Chapter 28
Cosimo was never prouder of his family than when a crisis arose. Where sibling chaos was usually the norm, they all seemed to settle in and focus when a problem needed to be solved.
Cosimo had called ahead on their way back to Forli to tell them what occurred at the graveyard and share the information they had gotten from both Renata and Amalia.
By the time he and Marcella made it back to the hotel, Cosimo's rooms had been turned into a war room, and food had been ordered for everyone.
Marcella looked about at the chaos of maps, laptops, and magicians, and her eyes went wide. "Are they always like this?"
"Yes, aren't they great?" Cosimo said, beaming at them.
"Dad! Finally. I have maps!" Bridget called, spotting them before the others. She had laid out Maria's maps and brought up digital ones of her own. "Santa Sofia is only about half an hour south of here."
"I want to know about the necromancy first," Valentine interrupted, staring at Marcella with new eyes.
In fact, all the boys were looking at Marcella and the aura of power she now had with barely contained curiousity, except for Lachlan who couldn't feel the change at all. The girls just looked smug because they had known and hadn't breathed a word to anyone about it.
"Thanks for the heads-up, ladies," Cosimo chided them.
"It wasn't our secret to share," Charlotte said primly. "Marcella, can you tell me again what you saw when you held the statue of Minerva? I'm trying to look for landmarks around the Santa Sofia area that could suggest where Maria began her search. I very much doubt it was in the town itself."
Marcella went over to sit with her. "I can tell you what I remember, but I can also try and read the statue again to see what I can pick up."
"How about you eat something before you try that?" Cosimo suggested, hating the idea of her collapsing again.
"I'm fine," Marcella said, ignoring him.
"He fusses," Bridget commented, not looking up from her screen. "You might as well just give in. The whole family are a bunch of feeders."
"Dad has reason to fuss. Necromancy takes a lot of magic, and it's better to eat afterward," Apollo said, getting out of his chair to come and stand with Cosimo. The boys seemed to all move in on him at once, and he knew he was in for an interrogation.
"Witches have been watching the hotel all afternoon," Lachlan said in a low voice. "We haven't engaged with them, but they aren't bothering to hide."
"Renata is flexing, that's all. She wants to make sure we leave," Cosimo replied. He had expected her to do something to intimidate them.
"Might have something to do with you cutting Carlo's finger off last night," Apollo said and crossed his arms. "What the fuck was that about, Dad?"
"He was casting compulsion magic on Marcella. The dragon didn't like it." Cosimo shifted under the combined weight of their stares. "Okay, I didn't either. Val was there. He would have stopped me from going too far."
Valentine smiled. "Would I, though? The asshole deserved more than what you gave him."
"What are we going to do about Renata having Marcella's dad?" Bas asked, rubbing at his neck. "I didn't pick up a single thought in her head about it the other night. Maybe she does have some ability to screen her mind."
"Or she just wasn't thinking about using it yet. Don't blame yourself, Bas," Cosimo replied. He ran a hand through his hair. "Whatever we do with Renata will be up to Marcella. I can't step in until she asks me to."
"She's got that much raw power around her. I don't think she is going to need our help," Apollo commented thoughtfully.
"She doesn't know how to control it properly. We need to help her either way." Cosimo glanced around and made sure that Marcella was deep in conversation with the girls. He whispered, "Don't react to what I'm going to say next. She can't know. Not yet."
"What is it? What's wrong?" Reeve whispered, and they all leaned in.
"The dragon says she's my mate," Cosimo replied.
"No fucking shit!" Apollo crowed and then slapped his hands over his mouth.
Lachlan patted him hard on the back and looked over at the girls. "He swallowed a bug! He's fine!"
"We all thought she could be, but we didn't want to worry you if the dragon wasn't confirming anything," Valentine said, and his smile got wider. "Mutilating Carlo confirmed it for me, but I'm glad you're admitting it to yourself at last."
"So much for 'I'm never going to have a mate again,'" Reeve mocked.
"At least I'm not going to ignore her for five years," Cosimo snapped back.
"Ouch, Dad," Reeve said, putting a hand to his chest dramatically.
"Aw, Dad, that was almost bitchy. I'm so proud," Apollo snickered. His grin went impish."It was the sex that probably sealed the deal that Marcella was your mate. Witch pussy, am I right?"
"First, never say 'witch pussy' around me again." Cosimo pinched the bridge of his nose. "Second, I knew before the sex. And third, no, I won't tell you about the sex, so don't ask."
"You don't have to tell me. You just have to look at Marcella to know she would pop off in the sack," Apollo said, making both Cosimo and Lachlan growl.
"Ignore him. He's being a brat." Bas patted Cosimo on the back.
"One who's going to get tamed later," Lachlan grumbled with retribution burning in his eyes. Apollo only smiled wider, and Lachlan's eye twitched.
"Getting back on track, what's the plan?" Valentine asked impatiently.
"Find Maria, deal with Renata, get Marcella to come home with us, and find the grimoires," Cosimo counted off. "Help her with her magic, find a way to get her house back, offer it to her as a mating present."
Apollo chuckled. "That's quite the list. You sure you don't want to just tell her about the mating thing?"
"Yeah, do you really want to be like Apollo and not say anything until everyone in the whole fucking family knows except for Marcella?" Lachlan said, crossing his arms.
Apollo rolled his eyes. "You have to get over that, baby."
"I don't want to overload her," Cosimo said, ignoring their bitching. "There's a lot to deal with right now."
"If you need any help, we are here for you, Dad. We won't say anything unless you want us to," Bas reassured him. "Right, Apollo?"
"I would never, and I'm offended that you would even suggest it, brother dearest," Apollo gasped.
"Maybe you shouldn't have told them," Valentine commented.
His expression shifted to one that was almost predatory.
"I'm going to go and search my mind palace on breaking bonds on souls.
I'm sure I've read something about it before.
If Marcella wants to stand up to Renata herself but doesn't know how, I'm sure I could give her some tips. "
The knock at the door signaled the arrival of food, and Cosimo caught Marcella watching him with a bemused expression on her face. He only winked at her and shrugged. His family was always like this, and he could only hope that she was brave enough to handle them.