He couldn’t dismiss it. He wouldn’t treat her as he once had, as opponent and nothing more. Ravenna flung her arm across her eyes and drew her knees up tight, close to her rib cage.
Yes, he would, and she knew it.
Juno dei Luni
They gathered in their favorite sitting room, surrounded by gossiping parrots. If Juno dei Luni loved anything, it was having the whole family in place, where she could see them all. Too often they scattered, their human instincts getting the best of them. She understood, perhaps better than the rest, that there was a constant battle happening within them. They were all immortal, but they were contained in fleshy human bodies that had all manner of instincts and weaknesses.
She couldn’t abide weakness of any kind, and as she watched her husband, and their two children—wherewasSaturnino?—she thought of their flaws. Fortuna, sitting in one of the plush chairs, was vain and placed far more importance on her appearance than was necessary. Marco, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, pursued glory, but he was clumsy and foolish and easily distracted. Her lip curled at the sight of him: split lip, bruised cheek, swollen eye. Marco lacked finesse. Juno moved on to her husband, who saw only the big picture, and ignored the details. He missed nuance, innuendo, whispered conversation, backroom dealings.
And then there was Saturnino.
She was beginning to understand the greatest of all his weaknesses.
The door slammed open, and Saturnino stormed into the room with a look of supreme irritation. In his arms he carried, of all things, a black cat. “I was told to come.Urgent,the note said.”
Juno studied his bedraggled appearance, quite unlike him. Hergaze briefly flicked to Marco. “Where have you been? And why are you carrying that creature?”
“I’m here now.” He stroked underneath the cat’s chin. “What the hell couldn’t wait until morning?”
Fortuna indicated behind him. “Look behind you.”
Saturnino glanced over his shoulder. Three servants lined the wall; they stood huddled next to their steward, who Juno had thought competent but was now reconsidering her opinion. The steward was as useless as most humans.
“What’s happened?” Saturnino asked.
“We’ve discovered Ravenna’s statue has gone missing,” Signor Luni said. “Sometime during the banquet, it disappeared while we were all dancing and making merry. We’ve summoned Tomasso and the three servers who were present from beginning to end.”
“Ravenna herself went missing,” Fortuna said, watching Saturnino closely. “Do you know where she went?”
Saturnino coolly arched a brow at Marco. Juno read it as a warning. “She was with me.”
“Not the whole time, she wasn’t,” Marco snapped. “Since when is she worth protecting,fratello?”
“Children,” Juno snapped. “We have a problem. That statue held a Nightflame, and now it’s missing. Such a valuable item cannot leave this palazzo. It can be used in any manner of ways against us and the Medici,as you all know.”
“Tomasso,” Signor Luni said. “How have you allowed this?”
“I regret to tell you that I don’t know how this happened,” the steward said. “We were busy attending to the many guests—”
“I don’t want to hear your excuses,” Juno snapped. “I want to hear from the other three.” She snapped her fingers. “You, the one in the middle. When did you first notice the statue went missing?”
The servant lifted her gaze, not enough to look her in the eyes. “The musicians had begun to play in earnest and many of the guests were dancing. We were clearing the plates, I noticed it then.”
“Why wasn’t one of us told right away?” Fortuna demanded. “Why wait until after the guests left?”
“That was my fault,” Tomasso said. “I thought perhaps it had been cleared away to be stored once more in the gallery. Other matters took precedence, there was still the dessert course to set out.”
“You should have informed us immediately,” Signor Luni said coldly.
Tomasso flushed. “Well, you were all busy, entertaining your guests. I didn’t think—”
“That much is very clear,” Juno said.
“Someone has also stolen from me,” Fortuna announced. “Plants from my garden.”
“You grow poison,” Juno said, aghast. “When did you notice the theft?”
“It’s been happening a little at a time,” Fortuna admitted. “Small amounts. I thought perhaps I was mistaken at first, but…” Her voice trailed off, pale blue eyes bright with anger.
