“Smart girl. She knew you’d never meet me, so why bother?”
“This doesn’t make any sense. I can’t be the granddaughter of a Dragon.”
His eyebrows raise. “Why not?”
“Because…” I try to think of a good reason. “We were struggling.”
“Think back to when those struggles started. Do they happen to coincide with my fight against Medved?”
He’s right about that. The mansion was always kept pristine until about eight years ago.
“Everything got worse when you ended up in here.”
“I’m sorry about that.” He looks like he means it. “I’ve had to be even more careful. The less contact with my family, the better.”
“That song you were singing.” I close my eyes, fighting back against a sudden flood of tears. “That Italian lullaby…”
He seems surprised. “Stella, stellina, La notte si avvicina. La flamma travalla, La mucca è nella stalla.You mean that one? Your mother used to love it.”
“She sang it to me all the time.” I whisper the English version. “Star, little star, the night is coming, the flame flickers, the cow is in the stable, the sheep and the lamb, the cow with her calf, the hen with her chicks, the cat with her kittens, and they’re all asleep, in their mother’s heart.”
His nose wrinkles. “Loses something in translation.”
“I heard you through the door and I knew. We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
“About a year after you were born. You were around Rosie’s age, actually. I’m surprised you remember.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? When I was here earlier?”
“I wasn’t sure.” He gestures at the chair. “Can you bring my great-granddaughter over here again?”
I scoop Rosie up and sit back down beside him. She fusses with his blankets and seems content to let him poke at her and make silly faces. She laughs when he tickles her, and it seems to make him happy.
It’s strange. This man is one of the most powerful criminals in the world. If he’s a Dragon, that means he did some truly awfulthings to reach his position. Yet he’s sitting there playing with Rosie like he’s just some normal grandfather.
“Mass knew, didn’t he?”
Elias grimaces slightly. “You can’t blame him for that.”
“He didn’t tell me.”
“There’s no way he could have without letting my secret out.”
“But he was there that night…” I trail off, remembering when we first met.
“Family has always been important to me,nipotina. There are few things I’m sentimental about in this world, and only God knows how much blood I’ve spilled. But family persists even after we’re gone. You are a gift and so is your little girl. I thank the Almighty every day my line continues. Because of that, I made Massimo swear that he’d check in on you and your mother as often as he could. Perhaps, in the course of fulfilling a promise to an old man…” He makes an uncertain gesture.
My mind’s a storm as I try to process. Mass knew this whole time. My grandfather’s been here, hidden away in the fortress, a victim of the ghost we’ve been fighting.
I’m the granddaughter of a Dragon. And that means Rosie is cursed with that same blood.
“I have to go.” I stand up abruptly, clinging to my daughter.
He doesn’t seem surprised or bothered. “Will you visit again?”
“Yes,” I say instantly, even though I’m not sure if Mass will let me. “I’ll bring Rosie too.”
“That would be very good.” He leans forward, tilting down his glasses. “Don’t blame Mass too much for what he did. I’m glad he married you. I couldn’t ask for a better grandson.”
