Page 53 of Unbound

We stay like that, floating together in the now-warm water of the lake, watching the pretty lights flicker and flow all around us. Captured, under a spell that neither of us wants to break.

She sighs and pulls back slightly, looks me in the eyes. “We found something out,” she tells me.

I don’t want to know what it is. I want to pretend nothing exists but this moment. Us, here, now.

I know we don’t have that luxury, at least not for long. I kiss her, hold her close. Whisper into her ear, “Tell me tomorrow. Tomorrow is only a few hours away. Tomorrow, we will be grown-ups. We will bear our burdens and shoulder our duties. Tonight … tonight is ours, cuore mio.”

She nods, relaxes against me. We float together, holding hands, staring up at stars that are as bright as the sun. The pine trees sway, the magical mist swirls, and night birds call. It is perfection.

Chapter 22

Rosa

Iwake up with a smile on my face, naked. My torn slip is discarded in a damp heap on the bedroom floor, and the outline of my muddy footprints on the marble betrays my late-night run through the gardens, being chased by Luca.

Except, of course, I’m not even sure he was here. I have no idea how this works, but I do know that our time together in the lake was as real as anything else in my life. Luca, in the flesh or in the spirit or in some weird combination of both, is the one certainty in a world of maybes.

I drag myself out of bed, my mind filled with memories of our encounter. The moonlight, the starshine, the way we made love to each other. The afterglow, where the lake seemed to literally gleam along with us, water warming our bodies, those dancing lights like fireflies. I’d glanced over at him as we swam, noticed his eyes were solid silver again, shining with the reflected radiance. It was beautiful. He is beautiful. And today? Today, I have to try and figure out who cast a spell on us and how to stop myself setting him on fire.

I take a quick shower, and when I come back into my room, Stella is sitting on my bed, with a pair of my socks in her mouth. I ruffle her golden fur. “Huh. I know a dog called Moonface who likes socks too. Maybe we should get you two together; you could take over the world, one sock at a time …”

Stella wags her tail and jumps off the bed. I follow her through into the big lounge we saw yesterday and find Veronica sipping coffee at the table, sunlight flooding in through the picture window. I look at her warily, and she nods in greeting. “Don’t worry, Rosa. I am under control again. Bruno said I should apologize, but I don’t want to. Part of me still wishes I’d killed you, so Tomasso could know my pain.”

Right. Well. Points for honesty at least. I grab coffee and a pastry from the spread on the table. “I think you’d be sadly disappointed. Tomasso doesn’t know how to feel pain. He’d be pissed, though. He has plans for me.”

“Oh, yes?” she asks, arching a fine eyebrow. “And what are they?”

“Oh, you know, being mated to my own brother and getting pregnant with a Capelli super Seer.”

Her nostrils flare in distaste, and she shakes her head. “That is disgusting. Perverse beyond belief.”

“No arguments from me, sister. Now, where are Bruno and Minnie?”

“In the library,” she says. “I’ll take you through. And I’m sorry.”

“For what? I thought you didn’t buy the whole apologies thing?”

I follow her down the hallway, and she glances back at me. “I’m sorry for what has happened to you in your life. Family should be sacred.”

I nod. Not much I can say to that. In my experience, it’s been more sick than sacred.

We go down a winding spiral staircase, and I keep my wits about me as I trail behind her. Just in case she has a Rosa-shaped bear trap hidden down here somewhere. Eventually, we are in some kind of basement. It’s huge and must span the whole house. Everywhere I look, I see books. On shelves, stacked on counters, displayed behind glass, on trolleys. There are piles of papers and documents, file cabinets, magnifying glasses, and a ginormous polished oak table running along the center.

It’s at the table that I see Minnie and Bruno, studying a fragile-looking book, papers scattered all around them. Minnie looks up when we enter, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this animated. She’s so excited she looks like a ten-year-old, and the pixie-cut hair doesn’t help. She jumps to her feet.

“Look! It’s the book about the d’Argentos! It’s like some kind of family bible, except, well, you know, it was burned in a fire and all that.”

Fire has been way too much of a theme in my life, I reflect, as I walk over to take a look. Bruno glances up at me apologetically. “I must admit I haven’t given this the attention I now realize it deserves. It seemed irrelevant, of no use. The d’Argentos were no longer with us, having been gone for centuries, and I didn’t even know if their importance was real. I found them interesting but not essential. I have so much else to study …”

I glance around at the huge room and nod. He’s not kidding.

Veronica pats him on the shoulder and passes him a pair of reading glasses from a shelf. “Don’t forget to use these. You’ll give yourself a headache.” She drops a kiss on his head and leaves. My tension dips slightly.

“This goes back to the eighth century,” Minnie tells me, her eyes shining. “And some of it’s on parchment.”

I have to laugh. “Wow. You guys really know how to have a good time.”

They share a look. I guess I just don’t get it.