Page 196 of Sienna Rossi: Beyond Shattered Trust

Slow, measured, and mocking.

My aura surges as my senses sharpen. I know who it is before he even comes into view. I turn as I close the distance between Sienna and me, just as a figure emerges from between the shattered rock formations.

Vincenzo.

Several others walk beside him, powerful enough that I recognise them instantly as some of his strongest followers. Velasara is missing, meaning Sienna probably did more damage than I thought.

But I keep my attention on Vincenzo, and for some reason, he looks pleased. Not angry or frustrated, but pleased, as if he’s just watched the final piece of a puzzle fall into place.

“Beautiful,” he says, his voice carrying effortlessly across the battlefield.

The drakaths shift as one, their eyes snapping to him, and yet he doesn’t seem bothered at all...

He’s like a fucking cockroach, I sigh through the mind-link. Sienna’s mouth quirks upwards, and she steps towards me, closing the remaining gap between us.

Yeah… and that face throws me, Sienna murmurs.

I know. I rest my hand on her back for a fleeting moment, needing that contact, and the way she instinctively leans in shows me that she does, too.

Vincenzo’s smile widens.

“Truly beautiful.”

Lightning crackles around my gauntlets. “You’ve lost. You’re too late.”

His eyes meet mine, and for a moment neither of us moves.

Then he laughs softly. “Have I?”

Unease settles in my stomach; that’s not the response of a man who’s lost.

His eyes now flicker to Sienna, and the satisfaction in his eyes puts me on edge as the drakaths remain kneeling around us.

“Did you know...” he begins softly, his gaze still trained on Sienna, “That every demon possesses two names, or in your case, three?”

The battlefield grows quieter.

“The name they’re given. Sienna Electra Kendall Rossi of the Black Storm Pack. Mordana of House Silver…”

Then a cold smile touches the corner of his lips. “And the deadliest of them all, the most powerful, their demon name.”

Sienna frowns as unease twists in the pit of my stomach.

“What are you talking about?” I ask sharply.

For a moment, Vincenzo simply studies her, ignoring me entirely, as if he’s done with me. “The name that’s carved into their very soul.”

Something about the way he says that makes my skin crawl.

“The first word spoken by the darkness that you come from, the name spoken when it recognised what you would become.” His eyes lock onto Sienna.

“Most never learn theirs, and some are unfortunate enough to have it discovered for them.” His smile grows, and I know where this is going. “It’s my gift to you, Nyth’arael.” The moment those words leave his mouth, something shifts through the air.

For the first time since taking control of the drakaths, uncertainty flashes across Sienna’s face, and then Vincenzo begins speaking in an ancient tongue at the very same time Sienna shouts.

“Attack!” And the drakaths turn, racing towards the Indomitable, but then they stop.

I turn sharply to see Sienna frozen, and then I look at Vincenzo.