Chapter 20
The Red Carnation was a ten-minute walk from their hotel, through the main piazza of Forli. Marcella kept her arm around Cosimo's, needing the feel of his presence to ground her.
It was surreal to be back in Forli at last, the familiar and the new all mixing together with her memories.
"Is the city talking to you yet?" Cosimo asked curiously.
Marcella took a deep breath of the cool night air. "It's trying to. I can't listen, or I'll be swamped by it. I've missed it so much." She hated that her voice cracked a little.
"We can stay as long as you need. I won't let them try to run you out if there are things you need to do here," he assured her.
Marcella squeezed his arm and thought of what she wanted to do most. It would be a good time to show him her magic too.
"I would really like to visit my parents' graves. It's been too long since they have had fresh flowers, and I would like some of the soil. Would you come with me?" she asked.
"It's a date," Cosimo replied without any hesitation.
"Another strange idea of a date," Marcella said, laughing softly.
"Something tells me you aren't a wine and dine sort of woman."
"No? And what kind of woman do you think I am?"
"The kind that has a more refined taste in tokens of affection," Cosimo replied. He lowered his head a little and whispered, "You are the kind that appreciates old manuscripts and magic you have never seen before when being courted."
Marcella raised a brow. "Is that what we are doing now? Courting?"
"I would say we are having more of an adventure hunting lost family members and stirring up other magic users," he said, and the side of his mouth ticked up. "But if you want to see it as courting, I certainly won't object."
"Now is not the time to confuse me, Cosimo Greatdrakes," she chided gently. "You make it hard to think clearly as it is."
"Mi dispiace, signorina," Cosimo apologized, his smile widening. "Once this meeting is over, I will be more than willing to provide you with some clarity on the subject."
Butterflies burst in Marcella's stomach, and she knew she was gone on him. It wasn't going to matter what he wanted from her. She was sure that she wasn't going to have any willpower to deny him.
All of Marcella's good feelings shrivelled up as The Red Carnation came into view. The front facade had been repainted recently, and the sign was new, but there was no stopping the roaring tide of emotion that seeing it brought up in her.
There were three streghe sitting at the small tables outside, even though the sign on the door was still turned to closed. Marcella felt the snapping feeling of their ill intentions bouncing off her as her protective charms repelled them.
Cosimo said nothing, but he slipped into her mind with a warm, silky brush of scales. We are all with you, Marcella.
Somehow, it was all she needed to push back the tide of sudden fear that had been clawing at her. She wasn't alone. The family behind her all took up positions around her, and Renata's streghe's eyes widened as they felt the force of the Greatdrakes' family.
"We have a meeting with Renata. She is expecting us," Marcella said coolly, refusing to show that she had been rattled for a second.
One of the women got up and opened the door to the restaurant. "She was expecting you alone."
"Too bad. I'm not alone anymore, and you don't have the power to stop us, so move aside or I will move you," Marcella snarled softly.
The strega looked at the looming figures behind her and was smart enough to do as she was told.
Inside, the restaurant had been given a recent facelift, but nothing could mask the smell that tormented Marcella's memories—the sour red house wine on Carlo's breath as he screamed at her and the cloying lavender perfume Renata had always worn.
Five other members of the congrega sat at the bar, but Marcella ignored them.
Her eyes were fixed on the woman who was sitting at her usual table.
One look at Renata, and Marcella knew exactly what she had been using Juliette's life force on.
She would be close to seventy and barely looked older than Marcella.
Her hair was black and full in its perfect beehive, and she only had the faintest lines around her eyes.
Those cold black eyes looked Marcella over like she was shit on her shoe.
"I see you have gotten fat," Renata said, firing her first volley. "Suppose it happened to your mother, too, when she hit her forties."
Marcella sighed. "I see you haven't upgraded your insults."
"It's an observation, not an insult," Rentata commented and then noticed Cosimo and the others coming in behind her. Her eyes narrowed. "I didn't invite them."
"Then Carlo should have been specific in his message," Marcella said. Cosimo stepped forward and pulled out a chair for her, directly across from Renata. "Grazie."
Renata took note of the interaction, and interest sparked when she got a full look at Cosimo. Her smile turned sweet.
"You must be the famed Greatdrakes family. If I had known you were coming, I would have done more to make you feel welcome in my city," she purred and offered him her hand.
Cosimo took it and turned it to shake instead of kiss. Marcella bit back a smile.
"I have heard a lot about you," Cosimo replied, politely. "Marcella has been kind enough to help me look for my sister, Maria, and she thought you could be useful."
"You should have come straight to me and not worried yourself with her," Renata said, still smiling. "Won't you sit too?"
"No. I'm fine, thank you. We can't stay long. We have other plans this evening," Cosimo replied with the same open calmness. "I was taught it was bad manners to try and contact the head of the congrega directly, but I would appreciate any information you have on my sister's whereabouts."
Renata hummed thoughtfully, tapping her nails on the table. Marcella knew she would try to drag out giving them anything. She had wanted Marcella alone to berate for a while, and now she was having to change her plans.
The door behind the bar opened, and Carlo came in.
He hadn't aged much either, and Marcella could feel the slime of his magic had grown.
He was an objectively handsome man with the same black wavy hair as his mother, full lips, and could be as charming as a viper when he wanted something.
The look he gave her made her skin crawl.
"So you have come home at last, my wife," he said, strolling over to where they sat.
Marcella didn't have to turn to feel tension run through Cosimo. She swallowed back her bile. "This is not home anymore, and I am not your wife."
"You are. Catholics don't believe in divorce, and I signed no papers," he said, lifting his hand to show the wedding ring on his finger. "I see you have resorted to dressing like a whore. Or is he making you dress like this?"
Cosimo laughed, but there was no humor in it. "I would never try to make Marcella do anything. Besides, I like how she dresses."
"If you are trying to fuck her, I wouldn't bother. She's as limp as a fish in the sack unless you use a firm hand with her," Carlo snorted.
"He did not just fucking say that..."Apollo whispered somewhere behind her.
Invisible claws and malice rolled out of Cosimo, and Marcella bit her tongue. Carlo was too dense to feel it, but Renata wasn't.
"Sit down, Carlo. I will handle this," she said, and Carlo sat like the good little boy he was.
Marcella had heard so much of this nonsense before that she only felt tired, not hurt.
"Do you actually have information on Maria Greatdrakes or not? Because this is starting to feel like a waste of my time."
"Don't talk to me about wasting time when you have wasted so much of my own over the years," Renata snapped. She looked at Cosimo. "I do know of your sister's visit here and what she was looking for, but no information is free."
Cosimo's hand rested on the back of Marcella's chair, a sign of familiarity that had Carlo turning red. "Of course. I would be happy to pay you. Tell me a price, and I'll transfer you the money."
"This isn't about money," Renata said, clicking her tongue in irritation. "This is about famiglia. You can't put a dollar price on that."
Marcella sighed and got to her feet. "Come on, she doesn't know anything. This meeting is over."
"Don't you dare come into my house and call me a liar," Renata said, standing up so fast, the chair behind her toppled. "You will give me the respect I deserve, or I will give you nothing."
Marcella didn't flinch as Renata and Carlo moved around the table to face them. The Greatdrakes closed in, Cosimo on one side of her and Yelena on the other.
"Obviously, there is a lot of old animosity here, and it was never my intention to stir it up," Cosimo said deceptively calm and accommodating. "Just tell me what you want so I can find my sister, and we can all go back to our lives."
"You want your family back. So do I," Renata said, a sneer lifting her lips. "I'll tell you where Maria is, and you will give me Marcella back."
Cold burst into Marcella's stomach. She knew Renata wouldn't back down. Her dark eyes were filled with gloating, as if she had already won.
"I can't give you something I don't own," Cosimo said firmly.
"The hell you can't, stregoni. I know what kind of power you have and what you can do. This one here has enough magic to make her comply if you don't have the stomach for it," Renata said, reaching out to stroke Yelena's braid. "Such a pretty, strange thing, aren't you?"
Marcella's hand caught Renata's before she could touch Yelena, and the curse fizzled as it hit Marcella's protections.
"Don't you fucking dare touch her," she snarled, her magic rising up, ready to lash out.
Renata only laughed in her face before leaning in closer to whisper harshly, "Why bother when they are going to hand you over?
You are worth nothing to these people. You are a means to an end, just like you are to me.
Maybe if you comply this time around, we won't have to fight.
You can rule with us, like you were meant to. "
Marcella shoved her away. "Let's go, Cosimo. This meeting is over."
"You aren't going anywhere until we talk privately. You owe me that," Carlo said, trying to get to her. Cosimo stepped between them. "Get the fuck out of my way. This is between me and my wife and isn't any of your business."
Marcella suddenly had Valentine's arm around her shoulders. Cosimo waited until she was securely held with the Greatdrakes men surrounding her, before turning back to Carlo.
"Everything you just said was wrong." Cosimo's tone was as cold as a blade. "Everything to do with Marcella is my business. She owes you nothing, and she is certainly not your fucking wife."
They were almost through the door when Renata called out, "Think about my offer, Cosimo. That piece of cunt isn't worth your sister's life, and you will never find Maria without me."
The door slammed behind them, and Marcella wished with all her heart that she could burn it to the ground behind them.