Chapter 33
Cosimo hated leaving Maria so soon, but letting Marcella face Renata and Carlo alone was never going to happen. He had to trust that his children would look after Maria and ease her into their new world.
Gods, she didn't know that fae had returned and that magic was tentatively living alongside the humans once more.
She is a fast learner. She thrives on chaos and will take it into her stride, he tried to reassure himself.
Marcella was silent and thoughtful on the drive back to Forli. It had been an eventful morning, and Cosimo didn't particularly like the idea of having to deal with Renata on the same day.
It had to be done, and it wasn't as if Marcella couldn't handle it. Her magic was pulsing around her, and she was doing nothing to hide it.
Cosimo was so proud of her that it made his heart ache. He didn't know how to say that to her. She had taken the 'friend' comment poorly, and he didn't blame her.
He didn't want to declare that she was his girlfriend, because that sounded too childish. Partner was too established, and mate was out of the question until he thought she would be receptive to the idea.
Most of all, Cosimo didn't want to put her in any category that she didn't want to be in. The dragon part of him wanted to bind her to them forever, and trying to let her set the pace of how fast they were moving was one of the hardest things he had ever done.
Mine. That is what we call her, his dragon growled possessively.
We have found Maria. Now we only need to deal with Renata and find the grimoires. Then we can focus on making her ours, Cosimo tried to reassure his dragon. It was easier than fighting with it.
It was afternoon when they arrived back in Forli. They were still dressed in hiking gear, but it didn't matter. Marcella was just as stunning in jeans and muddy boots as she was in heels and red velvet.
"We aren't going to let anything happen to you," Cosimo told her.
"I know. You focus on trying to keep your temper when you see Carlo," she teased lightly.
"I can't promise that. I have thought of an excellent plan for the finger I already took, and if he isn't civil, I will add his tongue to my collection," Cosimo replied.
He took her hand, the first time he had dared all afternoon, and kissed it.
He inhaled her scent and placed another kiss on the hot pulse of her inner wrist.
"You are distracting me," she scolded, but was smiling at him, and that was what counted. He hated the thought of her being mad at him.
"We are being watched," Valentine said from the back seat. "I have two streghe on the roofs of the buildings flanking us and three more on the balcony above the restaurant. I could always throw the restaurant into Dorcha. They could keep the alchemist's company."
"Not without my father's shade," Marcella said and got out of the car.
"No matter what happens, get her out if I can't," Cosimo told his children.
"I'll level this whole place if they try to hurt her," Yelena declared. "But I don't think she is going to need our help at all."
"Neither do I." Cosimo got out and joined Marcella on the footpath. Her magic was curled about her, making her skin glow with an inner light. "Have I told you how beautiful you look today?"
"Charmer." Marcella laughed softly, the husky sound making him think of silk sheets and very little clothes. Gods, he couldn't wait to get her out of here.
Two men guarded the door of the restaurant, a low-level hum of magic coming off them. Nothing for any of them to worry about. As soon as Marcella got close enough that her aura touched them, both men's eyes went wide with awe and fear.
Cosimo wanted to laugh at them, but this was Marcella's moment, not his.
"Let me in," she commanded, the flare of her charisma magic sending a light sparkle of gold in her aura.
Cosimo wondered if anyone else could see it like magicians could. They certainly felt it because the two men nearly fell all over themselves in a rush to unlock the restaurant doors for her. They kept their eyes downcast as Marcella moved past them, Cosimo, Valentine, and Yelena close behind.
Renata and Carlo sat at a table near the bar, a laptop and paperwork around them.
"You don't have the manners to even call first?
Typical," Renata complained without looking up.
Carlo's face had bright purple bruises blooming around both eyes and jaw.
His hand was wrapped in a bandage. He stared at Marcella, unable to look away.
Cosimo fought the urge to blind him for even daring to glance her way.
"Give me back my father's shade," Marcella said, her voice steady and neutral.
Renata finally looked up at her. "Took you long enough to figure it out."
"I won't ask again, Renata. I have had enough of this. He fell in love with someone else. Get over it already," Marcella said.
"Your mother ruined everything, and then you only made it worse. I want you all to suffer the way I have. I want that magician next to you to pay for hurting my boy," Renata replied, rising to her feet.
"What about Juliette and all the others you have cursed? What about their suffering?" Marcella demanded, her magic building around her.
"They betrayed me, and they will deal with the consequences just like you will, you ungrateful bitch," Renata snarled.
"We could have had everything, but you threw my offer of power back in my face.
Then you have the audacity to come flouncing back into the city like you own it.
I will not lose my position to a useless, selfish girl like you.
I will keep you in line, even if I have to hold onto your father's shade for an eternity. "
The air beside her shifted, and the shade of a tall man with Marcella's curls appeared beside her.
Marcella stiffened. "Are you okay, Papa?"
Matteo gestured to his mouth. Renata had stolen his ability to speak. Cosimo's fingers tingled with magic, his claws sliding free, eager for the fight.
"You have always been a jealous and hateful woman, Renata.
You made your son even worse. You abused me for years, and now you act like you are the injured party.
I didn't come back for Forli as you asked, but now, after seeing what you have done here, I can't walk away," Marcella said, her voice steady to the point of being almost toneless.
Renata's lip lifted in a sneer, and magic lashed out from her and Carlo in a coordinated attack.
Carlo pulled out a gun and pointed it at Marcella.
Cosimo reached for his knife, but Valentine was faster, his dagger sailing past Cosimo and striking Carlo in the forearm.
He dropped the gun with a shout of pain.
Streghe raced in through the doors behind them, called to action by the noise.
"Enough of this," Marcella commanded in a whisper.
The fight stopped as dark death rolled out of her like smoke. Ghosts appeared in the room, rising out of the floor and crowding around them. People gasped and fell to their knees, crossing themselves repeatedly.
Silvery lines of magic were wrapped around Renata and Carlo like webs. It took Cosimo a moment to realize that they were all the spells and curses they had connected to the living, and were using to drain their energy.
So many… Cosimo wanted to kill them, but not nearly as much as Marcella did. Her eyes had turned fully black with so much power that Cosimo wanted to fall to his knees in awe like the others.
My mate. He was so in love with her and could barely handle it.
Renata was growling through her teeth, Marcella's magic holding the witch's mouth shut.
Marcella didn't snarl any threats or snappy comebacks.
She made a simple, cutting motion with her hand and shredded the threads of the magic tied to Renata and Carlo.
They screamed, a tortured, hair-raising sound.
Renata's long nails clawed at her face as her youth melted away. Her skin turned papery, color leeched from her hair, and her eyes grew yellowed. Carlo, clutching his wounded hands to his chest, sobbed like a child, the front of his pants growing dark as he pissed himself.
"What a disgrace of a man. Every time he's in a fight, he pisses his pants," Valentine snorted.
Matteo's shade moved to Marcella's side. "I knew you would come for me. I love you, piccola. I'm so proud of you."
"I love you too. Go to Mama. She was worried about you," Marcella said, the darkness in her eyes softening when she looked up at Matteo.
"I'll tell her how well you did. She always knew you had it in you," he said and vanished.
Marcella turned back to the moaning pair on the floor. All softness vanished from her expression, her anger a living thing that made her magic shiver. Cosimo's heart was in his throat. He couldn't look away. She was a force of nature…and she belonged to him.
"You have harmed the city, tortured its people, and its shades.
For that, the dead will judge you, not I," Marcella said, her voice cold.
The leash that was holding back all the glowing shades in the room snapped, and they rushed Renata and Carlo in a wave.
They poured into their mouths, through their noses and eyes, until they were both writhing on the floor, frothing at the mouth but still breathing, which was more than what Cosimo would have allowed if it had been up to him.
Marcella turned away from them and back to Cosimo. "They will do as they will. Let's go home."
Cosimo nodded and offered her his arm. She took it, and they walked past the cowering streghe, who stared in horror at their leaders on the floor.
"I would advise you to take these two miscreants to a hospital before you all leave this city and never return," Valentine told them as he and Yelena passed them. "But before you go, you can return our van to its rental company, and don't make a fuss about it."
Cosimo passed a whimpering guard the keys, and he opened the door of the restaurant for Marcella.
Outside, they moved into a discreet alleyway, and Valentine opened a portal. Cosimo held tightly to Marcella as they stepped through and into the garden of the villa in Florence.
As soon as the portal shut, Marcella let out a shuddery breath, and the dark power pulled slowly back inside of her.
"It's over. It's finally over," she said, her voice cracking.
Cosimo wrapped his arms around her, and she buried her face into his chest, a sob breaking free from her. "Yes, love, it's over. You will never have to worry about them hurting you or anyone else ever again. Forli is safe, and so are you."
And the gods help anyone who tried to bother his mate ever again.