please, please, God no.

Stella followed the destruction to the lounge room, where she found blood and broken furniture. She pointed at the bedroom door, and Luca kicked it open. It was empty.

Stella didn’t know whether to be relieved or not at the lack of bodies.

"This place has been completely ransacked. They must have been looking for something," Luca said, his dark eyes filling with unshed tears. "I told Claudia she should have been more careful with her questions."

A low whistle outside the open kitchen window made Stella’s head snap up in alarm. A hawk perched on the sill, watching them with a gaze a little too intense for any normal bird.

"Luca, we need to go." Stella grabbed him by the arm, and they ran for the apartment door. She locked it behind her just as she heard a window smashed inside.

"If we get separated, meet me back at home, okay? Don’t stop running, even if I fall back."

Luca nodded as Stella hit the emergency fire alarm button. They ran down the fire escape stairwell as the sirens screamed above them. With any luck, the residents would fill up the corridors, and they could lose whoever had been watching them.

Stella opened the fire escape door that led out into the streets, peeking her head out to check that there wasn’t anyone waiting for them.

"This way," she whispered, taking Luca’s hand. She knew the streets of the district well enough to get about in the day, but in the darkness, it was easy to get lost.

They wove through the streets without much care for where they were going, except away from whoever might be pursuing them.

They’d made it over two canal bridges before three hawk shifters dropped from the sky. Stella shoved Luca back as feathers and claws turned into men with blades.

These weren’t normal thugs wanting her coin purse. They didn’t say a word, just stared at her with cold eyes.

Stella took a deep breath and drew her stilettos, readied her stance, and dropped into the calm, quiet place where she fought.

As heir to a considerable business, Pietro had made sure his only child could fight from the moment she could stand. Venetians had a tendency to take out competitors permanently, and in his eyes, Stella could never be too careful.

"Put those away, little girl, before you get hurt," one of the hawk shifters crooned.

Stella’s blade caught him across the ribs of his raised arm, dropping him to the street with a curse of surprise. Stella threw a small bolt of electricity at the other, hitting him in the chest. He sprawled out on the stones, convulsing violently.

Stella was readying herself for the final shifters when a full-grown shedu dropped straight on top of the other two men, huge claws ripping and tearing into flesh.

Stella pushed Luca out of the way and dodged under the shedu’s powerful wings. It growled in frustration as she tried to get around it, copying her movements in order to stay in between her and the only attacker still standing.

Bones crunched, followed by a man’s scream as the lion’s powerful jaws latched onto him and tossed him into the canal.

Stella’s heart pounded as the shedu’s gold-and-black wings snapped in, hugging its body, and it turned its massive head to stare at her with shining gold eyes.

The air shimmered with golden magic, and then, Domenico Aladoro stood before her. His black curly hair was tousled around his face as he stared her down.

She had forgotten how tall and broad he was, his aura radiating power and violence. His clothes were shredded from the unexpected shift, and she glimpsed the beautiful red-and-black tattoo she remembered from Carnevale stretching down his right side.

Oh, shit.

Fear shot down her spine, the warning of her dreams like an alarm going off in her head. Dom would’ve been close enough to see her throw the electrical bolt, and if he recognized her from the hanging...

Stella’s depleted magic pulled the power from the nearest streetlamp as she rushed him. Without stopping to reconsider, Stella smacked her palm into his chest, hitting him with the stolen power mixed with a knockout spell.

Dom grunted as the strike sent him to his knees, and Stella lowered him to the wet street, making sure he didn’t hit his head. His big gold eyes went wide.

"S-Stella?" he whispered and slumped against her.

Oh God, please make him forget.

"Luca, help me!" Stella shouted, struggling to hold up Dom’s dead weight.

"Stella, do you have any idea who you’re holding? Who you just attacked?" Luca demanded, his face pale in the dim light.

"Yes. And we are going to make sure he doesn’t wake up here. Now help me," she hissed, all out of patience. They dragged him toward the nearest canal. Luca balanced Dom against a wall while Stella hurried to wave down a gondolier.

"Big night, I see," he said with a chuckle.

"He’s so drunk." Stella laughed with him. "These rich boys can’t hold their wine."

The gondolier’s good humor vanished when he realized who they were helping into his boat, giving an almost comical double take.

"Oh, dear," he murmured.

Stella fished through Dom’s pockets and pulled out a sleek leather coin pouch.

"Three gold soldi if you get him home safely. You know his place in San Samuele?"

"Doesn’t everyone? I’ll see him home, but you had better make it four soldi to keep me from remembering your face," he said with an outstretched hand.

It was a ridiculous sum, but Stella wasn’t paying, so she fished out the four coins from the pouch and passed them over.

"Just make sure he gets there safely. My memory is excellent too," Stella replied, with enough threat that the gondolier’s eyes narrowed. She watched him paddle away and only turned when Luca leaned over and vomited into the canal.

"What are we going to do, Stella?" he asked, crying now in heavy gasping sobs.

"We are going to go home and hope that no one else saw us tonight. Then we are going to find Claudia," Stella said, helping him straighten.

Whoever had taken her had been watching the apartment, waiting for others to arrive. What the hell had Claudia gotten herself into?

Stella’s fingers tightened on Dom’s leather pouch before stuffing it into her pocket.

"Let’s get the hell out of here before anyone else comes."

"Do you think Domenico Aladoro is going to remember our faces?" Luca asked nervously as he followed her across the Accademia Bridge, back into Dorsoduro and the safety of the Coins District.

Stella’s heart tripped with fear as she remembered his surprised expression and heard her name on his lips. She could only hope that the sleep spell helped to scramble his memories.

She wanted to drown Luca in the nearest canal for involving her in this shit. Stella combed her wet hands through her disheveled hair.

"Pray that he doesn’t, Luca, or we will both hang."