Oath of Sacrifice (Deviant Doms 4)

Marialena continues, unperturbed.

“September is a busy month for them. Due to the appearance of a full moon at the start of September followed by a new moon like September bookends, a doorway to improving work and life balance opens. Be aware of the hint of love coming your way, Aries.”

Marialena grows still and worries her lip. She looks up at me, then back down, and rolls the paper up.

Okay, what’s that about?

“Hey. You didn’t finish reading it,” I tell her. Not that I care, but I don’t want her to hide things from me. None of this matters anyway.

“Oh, the rest is just… you know, nothing.”

The other girls grow quiet. Elise speaks softly to her. “Hey. Babe, what does it say? You can’t only read half of a horoscope. Isn’t that, like, bad luck?”

She laughs, but it’s a nervous laugh. She looks to me and I only shrug. I do want to hear the rest, but I don’t much care.

“C’mon, let’s hear it,” Angelina says, dipping another pretzel in frosting. “Then we’ll read the rest.”

Marialena sighs and goes back to it. “Okay, but just keep in mind that, like, this isn’t gospel.”

What the hell? She never gives us warnings about these things. If anything, we’re the ones warning her.

“Read it.” My voice is harsher than I intend.

She wets her lips with the tip of her tongue and finishes reading.

“Beware wolves in sheep’s clothing, Aries. Love that was once lost may be found, but all isn’t what it seems. Guard your heart against tricks of the eye and sweet talk. You may experience deep, abiding pain in the coming months, but terrible pain can be avoided if you guard against it.”

The room is silent. Marialena scowls and balls the scroll up. She stands and walks to her wastebasket and tosses it in.

“What bullshit,” she says, but none of us believe her. “I mean, what sort of horoscope is that? It sounds so doomsday.” She rolls her eyes. “Deep, abiding pain my ass. Whatever.”

I look out at the stone wall and remember how it hurt so badly. I remember how Santo caught me and nestled me against him and held me.

I stare at the ocean and stand up straighter.

I don’t need anyone to hold me up. I can stand on my own.

“It’s just bullshit,” I tell her, but the truth is, it’s the first damn horoscope I’ve ever actually believed.

CHAPTER THREE

Santo

The driver pulls around the bend that takes me back to The Castle and whistles a happy tune. The sun’s lower in the sky than it is in Tuscany. It’s cooler, too, thank fuck.

It’s been months since I’ve been here, and Jesus, I missed it. I missed it so much.

Mama loves the fall months, and it shows. Ripe orange pumpkins decorate the front steps to the Castle. The elevated portcullis, the heavy closing gate with a wooden and metal latticed grill which is lowered when we lock up for the night, is decorated with orange and gold-tinged ivy. Mama lives for the cooler days of a New England autumn, and when we were younger, would pile us all into the Great Hall to carve pumpkins, drag us into the heart of Gloucester to go on hayrides, and even sewed our costumes with Nonna for us to go trick-or-treating. She did everything she could to keep things normal for us.

I liked the costumes. Those were fun.

Behind the mask, no one knew who I was. I blended in with everyone else.

My stomach rolls with hunger as we pull up the drive. I haven’t eaten anything all day in preparation for the feast we’ll have tonight, to celebrate the induction of our newest member into The Family.

It’s the only reason I’m here, the only reason I’ve been granted a temporary reprieve from my punishment. No one can be inducted without the express consent of the ruling members of The Family. Even now, that includes me.

I look up when the two large Rottweilers Romeo trained stand at attention. Heavy chains keep them locked in place with ample room to move but far enough away to not hurt anyone but intruders. Romeo has a remote control he can activate on his phone to release them if necessary, but we keep them locked up so they don’t attack anyone mistakenly.

When they hear my voice, they wag their tails so hard their whole bodies shake. They whine and cry until I kneel in front of them and let them lap my face.

I hear laughter behind me. “You’re the only one they kiss.” I turn toward The Castle to see Mama waiting for me. “Cain Master was here recently. And his wife Violet, too. Those dogs are as docile as lambs around her, but they don’t kiss her. Only you, Santo.”

Even though Tosca Rossi isn’t my birth mother, she’s always treated me like a son. I wonder at times if she knew Narciso took me under his wing in a way he never did with the other boys.