"God fucking damn it! I told you never to go in there!" Cosimo was usually the calm one.
Lachlan had never seen him yell so much in all the time he had known him.
"It was a calculated risk, Cosimo. I had a map of the catacombs, and we were fine. Dirty and out of reception but fine. They had the building surrounded, including the rooftops," Lachlan said, trying to calm everyone down.
Their father's anger was only making Apollo and Valentine stress out more.
Cosimo ran his hands over his face irritably. "From the top, please. What the hell happened?"
Lachlan took the lead because Apollo had shut up tight, and Valentine was too busy drinking and muttering. He answered the door when the room service arrived with food and bags of clothes. Apollo took one of the slender fries from his plate and nibbled it.
Lachlan sat down beside him and put his arm around him, not caring what Cosimo thought.
"Those damn alchemists. Maybe you should have blown their building up, Valentine," Cosimo growled when they had finished telling him of the attack. Cosimo's eyes were usually gray like Valentine's, but now they were glowing a deep purple color. His dragon was definitely rising.
"Easy, Cosimo. Your dragon is getting agitated," Lachlan tried to warn him.
"Don't lecture me about my dragon, Lachlan Ironwood," Cosimo snarled. He pulled back as if he had shocked himself. "I'm… I'm sorry. Forgive me, Lachie."
"It's okay. I'm sorry we made you so upset. I just need one Greatdrakes clear-headed right now. Shifting because you're angry is only going to ruin your nice house," Lachlan said with a nervous laugh.
Cosimo rubbed at his eyes and took some breaths. "I'm fine. Apollo, look at me, please."
Apollo lifted his head, his eyes wet with unshed tears. "Yes, Dad?"
"I love you. This is not your fault," Cosimo said, his voice soft. "Yes, we had good memories in that apartment, and those aren't gone. We can rebuild it, but I can't rebuild you boys. Understand? I'm not upset or angry that they destroyed it. I'm furious that they tried to kill both my sons and a man who I count as family. Hug him tighter, Lachlan, because I can't."
"Yes, sir," Lachlan replied and wrapped his other arm around Apollo. He put his head into Lachlan's neck and held onto him.
"Good," Cosimo said with a firm nod. "Can we get the others in on this call now? We need a plan. Valentine, stop pacing and tell me what's on your mind."
Valentine glanced up at his father. "Murder. Kill them all. Get the other creatures that they are hurting. Make them wish that they really had disbanded when Catherine died."
"Steady on, dark lord," Apollo sniggered, and Lachlan laughed softly. Someone was feeling better.
A smile ghosted Cosimo's lips. "I don't disagree, Valentine. Let's do it the right way, shall we? Let's send out the SOS to the family group chat and get as many of us in this discussion as we can. Boys? Maybe put some clothes on first."
It took another hour, but eventually, all of the Tuatha Dé Danann, Ironwoods, and Greatdrakes were logged into the call. Apollo had got pants on and had calmed down enough not to be draining the little minis one after the other.
Lachlan had put a bottle of water and a Gatorade in front of Apollo and wouldn't let him have any more alcohol until they were both gone. He had tried the same tactic with Valentine, who had just laughed in his face and gotten another order of alcohol sent up. He wasn't drinking them as fast, so Lachlan figured that was about as good as it was going to get.
"Please tell us you have found something on these assholes, Layla," Lachlan said once everyone was online.
His cousin had her blonde hair in a messy bun on top of her head, and she had a slightly crazed gleam in her eyes like she had one too many energy drinks.
"The alchemists might be on a closed system, but their cyber security is lackluster. I don't know half of the stuff I'm looking at, but I have found multiple properties listed under their shell companies," Layla replied and dug around for a notebook. "They haven't specified which property is holding the prisoners, but from an initial search, there's only one that is big and remote enough for them to get away with anything without drawing attention. It's called, ah, Château de Mont…something."
"Château de Montceaux?" Valentine demanded, his head snapping up.
Layla looked over her notes. "Yeah, that's the one. How did you know?"
"Château de Montceaux was one of Catherine Medici's private residences. Her favorite, in fact. She could practice alchemy there without the interference of court life. It's been in various states of ruin for years, apart from a large house. And I mean a ruin. A few walls here and some pillars there. The Sanguis Vitae could have bought it for sentimentality's sake and started to rebuild it. There are legends amongst magicians that Nostradamus had a secret lab there with her. It's debatable because there's no evidence she had a lab or that he visited her there. They were close friends, though, so anything is possible," Valentine said in one long ramble as he began to pace again.
Taranis interrupted. "Take a breath, Val, and for the love of the gods, stop pacing. You are giving me anxiety."
Surprisingly, Valentine did as he was told and sat on a couch. His expression glazed over like he was already lost in some other spiraling thoughts.
"Is he okay?" Lachlan whispered to Apollo.
