Page 48 of She Who Was Once the Sea

"Oh, hey, Garrett," the taller one—Carson?— said. "Sorry, were you sleeping?"

I glared and nodded.

"Our bad," the other one added. "But did you know that Lucas has his niece downstairs?" His eyes practically glowed with excitement.

"I didn’t," I grumbled. "Have you never seen a woman before?"

They both laughed. "Not like this one," Carson said. "She’s beautiful. Like, for real. And she’s wearing this short, red dress—"

I felt the air leave my lungs in a massive rush. Before I knew what I was doing, I was pushing past them down the hallway, rushing towards the elevator.

There’s no way Lucas would be that stupid.

They laughed as I retreated, making jokes about how I clearly needed to see for myself.

When I got to the elevator, I jammed my finger against the button over and over again, until I worried I might break it, willing the stupid machine to move faster. Once I was inside, I tapped my feet rhythmically, staring at my wild-eyed reflection in the polished metal until the doors finally slid open on the bottom floor.

Women were only allowed in the mezzanine—not that that prevented brothers from sneaking them upstairs, but Lucas would have been more careful sneaking her around if he’d taken her further inside. Carson and his friend wouldn’t have ever seen her.

The elevator descended like it was moving through molasses. With each second that passed, I vacillated between anger at Lucas for bringing her here and annoyance at myself for believing that possible. Just because this woman was wearing a red dress doesn’t mean that it’s her.

Finally, the doors slid open, and I jumped out, frantically turning my head from side to side, searching for her.

She was turned away from me. One of Lucas’s hands rested gently on her back, his other gesturing to one of the paintings on the wall. He did indeed look like an uncle giving his niece a tour.

But it was definitely her. Her short, inky hair gently brushed her shoulders, and she stood preternaturally still. As Lucas described the history behind the painting before them, she clenched and unclenched her hands, like the image was an assault. Around them, members of the Fratelli wandered from room to room, raising their eyebrows in her direction as they moved.

I’d never been a jealous person, but the way some of them looked at her made me rethink my compunctions against drinking living blood.

How could he bring her here?

I felt like I couldn’t breathe. The air in the mezzanine felt heavy and stifling. If just one of them looked too closely, there was no way she could escape.

I’d seen her take down a handful of full grown men. But a group of frat boys were nothing compared to dozens of highly trained hunters.

I was going to kill Lucas.

I took a step towards them, but I didn’t say anything. Barely made a sound.

Still, I saw her back straighten. Her fists stopped clenching.

Slowly, she stepped away from Lucas, hair swishing as she moved. When she turned to look at me, she did so over one shoulder. Her eyes sliced across the room like she was trying to cut it in half with a look alone. And when they landed on me, they met mine with a snap.

I felt the tendons in my chest tighten. For a second, we just stared at each other. I was aware of Lucas turning to face me as well, but he may as well not have been there.

She smirked, and I felt the corners of my mouth twitch in answer.

I’d thought that joining the Fratelli had given my life meaning.

But somewhere, deep in the recesses of my soul, I knew that she would be part of it.

Chapter 22 - Marella

Lucas spread a map across a low, marble table, pinning one curling corner beneath the weight of a book. "This is Rossaia before the waterways were diverted."

We were locked inside a windowless room in the Fratelli headquarters. Knowing where we were made my skin crawl, but Lucas had promised that we wouldn’t be disturbed in one of the studies.

Garrett leaned forward beside me, close enough that the sleeve of his robe brushed against my arm.