Little Sparrow

Little Sparrow Book one Darcy Embers Copyright © 2023 by Darcy Embers All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. To those who pushed me out of my comfort zone. This book wouldn't be possible without you. Authors Note If you are my family member, please put this book down and slide it back onto your shelf. This isn't for you. This book is the first of a duet and a Dark Paranormal Romance that can have scenes triggering for some. Little Sparrow contains explicit and graphic content for readers aged 18+ For a full list of triggers, please visit the author's Instagram. www.instagram.com/authordarcyembers Contents Part One 1. Dante 2. Rose 3. Dante 4. Rose 5. Dante 6. Rose 7. Dante 8. Rose 9. Dante 10. Rose 11. Dante 12. Rose 13. Rose 14. Dante Part two 15. Rose 16. Dante 17. Rose 18. Dante 19. Rose 20. Dante 21. Rose 22. Dante 23. Dante 24. Rose 25. Dante 26. Rose 27. Dante 28. Rose 29. Dante 30. Rose 31. Dante 32. Rose 33. Dante 34. Rose 35. Dante 36. Rose 37. Dante 38. Rose 39. Dante 40. Rose 41. Dante 42. Rose 43. Dante 44. Rose 45. Dante 46. Rose 47. Dante 48. Rose Chapter Part One Everything's fine today, that is our illusion. -Voltaire Chapter one DanteCalabria, Italy“Do it,” my father demands, as he presses the bloodied knife into the palm of my hand. I shake my head but slowly curl my fingers around that smooth handle. The dim lighting causes misshapen shadows against the walls as I turn to face her. I watch the blonde woman tied up on the metal chair struggle with the chains binding her wrists and ankles, attaching her to the dirty floor. Blood pools beneath her feet from the multiple wounds he had already inflicted. I’ve been outside the basement door many times over the last few years, listening to the screams of others in their own torture as my father extracts what he wants. Now that I’m eighteen, he expects me to join him. My father had me trained on how to fight, use a gun, and make and maintain connections, gaining the skills throughout the years for when I would need to take over as boss. However, I never wanted to turn into him. I’m not cold like him. He believes I must follow in his footsteps as the only heir to his fortune. But this is the first person I’ve actually had to hurt, and it’s a woman. My father is looking for a weapon, and this woman is the one who created it. She is the only one who knows where it’s hidden, and he is determined to find it, no matter the cost. He knows I’m hesitating when I don’t move toward her. My feet are heavy, cementing me to the ground.My eyes widen slightly as I feel the cold barrel of a gun pressing against the back of my head. My face stays blank, not wanting to anger my father on my kill. A click echoes as he pulls back the hammer on his revolver, and sweat forms on my temple as he is forcing me to do as he wants. I know he will punish me if I don’t. I step toward her. The woman has tears streaming down her face as she realises that now I have no choice. This is the moment she will tell us or die while I cut her open, along with her multiple wounds.An apology passes my lips, but I can’t voice the word as the blade slices into the skin of her finger. A deep red slowly pours out of her as I hit bone and keep forcing it into her. She thrashes, trying to pull her arms away from me while the chains rattle louder than her whimpers. Her jaw clenches as though she’s trying to hide her pain.I hate every flinch when she screams as she writhes in agony, but my father keeps telling me it’s in my blood to do this. He had already severed both of her Achilles tendons, so she can’t escape if the chains came undone. I know she has been down here for a while. My father notices that my head drifts to them. “It’s okay. She will heal.” He pushes the barrel harder into my head.“Tell us where it is. You know it will be mine eventually,” he shouts, wanting to have the best arsenal in the country. Spit flies from his mouth, the warm droplets hitting the back of my neck. She violently thrashes her head, telling us no. I grip her face and look deep into her eyes, silently pleading with her. However, the set of her jaw and lifting of her chin tells me she won’t reveal it to us. A wave of relief settles over me. She would rather die than let him get a hold of it. I still love my father, but I’ll never be like him. I can’t let him get this. It’s too dangerous for the world. Especially if he needs to torture information out of someone. If we find it, I will destroy it so that he won’t be able to wield it.I’m brought back from my thoughts as deep red blood spreads across the floor and onto my shoes. She bites her lip from the pain of her wounds as I press the knife into her arm. The gun keeps pushing against the back of my head, urging me to carry on. I need to shut myself down and end this quickly.“Tell us where Project Sparrow is,” I grind out with more feigned anger in my tone, but my furrowed brows are asking for her silence. My voice sounds nothing like me anymore. I just need to end this.She spits at me, “You will never know, no matter what