I hesitated before I answered my brother, but the truth was already out there, and Marcello would be dead soon enough.
“Uncle hired someone to slip Marcello silver oxide. The poison did its job. Looks like Rocco’s helping him, and you just walked into a clandestine meeting and promised to hand over Uncle’s secrets to him.”
That revelation stopped Luca cold.
“Yes, it’s that bad, Luca. So, before you go home, we need to know you’re not walking into an ambush.”
Nico exhaled slowly and nodded toward one of the chairs near the small kitchen table. “Sit,” he told Luca. “Please. There is a lot you don’t know, and none of this will explain itself.”
Luca obeyed, his eyes flicking around the room—the piles of stacked books, the hearth, the low ceiling—as if he couldn’t quite believe where he was right now.
Dante turned to him, expression grim but temper now under control. “How did Rocco reach out?” he asked. “Because Emberline’s right, if Giovanni thinks you’re about to sell him out, he will not hesitate to end your life.”
“He knows I’m loyal,” Luca said hoarsely. “He would never hurt me. I’m hisnephew.”
“He would kill you in a heartbeat.” The words burst out of me, and my brother sucked in a quick breath. “Everything you know about our uncle is a lie.” I swallowed, looked at Dante, who gave me a nod of encouragement. “Giovanni killed Enzo. He needed him out of the way because our father knew too much.”
“He killed Father?” Luca shook his head. “No, no, you’re wrong. That was Marcello’s assassin, it was…”
“Okay, I need you to listen to me now. Giovanni killed our father because Enzo had proof that our uncle was planning a coup to take over the Dynasty. And I’m in hiding because Giovanni chained me to a wall beneath the palazzo and drowned me.”
“But he knows you can’t swim…” Luca whispered, rubbing his temples, his lips white. “Gods, Em, that’s…monstrous.”
“I tried to revive her and failed,” Dante hissed through grit teeth. “Used every bit of forbidden magic I knew to bring her backand failed. She’s only alive because of Emilia.”
“The day of the explosion, Gio had Dante captured and sent back to the Fossa. They were planning to execute him, but we managed to get him out in time.”
“That’s what Rocco meant about the rumors.” He caught my eye. “A prison being destroyed. Or him coming back from the dead. Did you really destroy the prison?”
“Blew that fucker right out of the desert,” Nico said with satisfaction. “I doubt even your uncle can resurrect that shithole.”
“So… what does all this mean?” Luca spread his shaking hands. “In my defense, I thought you were both dead. When Rocco reached out, I figured that was my chance to find out what was really going on. If anyone knows the Dynasty’s secrets, it’s that sneaky fucker.”
“How did he reach out?” Dante asked, gentler, this time.
“He slipped me a note a week ago at your mourning ball, with a location, a time, and specific directions on how to get there. Uncle was called to an emergency council meeting about Marcello’s health. I suspect Rocco provided the distraction. But he’ll be home soon.”
Nico leaned back against the counter, the kitchen light catching the hard lines of his face. “Marcello is alive… for now. But he will die.”
Luca’s breath hitched. “You’re certain of this?”
“Yes,” Dante said. “And when he does, Giovanni will remove my brother from the equation and claim the title of Don. But he doesn’t intend to rule. Not in the traditional sense.”
Luca’s eyes drifted to the piles of ancient books, “What’s going on here? None of this makes sense, and you said Giovanni’s staging a coup? For six hundred years, he was content to remain in the background. What do you know that I don’t?”
I perched on the edge of the table. “Let me tell you a story, Luca. About this Dynasty. About who our uncle really is. Then you’ll understand.”
Realization dawnedin Luca’s eyes, slow and devastating.
“The Basin,” he whispered. “If he can use that relic like you say…” A full-body shudder shook him, blood draining from his already pale face.
“According to Marcello himself, he can,” I said. “Because of the Blood Compact, he will bind everyone who’s ever bledinto it and turn them into thralls. That means everyone in this room. All he needs is someone powerful enough to access the magic.”
At this point, my money was on Emilia.
“I want to do something.” Luca looked between us, shaken. “What do you need from me? He trusts me. I’m with him every single day, by his side at most of his meetings. Now that I know what to look for, I can help.”
Dante’s eyes skated over me, then met my brothers squarely. “You will stay neutral. Publicly loyal to Giovanni. There will be no questions, no sudden interest in affairs that don’t concern you.”
