A beat of silence. I need her to take this seriously. And then she says,Right. Well. I suppose I got the better option. Go now, you’re distracting me.
She kicks me out of her head, and I feel a moment of cold. She hasn’t forgiven me for not telling her about the spell, and she can’t trust her own feelings toward me. Totally understandable, all of it, as is her asserting the right to evict me from her mind. But I still hate it.
I keep my eyes on the move, scanning the room for threats and seeing them all around me. We’re in a cauldron of danger, and Minnie still hasn’t been in touch.
A change in Vincenzo’s droning tone calls my attention right as he says, “And so, my dear friends, my loved ones, my loyal soldiers, I present to you not one, but two Vecchissime Seers. Stand up, beautiful Rosa; stand up, darling Donatella! Now, which of us would ever have expected such guests to be welcomed into our home? Greet them warmly, my family, as you would your own.”
Both women get to their feet, and Rosa looks around at the crowd surrounding her, a faint frown the only sign of her concern. Donna turns around and waves to the crowd. She bends to take a bow, deliberately showing Carlos her ass. That’s good. That’s helpful. If this goes wrong and I have to challenge, having that evil fucker looking the other way will help.
“As you all know,” Vincenzo continues, drawing attention back to his speech, “I have lived for a very long time. I have seen centuries pass. I have seen nations rise and fall, seen society change so much it sometimes feels unbelievable to me. Not just human society, but ours. Since the Bargain, we have all changed. Our world was altered forever, and we have had to adapt to modern life.
“I’ve learned a lot, amici miei, and hope to never stop learning. One of the most important lessons I have taken to my breast is this: We all need friends. We all need allies. And we all need to keep an open mind about who those allies might be. Sometimes, those we have formerly regarded as enemies may turn out to be the most valued associates. Sometimes, those we have seen as obstacles to our goals are revealed as those who can offer us a helping hand. I am humble enough to accept when I am wrong, and this is one of those times.”
He holds his twisted hands to his heart and climbs to his feet, smiling down at Rosa, Pietro, and Donna.
“This is looking good, Boss,” Matteo murmurs next to me. I’m not so sure. He’s saying all the right words and making all the right sounds. He’s smiling and gesturing at the Vecchissime as though he’s about to announce their partnership, maybe about to invite them up on stage, but something isn’t right. I don’t know what, and perhaps I’m paranoid, but all my instincts are screaming at me.
I feel Rosa probing and let her in.This doesn’t feel right, she says, echoing my thoughts.It’s too much. He’s planning something.
My thoughts exactly. Be ready.
What for?
No idea, I answer.But be ready.
I turn my attention back to the Don, who is still smiling down at Rosa. “And so, loyal servants of Firenze,” he says, “I have decided that it is time for us to embark upon the next stage of our family’s journey. It is time to forge a new alliance, one that will take us to even greater heights. Allow me to introduce you to my new friend, my new partner—Tomasso Capelli himself.”
Rigid with shock, I suck in air. Rosa’s fury and fear flood my mind. There’s a pause, some looks of confusion in the crowd, but then the whole room explodes into applause. Everyone in the court has surged to their feet, and they’re all clapping and stomping and shouting. It’s a fucking zoo, and in the middle of it, trapped on what now looks like a killing floor, is Rosa. My Rosa.
I make a move to jump down and be at her side, but Matteo grabs my arm, tugging me back. I’m strong enough to take him, but he’s strong enough to delay me—and those few seconds are enough.
Rosa speaks to me, her voice aiming for calm but landing nearer to deadly.Don’t you fucking dare, Luca! I see you. Don’t you dare come down here right now. We need to see where this leads us. We need to keep cool. When the time is right, we’ll kill both of these ancient assholes.
All of this takes a matter of seconds, and during that time, the Grand Ball Sack himself is escorted onto the stage by two of Vincenzo’s guards. This is the first time I’ve seen him in person, and he is underwhelming, much like the Don. He’s wearing a three-piece pin-striped suit and an old-fashioned pocket watch, and he and Vincenzo embrace like long lost friends. They pat each other’s backs and utter heartfelt words in Italian, and it’s all I can do to stop myself from running forward to tear both their goddamn heads off.
Vincenzo, that treacherous old fuck. This can’t have been spontaneous. It couldn’t have happened in the last hour. It was planned; this was his little joke. I thought I was keeping her safe by bringing her here, when in reality I was offering her up as bait. As a prize. I was giving her back to the evil bastard that calls himself her grandfather.
The Don turns back toward the crowd and opens his arms like a preacher evangelizing to his congregation. “Today is the start of a whole new era. It is the start of the Firenze domination! Tomorrow, together, we take the Romas down. Then the other families. Their time has gone. Our time is here!”
There’s more cheering, but I see enough confused faces to know I’m not the only one hearing a fucking pipe dream. A dangerous pipe dream. Tomasso wants to take out the other Vecchissime. Vincenzo wants to take out the other Coscas. Then they’ll presumably only have each other left to kill—because there is no way this partnership is going to last.
But by that point, thousands will be dead, and the balance of our world and the human world will be in the hands of these two depraved egomaniac assholes. I’m not the only one seeing the downside, but Carlos is searching the crowd for signs of dissent.
I clap along, all the while assessing how much time it would take me to kill my way through to Rosa. She’s being brought up to the stage by one of the guards, her face blank, no external indication of what is going on in her mind.
Don’t try to kill him, I say to her.This isn’t the right time. You’d be dead before you reached him.
Maybe that’s for the best. I’d rather be dead than be used by him.
Please, Rosa. Don’t. If I need to, I promise I’ll kill you myself.
She feigns a struggle against the guard and pulls herself free. The momentary distraction allows her to meet my eyes and nod. Donatella is beside her, and Pietro has been half-dragged, half-carried on stage. He stands upright with one hand on Donna’s shoulder, but he doesn’t look steady.
Vincenzo has moved to the front of the stage and is making some unhinged blood-and-guts speech about Firenze supremacy that wouldn’t have been out of place on the lips of any of the bloodthirsty human dictators we’ve seen come to power over the years. He wasn’t always like this, and I experience a moment of regret for what he has become and how far he’s fallen into madness.
Yes, we might take the Romas with the element of surprise. But hoping to then take out the other two Coscas? Impossible. Even if we did, the other families—the Irish, the Scandinavians, the Russians—would see us as a threat, and we’d have to take them out too. It’s a recipe for either defeat or genocide, and I don’t see the logic in it.
Maybe that’s my mistake. Looking for logic when there is none.
