Starling (133 page)

tion of whether any elixir had been made.
“Cass.” Luca was still reading over her shoulder.
The page fell from Cass’s fingertips.
“You don’t need to see all this,” he said softly. “I assure you, our

But Cass continued to read. She read about Belladonna taking the
helm from her father, about Piero joining the team and his new strategy to gather more blood with parties at Palazzo della Notte. She
read about how Belladonna came up with the idea to disguise the
needle marks as vampire bites and dispose of the girls once their
blood was deemed inferior. She read about how Joseph Dubois had
financed the bloodletting parties and also provided equipment for
creating the sample elixirs. How he expected to be repaid with immortality, and how both the Venetian and Florentine members of the
Order of the Eternal Rose would elevate themselves above God.

It was blasphemy. Heresy. Conspiracy to commit murder. There
was nothing in the book linking Joseph Dubois to Sophia or Mariabella’s death, unfortunately, but as it stood, there was enough evidence to have him executed several times over.

“The skin merely hints at what
lies within a man. Untold
mysteries lurk beneath.”

e Fiore was still in mourning for his daughter, the
windows of his palazzo draped in black. At first he
refused to have visitors, but once Cass mentioned
the Order of the Eternal Rose, she and Luca were
ushered directly into the portego.

Signor de Fiore perused the pages of the Book of the Eternal Rose
with great interest and then immediately summoned his butler to
write a letter to the pope requesting a meeting. “I’ve given Venice a
chance to do right by this matter, and she failed me. It’s time we bring
a higher power into the equation.”

De Fiore looked grim. “He shall see me. I shall not be the first to
speak of the Order of the Eternal Rose, but never before did anyone
have proof of their activities.” De Fiore’s eyes flicked to a portrait
hanging on the wall. Alessia. His daughter. Executed as a vampire.
His eyes misted over, and he quickly turned to a servant and began
barking orders regarding travel preparations. De Fiore thanked Cass
and Luca repeatedly and promised to request an official papal par

Cass and Luca decided to remain in hiding at Palazzo Dolce until
Signor de Fiore returned with news. Luca slept in the portego with a
small band of men from Mezzanotte Island. As much as Cass wanted
him with her, she knew he was probably flogging himself for his single moment of impropriety.

As each day passed without news, Cass grew more concerned.
What if Joseph Dubois had sent his men after de Fiore’s traveling
party? What if he had never made it to Rome to deliver his evidence
to the pope?

“You’re worrying again, aren’t you?” Luca said. Cass had been
sitting on a bench in Octavia’s garden, watching the roses shed their
petals with each brisk breeze. She hadn’t even heard him approach.
He handed her a rolled piece of vellum, its red wax stamp broken
across the middle.

“What is it?” she asked eagerly. She unrolled the vellum and
began to read. It was from His Holiness, the pope, and started out
with a lengthy paragraph about what the Bible says regarding heresy.
Cass’s eyes began to glaze over.

“Skip to the bottom,” Luca said with a grin. “To the part where
we’re both given a full papal pardon.”
Cass unrolled the bottom of the vellum. It was true. She and Luca
had been forgiven their alleged crimes. They were no longer fugitives. Cass dropped the vellum to the bench and flung herself into
Luca’s arms. “I can’t believe it’s really over,” she said, inhaling the
sweet smell of cinnamon from the collar of his shirt.