Isabella deserved to spend the few years she had left in jail—that I could be happy about. Francesco, on the other hand, was caught up in a nightmare. Maybe he didn’t even know the truth until just before we all had that last drink together? I shook my head. It wasn’t my job to worry about that. The Italian PIB would get to the bottom of it, and due process would take care of the rest.
I shut my eyes for a moment to think. Did I want to go home and lick my mental wounds or not let the bad things get the better of me and stay? I blew out a breath and opened my eyes. “I guess we should stay for the rest of our break. But maybe we can take it a day at a time?”
Will took my hand and held it. “That sounds like a plan. If it’s too much and you want to go home at any time, that’s what we’ll do.”
I squeezed his hand in thanks. “What about that old woman who was turned to glass. What was the story behind that?”
Imani answered. “She was a friend of Isabella’s. We found a brooch in Isabella’s pocket. It was a power-enhancing device. We think she needed it to turn Mr Dal Lago, and you, into glass, but her friend was always seen wearing it, according to neighbours and local shopkeepers. We think she didn’t want to hand it over when Isabella asked. So she used it to kill her and turn her into a statue—the ultimate ‘up yours,’ wouldn’t you say?”
I sagged into the bed. “That’s so sad. Bloody crazy woman.”
Will nodded. “That about sums it up.”
Someone knocked on the door. Lavender, who was closest, opened it. Agent Tondato came in and made it just far enough into the crowded room so the door would shut. “Good afternoon. I hope you don’t mind. I wanted to see how Miss Bianchi was doing and thank you all for helping solve this case.”
Well, this was a surprise. Maybe my earlier assessment of him had been as wrong as my initial assessment of Isabella. I smiled. “I’m going to be okay, thank you. I’m just really tired. And my help was accidental, if I’m honest. Everyone else’s, well, they can take more credit.”
Imani shook her head. “We were all scrambling like headless chickens on this one, I’m afraid.”
Tondato smiled. “It is good that things turned out well. I’m sorry we could not help as much as we wanted to. We have a very difficult case at the moment that is making headlines around Italy. The people do not realise we are dealing with witches, and there have been many murders by this organisation.” He frowned. “We have had much pressure from those above.”
Will shook his head. “It’s okay. We understand. There is never enough manpower to do everything.”
“No, there is not. Ah, I also wanted to confirm that the third magic signature on Mr Dal Lago’s body was Isabella’s. Our case is watertight. Francesco is going to testify against his grandmother, and with the brooch, and Lily’s testimony, we have everything we need.”
I swallowed. “Does that mean I have to come back for the trial?”
“Yes, but it won’t be for a while. Things move slowly in Italia.” He gave us a lopsided grin and shrugged. “Again, thank you for everything, and I hope you have some good holiday before you go home.”
Everyone said goodbye, and he left. I yawned again. All this conversation was wearing me out. I slid down so my head was back on the pillow. Maybe I’d just shut my eyes for a little while and listen.
Lavender chuckled. “It looks like Lily is ready for another nap.”
Sarah gave me a hug. “We’ll see you at dinner tonight, maybe?”
I reluctantly opened my eyes. “Sounds good. Maybe a late dinner to give me time to sleep a good chunk?”
“That’s a good idea,” Mum said.
“Righto, peeps, Sarah and I are hitting the boutiques if anyone’s interested.” Lavender opened the door ready for everyone to file out. Mum gave me a huge hug and kissed my forehead, and Imani waved from the doorway. I was sad to see them all go, but man, was I exhausted. There was also a niggle in my mind that maybe I wasn’t that great at dealing with the stress of murder and criminals attacking me every five minutes anymore. If it wasn’t for Francesco coming back to save me, that would’ve been it. This time, I hadn’t saved myself, and it was the closest I’d come to dying… well, maybe except for the vampire guy, but I’d beaten him in the end, which had made me feel almost invincible. My lack of caution had been a huge mistake this time. The universe had shown me that I wasn’t equipped to deal with every situation. A spike of adrenaline speared through me, and a lump formed in my throat. I swallowed, but it didn’t disappear.
Just breathe, Lily. Mum had been getting counselling—maybe I needed it too?
After everyone was gone, Will lay next to me and threw his arm over me, calming me somewhat. “Now go to sleep. We have dinner tonight, and then a big day planned tomorrow—even Angelica is coming. Oh, Liv and B say hello, and Angelica said to say thank you. She’s probably asleep again. Liv is staying with her to make sure she’s okay, and Beren is sleeping after all that healing he had to do.”
I gave him a tired smile. Focussing on my loved ones was
