"Not right now," she said before adding, "But only because I need espresso more than sex right now."
Still grinning, Cosimo retrieved his shirt, jacket, and daggers from the bathroom. "Would you like me to get rid of this finger?"
"No. I want to memorialize it somehow," Marcella said with a wicked smile. "Put it in the freezer on the way out. I need to think of how I'm going to display it."
She is going to fit in so well with the rest of the family, Cosimo mused. He gave her a final kiss on the cheek before leaving her to shower.
Cosimo opened the door and had just stepped into the hall when he spotted Bas leaning against the wall, gazing out the windows.
"Busted," his son called in a sing-song voice, a wide grin on his face.
Cosimo shut Marcella's door and tried not to blush. "What are you doing loitering out here?"
"We all thought it best to have a lookout until you two woke up." Bas pointed at the door. "I take it everything went okay last night. It all still worked once you dusted the cobwebs off?"
Cosimo rolled his eyes. "Come on, Bas. I expect that nonsense from Apollo, not you. Besides, a gentleman never kisses and tells," he replied, clearing his throat so he wouldn't laugh. "Anyone heard from Renata or thecongregatoday?"
"Not yet. The others have gone sightseeing after a busy morning."
"Doing what?" Bas looked guilty, which worried Cosimo more. "Spit it out, Basset."
"We didn't cut anyone's finger off, unlikesomeone. We helped Juliette." Bas rubbed the back of his neck. "We couldn't let her be drained any further, especially because Renata would kill her out of spite for what you did to Carlo."
"How did you break it?" Cosimo asked, knowing there was no point in being upset. It was already done.
"Val, Yelena, and Charlotte did it. I didn't really understand the magic. Reeve had the idea of attaching Renata's bindings to a large indoor plant, so Renata doesn't know that they have been broken, and the others worked it out from there. We didn't want to upset Marcella, but we couldn't risk Juliette paying the price for us pissing Renata off."
Cosimo couldn't help but laugh. "Using a house plant worked? That's brilliant."
"It's still working. After they transferred the curse, Apollo filled Juliette with healing elixirs. Adamo didn't like the idea of us trying to break the spell, but when he was told what we planned, he moved aside." Bas cast a glance in the direction of Marcella's door. "Dad, you know we can't leave Renata to do this to some other poor girl. You have seen her. There must be other victims for her to hold her age like that."
"I know, but this is Marcella's city, her territory, not ours. She must be the one to stop Renata or ask us to help her do it," Cosimo replied, rubbing at his chin. "You can go off and find Bridget now, son. I will shower and take Marcella out for some food. Go and see some sights with the others. We might not have another chance this trip."
Bas nodded and then gave him a quick hug. "It's not my business, but I am really happy you two have hooked up. Your aura is calmer, which tells me your dragon is too. Be careful, Dad. You don't want to shift unexpectedly like I did and freak Marcella out."
"I'll be fine. Off you go," Cosimo said, patting his son on the back.
Minutes later, standing under the steam, Bas's words came back to Cosimo about accidentally shifting. He hadn't felt the impulse the previous night except when threatening Carlo. His hands had grown claws, and then the shift had stopped there. It was for the best that it had. Forli didn't need a confused dragon crashing around its streets on top of Renata and herstreghe.
They would have to do something about Renata; there was no way around it. Cosimo had seen Marcella's anger at the older woman when she had tried to touch Yelena the night before. Cosimo hoped that her protective streak would win out.
He sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. This kind of shit was exactly why he had told his sister to never mess with witches.
Now, Cosimo was dragged into it and wouldn't be able to walk away until he knew the threat they posed to Marcella was gone. It didn't matter that their bond wasn't official yet. He was compelled to protect his new mate from all dangers.
"My new mate. Gods, Taranis is never going to let me forget that he was right about this," he muttered.
Cosimo changed into jeans and a white button-up shirt and considered calling the dragon king. He was staying at Kian's still, too pissed off at what had happened with Midir and his lords to go back to Faerie yet.
Cosimo opened his contact list and hesitated. Taranis would probably just laugh and tell him to stop fucking about and claim Marcella as soon as possible. That was dragon logic through and through. Their mates belonged to them, and there was no point in arguing.
There was so much going on that attempting to have that conversation with Marcella was impossible. For a start, they were in enemy territory, and Marcella would react poorly to the thought of another man trying to take her choices away from her. He was determined that everything that happened between them would be her decision. She needed to see that being the mate to a dragon would be different than her previous marriage.
"I can't believe this is happening," Cosimo muttered under his breath. "Mating again, at my age."
The dragon didn't think that way. It knew it had a mate out there, and it didn't care what ridiculous ideas Cosimo had about it. Truth be told, he didn't know how long his life span was now that they were shifters. Cosimo's hand rested over the tattoo on his heart.
"Remember to live," he whispered.
