Chapter 16 - Marella
The whole time he spoke, I couldn’t stop myself from staring. He sat slightly hunched forward, elbows resting on his knees, hands together in a tight knot. His bright blue eyes sparkled in the low light of the sun, brimming with excitement as he told me about Brother Lucas.
"Wait." I cut him off as he explained about the man’s love affair with one of my sisters. "Did he tell you her name?"
Garrett shook his head. "No. It was so long ago, he says he can’t remember."
I raised an eyebrow. "It doesn’t seem strange to you? That he claims to have been so in love, but he can’t remember the name of the woman?"
His lips pulled down into a deep frown. "I don’t think he’s lying, if that’s what you’re implying."
"Don’t be na?ve, Garrett." My stomach flipped as I said his name, but I tried my best to ignore it.
"It’s not na?veté, Marella." The sensation in my belly grew stronger when he spoke my name. "You weren’t there. You didn’t see his face. Whoever she was, he definitely loved that woman."
"Men are great liars. It’s one of the few things I’ve learned for certain over the centuries."
"Do you think I’m lying to you?" His blond hair fell across his eyes as he looked up at me through his thick eyelashes.
I almost choked. "I think you’re too afraid of me to lie to me," I answered, standing up and walking across the room as an excuse to break his heavy eye contact.
The sound of his low laughter followed me as I moved towards the window and looked down towards the piazza.
Towards my family.
Watching as herds of people surrounded them from all sides, snapping pictures and tossing coins into the water at their feet.
"I just find it hard to believe that one of my sisters would have had an affair with a human—with a Fratelli, nonetheless, and that I wouldn’t have known about it."
"Do you keep tabs on your entire family every time you wake up? It seems like you’re alone most of the time."
"No, I guess—"
"And are you sure it was one of your sisters?" he asked. "Was your family the only one still here when the curse fell?"
It was my turn to frown. "No," I said quietly. "Honestly, we had no way of knowing. We had been trying to evacuate everyone for a long time before… it happened. But I know that there were stragglers. I’ve run into a few over the years."
"Tell me again why you didn’t leave." The sudden proximity of his voice made me flinch. His footsteps had become so light that I hadn’t heard him walk across the room to where I stood. "Sorry," he said, more quietly this time. "Did I scare you?"
I felt his breath against my neck as he spoke, low and quiet, and when I whipped my head around to look at him, I saw that he was following my gaze, staring intently at my family’s prison.
Even I wasn’t fooled by the sardonic laugh that broke from my lips. "There’s nothing scary about you." I meant for it to sound dismissive, maybe even a little sarcastic. But instead, it came out breathy and soft.
He pulled his attention away from the piazza to look down at me. We were nearly the same height, but somehow, those eyes found a way to tower over me.
We stayed like that for a long time, held in suspended animation, both of us refusing to break eye contact.
I could feel my heartbeat in my throat. Could see his pulse at the spot on his neck where I’d bitten him the night before.
Just as I was about to lean forward and erase the space between us entirely, he turned his head to the side and stepped away, shattering the tension like crystalline glass.
"I should get to the library." I didn’t miss the way his throat caught on the words. He coughed once. "Lucas is probably waiting for me to start our research."
I still hadn’t moved. "Do you want my help?"
A beat.
And then, "No. I don’t think you should meet him just yet."
It was clear that this was code for I don’t trust you around my brothers. But I wasn’t going to fight him.
"Fine." I ran my fingers through my short, dark hair so that the ends stuck out around my ears like little spikes. "Then I’ll go looking for her."
As had been my experience throughout my time in this city, searching for the Stone Witch proved to be an impossible and frustrating task.
The lair my mother had found was burned into my memory, but I’d never be able to find it aboveground.
Even if I were able to access the network of canals beneath the city, swimming through them on legs would be nearly impossible; I’d likely drown before I so much as caught a glimpse of her.
She would not be found unless she wanted to be found.
So the question became, how could I make her want to find me?
I wandered aimlessly through Rossaia, tracing my fingers across the sun-bleached stone walls lining the city’s claustrophobic streets. Hundreds of people moved around me like schools of fish, but not one of them seemed to notice me. None of them recognized the shark in their midst.
Surely the witch knew that I was trying to circumvent the stipulations of her bargain. Would that be enough to draw her out?
"I could outsmart you," I whispered into the stone as I walked, taking care to move my lips as little as possible so as not to draw attention from the humans.
"I don’t need him to fall in love with me.
I just need him to find another way. If there are three of us against one of you, we could make it happen. You would lose."
As I spoke, I made a right-hand turn, slipping away from the crowds into a quiet side street. No shops or restaurants lined the way here, so no tourists followed me. Emboldened, I raised my voice ever so slightly.
"I think you know that your hold is slipping. I think you know that you’re going to lose us.
" The noises from the busy street faded the further I walked, until even my whispers created echoes against the stone.
"If you release us now," I said as I stopped walking, "I’ll make sure my family leaves peacefully. We won’t seek revenge. "
Above me came the distant sound of flapping fabric, and I looked up to see a sheet being shaken from a high window.
I started walking again. "But if you don’t, and I succeed," I continued, once again lowering my voice. "I’ll spend the rest of my life looking for you. I won’t rest until you’re buried beneath the rubble of your own stone prison."
The sounds of voices began to fill the street ahead of me. I was approaching another busy intersection, throngs of people out enjoying all the food and shopping and exploration offered by the city.
I was almost able to join them there.
Almost.
Just as I was about to round the corner, a hand clamped down upon my mouth, and an arm wrapped around my torso.
I tried to scream as I was hauled backwards, but only a muffled cry escaped my lips.
From the street, I saw two men walking by.
One of them looked up briefly, and we made eye contact.
I watched as a look of surprise crossed his face.
Watched as he nudged his friend and inclined his head in my direction.
Then, I watched as they both smirked, turned away, and kept walking.
I took a moment to lock their faces away in my memory. I’d find them. And after I dealt with whoever was currently dragging me backwards, I’d drink them dry.
But first, I had to break free.
I raked my nails against the arm that encased my torso. But instead of harming my assailant, I only succeeded in breaking my nails down to the quick. Tears sprang to my eyes at the sudden burst of pain.
The arm was as hard as rock.
In fact, it was made of stone.
This didn’t stop me from struggling with all my might, kicking and flailing all the way back down the side street until we were well out of sight of anyone passing by. There, beside a pair of trash bins, the creature holding me captive dropped me to the ground.
All I saw at first was a pair of feet. Bare feet standing on the dirty cobblestones.
It was only as I raised my head, following the line of the legs up to a pale, solid torso, that I noticed the flaking skin.
A concrete angel stood before me, eyes cold and hollow, lips flat and serious, wings tucked behind a broad back, hidden from the humans.
It was one of the Witch’s sentries.
"I’ve come with a warning," the creature’s voice cracked like shale. When he didn’t continue, I grew impatient.
"And?" I demanded, trying to take a step back.
He followed me step for step. "The Stone Witch does not take threats lightly."
I rolled my eyes. "If she’s afraid of me, why didn’t she find me herself?"
"She is not afraid," he answered in a monotonous drawl. "But she will repay insolence thoroughly."
"She can’t repay me if she won’t talk to me."
Slowly, he raised a stone finger to point at me. "She can. And she will." His head tilted to one side, and the concrete wings along his back extended outward once more. "Your time is running out. And her punishment will be swift."
I smirked. "Tell her I welcome the challenge."
But I wasn’t sure if he heard me, as he was suddenly still and silent, just another immobile statue hidden within the city walls.
"Face me yourself, you coward," I muttered under my breath as I walked away from the sentry. Behind me, I could have sworn I heard the slight scrape of stone. And when I turned, the angel was gone.