Chapter 15

15

R om paced out the front of a Carabinieri station on the Via Leonina while Cluadius finalized his meeting with their contacts. Rom had been too agitated and had been making everyone uneasy, so he had gotten up and left halfway through it.

He hated being separated from Laverna when their enemies were hunting them. He had offered to go with her—the archaeological park wasn't far from where they were—but she refused. She had people to see and claimed none of them would talk to her if he were there. He hated that she was right.

Rom knew she wouldn't be willing to come under his protection, but that didn't mean he liked that she had gone off on her own. One warning glare, and he had shut his mouth because fighting with her wouldn't solve anything. It never had because she always did what she wanted anyway.

Rom looked at her number on his phone for a full minute before putting it away and taking out a cigarette instead. Apart from the occasional cigar, he rarely smoked, but after dealing with Laverna's indifference in the kitchen, he had made Claudius pull over so he could buy a packet.

"Can I borrow a light?" a young woman with blue hair asked.

Rom gave it to her, and as soon as the flame illuminated her face, he knew her. "Sagana. Bold of you to approach me like this."

The witch only blew smoke at him. "I come with a message. If you kill me, you will never find your wolf."

Sagana had always been Canidia's partner in crime, and if anyone knew what the fuck she planned, it was Sagana.

"Better hurry up and give it before I change my mind and just kill you," he said and had another drag of his smoke.

Sagana pointed at the glowing sign on the building beside them. "Right here in front of the Carabinieri? I doubt it, Romulus. But you are right—time is not on your side right now because she is probably already dying."

"Who?" he growled.

Sagana smiled. "This is the message I bring to you from my mistress, oh king of Rome. Your days of ruling are over. The power of the city will now be passed to a king and queen who will raise it up from the ashes that you have let it become. The city bond will be given to one that can hold it, and you will die. It is time for the witches to rule. You will die, and the goddess of the underground will be the new king's mate."

Rom swiped out to grab her, but she danced out of his reach, her body already fading into shadows. "Enjoy death, King of Wolves."

Rom tried to take hold of her again, but she vanished, and his hands gripped only smoke.

"Fuck," he hissed. He grabbed his phone to ring Laverna when it started vibrating in her hands. She was calling him. "Laverna? Laverna?"

"Rom...Rom...listen. They are working together."

She sounded like she was crying, and Rom's vision tinged in red. "Tell me where you are."

"It's Remus... Rom … I need to tell you that I."

"Laverna! Laverna!" Rom shouted, but there was no reply. He could hear the rain and nothing else. "I'm coming. I'll find you!"

Claudius came out of the station with a worried expression. "Rom, what's happening?"

"No time to explain. I need to find Laverna," he said, his panic choking him.

"She was meant to be in the archaeological park. We can get there..."

"No time!" Rom snarled, his wolf slashing its way to the surface.

Rom hurried away from the police station and turned down an alley so he wouldn't be seen. He closed his eyes and let the magic of the city swamp him. He could find almost anyone he had met this way, but it was dangerous magic; otherwise, he would try to use it to find Sidonius.

Rom was beyond thinking rationally. He took a shuddering breath and let the pavement swallow him whole.

He traveled through the earth and rubble, the sunken temples and statuary. Laverna had always been a bright spot of energy that the city made room around but never allowed itself to be tied to. He could always find her this way. He hoped time hadn't changed that. As the spirit of the city, he flew through the earth towards the archaeological park. History was an ocean around, and he could get lost in every moment if he let it control him.

Laverna, Laverna, Laverna. Light flashed ahead of him, and he exploded out of the turf at Palatine Hill. He glanced around him, wild-eyed, and spotted a mound of something in the shadows. He raced across the wet grass, his heart in his throat. She was covered in golden ichor, and her arms and legs were askew as if she had fallen.

"Laverna! Wake up!" he said, scooping her up in his arms. He could smell the creature they had been hunting all over her. " Cara mia , open your eyes, please," he begged.

He found her pulse, but it was a bare whisper. He picked her up and started running. When he reached the nearest road, Claudius was already there, slamming on the brakes of his SUV to let them get in.

"Quickly! We have to get her to her temple where her power can be restored faster," Rom said, clutching her to him. He pulled back the corner of her leather jacket. Deep bite marks in her shoulder and chest formed an unmistakable pattern of a wolf bite. Remus .

"It can't be. It can't be," he whispered.

"Rom! We are almost there," Claudius said, snapping him out of his spiral of panic and the wolf's rage that something had bitten his mate. Like a claiming .

Once Romulus had gone somewhere, he could always trace his scent back to it. He got out of the car and ran into the catacombs entrance.

"Out of my way!" he roared, and Laverna's people jumped to do what they were told. He didn't stop running through the twisting darkness until he reached the door of her apartment and pulled them open.

Rom smeared mud and ichor all over the floors as he skidded to a stop in front of her temple doors and barged them open with his shoulder.

"Come on, Laverna. You are a goddess. Stop this nonsense," he said, giving her a shake. He took out his phone and rang Hermes. "Pick up, you fucking bastard."

"You better not be talking about me," Hermes said, his face appearing on the screen. "Woah, your face… What the fuck happened, Rom?"

"I don't know! She was attacked," Rom sobbed.

"Breathe, wolf. Laverna is one of the strongest goddesses I have ever met. Get that coat off her and show me what we are dealing with," Hermes instructed. His consort Selene appeared, and Rom relaxed a fraction. She was a nurse and could help.

Rom cut Laverna's jacket and shirt off with his claws and carefully pulled aside the fabric. She had deep claw marks across her chest, as well as a deep ring of holes from the fangs.

Hermes's eyes lit up with golden fury. "What the fuck did you do to her, Romulus?"

"It wasn't me. I could never hurt her. Never. She's... She's my mate, Hermes," Rom said, holding Laverna closer. The nightmare he had about Remus days ago was a warning, and he had completely dismissed it. He choked back a sob. "She's my mate, Hermes, and she's dying."

"She's not dying from wounds like that. She's just messed up. You need to clean the wounds and bind them to get them to stop leaking," Selene answered in her calm voice. "Please trust me, Romulus. I have seen the gods recover from far worse in my service with Hades."

Rom shook his head from side to side. "You don't understand. She was bitten... She was bitten by Remus." He could barely believe his own words, but she had said his name for a reason. To warn him. "Canidia must have found a way to resurrect him. Hermes, the curse of one of our bites could kill her."

Hermes's paled. "Fuck. We need someone else for this. Please hold."

The hold screen came up and started playing annoying music. Rom swore and fought not to crush the phone in his hand.

"Rom? Here, I have things," Claudius said from the door. He had his eyes down, not game enough to make eye contact with the wolf in Romulus's eyes.

"Come in, but do it slowly," Rom said, not trusting anyone too close to his goddess. Claudius placed down a bundle of towels, wet and dry, and a first-aid kit. "Remus bit her. What am I going to do?"

Claudius backed away from him. "Listen to me, Romulus. Try to think past your panic. Laverna is... Laverna is your mate. I remember a story you told me that your mother had once healed her mate by licking his wounds. Do you remember? Would that work?"

Rom sniffed back his tears. "I don't know. I never saw her do it for myself. Laverna would be so angry."

"But she might be alive to be angry with you. She will need you if she turns Rom," Claudius replied. There was a tremor in his voice that said he was scared about that thought more than anything. "She is already a goddess. What would she be like as a wolf as well?"

"A sheer bloody terror. Like she always is," Rom joked weakly. He used one of the wet towels to clean the wounds on her neck and chest so he could see them clearly. "Leave us. She wouldn't like anyone seeing her like this."

"I will be outside if you need me," Claudius said, shutting the door behind him.

Romulus placed towels under her head to cushion her. "Please don't hate me for this. I can't lose you. I won't. You will just have to deal with it."

Rom pulled on his power of the city again and drew out his wolf. He growled through the pain as his body reshaped himself. It didn't hurt during the full moon; this was agony, and only Rom's other power could force it to happen.

Rom shook out his fur and trotted over to where his mate lay. The human may have been repulsed, but the wolf was wiser and knew the power in his saliva. The wolf bent his head and, with slow laps, began to clean his mate's wounds over and over again.