Giovanni (Blood Brothers Book 6) (17 page)

Sydney shuffled in her seat. “That sound ominous.”

“Well, we mentioned earlier that the men removed you from your house because they felt some dark force. They believed that you were in some kind of danger. I’ve observed you and notice there’s an aura about you that isn’t quite right. I believe this memory loss you’ve suffered is unnatural. Someone has been tampering with your mind.”

Sydney frowned. “How can that be? I’ve only had these memory lapses recently. It could be related to my hospitalization.”

“No. I think it’s more than that, and if you would allow me I can see if I can unlock those memories that are hidden away,” Sasha offered.

“I don’t know. The last time someone offered to help me with my head, I blacked out and ended up in this hotel.”

“Please, trust us. We’d never do anything to harm you, Sydney,” Isis assured her.

“I have to think about this.” Sydney sighed. “I’m sorry, but I need to go to the restroom.”

“Would you like one of us to go with you?” Maggie asked.

“No, thank you. I have my cane. I’m sure I’ll manage just fine. Just point me in the direction I need to go.”

“You’ll actually have to exit the restaurant and turn left into the lobby. The women’s restroom should be the first door on your right,” Maggie directed.

“Thank you.”

The restroom was right where Maggie said it would be. Once she had relieved herself and washed her hands she headed out the door only to bump into someone. “Oh! I’m so sorry.”

“Sydney! I’m so glad I found you. We have to get out of here now. There are some really bad people out there.”

“Ida? What are you doing here?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m here to take you away from here. Dylan has been worried sick about you. I have too. Come on child.” Ida took Sydney’s hand.

Part of her wanted to resist but then she realized there was absolutely no reason why she was here in the first place. She didn’t even remember how she’d ended up in this hotel. “Okay. Let’s go. Back to Dylan.”

Chapter Eighteen

Dante stepped cautiously into the building, worried about what he might find. Thankfully, by the time he’d joined the rest of his brothers he learned that Giovanni was still in the same location. Giovanni’s howls and screams of agony could be heard before he even got out of his vehicle. There was so much pain and suffering in those cries that it tore at Dante’s heart. It made Dante realize just how much Giovanni must have suffered throughout the years.

Romeo, GianMarco, Niccolo and the twins followed closely behind him. He’d ordered the other agents keep lookout at their posts outside. The old warehouse smelled of oil and dust. It took a moment for Dante’s eyes to adjust to the darkness but once it did he continued on, following the sound of Giovanni’s voice. He halted as something scurried across his shoes. He looked down to see a rat the size of a small house cat. He scrunched his nose in disgust. “Be cautious, men. There are large vermin everywhere.”

“I can do a quick spell to light this place up,” Blade offered

Dante shook his head. “We don’t want to alarm Giovanni. There’s no telling what will set him off in this state. Let’s go.”

They came to a metal stairwell. “Sounds like he’s upstairs,” GianMarco observed.

Once they got closer to the source of the noise, Dante could feel his brother’s presence getting stronger. Giovanni’s pain was almost tangible. Dante winced from the physical response he had towards his brother’s agony. Though he wanted to run to Giovanni and offer comfort, he continued to step cautiously.

Finally when it felt like they’d traversed the entire length of the warehouse they found him. Sitting in a corner mumbling to himself was Giovanni. Dante hadn’t been sure what to expect but seeing his brother in this state had certainly not been it. Giovanni was still covered in blood from head to toe. His hair was a mess and his clothing was torn. His incisors were visible and his fingers were pointed claws which he used to gouge his arms in some barbaric form of self-mutilation. Every time he would tear his flesh open he’d let out an agonizing scream. Then he’d give his face the same treatment, ripping chunks off of himself and not giving his body the proper chance to heal.

“I’m so sorry, Adonis,” he whispered. He clawed his face again, tearing off more flesh, and while he did this, he released another agonizing scream.

“Giovanni,” Dante softly whispered his brother’s name. He couldn’t stand seeing Giovanni torture himself this way. He could only imagine the kind of guilt the older vampire must be feeling to harm himself in that way. It was then he realized that while a bloodmate was vital to a vampire’s existence, the thing had drove Giovanni’s madness was the remorse he felt over Adonis.

With a growl, Giovanni raised his head. He jumped to his feet with lightning speed and charged toward them. Unlike Giovanni’s previous victims however, Dante and his crew were prepared.

One of the twins must have uttered a quick spell because the lights suddenly illuminated the room. The abrupt change in atmosphere must have temporarily distracted Giovanni because it enabled Dante to duck away from the blow that Giovanni sent his way. He quickly moved behind Giovanni and placed him into a full nelson. He was strong but Giovanni was older and now that he was currently in the throes of
la morte dolci
he was even stronger.

Giovanni wiggled out of his hold and tossed Dante across the room. “Get away from me,” the older vampire roared.

Romeo and GianMarco rushed toward Giovanni and each one them grabbed an arm.

“Now would be a good time to perform some kind of spell to stabilize him,” Niccolo suggested to the warlocks.

The twins seemed to already be on it. They joined hands and began to chant.

“Any day now,” Romeo yelled as he struggled to hold on to Giovanni.

“These things take time, Ro.” Niccolo joined GianMarco and Romeo in trying to restrain Giovanni.

Without warning, Giovanni went stiff.

“You can let him go now,” Cutter advised.

“Are you sure?” Dante asked.

Blade nodded. “Let him go and find out for yourselves.”

They all stepped away from Giovanni who still remained in the exact position. His eyes were blood red and he looked pissed. “Let me go!” he roared.

“No.” Dante shook his head. “We want to help you.”

“You can help me by fucking off. You don’t care about me. You didn’t care about Adonis. You wanted him dead and you were glad to see him gone.” Giovanni seemed to strain against the invisible force that kept him immobile. The veins in his neck began to throb and they looked as if they would explode.

Dante closed his eyes against the pain in those words. He released a long, heavy sigh. “I don’t deny that I wanted Adonis dead but that’s because he did a lot of evil things. Maybe the circumstances would have been different had we known he was our brother. We would have tried a different tactic. But we didn’t know and did what we thought was the right thing. Had we not gone after Adonis, he would have continued to wreak havoc in our lives. Adonis tortured us, killed our allies, and took our mother and father. He murdered an innocent baby in the name of revenge against a man who had no ill will toward him. He was evil and needed to be stopped.”

“Stop saying that!” Giovanni’s eyes grew large in his rage. He snarled at them, showing off his sharp incisiors. Though his ripped skin had started to heal, Giovani still made a frightening sight. “None of you knew him like I did. You didn’t hold him in your arms as he breathed his last breath. You silently cheered as our brother died. Had I not been there you probably would have kicked him when he was down.”

Dante shook his head in denial. “That’s not true. No one took pleasure in seeing him die. Yes, I’m not sorry that he’s gone because his death was necessary. But more than anything, I was saddened because I knew how much he meant to you. At some point in his life, he must have been a different person, and I’m sorry I didn’t know that Adonis instead of the one he showed to us.”

“Lies! Don’t pretend like you fucking care!” Giovanni yelled. Though his head remained still, he turned his red-eyed stare toward the twins. “Set me free, warlocks!”

Cutter smirked. “Not until you’ve calmed down.”

Giovanni growled. “Fuck all of you! When I get out of this, I will kill you all!”

“You don’t know what you’re saying, Giovanni. That’s the sickness talking. You wouldn’t have spent the last few centuries looking over us only to kill us,” Niccolo reasoned.

For the first time since they’d confronted him, Giovanni looked uncertain but then he snarled mutinously. “Maybe if I would have let Adonis kill you then he’d still be alive."

Dante stepped forward and placed his hand on Giovanni’s shoulder. “Well I’m glad you didn’t because then we wouldn’t have gotten this chance to know you. Whether you believe it or not we care about you and want you to be happy.”

“Lies. You don’t care. You want to destroy me! Adonis says so!” Giovanni screamed.

“Adonis is dead,” Romeo pointed out.

“No he’s not! He’s right behind you!”

Dante turned around and frowned before turning back to his brother. “Giovanni…there’s no one there.”

Was he losing his mind? He could see Adonis looking at him, smirking and telling him that these men didn’t care about him. “You’re lying. He’s standing behind you.”

“Giovanni, there’s no one in the room other than you, me, Dante, Niccolo, Romeo, Cutter and Blade,” GianMarco pointed out.

Giovanni didn’t appreciate the younger vampire’s patronizing tone. He wanted to rip, kill, and maim, but he couldn’t move. The hold these blasted warlocks had on him was too strong. He strained against its force and finally managed to move his head, otherwise he remained frozen to the spot. He saw everyone through a red filter as his rage boiled over. “You won’t trick me. I see him. He’s standing right there. He’s right behind Romeo.” He would have pointed but he wasn’t able to.

Adonis chuckled. “They’re lying, Giovanni. They know I’m here. They’re just fucking with your mind. They don’t want to see you get better. They want to hurt you. Don’t believe anything they tell you.”

Romeo scrunched his face in disbelief. He turned and waved at the air. His hands sliced right through Adonis whose image wavered slightly.

Giovanni blinked hard and Adonis disappeared. “Where? Where did he go? You destroyed him!”

Dante shook his head. “No. He was never there. He’s dead, Giovanni. And he’s never coming back.”

“No!” Giovanni cried in agony.

Dante nodded. “Yes. He’s gone.”

“I…I killed him,” Giovanni said the words out loud for the first time. They pained him more than any physical damage he’d inflicted on himself.

“He had to be stopped, Giovanni. Adonis has no one to blame but himself. It’s not your fault. You did all that you could for him. Sometimes there are people who can’t be saved. You we’re a loving brother to him and I believe he knew that. No matter what he’d become, there was something within him that still loved you. Before he died, he wanted you to be the one to take him out because he felt your love for him. He knew you would do it with compassion and you gave him that beautiful gift. He died with a smile on his face because he was happy that you were there. He’s in a better place now. Away from the darkness.”

Tears cascaded down his face. “He can’t be gone. Please tell me this is all a nightmare and I’ll wake up any second.”

Dante placed his hands on Giovanni’s shoulders. “He’s gone and never coming back. Remember him as he was and not what he’d become. Would the man he used to be want you to carry this much pain? You did the best you could, and you can’t keep blaming yourself for the choices he made.”

Niccolo, GianMarco and Romeo surrounded him “He was my best friend. You’ll never know him as I did.”

Romeo rubbed his back. “It’s okay that you loved him. But I’m sure he loved you too and wouldn’t want you to suffer like this.”

“I have no one now,” Giovanni whispered in defeat.

Dante shook his head vehemently. “That’s not true. You have Sydney. She’s your bloodmate. And you have us. We’re your brothers and we love you Giovanni. You’ll never be alone again.”

Suddenly a wave of pure agony hit him, but it wasn’t a physical pain, it was a spiritual. “Oh, God. My big brother is deeeeaaaaaadddddd!” He cried out.

The warlocks must have released him from their hold because Giovanni found himself collapsing but he didn’t crash to the ground. Instead he was pulled into strong arms. Giovanni barely registered that Dante held him up. He released the misery he’d felt from the second Adonis’s heart had stopped beating. The guilt had literally been eating him alive. Though he cried for Adonis’s physical death, he was finally able to acknowledge that the brother he knew died a very long time ago. That he couldn’t do more still weighed heavy on his heart.

He cried until his eyes burned and his throat was raw. Slowly, as his sobs subsided, his claws and incisors retracted. By the time the last tear fell, he felt shattered and weak. Briefly he lifted his head and standing across the room was Adonis, not the evil, twisted version, but the young, carefree boy. His best friend. The boy smiled and waved before disappearing.

“Goodbye Adonis,” Giovanni whispered before everything went black.

Dante wasn’t sure if Giovanni was completely out of the woods as far as his illness went but he believed the worst part was over. “We should take him to the car and head back to the women. The sooner we can reunite him with Sydney I think the faster he can completely heal.”

GianMarco sighed. “I still believe he’ll carry this guilt around for a while.”

Dante nodded. “Considering all that he’s been through, that’s understandable. Come on, let’s get going.”

Dante’s phone began to vibrate. He forgot to leave it in the car when he’d come in. He quickly checked it to see that it was Isis. “Yes, Isis?”

“We have a problem,” Isis said without preamble.

“What’s the matter?”

“Sydney is gone. And we can’t find her anywhere.”