Chapter 18 - Marella
Iknew who I was looking for before the door closed behind me, and it didn’t take me long to find them. Tourists in this town were surprisingly predictable.
They were standing at a table in a tight, crowded street near Piazza Centrale, sipping Aperol Spritzes from straws and smoking cigarettes.
The men who’d watched as I’d been dragged into the alley were some of the least intimidating I’d ever encountered.
Obviously brothers, they were both shorter than me, thin and mousy, with overly prominent Adam’s apples.
And they were alone but for each other.
As I watched them, sipping on my own glass of wine, they eyed different groups of women in their vicinity.
One woman in particular was clearly traveling alone.
She sat at an outdoor table, back to the restaurant’s window, reading a book and periodically glancing around at passersby as she picked at a plate of food in front of her.
The taller of the two, a skinny redhead with a patchy beard, took a long sip of his drink before breaking away from his brother and moving towards her.
I was between them before he could cross the street.
I’d left the apartment without changing into my nice red dress, and the loose strapless shirt and black cotton pants made me look less put together than other women on the crowded street.
But these men were simple. And I knew that my attention alone would be more than enough to distract them from their intentions.
I smiled at them without showing my teeth and leaned against the high-top table.
"Hi there."
The two of them exchanged bewildered glances, like they were unable to conceive of a world in which a woman approached them.
The redhead looked over my shoulder at the lone woman, then shook his head and turned his attention back to me. "Hi," he said, voice oozing with faux-bravado. "I’m Perry. This is my brother Simon."
"I’m Elizabeth." I took a sip, and they did the same, and I watched as their knotted throats swallowed heavily. "What brings you to Rossaia?"
It took me a frustratingly long time to get Perry and Simon to leave the restaurant and follow me through the streets and away from the crowds.
Despite their obvious lechery, the two seemed almost afraid of going home with a woman who appeared to welcome their advances.
It was as though hesitation was part of what turned them on.
And that's why I felt little guilt as I pulled them apart in a dark alley later that night. I was frustrated to have left Garrett alone for so long, and my patience was wearing thin as we rounded the corner to a spot so deeply wound into the labyrinth that was Rossaia’s streets that I knew it would take days before anyone found them.
Perry snapped like a twig. He barely had the intelligence to register what was happening before the light left his eyes.
Simon was a bit more difficult to manage.
After I’d snapped Perry’s neck and dropped him to the floor, he’d gone on the defensive, pulling a knife from his pocket and brandishing it about like a sword.
And because I was hungry and stupid, I’d allowed him to slice at my cheek before I was able to wrap my fingers around his neck and squeeze.
I bit him before he died, reveling in the feeling of his squirming body beneath me until it twitched and slowed to nothing.
By the time I finished with both of them, I was so full that my vision shimmered at the edges.
I smiled as I wiped my mouth and kicked their bodies further into the shadows, so they rested against a wall.
Warmth spread outward from my stomach, settling into each and every crevice of my body.
The lightness flowing through me buoyed both my spirits and my confidence—I was going home, and I knew that Garrett was waiting for me there.
As I imagined his brand-new, sharp teeth sinking into the tender flesh at my throat, the hairs on my arms rose against the cool air.
But as I turned to walk away, towards home and him, something slammed into me from the side, knocking me off my feet.
I landed hard on the cobbles, ears filled with a high-pitched ringing. For a moment, all I could do was stare up at the thin sliver of sky visible between the walls of buildings above me.
Her voice broke through the silence before I could register anything else.
"Hello, little sea brat." The sound tumbled like boulders down a cliff edge. I pushed myself up onto one elbow as I took her in from toe to head. "You think I don’t know what you’re doing?"
Her eyes were bored and flat. But she was here.
I had wanted her attention. And in this, at least, I had finally succeeded.
Suddenly filled with a unique blend of triumph and panic, I did my best to keep my own voice steady as I stood.
"Hello, Petra." Her name tasted like vinegar. My legs shook, and my entire torso hurt from where she’d barreled into me.
"Of course you do." I forced myself to meet her soulless, blank gaze. "I made certain of it."
Her cracked lips curved upward. "Did you now?"
My heart pounded. "I threatened you. And you came." I tried to speak with a bravado I wasn't sure I felt. "You are surprisingly easy to manipulate."
That broken smile turned into a ghastly snarl, her teeth clenched together, like she was prepared to bite.
I swallowed.
"I do not reveal myself based on the whims of a child," she spat the last word.
"No?" My voice cracked. I couldn't help it.
That slow, slick smile returned. "No." Her head tilted to one side, studying me like a cat studies a mouse. "I'm here because I believe that insolence should have consequences.
I did my best to keep my back straight beneath her unscrupulous gaze.
"So should cursing an entire generation."
The challenge fell from my lips before I could stop it. For a quick second, Petra's eyes grew wide, like she was just as surprised as me by the infraction.
Then, a dry, ugly sound emerged from her mouth.
She was laughing, I realized. And the thought made my blood boil.
"Oh, sweetheart," she said, once she had seemingly regained her composure. "You're still so angry."
I felt hot all over. Anger slid through all the new blood surging through my veins. When I spoke, my tongue felt heavy, almost like I was drunk. I couldn't quite make myself sound as sure as I felt.
"I've had several centuries to let it grow."
She began walking toward me. I made myself hold still.
"What do you want, Marella?" The sound of my name sounded slippery and foreign.
"You already know the answer to that."
She frowned, mockingly. "Yes," she whispered. "You want your family. Is that right?"
"I want our freedom," I spat.
"And you believe that your little Fratello friend is going to give it to you?"
Something shifted in my chest. I didn't like hearing her talk about Garrett, but I couldn't let her see that.
"He's proving himself useful," I said, as nonchalant as I could manage.
It didn't work. "Oh my." Her face broke into a terrifying imitation of a genuine smile, wide and spread across her entire face. "Have you become protective of the poor man?"
I took a step back. She noticed.
Her answering laugh was low and threatening. Somehow, she seemed to loom even larger over me than she had when she entered the alley. It was as though each word spoken between us fed something inside her.
She looked delighted. "How exciting. A chance for our little siren princess to find love."
"I don't love him."
"Obviously," she sneered, but there was something hiding beneath her words. Something dark and threatening. "A monster can't fall in love with her hunter. That would be stupid."
The sound of my shaking breath echoed off the stone walls.
"You still have five days, dear."
I swallowed. Nodded. Clenched my fists together.
Across from me, Petra took a long, slow breath through her nose. "The smell of your fear is delicious."
"I'm not afraid of you," I lied.
She smiled. "You have five days," she repeated.
"You already said that."
"You're wasting them."
The reminder made my heart stutter. She was right, of course, and that knowledge formed a hollow pit at the center of my stomach. In the distance, a bell chimed the hour, and it felt like a cruel coincidence.
Petra closed her eyes against the sound.
"Why are you doing this?" I whispered as they fell quiet.
When she opened her eyes again, they were affixed to mine.
"We've known each other a long time," she said, smirking. "I know you understand desire. I know you understand hunger." Her eyes drifted across the bodies of the two men I'd murdered. "I want to know if you understand love."
"But why?"
"Maybe I'm bored," she answered, examining her sharp fingernails. "Or maybe I simply like watching you scramble in your silly desperation. You flesh-folk are all so predictable. Once you find something you want, you won't ever abandon its pursuit."
Somewhere in the dark, a rat scurried.
"I like to watch."
She spoke the final words with vicious certainty. The city was her chess board, and we were her pawns.
The rage that filled me bolstered my confidence. "I hope you're ready to watch your own demise, then."
In a flash, she was on me again. Her cracked fingers were locked around my throat, and I saw stars as she slammed me against the wall.
"You continue to play with your own luck, child." Her cheek was pressed against mine. Something sharp and jagged slid across my neck. When I realized it must be her tongue, I couldn't help but squirm.
Her grip tightened.
"But how can I punish this behavior?" She spoke into the skin at my throat, and a pathetic squeak escaped from my lips.
Suddenly, she pulled away, so I could once again see her face, but kept her hand firm against my neck.
"I know!" She sounded delighted. "I could take your little Fratello. Make you start from scratch with a new one."
I choked. Not from the pressure of her fingers, and not from the idea of beginning my task anew.
No.
I pictured Garrett, his warm smile and bright eyes, sealed over into stone, locked somewhere in her maze of prisoners.
Petra grinned again. "Yes, I think that's what I'll do," she said. "You've already done some of the work for me. All that's left is the stonework—"
"Don't," I gasped, barely able to squeeze the word through my crushed windpipe. "Please."
She frowned. "But I thought you didn't care about him?"
Her grip loosened just enough to let me speak. "This is between us.
"Yes, dear." It was as though she were speaking to a child. "But he has chosen to insert himself into business that isn't his. I can't let that go unpunished.
I felt fear like cold fire, licking at my back. "Please," was all I could say.
Her fingers tapped against the side of my neck. "Perhaps you're right," she said. "I'll let him remain free."
I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Until you fail."
I froze again. "What?"
"The bargain isn't so different," she purred. "Win his heart, win your freedom."
The hollow part of my stomach roiled.
"If you don't, you'll be sealed behind the stone for all eternity. And once you're locked away, I'll find him, and I'll make him mine." Finally, she released me, and I tumbled to the ground at her feet. "And I'll make you watch me take him."
When I finally caught my breath, I opened my mouth to protest, but she’d already disappeared. Her final words echoed against the stone walls surrounding me: "Better go get him."