Blood War (Book 1, the Halfblood Chronicles)

21.3 | Brief and Endless Agonies

Lu studied him for a long moment. He almost seemed confused, perhaps a little worried. "Don't pretend like you didn't know," she snapped.

Dante gaped. "Did they hurt Nika?"

"You're one of Capello's betas. His nephew. I'm not buying the innocent act."

"Is she gonna be okay?" His voice was a mere scratch.

Lu was stunned. Surely, he was pretending. "You expect me to believe he didn't tell you about this?"

"My uncle hasn't been telling me anything lately."

Lu squinted. "Why?"

With a sigh, he sat at the small dining table, his forehead sinking into his hands. "Before I stole Konstantin's journal, before we kidnapped you, I spent a lot of time around Konstantin Academy. Studying the terrain, the campus, the people."

As Lu hesitantly sat across from him, Dante gazed out the window, toward the moon and stars, or perhaps the nothingness in between.

"I remember the first time I saw her," he said, so quietly that she had to lean closer to listen. "A snowstorm had come the night before, and her hair looked like a flame caught in the wind. She was sitting on a stone ledge that overlooked the valley. The whole school should have been asleep, but Nika watched the sunrise instead. The sun washed over her face, and she seemed so peaceful, so . . . free. Like she didn't belong in your world, didn't want to belong.

"I started watching her more closely. I saw her get bullied by other novices, and it took everything in me not to rip those pricks apart. I saw teachers give her poor grades, not because she was a bad student, but because she was a halfblood."

Dante's lips curled back in disgust as he added, "I saw her with Miles. Kissing. Touching. F—"

"I got it," Lu said hastily, raising a hand for him to stop. He met her gaze, eyes softening.

"Nika wasn't lying, you know. He really did tell her that he loved her. She was upset, ran down to the dorm cabins. I couldn't stop myself from approaching. I wanted to see her up close for once, wanted her to know my name."

"So that's why you asked for directions to the library." Lu couldn't stop the wry laugh that escaped her. "You have a crush on Nika."

Anger flashed through his features. "It isn't a crush."

Lu cocked an eyebrow. "So you love her, then?"

His silence was cryptic. She didn't know if it was a confession, or a sign of uncertainty. Perhaps it was something else entirely.

"Alpha sensed that my feelings had been compromised after I asked him not to go through with the abduction. I could see how close you were, how much Nika cared for you. But he threatened to annex me from the pack if I didn't obey him. I did the best I could, Lu. Spared her life that night. It might not have seemed like it, but I was trying to help you. All of you."

Lu thought back to the night of the kidnapping. Dante had been trying to contain the situation, keep it from getting messy. But Nika had a flair for dramatics, especially when it came to protecting Lu.

"Ever since then, Capello hasn't been sharing things with me." Dante held out his palms in supplication. "You've gotta believe me. If I'd known they would torture—" He sucked in a breath. "I would've stopped them."

Lu gnawed on her lip. She didn't know if she believed this story, as endearing as it seemed. But one thing was certain—she needed an ally. Perhaps she could make use of Dante Azzara.

So she said, "If you want to prove to me that you really care about Nika, then go find her. Bring her home and make sure she lives."

Dante blinked. "How—"

"Tatiana is holding her in a cave. It's not far. Can you track Nika's scent?"

"Maybe."

"Do it. Get her out of that cave, bring her as close to headquarters as possible."

"But what if someone sees me? The Ministry will have my head."

"If you love her, you'd be willing to risk it."

Dante furrowed his brow in thought. Then he nodded and stood up. But before exiting the trailer, he glanced over his shoulder.

"You have to understand what it's like to be a Volkari in this world," he said without making eye contact. "We're sick of being inferior, of being labeled as animals. And this curse is killing us. Literally. Most of us only want to live in comfort and freedom with our families. Capello is a radical, but the wolves follow him because he's promising to break the curse. After that, they'll be gone." A pause. "Just . . . think about that, before you decide not to help us."