Hands on her hips, she huffed, as if disgusted he didn’t know what she was talking about. “Well, to keep the balance, of course.”
* * *
“Bella, Cole’s conscious,” Diego called through the door. “He wants to talk to you.”
Everything was happening too fast. Bella felt like she couldn’t keep up. But she did know one thing.
She looked Amy Jo straight in the eyes. “Steven had nothing to do with this and, if he’s missing, he’s in trouble.”
She didn’t wait for Amy Jo’s response. Pushing to her feet, she opened the door to find Diego, ready to knock again. Instead, he grabbed her hand and pulled her forward. “He’s really weak, but he’s getting agitated. Keep him calm, whatever you do. The doctor’s only a minute away.”
She moved to the bed where her brother rested, skin pale, eyes shadowed and barely open. But when he saw her, he smiled.
“Hey, brat. Heard you fixed me up.”
She nearly fell into the chair someone dragged up to the side of the bed and took his cold hand. The fog in her head kept the tears she felt in the corners of her eyes from falling. “You’re lucky I remembered a thing or two from anatomy in college, big brother. How are you feeling?”
“Like I was shot.” His weak attempt at a joke made those tears begin to leak down her cheeks. “Hey, don’t fall apart on me now, babe. We’ve got problems. Problems you’re going to have to take care of until I’m better.”
His eyelids fluttered and she held her breath, wanting him to fall back to sleep yet afraid he was losing unconsciousness. Afraid of what he was going to say.
“Shh, Cole, just get some sleep. You need to rest.”
His eyes flew open. “No, not yet. We need to talk. Dori.” He turned his head, as if he knew exactly where to find his
praetorian
. “Everyone out. Now.”
Bella hadn’t even realized Dorian was standing on the other side of the bed until she moved. When only the two of them remained, Steven spoke in a voice so low, she knew no one besides her would be able to hear.
“Someone took Steven.” Cole’s gaze burned into hers. “One minute he was there, the next he was gone. He just disappeared. Get Diego on it. Find him.”
Fear iced her blood. “What are you talking about? I don’t—”
“And you’re going to have to take my place at
congress
tomorrow morning.”
Her mouth dropped open in shock. “
What
? No. I can’t do that.”
Cole’s eyes blazed so brightly, she was afraid he might be feverish. “Yes, you can. The
tribuni
needs to know what’s going on as soon as possible. The army started to crack when Dad was murdered. Now they’ll hear about me and think all is lost. It’s what the
Mal
has wanted all along. And now… You heard what Serena said today. There’s a fight coming and we’re the front line. We’re going to need the army. A strong army. You’re Luporeale, just like me, Bella. Dad worked so damn hard to keep the
lucani
from splintering. It’ll all fall apart if we’re not there to guide it. You show them how strong you are tomorrow morning. Don’t let this—”
The door flew open, bumping into the wall as Dr. Xavier Kent burst through.
Relief overcame the shock and fear and Bella nearly crumbled in the chair as the man hustled toward the bed, followed by Dorian, Luca, Diego, Marco and Amy Jo.
“Well, Cole. I see you managed to get yourself shot while I was unavailable. Lucky for you, your sister loves you. Fill me in, Princess.”
For as long as she could remember, Dr. Kent had been the Luporeale family doctor. If it was something that couldn’t be cured with chicken soup, cold compresses or a bandage, Dr. Kent had shown up at the door, whether it was her parents’ home or Michael Castiglione’s. As Cole had gotten older, Dr. Kent had become a permanent fixture in Cole’s entourage.
Bella swore he hadn’t aged a day in the twenty-five years she’d known him.
She released Cole only to throw her arms around the short, round man with the bald head and gray goatee, almost embarrassing herself when she couldn’t speak for fear she’d sob.
“Come now. It’s okay, sweetheart.” Dr. Kent’s large hand patted her back and petted her hair. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
Yes, she believed Cole would be fine. If Dr. Kent said so, it was true.
But there was more, so much more, on the line now.
* * *
Steven shook his head, feeling like he’d fallen through Alice’s rabbit hole into Wonderland.
And knocked his head on a few rocks on the way down.
He should take a few minutes, think about all of this before he opened his mouth and said something really stupid. But he couldn’t help himself.
“What the
hell
are you talking about?”
When the woman’s eyes narrowed and her wings flapped angrily, he figured he should’ve kept his mouth shut. But the mythical being was explaining something that sounded like political theory in Valley Girl speak and there was only so much he could take in one day.
“Alright, listen up, Castiglione, ’cause I’m only going to say this once.” Hands on her hips, she cocked her head to the side. “There’s a balance between right and wrong, you see. Or anyway, there had been.” She tossed her head and fluttered her wings. “Anyway, today, most people see black and white. Especially in this country. You’re either with them or against them, right? Religion, skin color, hair style, sexual orientation. Bad, good. Many people no longer see a middle ground. There’s this line and you’re either on one side or the other. Now, you… You were born straddling that line.”
Finally, something he could respond to. “I was born
Mal
.”
The girl’s nose wrinkled and she bit down hard on her bottom lip. “Not exactly.”
What
? He shook his head as if that would help her words make sense. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Well, it means, yes, you were born
Mal
. Except, no, not really. See, it’s like this—”
“Tinia’s teat, Alpena, you’re making a mess of this.”
The disembodied voice sounded as if it came from all around him. He spun in a quick circle before putting his back against the wall.
The
folletta
huffed and pouted, crossing her arms over her chest as she spoke to the air.
“Well then, you get out here and do this yourself. I told you I wasn’t good at this kind of thing.”
A long-suffering sigh echoed before, with a barely audible pop, a woman appeared out of nowhere in front of Steven. No wings this time. Tall, curved, age indiscriminate. But her hair was the most amazing colors he’d ever seen. Black, white, blue and silver.
The newcomer turned to the
folletta
and shook her head. “No, you certainly are
not
good at this. You’ve scared the poor man into silence. And that’s a bad sign from a lawyer.”
That hair couldn’t be natural. Which was a really stupid thing to focus on right now.
He opened his mouth to speak…and couldn’t think of a damn thing to say.
The woman with the wild hair turned back to him and smiled like you would at the paperboy with diminished mental capacity.
“Hello, Steven.” She stuck out her hand and he automatically took it. She shook, firm and sure, then released him. But not before he’d felt the incredible rush of
arus
in her body. “Please don’t be alarmed. We mean you no harm.”
The
folletta
—what had this woman called her? Alpena?—snorted. “Have you been watching ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000’ again? I knew I shouldn’t have gotten those discs for your festival day.”
Rainey—who really didn’t look like someone you should nickname Rainey—gave the merest hint of a smile but didn’t acknowledge the other woman. “My name is Turan.”
It said something about his state of mind that it took his brain several seconds to process the name. But even though his parents had raised him on the outskirts of the Etruscan community, he knew to show the proper respect.
He bowed low and held it, wondering if he was going to live through this. “Goddess Turan, Mistress of the Swans. How can I be of service to you?”
Chapter Fifteen
“We’ll make a dual out of you yet, Arabella. This is nice work.”
A warm glow suffused Bella at Dr. Kent’s words even as she shook her head. “Thanks. But you know that’s not going to happen.”
Dr. Kent continued his examination of Cole’s wounds, poking and prodding. “Never say never, honey. Those words always come back to bite you.”
Yes, she knew that. But this was an old fight. “I enjoy what I’m doing. I’m good at what I do.”
That earned her a brief glance from beneath Dr. Kent’s bushy white eyebrows. “Never said you weren’t. But, if your work here is any indication, you’d make a great trauma specialist. Goddess knows we don’t have enough of them, not in our little circle of the world.”
Yes, that was true. The
lucani
had only three doctors who specialized in both human and animal physiology. Dr. Kent was one. The army doctor, Giorgio Marone, was another but he was older than Dr. Kent. And Dr. Dane Dimitriou had only just finished his veterinary courses at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Bella’s alma mater. Dane had already passed his human medical boards.
She knew Cole had hoped she’d continue her studies and become a dual. But again, she’d shirked her calling and turned her back on her community. Dr. Kent glanced at her, eyebrows raised, when she didn’t immediately go into her typical bratty response about how she wanted to choose her own path, live her own life, blah, blah, blah…
“I know that. And I’ll consider it.”
Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing to stare at her with varying degrees of raised eyebrows. Except for Amy Jo, who just looked confused at everyone else’s interest.
“Well, now, I’m glad to hear that, sweetheart.” Dr. Kent was the first to recover. And smart enough to know not to push her. “Why don’t you go get cleaned up. Then we’ll talk.”
“It’ll have to be much later. I’m going to look for Steven.”
There was a two second lull before four of the seven people in the room started to speak over each other. They all had the same thing to say even if they didn’t use the same words.
“Arabella, you can’t go.” Dorian.
“Princess, it’s too dangerous.” Luca.
“You don’t know what’s waiting out there.” Diego.
“Jesus, are you crazy?” Marco, of course.
Her chest tightened and she felt tears threaten again as they continued to tell her why she couldn’t do it. Mostly because of the danger. But she heard what they weren’t saying.
They didn’t think she could handle herself. Didn’t trust her. And a small part didn’t trust herself either. Still, she wasn’t going to stand by any more and let others handle things for her.
She faced the crowd behind her. “I’m going to take a shower then I’m going out to look. If anyone wants to come with me, fine, but don’t presume to tell me I can’t go.”
That got a moment of silence. Then they started in again.
Only one voice had a different answer.
“I’ll go with you, Bella.”
Amy Jo smiled at her as she leaned against the door to the room. Bella smiled back.
“Oh no, you will
fucking
not.” Diego turned on Amy Jo to continue his rant. In Spanish. Bella was pretty sure he hadn’t realized Amy Jo couldn’t understand him. But his expression barely hid his fear.
Marco rolled his eyes and threw his hands into the air as he, too, turned on Amy Jo. At least he spoke in English.
And Dorian and Luca continued to rationally explain why there was no way they would allow either of them to leave the room.
Only Dr. Kent and Cole were silent.
After nodding once at Amy Jo, she turned to Cole, who grabbed her hand.
“Take Dorian, Diego, Marco and Luca. No,” he shook his head before she could protest, “that’s an order. Find Steven. I’ll keep Johnny, Bill and Karl. I promise they won’t leave my side.”
“I can assure you they won’t.” Dr. Kent gave her an encouraging smile. “Go. But come back.”
“You
must
be back before dawn,” Cole continued. “Even if you don’t find him, Bella. You have to be at
congress
at nine a.m. Someone doesn’t want this meeting to go forward. Don’t do anything foolish.”
Foolish was thinking she could handle the
lucani
army leadership on her own. Foolish was thinking she could find Steven without Cole or any clues to where he’d been taken.
“Arabella, stop it.” Cole shook her hand and stared straight into her eyes. “Get cleaned up. Get moving. The longer you wait, the less chance you have of picking up his scent. You know that better than anyone.”
She did. That was something she needed to hold on to now.
“I’ll find him,” she promised. “And I’ll be back.”
* * *
“You don’t have to do this,” Diego said as he removed his shirt. “I don’t— you don’t need to be here.”
Amy Jo nodded, hearing the tension in Diego’s voice. And the words he hadn’t spoken aloud. He didn’t want her here. He couldn’t make it any more obvious if he’d flat-out said it.
But he wouldn’t do that. At least not in front of everyone else.
Dorian, Luca, Marco and Bella were also here, in a meeting room on the first floor of the hotel. In the front of the room, Bella and Luca also removed their clothes and handed them to Dorian to put in a backpack. Marco leaned against the door near Bella, staring at the floor.
She and Diego were on the opposite side of the room, as far from everyone else as they could get.
He’d crooked his finger at her when they’d entered the room, his mouth a flat straight line. And she’d followed like a puppy. God, she was pathetic.
Especially considering she was staring at his chest like she wanted to toss him on the table and have her way with him.
The man had a great chest. If she closed her eyes, she could remember exactly what his skin felt like. She drew in a deep breath, trying to steady herself and only made things worse because all she could smell was him.