"What are you still doing up?" he asked, sitting down beside her and helping himself to her popcorn.
"The kids put this on for me. It's the past thirty years of history in two hours or something. They did something to get it off the internet, I don't know." Maria sighed and waved a hand at it. "Make it stop. I'd rather talk to you. What happened to the hot witch?"
Cosimo turned it off, and they sat in the warm light of the lamps. "She needs space."
"Did you blow it?" Maria niggled.
"I don't think so. She needs to get her head straight after everything that happened in Forli. She said it's more important that I spend tonight with you," he said and studied her face. She looked so young and vulnerable. "Marcella was right, of course, but I didn't like her leaving the way she did. Are you okay? Can I get you anything?"
"I had a shower, and Apollo gave me these pajamas. The nausea is gone, but the voice in my head hasn't. The kids were really careful about not saying stuff about the voice, and it was like they were all trying to keep a secret from me. I don't know what I am missing," Maria admitted, and her nose screwed up. "It feels weird calling them kids. They are older than I was when I went into that spell. It's strange that you're all adult and a dad too. They told me about Lisa. I'm sorry it all went down that way."
Cosimo put his arm around her shoulders. "I am too, but that's life, I suppose. I'm sorry I didn't find you earlier."
"It's not your fault. It's mine. I was cocky and stupid. I just wanted to surprise everyone with a cool find," Maria said and chewed more popcorn. "Why is there a voice in my head, Cosimo? What's wrong with me?"
"Well...you know how we have a dragon in the bloodline?" Cosimo began, and it all spilled out of him. He told hereverything about the fae returning, the fights they had had along the way, the uncles restoring magic, and finally the truth that their dragons had been slumbering inside them all this time.
"Let me get this straight: the boys and Yelena can shift into actual, big ass dragons, but you can't?" Maria asked, her eyes wide. "You're one of the greatest magicians of your generation. What the hell? Why can't you?"
Cosimo shrugged. "The dragon decides when it's time, and it hasn't wanted to do it yet. We tried to force it, but it wouldn't work. I can grow claws and fangs, and I can feel it inside of me, but a full shift hasn't happened," he tried to explain. "You aren't crazy, baby sister. You have a dragon inside you, trying to get out. Oh, gods, I just realized what a menace you're going to be now that you can turn into a dragon."
Maria hit him with a decorative pillow. "Thanks, Cos. I haven't been awake for a day, and you already assume I'm going to do something wrong."
"I'm sorry, have you changed since I last saw you?" Cosimo said, laughing.
"Don't pick on me. I have been in a stasis spell," Maria replied. She turned pensive. "Is Marcella your mate? I thought we only got one."
"So did I, but apparently it's a dragon thing to get another if one of you dies. It's a biological thing. When Taranis told me about it, I didn't want to believe it, but now that I have met Marcella, I don't know, maybe it's a good thing," Cosimo said, leaning his head back into the soft lounge. "I'm not the person you remember, little sister. Losing Lisa destroyed me, and being a father reshaped me. I'm just doing my best most of the time."
"That's more than most people do. It sounds like you are well overdue for a new love, Cosimo. Don't get me wrong, Lisa was adorable, and I know you loved her. Doesn't mean you should be alone and miserable forever. Marcella likes you too, that'sfor damn sure, and it's not because you're some perfect version of yourself. It's for who you are now. And you know what that makes you?" Maria poked him in the side. "Ridiculously fucking lucky, Cosimo. She's gorgeous, powerful, smart, and will be able to hold her own against the rest of us. You just have to make sure you don't fuck it up. When is she coming around?"
"Tomorrow afternoon. Taranis and Quinn are coming too. He wants to meet you and check in on your dragon," Cosimo replied and laughed at her shocked expression. "He's our family and is nosy. He can't stay away. His knights are just as bad."
"They aregods. I'm allowed to be nervous about it," Maria replied and tugged at her tangled hair.
"Don't be. He's not really a god. Just old and powerful. I will organize a chance for you to meet everyone else as well, but Taranis doesn't want to overwhelm you. You will love Quinn, because everyone loves Quinn," Cosimo said, and he smiled. "The hardest part will be to get them not to spill to Marcella that she is my mate."
Maria rolled her eyes. "Maybe you should just nut up and tell her and get it out of the way."
"No, not yet." Cosimo shook his head. "I have a plan. We need to find those grimoires first."
"At least tell her how you feel about her. I know I have been out of the game for a while, but trust me, big brother, women need honesty. She won't know where she stands with you until you admit your feelings and she knows you're serious about her. Maybe if you do, she will stop taking off, and I can hang out with her," Maria replied.
"Ah, your true motivations are revealed at last. You want to flirt with her."
His sister gave him a devilish smile that always told him she was about to cause some kind of trouble. "Of course I want to flirt with her. Better get your courage together and lock herdown, or I will be forced to steal her from you. I wouldn't mind a hot Mommy in my life to keep me in line."
Cosimo's dragon rose with a snarl, and instead of Maria being afraid, her own eyes shone with a golden light. They stared at each other in challenge for a long moment before Maria cracked up laughing and popped the tension like a balloon.
"Oh, gods, you are still so easy to bait," she crowed and shook his arm. "Lighten up, bro. We are fucking dragons! This is going to besomuch fun."
36
It had taken a lot of self-control for Marcella not to go to the Greatdrakes's villa before the afternoon. She had slept deeply the night before out of sheer exhaustion and tried her best to have a usual day. Unfortunately, nothing felt normal or right anymore.
Marcella knew it wasn't normal to have an unbearable itch under her skin to get to Cosimo. It had grown worse as the day had worn on. She had been in love before, but this was an ache that spread from her heart to her fingertips and toes.
Utterly ridiculous, Marcella had told herself over and over. She had answered emails, paid bills, and caught up on all the busy work that she had been neglecting since Cosimo had strolled into her life and turned her well-organized world on its head.
