"How… You can't have gotten that from my palm!" he said, staring at it and then back at her.
"A witch never reveals her tricks," Marcella replied and tossed him a challenging look of her own. "Have you found it yet? The grimoire, I mean?"
"Why do you want to know?" Cosimo replied, the charming facade he had been wearing all night slipping a little. "Aren't you hunting it too?"
"Not exactly that grimoire, but something related to it. I believe what I want and his grimoire will be found in the same place," she replied.
Cosimo huffed. "Well, now Ireallywant to know."
"I'm sure you do," Marcella purred sweetly. She turned back to the grown children around the table. "Now, for my next trick, how about I guess which one of you is a dragon and which isn't?"
The whole table went so quiet that Marcella could have heard a pin drop. She leaned back in her chair, trying to hide the fact that she suddenly felt like prey. All the Greatdrakes sons' eyes glowed with an animal sheen, and surprisingly, so did Yelena's.
"Well, that answers that question. How about…" she stammered when she caught the look Cosimo was giving her. His gray eyes had deepened to a reddish-purple color and were looking at her as if she were dinner.
Santa Maria…Marcella could feel her pulse in her mouth, her neck warming with the sudden adrenaline dumping into her, spurring her into fight or flight mode. Instead, she froze.
"You are very clever,tesoro mio," Cosimo said, in a voice that was suddenly deeper and richer. "I would like to know who told you that we were dragons."
Marcella wet her lips, and Cosimo's eyes fixated on her mouth. "Would you believe my tarot deck? It is…unusually accurate. Everyone knows the legend that your family has a dragon in it. Why is it such a secret now?"
"Because a bunch of fucking alchemists in France kidnapped my son and were going to harvest him for ingredients," Cosimo growled.
"Dad, stop. She has a right to know if we are going to work together," Apollo said, drawing that too heavy glare away from Marcella.
She breathed in shakily.
"I have no interest in telling anyone that you are shifters either. Humans can't be trusted with such knowledge," she said quickly. "My only interest was confirming what the cards told me."
"Hmmm, I think I would like to see these cards of yours," Cosimo muttered, his eyes turning back to her. "Be warned, witch. If you share my family secrets and put my children in danger, there is nowhere on earth that you will be able to hide from me."
A thrill zipped through Marcella, danger igniting her veins. "Promise?"
"Cosimo, back off. Look at her. She's not going to tell anyone shit," Lachlan interrupted. The hunter's steady voice seemed to get through to him, and Cosimo broke his gaze, rubbing his eyes.
"I'm sorry. That was uncalled for," he apologized hastily.
"But not inaccurate," Yelena piped up from across the table. "If she betrays us, we will just eat her." She said it with no humor at all.
Apollo sighed. "Please don't start taking notes from Valentine on how to deal with problems. Besides, Dad was the one who laid out the warning. If anyone is going to eat Marcella, it's going to be him." A gleam in his eye suggested more than words could, and she blushed as red as the carnations in her hair.
"Can I vote that no one eats me, and I promise not to tell anyone your secret?" she asked. "I'll even do a pinkie swear."
Cosimo offered her his little finger. "It's a start."
Marcella did her best to smile through the pounding of her heart and looped her pinkie around his. "I promise not to tell anyone that you are real dragons."
"And I promise not to eat you in return," Cosimo replied, holding her gaze. There was no threat in them, but the heat in his eyes felt like he was scorching her insides.
Bas cleared his throat and pushed out a chair. "I think it's time for the next course. I made the pasta from scratch, so I hope you are all still hungry."
"I'm famished," Marcella said and tried to unloop her finger with no success.
"Same here." Cosimo held onto her finger a little longer before finally releasing her. "Especially now that thestregais off the menu."
8
Cosimo was helping Bas clean up in the kitchen when he turned and realized Marcella was no longer in the room.
