The last word dissolved into silence.
Marina wanted to go to him. To hold him. To tell him it would be okay.
But it wouldn’t be okay. Not yet. Not until he actually believed her.
“You can still stop him,” she said. “We can still break the curse. My grandmother’s recipe…”
“Where is it?”
She hesitated. “I moved it. After he came to the bakery. I hid it somewhere he wouldn’t think to look.”
“Where?”
“The flour storage closet. Behind the emergency supplies.”
Relief crossed his face. Or guilt.
“Show me,” he said. “Please.”
They went downstairs together, the space between them charged with everything they hadn’t said. The storage closet was exactly as Marina had left it: supplies stacked neatly, containers organized by date, her hiding spot invisible to anyone who didn’t know to look.
She pulled out the container marked “EXPIRED - DO NOT USE.”
It was empty.
“No.” The word came out as a whisper. “No, no, no…”
She tore through the closet. Behind every container. Under every shelf. In every possible hiding place.
The recipe book was gone.
“He found it.” Her voice rose toward panic. “He knew where I hid it. He took it while we were…”
She stopped. Remembered the closed bakery. The spike of fear that had reached her when Alessandro arrived.
“He was here. After you left for lunch. I felt him outside, but I thought…” She pressed her hands to her face. “I should have checked. I should have…”
“This isn’t your fault.”
“It’s BOTH our faults.” She spun to face him. “You trusted him. I underestimated him. And now he has the only thing that can break the curse.”
Alessandro’s expression had gone cold. Controlled. The dragon mask sliding into place.
“I’ll get it back.”
“How?”
“I’ll confront him. Demand…”
“And he’ll lie. He’ll charm you. He’ll find another excuse, and you’ll believe him because you’ve been believing him for a decade.”
The words were cruel. They were also true.
Alessandro flinched but didn’t argue.
“I’ll go,” Marina said. “I’ll confront him myself. He doesn’t know that I…”
“No.” His hand closed around her wrist. “You are not going near that demon alone.”
