Chapter 20 Mr Pedro (1)
Alessia's POV
I remain seated as his steps echo on the marble tiles, heading towards the front door. I grip the armrest for lack of something to hold on to, waiting, half expecting the door to be busted open any moment with him covered in someone’s blood.
Dios mios, a moment or two without murder and mayhem, please. I prayed fervently as I continued to stare at the door. The silence stretches for what feels like a decade, but it was probably just a few minutes before the door is opened again and Alex steps in. I sigh, relaxing in my chair. He is still holding his gun but lowers it now. Behind him, an older man of medium height and slightly bulgy around his midsection, wearing glasses on his nose, comes in holding a small leather briefcase. He removes his hat and bows politely to me before settling in the chair next to me.
Alex returns to his seat and settles in before facing me.
“Alessia, this is Mr. Padre. He is the head historian of Sicily, here to talk about La Rosa.”
I turn my gaze to him, and he gives me a kind smile. Unsure of how to greet him, I smile back as he sets his briefcase on the table, opening it and shuffling files.
“Signor Ferrini tells me you are Margo Molano’s daughter and the Keeper of the Key,” he says in a soft but steady voice.
I gasp, my heart spasms in pain as he mentions my mother, and I can’t even speak beyond my pain, so I nod at him. Was my mother that popular? I have never met him, yet he seems to know of my mum.
I clear my throat, which feels so dry all of a sudden, and I make the effort to respond. “Yes, I am her daughter.”
Alex picks up the remote again as we rewatch the video. I am once again stunned by the gust of wind, but this time Mr. Padre’s reaction catches both our interest. He leans towards the screen and asks Alex to rewind and stop just at the gust of wind. He asks Alex to enlarge it and stares at the silver eyes. The eyes seem to be staring into our souls. I shiver and look away.
“That’s not possible,” he mutters under his breath. “I thought they were extinct,” he continues, but no one has seen them since—not long after the last purge have they been sighted.” He continues to mumble, most of his ramblings incomplete, as a line of sweat appears on his forehead.
I glance at Alex, who seems equally confused as I am.
Mr. Padre continues to mumble, pulling out some old papers yellowed with age and almost translucent.
“La Rosa De la Vita,” he begins, “is not only a jewel. It is a vessel that contains power, passed down through generations. Only a few people have ever actually seen it, talk less of touched it.”
I exchange a wordless glance with Alex, and he continues smoking, his face blank.
Mr. Padre continues, “Your mother, Margo Molano, was chosen to be a guardian because of her blood. Only a witch, a full-blown one, can protect the jewel. Her bloodline was trusted. You are all witches—pure bloods. So the Sirranos trusted her.”
My heart skips a few beats.
He continues, “Her power- her blood kept the protective seal intact. When she died, her work started unravelling, therefore weakening the spell.”
I stare at him, my mouth agape in wonder. My mum was a bad-ass witch, and I didn’t know that? And why did she bind my powers?
“So you are trying to tell me the jewel was stolen because my mum is dead?”
“Yes, that is exactly what I am saying.” He looks at me, his forehead still filled with sweat. “And because you were still bound, you could not do the spell when she died.”
The room feels as if it is getting smaller, and I feel the air becoming thick, like a fog is covering us.
Alex carries on, unaware of my rising panic attack. “Gio told me something before he died. He said her mother bound her but that it’s in her blood.”
I stiffen, turning to him quickly. “Gio told you that?”
His eyes meet mine for a moment before he lets out a cloud of smoke.
“Yes, but he told me in bits, and he didn’t get to explain more before he died.”
I gulp hard as I feel my breaths coming out in choppy bits.
My mother.
Gio.
All gone with their secrets of my heritage.
I feel betrayed. Gio should have told me after Mama died. He knew things about me I should have known.
Mr. Padre removes his glasses, cleans them, and perches them on his nose again. “He was right. The witches’ bond between mother and child is ancient and very strong. They are all connected.”
Alex leans forward with a serious look on his face. “If that is the case, we need to also look into her mother’s death, because if she had died of natural causes, she would have unbound her.” I suck in a deep breath as Alex’s words hit me like a moving train. He is right! There is no way she would have known and not prepared me.
Both I and Mr. Padre suck in a deep breath, my chest starting to hurt as I rub it absentmindedly.
Mr. Padre cleans his forehead finally with a handkerchief pulled out of his pocket. “Her mother may have been killed. Certainly, because it’s all a bit mysterious—the shadow in the video. That’s why I asked you to keep rewinding it. It looks like the work of a rival witch coven I used to know. But they were banished years ago.”
I shiver, glancing at the silver eyes paused on the screen. “Another witch coven? How many are they?” I ask in utter confusion and dread.
Mr. Padre stares at me. “Too many to mention. Your education will start online tomorrow; you have a lot of catching up to do.”
He faces Alex. “I can’t be sure, but it looks like the work of La Geneva.”
Alex stiffens, which means he has heard of it before. “I thought that sect was eradicated during the purge?”
I just keep quiet and stare at Mr. Padre, not wanting to interfere again. Too many questions, not enough answers. My head feels like it’s going to blow.
Mr. Padre looks at Alex as he mutters, “I heard some escaped and settled by the Red Sea. They were once more powerful, darker, and even more vicious than Natura’s coven.”
Alex sits up, adding, “If it is established that they are the thieves, then they had motive to kill the original Keeper. She was a threat, and you are her daughter and the last of your bloodline which makes you a target.”
Mr. Padre sighs. “And now the Sirranos and every other mafia family around the world will stop at nothing to retrieve La Rosa by any means necessary even if it means killing her and performing a blood sacrifice.”
I gasp as my eyes fill with tears. So my mother was killed… and now I am hunted?
For what power?
La Rosa?
Take a life so carelessly?
The weight of both Alex’s and Mr. Padre’s words breaks my heart, sinking into my chest like a stone. As I begin to hyperventilate, I start seeing double. “Alex, I can’t-" He turns to me immediately, noticing my unease. He rushes to my side.
“Breathe, Alessia, breathe.”
“Alex, I-" The room spins as I lose consciousness.