Chapter 32
Despite Maria's cavalier attitude, not all was well with the magician. She was unsteady on her feet, disoriented, and had to be carried by Lachlan out of the ruins of the temple.
Marcella made sure to pick up the other woman's pack, and Yelena secured the golden bracelet in a pouch woven with a warding spell.
Cosimo walked behind Lachlan, his eyes never leaving his sister.
Marcella could only imagine how he was feeling.
She didn't want to intrude on a family moment, despite not having anywhere else to go.
His comment about being her 'friend' niggled at her.
She didn't know how to define her and Cosimo's relationship either, but that didn't mean it didn't bother her.
The temple's ancient energy pulsed around her, and Marcella didn't take an easy breath until she was out of the hole and under the trees again.
"How did you find me?" Maria asked as Lachlan set her on her feet. "Did you use the statue?"
"Yes. How did you know?" Cosimo replied, holding out a hand to steady her. He gripped her shoulder, like he needed to see if she was real.
Maria accepted the bottle of water Charlotte offered her and had a mouthful. "When I found the entrance, I thought that maybe I should send you a way to track me."
"You couldn't have fucking called me?" he asked irritably.
Maria rolled her eyes. "I would have had to hike all the way back into town for that. If I thought you wouldn't have been able to figure it out, I wouldn't have sent it."
"How did you do it? What did you do to the statue?" Valentine demanded.
"First things first, I need my pack," Maria said, looking about. Marcella offered it to her. Maria gave her a big wink. "Thanks, beautiful. Wow, you really have amazing eyes."
Marcella giggled. "And you really are a Greatdrakes."
"Focus, Maria," Cosimo growled in warning while all his children grinned.
Maria rummaged through the bag and pulled out a bottle. She opened it and groaned in despair as she tipped out the disintegrated mess. "No, no. Fuck. Maybe I can snort it?"
"Anti-psychotics?" Apollo asked curiously. "Or something else? Because if you need something for anxiety, I can help."
"She needs food and hydration more than drugs," Charlotte scolded.
Valentine took the bottle from his aunt. "You are taking these because of the voice inside you?"
Maria's gray eyes widened. "Yes. How did you know? Are you the crazy one of your gen, too?"
"Something like that. You're not crazy, and you don't need this shit," Valentine said in a soft voice that Marcella only ever heard him use with Yelena. "Tell us about the statue, and I'll tell you about the curse."
Maria ran her hands over her face in frustration. "Fuck. Okay, but I need food."
Charlotte handed her a vial. "You need to drink this first. You were in a stasis spell for decades. This will help with nausea and disorientation."
Maria looked at Cosimo and gave her an encouraging nod. "Charlotte is a healer and a good one. She's my daughter and you can trust her," he said.
"She looks like Kenna Ironwood. You fuck her?" Maria asked.
Cosimo made a choking sound of horror. "Charlotte is my daughter-in-law. These boys are mine, but Lachlan, Charlotte, Yelena, and Bridget are their mates."
"We are related to the Ironwoods? Bloody hell, what else did I miss? No, don't tell me yet. I can't think," Maria said. She drank the potion and then took the bag of trail mix from Bridget and started eating handfuls of it. "Where do you fit in, hot witch?"
"I liaised with the streghe in Forli to help find you. Cosimo is going to help me find Caterina Sforza's grimoire in return," Marcella replied and opened her bag to show Maria the contents. "I read your statue for its memories and followed it here."
"Brains and beauty and...oh, natural born necromancy. How delicious," Maria said, looking her over. "Good to know someone was smart enough to figure the statue out."
"What did you use to imprint your memories onto it?" Marcella asked because she really didn't want to talk about her necromancy.
"It was pretty simple, actually," Maria said between mouthfuls of trail mix. "I modified the 'Opening of the Mouth' ritual."
"From The Book of Coming Forth by Day?" Bridget asked, perking up in excitement.
"Yes," Maria replied. She looked at everyone else's blank expressions. "It's also known as the Egyptian Book of the Dead? It details the ritual in it."
"Explain. Not everyone here is obsessed with Egypt like you are," Cosimo nudged her.
Maria let out a frustrated noise. "Okay, so in ancient times, unless a statue or image of a god or goddess occurred in some miraculous or natural manner like the palladium at Troy, there had to be a special ritual in order for the divine spirit to come and inhabit the statue or painting or whatever.
There are a few cultures and peoples that have similar records of the rituals, including the Babylonians and the Greek Magical Papyri texts.
I could already read the history of the Minerva statue that had a Roman version of this ritual placed on it, so it was kind of primed for this type of magic.
I just imprinted my own memories onto it and sent it back to my tower with a teleportation spell.
I didn't have time to really get detailed with it, but it still worked. "
Marcella could only stand and stare at the other woman in wonder. She described it so easily, as if the magic were nothing challenging or unique. Cosimo hadn't been lying when he said his sister was a prodigy.
"That is so damn cool," Bridget said, her grin widening.
Cosimo looked exasperated. "You still should have used a damn phone. Come on, we still need to hike back. Can you walk, little sister? Or do you need someone to carry you?"
"No point now I know he's my nephew's mate," Maria said with an appreciative sigh in Lachlan's direction. Apollo moved ever so slightly closer to him, his usually cheerful expression growing protective. "Stand down, kiddo. I can't fault your taste, that's all."
"If you can restrain yourself from flirting for a few minutes, we can get a move on," Cosimo said and pulled on one of his sister's curls.
"Can you blame me? I haven't been laid in fuck knows how long. It's probably closed over by now," Maria complained.
Marcella burst out laughing and quickly covered her mouth. Cosimo shot her a warning look. "Don't encourage her."
Marcella only smiled innocently. "Why ever not? I'm only your witch friend after all."
Cosimo's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. It was hard to talk when you had your foot in your mouth.
Marcella enjoyed the walk back through the woods now that she wasn't stuck in a trance. How she hadn't fallen on her face or walked into a tree was a wonder. After two hours and three bathroom breaks for Maria, they finally arrived back at the parking lot where the van was.
"I feel like hot trash," Maria admitted, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Please tell me your hotel is close by."
"We have a house in Florence. The kids will take you home," Cosimo said.
"Where are you going? I haven't seen you in forever," Maria complained.
"Marcella has to go back to Forli to meet with the streghe before we can follow you," he replied patiently. "The kids can get you up to speed on what's happened since you disappeared."
"Why do you need to see the streghe?" Maria said, turning to Marcella.
"Their leader has my father's shade trapped. Among other things," Marcella replied, anger igniting in her stomach.
Maria grinned. "Need some help? Because I love necromancy and I am good at it."
"Actually, there is an idea I had that I wanted to run past someone," Marcella said thoughtfully.
The rest of the Greatdrakes went to use the proper toilet block while Marcella and Maria talked. She was like a female version of Cosimo with lightning-quick intelligence and a violent streak a mile wide.
"Thank you for your help," Marcella said, once she knew exactly how to execute her plan.
"It is the least I can do for someone who managed to find me after my bone-headed brother couldn't figure it out," Maria replied and looked at Cosimo across the other side of the parking lot. "God, it's so weird seeing him old."
"He's a good man. Don't give him too much of a hard time about not figuring out the statue. He's been feeling guilty enough about it as it is," Marcella said gently but firmly. She didn't like anyone insulting Cosimo, not even his sister.
"You like him, don't you?" Maria asked.
"Yes." There was no point denying it. Marcella was sure it was all over her face when she looked at him.
"Does he know? Because he was never too switched on about those kinds of things. It would be best to just tell him how you feel." Maria stretched out her shoulders and back. "I need a hot shower and a long ass sleep. Can we go now? It's still a long drive to Florence."
Cosimo and the others came back over to the van. He hugged his sister. "You aren't driving. We need to take the car. Be good and don't run off anywhere until I get home."
"I won't. I'm too tired," Maria grumbled and let him go.
Valentine opened a portal, and she let out a delighted squeak, all tiredness melting from her face. "How did you do that? What is this?"
"I'll tell you later," Valentine said. He looked at Cosimo. "Yelena and I are coming with you as backup, Dad. If the streghe attack, or Marcella's magic starts to get out of control, I know that my necromancy skills can help. Yelena can shield the rest of the town from any blowback."
"I would feel better having them," Marcella admitted. She didn't doubt Cosimo's abilities, but if the rest of the congrega decided to attack them to defend Renata and Carlo, they would need the extra hands.
"Okay, but you follow Marcella's lead and don't interfere until she asks. No heroics. No provoking them if we don't need to," Cosimo said, his hands on his hips. He looked at the rest of his family. "Look after Maria. Make her eat something other than trail mix or junk."
"We got this, Dad. Don't worry. We will look after her and see her sorted out," Reeve reassured him as he helped pass their bags from the van through the portal to the villa in Florence.
Maria was too busy studying the portal to pay attention to anything else. "How is he doing this?"
"I know the basics of it," Bridget said and winked at Cosimo. "Come on through, and I'll tell you all about it, Auntie."
Maria followed them, and Valentine closed the portal with a small gesture of his hand.
"Bridget doesn't know a thing about portals," Cosimo said and chuckled. "She understands people, though."
"They have enough to keep Maria amused as it is," Valentine commented.
"Her dragon is definitely awake too. I didn't want to mention it, but I can smell it in her scent," Yelena told Cosimo. "She's powerful, like Val, but it is different. It's hard to explain."
"I believe you. Maria was always next level at everything she put her mind to," Cosimo said. He turned to Marcella. "What did she tell you?"
"This and that," Marcella replied. She reached up and rubbed her thumb over the crease between his brows. "Stop with the frown. I want it to be a surprise."
Cosimo's dragon shone through his eyes. "You two were alone for too long. She didn't hit on you again, did she?"
"So what if she did?" Marcella smiled. "Why? Are you jealous?"
"Sort this out. We will be in the car," Valentine grumbled. He and Yelena climbed into the back of the van and shut the door.
Cosimo ran a finger along Marcella's jaw, sending a hot thrill down her neck. "Dragons are very possessive."
"Even of your friends?" she asked and then felt petty. It was ridiculous that the comment had gotten under her skin at all.
Cosimo growled. "I only said that because I was put on the spot, and I didn't know what the appropriate term for us actually is."
"Let me know when you do," Marcella said, stepping away from him and getting into the car.
She blew out a long breath and tried to settle her pounding heart. She wasn't about to have the feelings conversation with him on the eve of a fight. She refused to dwell on what Cosimo meant to her, not when his life was about to be on the line.
Unlike the Greatdrakes, Marcella knew Renata. There was no way she would let them go easily, and holding onto her father's shade was the one thing Renata knew that Marcella would come back to Forli for.
Marcella ran through the magic that Maria had told her about over and over in her mind. This was her chance to deal with her past once and for all. After it was finally dealt with, then she could untangle the twisting ball of emotions that were her feelings for Cosimo Greatdrakes.