Marcella's hand touched his arm. "What is it?"
"Red covers," he whispered.
Marcella shone her torch on the shelf, and on the spine of the red volume was a faded triangle-shaped mark with small circles and an outline of the Florentine lily.
"Cosimo, it's the Medici coat of arms," Marcella gasped. Her fingers touched the woven spine next to it. "My god, this pattern is the Sforza'sondato."
Cosimo nodded, unable to look away from them. "Take them out, Marcella. They are yours after all." The room went silent as everyone crowded around. Marcella pulled the volumes free and set them down on the nearest wooden counter.
A lump lodged in Cosimo's throat as he stared at the Medici coat of arms stamped into the red leather cover. The one next to it had the Sforza crest on it.
"You open one, and I'll open the other?" Marcella said.
Cosimo's fingers trembled as they both opened the books at the same time. In faded brown ink on the first page was written the name,Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici.
Marcella's small gasp had him tearing his eyes away from the page. She had her hand on a portrait drawn inside another book. Cosimo would recognize that profile anywhere.
"It's her, Cosimo. We found it," Marcella said.
Cosimo pointed at the name in his book. "No, tesoro. We foundthem. You were right. They were together all this time."
Marcella stared at the name in the red book before she threw herself into Cosimo's arms. "We found them! And all of this! Oh, my god. How are we going to get it out of here?"
Cosimo knew exactly where he wanted to put the collection. He kissed her smiling mouth. "I have one or two ideas. Let's take these two grimoires home first, and we can come back for the rest."
Marcella made a small, helpless sound as she stared at the piles of her family's history around her.
"They have stayed safe under a blood ward all this time. Another week or so won't hurt them," Cosimo reassured her. "Looks like our agreement is over,tesoro."
The words were barely out of his mouth when pain shot under his skin, and he let Marcella go with a gasp. "Fuck. Oh, no. Not now, you infernal beast.No."
"Cosimo? What is it? What's wrong?" Marcella asked.
"You have found the grimoires. The agreement is done. Now it is my turn,"his dragon declared through his mouth.
Marcella backed away. "W-What?"
"Oh, fuck, his dragon is taking over. I can hear it in his mind," Bas said, moving in front of Bridget.
Cosimo clutched at his head. "No. Stop! We can't here… We can't."
"No more waiting. No more."Scales burst through Cosimo's skin, tearing flesh and bone. He opened his mouth and roared, loud enough to shake the tunnels. Rock and debris fell from above them.
"He's starting to shift," Yelena said urgently. "Marcella is the only one safe from him right now."
"Mine. My mate. Mine!"Cosimo snarled, falling to his hands and feet.
Marcella whirled on Valentine. "Make a portal somewhere safe! He can't stay in here, or he'll hurt himself and destroy the tunnels."
"Fuck, Dad, your timing is the worst. I warned you this would happen," Valentine snarled. He moved into the tunnel ahead of Cosimo, and his magic formed an opening.
Marcella gestured at them, making sure she stood between Cosimo and the others. The part of his mind that was still him wanted to say he wouldn't hurt them, but the dragon wasn't listening. His blood was boiling, his soul shredding, and he couldn't control it any longer.
"Cosimo? Follow me,amore mio. Come with me," Marcella crooned softly. Her magic was a shimmering aura of gold and black around her, mesmerizing the dragon. His mate. All his.
Marcella disappeared through the portal, and the dragon roared, plunging in after her. It barely registered the change in weather, his eyes fixated on his mate as she thrust something at one of the people near her. They reached out to touch her, and the dragon roared.
"Mine,"he snarled. The beast pulled itself free of the man, its claws picking up his mate so that no one could touch her. No one was ever touching her again.
