Chapter 26 - Marella
Icould have spent all the time in the world like that, locked in my little apartment with no one to interrupt and nothing left between us.
But time is cruel.
I got to spend two mornings with him wrapped beneath the covers.
And then everything changed.
On the third night, I woke before dawn, and there was someone else in the room with us.
Of that, I was sure before I opened my eyes. An extra series of breaths rose and fell somewhere in the shadows, away from where we slept.
Slowly, I lifted Garrett’s arm from where it rested on my waist. His breathing hitched, and I froze for a moment. But then, his steady, peaceful rhythm returned, and I slid out of the bed.
I was very aware of my nakedness as I searched the dark corners of the room for the intruder. My feet touched the edge of a sheet we’d somehow discarded, and I picked it up and wrapped it around my body.
"How could you do something like this?"
The voice came as if from nowhere, and its sudden proximity made me jump. I had to clamp my mouth down tight to keep from crying out.
"Ordina," I hissed as she finally stepped forward, blonde hair glistening in the moonlight. Her face was a mask of contempt as she glared past me to where Garrett was still sleeping in the bed, back exposed, legs tangled in a thin blanket. She turned her attention back to me with an indignant sniff. "You’re lucky Father isn’t alive to witness this.
A Fratello, Marella? Really? I would have assumed that you had higher standards. "
I ignored the slight. "Ordina, what are you doing here?"
She glared at me. "I came because I thought you might have gotten yourself into trouble. And I was right."
"No, Ordina." I looked her up and down. "How are you here? It’s not the new moon. How are you awake?"
She looked down at her hands, twisting them forward and back as if just now realizing that they were attached. Her brows knit together. "Is it not?"
I gestured to the window, where the moon was clearly casting its light into the piazza below. "How did you get inside?"
Ordina shook her head. "I… don’t know." She looked at me as though I might have the answers. "I woke up at the door and instantly knew that I needed to find you. Then I saw you in bed with that… Fratello. And then you woke up. And now…"
She trailed off, gesturing between us as if to say you know the rest.
My stomach filled with dread. The Stone Witch didn’t do anything by accident. If Ordina was here, awake and moving beyond the freedom of the new moon… It could only be by design.
I glanced over my shoulder, thinking back to my night with Garrett. To the tenderness and ferocity in his touch. And just for a moment, I let myself feel hope.
"She’s scared," I whispered, wonder dripping from each word. "She knows I’m close to fulfilling her stupid bargain."
I thrilled at the words as they left my mouth, relief at being able to speak them for the first time nearly palpable on my tongue.
Ordina wrinkled her nose. "Please tell me that you don’t believe the Fratello is in love with you."
I whipped my head to face her so quickly that my neck cracked. "What did you say?"
She took a step towards me, something between threat and pity in her voice as she spoke. "Marella, I know about your silly bargain. The Witch told us everything."
It pained me, as always, to hear her speak the word us, as though enough of our family were still alive to be included in the word.
I released a slow breath. "Why would I think otherwise?
" Despite my best effort, I couldn’t hide the tremble in my voice.
"It’s clear that he has feelings for me.
" I gestured at Garrett’s prone and sleeping form.
"Love and lust are not the same thing, Marella." She looked at him with disdain as she spoke. "You're foolish if you think they are. And just because he used you to get his dick wet doesn’t mean that he cares about you."
I stepped back, shocked by the cruelty in her words. "You don’t know what you’re talking about."
Her full lips drew back into a tight, cold smile. "But I do." I followed her gaze across the room. She looked at Garrett with more than hatred. She looked at him like he’d stolen something from her.
"You’re the one," I whispered, realization crashing over me in waves. "You’re the one Lucas—"
"Stop it," she hissed, twisting around and catching my face with one hand and gripping my wrist with the other. "Don’t say another word."
"But he wants to help us, Ordina."
"That man doesn’t want to help anyone but himself." Her nails dug into the flesh around my chin.
"You’re hurting me." I tried to wrench my face away from her grasp, but she held firm.
"I want you to listen to me." She pulled me closer, so our noses were almost touching. "The Fratelli are not to be trusted. I don’t care how nice and good this one seems—that’s the kind of man they recruit. Sweet and aimless, with a strong moral compass and kind eyes."
I shook my head, tears filling my eyes. "Ordina," I repeated. "You’re hurting me."
But she didn’t let go. "Promise me you won’t lose yourself to him."
"Ordina—"
"Promise me."
Her grip on my wrist grew tighter until I thought it might break between her fingers. This time, I couldn’t stop myself from crying out.
It was just a small cry, no more than a whimper, but it was enough. From across the room, there came the sound of disrupted breathing, then shuffling, and then Garrett was on his feet and moving towards us, the thin blanket from the bed wrapped around his hips.
"What is this?" he demanded, looking from my sister’s hand to my pain-stricken face. He snarled, exposing his teeth. "Let her go."
Ordina stared at him boredly at first.
Then she noticed his elongated canines, and her mouth fell open.
"Marella," she whispered, looking between him and me with unbridled shock written across her face. "What did you do?" Again, her grip tightened on my wrist, and I nearly doubled over.
"It was an accident," I gasped. "Ordina, please let me go."
In a flash, Garrett darted across the room to where his clothes lay discarded on the floor. He dug through the folds until his fingers wrapped around something.
When he straightened, he was holding the Fratelli knife. And it was leveled at my sister.
"I said," he growled, low and threatening. "Let her go."
This time, when Ordina looked between the two of us, her expression was sad, almost remorseful. She dropped my wrist, and I cradled it against my chest.
"You think I would hurt my sister, Fratello?" She glared at the knife in his hand.
"Garrett," I whispered. "Put it away."
His eyes cut between me and my sister, but he didn’t lower the knife. "Walk away." I didn’t miss the tremor in his voice.
Neither did Ordina. She smirked. "Are you going to make me?"
"Ordina." I put myself between them, my back to Garrett, holding my hands up to stop my sister. "Please. Leave." I glanced over my shoulder, smiling at him reassuringly before turning back to her. "I’ve got this," I said quietly, so only she could hear. "Trust me."
Her eyes narrowed. "When you’ve damned everyone in your orbit, dear sister," she whispered, "I hope you can live with the consequences. When he learns that you bargained with his freedom, do you think he’ll remain loyal to you?"
It was my turn to gape. My mouth fell open, and I spun to face Garrett as Ordina stalked across the room towards the exit.
"I’ll see you in the piazza," she snapped as she slipped outside, slamming the door behind her.
The sound echoed through the small apartment. In the dark, I couldn’t make out Garrett’s face. But he stood with his hand weakly extended as if he were frozen in place.
After several seconds, I couldn’t take the silence anymore.
"Garrett—" I took a step towards him, then flinched as he took a reflexive step back.
He turned the knife on me. "What was she talking about?"
I opened my mouth to answer, but as had happened each time I’d tried to speak of the bargain, no sound escaped my throat. My tongue suddenly felt heavy, and the sound garbled. I slammed my fist against the wall and screamed in frustration.
"I… can’t tell you," I finally managed to say, desperately trying to convey how badly I wanted to do just that. "It’s complicated."
His blue eyes were cold as they leveled me. "She said you bargained with my freedom." His voice shook. "What does that mean?"
"I can’t tell you," I repeated, reaching out a hand towards him. He lifted the knife. Not by much. But he kept it angled in my direction. "Please. I need you to trust me."
"I did." His voice dripped with more venom than I would have thought him capable of.
But there was something there, behind the cruelty, and its sharpness cut worse than a knife.
"I did trust you." Tears filled my eyes as every word landed like a blow.
"And now I find out you've been conspiring with one of your monster sisters? Using me as a bargaining chip?"
"Garrett." My voice broke in desperation. "Please."
He shook his head. "Lucas can finish the job himself. I’m done."
He didn’t meet my eye as he pushed past me, following Ordina’s path to the door, gathering his clothes and pulling them on as he went.
I tried to follow him. I ran across the room, grabbing his arm with both hands, tears streaming down my face. "Wait, please," I sobbed, begging the words to dislodge from my throat.
He rounded on me, ripping his arm from my grasp. His breath came out in harsh staccato gasps as he glared at me, and I couldn't fathom how quickly this had all gone wrong.
"Don't." The word came out sharp, but his eyes closed almost immediately, like he regretted it. He turned away from me. "I need to leave."