Page 69 of Unbound

No, I see, glancing at the screen. It’s my brother.

“Hey Pietro,” I say quietly, not wanting to wake the locals. This is the kind of area where they’d call the cops on you for the crime of existing.

“Hey yourself. Did Luca kill all the other Dons and become a werewolf and shift into a snow leopard and cast a spell that basically made him the king of the fucking world?”

I let out a snort of laughter. “What the fuck?”

“It’s all over the chat rooms, that app. So many stories I can’t tell what’s real and what isn’t.”

I take a breath, fill him in. “He did kill the Dons. He is a witch. He’s allied with wolves and shifters. King of the world? No fucking clue.”

“But you’re okay?”

I smile. It’s nice to be someone’s priority. “I am. Just taking a walk.”

“Right. So, if Luca is the king of the world, would you be, like, the queen?”

“Who knows? How are things back there?”

There’s a woof in the background and a peel of female laughter. “Good. Moonface is playing with Freya. She’s been watching a show called Supernatural and she’s decided she wants to learn to drive. Go on a road trip and stay in some motels.”

I grin at the idea. Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Maybe a girls’ road trip is exactly what we need.

“Also,” he adds, hesitantly, “I think I know where he is.”

“Where who is? Luca? He’s back at Hell’s Kitchen by now.”

“No,” he says. “The Grand Ball Sack. Our grandfather. I wasn’t sure, so I didn’t mention it, but I’ve had time to check a few things out now. The spyware I sent via the Bastard Brigade messages paid off, and I accessed his bank records. He has another place in Chicago, not far from our old house.”

“The one he burned down to the ground with our family still in it?”

He clears his throat. I know it still hurts him to accept all the bad about our grandfather, but I have to remind him of it.

“Uh, yeah. I don’t know why. I mean, why would he need it? It’s an ordinary house in an ordinary neighborhood, not like his big mansion.”

“I don’t know, Pietro. Could be as simple as an investment. Could be something that’s been part of his evil masterplan for decades. I’ll go and check it out.”

“Okay. Yeah. But he also has a place here in New York.”

I stare at the big, silent building in front of me. Sniff in the air that is both familiar and alien. Shake my head. Is my mind playing tricks on me? Is talking about Tomasso making me imagine things? No. I don’t think so.

“Let me guess. It’s a town house off Lexington and East 80th?”

A pause. “How the fuck did you know that?”

“I’m standing outside it now.”

“Well leave, Rosa. Walk away! Do not consider facing him alone, okay?”

Pietro sounds panicked now. He’s right, of course. It would be a risk, even if I took him by surprise. Who knows who or what the Grand Ball Sack has in there with him anyway?

“I won’t,” I assure him. “I’ll call Donna and Luca. I’ll wait until I have support.”

“Promise me?”

I hold my amulet in my palm, still feel nothing. “I promise,” I tell him.

I end the call. Think it over. It’s been quite the day, and I should do as I promised my baby brother and wait until I have backup. Maybe I could just stake the place out, keep an eye on things? He might not even be in there. I’m still not sure what scent I’ve been following.