"You convinced them you didn't have the ability,piccola. She always wanted to talk to the dead, to steal their secrets and use them to blackmail the living," Amalia said, watching Marcellacarefully. "She will hold onto the ties to your father's shade to make sure you give her whatever she wants. The house wasn't enough. She has left it to rot, wanting the family to pay for spurning her."
"But she has left me alone for ten years! Why is she doing all of this now?" Marcella asked, her hands clenching into fists.
"Renata always waits and plans. Probably, she thought that you had allied yourself with a powerful magician to come and take Forli from her. While you were away, you weren't her problem, but you have made her nervous, and she's acting accordingly," Amalia replied.
"This was never about Marcella returning to take over Forli, despite what Renata may think. Renata knows where my sister, Maria Greatdrakes, is, and we reached out," Cosimo said to Amalia. "My sister was here in Forli almost thirty years ago, searching for a temple to Minerva."
"Minerva! I don't recognize the Greatdrakes name, but I remember a foreign sorceress coming to town looking for anything about Minerva. Caused a great stir because she wasn't astrega. Irish, I think she said she was," Amalia replied thoughtfully.
"Yes! We are from Ireland. I... Do you remember her?" Cosimo asked keenly.
"I don't remember this happening," Marcella said with a frown.
"You were only thirteen at the time. I had sent you to your nonna's in Sicily that summer," Amalia replied, tapping her chin. Somehow, even her shade had a perfect manicure. "I know Renata didn't like her, and the woman was smart enough to move on when she realized no one could remember anything about a temple. Most of the history in this place is medieval, not Roman. She was heading south, to... It was..."
Marcella could see her mother's shade fading, trying to find the memory. "It's okay, Mama. Don't force it. I need to talk to you! Don't go!"
But her mother was already fading. Ghostly fingers stroked Marcella's cheek, and a voice whispered,Sofia.
Cosimo took her hand. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed her."
"No. She had been there for too long anyway," Marcella said. She looked at her hands, filthy with dirt and whatever animal blood that had been poured into her father's grave. "I can't let Renata hold onto my father's shade."
"I know,tesoro," Cosimo said, enclosing her in his arms. "At least we know that Maria was here. That is more than what I had."
"Does Sofia mean anything to you?" Marcella asked, thinking of her mother's final word.
"Sofia is Greek for Wisdom. She is the Christian saint or goddess, depending on which source you're looking at," Cosimo explained, and his arms tightened. "Minerva was a goddess of wisdom too. Why do you ask?"
"My mother whispered it to me before she was gone," Marcella replied.
"I will have a look further into it when we get back to the hotel," Cosimo said and kissed her forehead. "I really can help you with your magic if you want me to."
"I don't want to have to smother it anymore." Marcella was hurting over her father's shade, but the day hadn't been completely ruined. "I knew my mother would like you."
Cosimo's charming smile flashed in the dying light. "I am very likable. Why? Is it bad if your mother approves of the man you're dating?"
"Are we dating now?" she asked.
"We are definitely doing something," Cosimo said, his voice dropping to a growl.
Marcella couldn't resist. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss. Cosimo's arms slid down her back to her ass and pulled her up against him, deepening the kiss and making her toes curl in the loose earth at her feet.
"Take me back to the hotel. I need to think about how I'm going to get Renata back for all of this," she said when they finally broke apart.
"If you don't want to do it, I will. Val knows necromancy. He will be able to help with ideas as well," Cosimo replied, holding her hand all the way back to the van.
Marcella was climbing inside when her phone buzzed on the seat where she had left it. "It's Carlo."
"By all means, put him on speaker," Cosimo said, a feral animal gleam in his eyes.
Marcella pressed the speaker button before answering, "Yes?"
"Tell your magician, his sister went south," Renata said, her voice calm. "She got all excited when a priest mentioned a place to her called Santa Sofia."
"Thank you," Marcella replied, trying not to scream at the awful woman.
"You have two days, and then I want you to get out of my territory," Renata snarled, whisper-soft. "Make sure you come and see me before you go. I need to talk to that magician about what he has done to my son."
