* * *
I riffle through a stack of twenties and deposit them back in the bag that Tommy’s just handed me. “I don’t need to count it,” I tell him. “I trust you.”
Brice, Tommy, Josh, and I are in the backstage area for a theater in the city, gathered around a table. It’s a place that’s owned by some friends of Brice and me—people we met when we did shows for The Shakespeare Theater. They were kind enough to let me use it as a makeshift headquarters for my “family.” They don’t entirely know what we do here, but they don’t ask questions either.
“So how many more charms do I have to make?” Brice asks. He’s leaning up against the wall. He wants to be part of what I do here, and he’s important, since he imbues the charms we sell with magic. He’s never quite approved of my ties to the jettatori, but I grew up in this life.
My father is Lucio Calabrese. He’s currently the head of all the jettatori families in the city and the surrounding areas. A few months ago, he broke out of prison using an army of berserkers that he controlled with magic. He used the berserker army to kill all his competition as well and took over all the other jettatori families. The new Calabrese family still makes magic charms the old way, using animal blood and spells. The combination of the two of them creates the berserker virus, which means that anyone who uses Calabrese charms is susceptible to becoming a berserker.
Brice is really talented. He has an amazing amount of power, which means he can imbue our charms with magic without creating the virus. Our charms are safe, so they sell better than the Calabrese charms.
“Well, they’re selling pretty well,” says Tommy. “I’d say we could move double what we’re moving now.” Tommy used to work for my father, but when everything went down a few months ago, he came to me afterward, saying he’d rather work for me. He said what Lucio did left a bad taste in his mouth. Since Tommy was always my ally in the Calabrese family, I was happy to have him on board.
“The guys selling outside Brice’s show are really raking in the dough,” says Josh. Our specialty is magic charms that make theater audiences feel like they’re actually part of the show. They’re pretty popular, and since they don’t contain the virus, the police have left us alone for the most part. The police are probably concentrating on my father anyway, since he’s an escaped fugitive. “So, I’d say triple it.”
Brice stretches his arms out, fingers crossed, cracking his knuckles. “Bring it on, then.”
I nod at Josh, and he has one of his guys bring over several large boxes of charms. Brice kneels next to them, closing his eyes. Small blue sparks fly from his fingers, enspelling the charms. Once they’re all ready to go, the guys cart them out of the room. I zip up the bag of money that Tommy’s given me, and Brice and I take off. At least this part of my life is going well. Business is booming. We’re making money hand over fist.
I always dreamed of heading up a jettatori family. Now I do it. If this thing with Brice and me were easier, then everything would be perfect.
Well, if I wasn’t also freaked out that my father might strike against us at any point, that would be good, too. I blew up all of his berserkers, which means he doesn’t have an army anymore. That set him back. Josh helped. He’s a whiz with explosives. My father came to see me afterward and threatened to kill me. He said it was me against him, and he was convinced he’d win. My father is kind of psychotic, if you haven’t guessed. My mother turned him in to the police, and he turned her into a berserker out of spite. He doesn’t have a conscience. He just gets what he wants. However he can.
Brice and I stride through the streets, heading back to his apartment. His arm is slung over my shoulder, and I still carry the bag of money. We’re going to grab some lunch together before I go back home. I’ll be back to lock him in his closet later on tonight.
I’m not paying much attention to the people we’re passing on the street, so I’m surprised when someone stops right in front of us.
“Oh my God!” says a girl about our age.
I squint at her. It’s Megan Pettacia. Brice’s ex-girlfriend, and the most popular girl in the high school we all attended. Megan is sleek and pretty. She’s wearing expensive boots and lots of makeup. In other words, she’s the opposite of me. I never wear makeup, don’t care about clothes, and shove my hair into a sloppy ponytail every day. If I wasn’t kind of tough and able to take care of myself, I don’t think Brice would be into me. The berserker thing freaks him out, but he knows he doesn’t have to worry about me. I can handle myself.
Megan hugs Brice. “I haven’t seen you in forever!”
To my disgust, Brice hugs back. “Hey, Megan.”
They pull away from each other. I smile tightly. “Hi.”
She looks at me. “Hi.” She raises her eyebrows. “Olivia Calabrese?” She gives Brice a confused look.
I could smack her. Instead I cross my arms over my chest and glare at her.
Brice puts his arm around me again and kisses me on the temple. “Oh, you didn’t know? Me and Olivia. Like three months now, right?”
Um, is it bad if I have no idea how long I’ve officially been dating Brice? Can it really be only three months? I just nod.
“Wow,” says Megan. “I, um, heard about the show, of course. Congrats for landing that role. But I had no idea you were seeing anyone.”
I hate her. I hate the tone of her voice. I hate the way she’s looking at me, like I’m some kind of gross bug or something.
Brice seems oblivious to her attitude. “Yeah. She’s pretty amazing.”
Megan raises her eyebrows further. “Have you, um, met her family?” Great, so now she’s got to make innuendos about the fact my family is jettatori. I really want to smack her.
“Fortunately, no,” I say icily. “I’m not exactly on good terms with them right now.”
“Too bad,” she says. “I was going to ask about your uncle.”
“My uncle?” I’m confused.
“James Calabrese? He’s your uncle, isn’t he?”
I nod. He’s sort of an uncle. He’s my dad’s cousin, so I guess he’s really like my second cousin or something, but I don’t see the point in getting technical about it. “What about him?”
“He’s running for mayor. Didn’t you know?” She gestures behind her. “There’s a campaign poster right there.”
I move out of Brice’s grasp and go to examine the campaign poster. There’s a picture of my cousin James, looking old and distinguished. The poster proclaims, “Rid the city of the berserker threat! Vote for James Calabrese!” I furrow my brow. This isn’t good. Why is my cousin running for mayor? He works for my father. He always has. He’s never been the kind of person who did things on his own. I can only assume my father’s put him up to it. But why does the poster say something about berserkers? It doesn’t make any sense at all.
“We had no idea,” Brice is saying.
“Well, I’m glad you’ve broken ties with the mob,” says Megan.
I smile sweetly at Megan. “It was so nice to see you.”
The Toil and Trouble Trilogy, Book One Page 47