Assassin's Heart (36 page)

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Authors: Monica Burns

BOOK: Assassin's Heart
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“I’m not sure. That depends on Ares. But I’ll be sure to wake you.” He forced himself to keep his voice lighthearted, satisfied that he’d kept his answer vague enough not to arouse her curiosity.
He didn’t want her figuring out that he and Ares were going to the Circus Maxentius tonight without her or Emma. Her gaze narrowed suspiciously on him, but she didn’t question him as he finished dressing. With one last kiss, he left the bedroom and headed out of the small suite. The house was quiet as he made his way down to the library, which was opposite the installation’s main conference room. That room was dark in contrast to the muted lighting inside the library. One light illuminated the room, and it was on the library table.
Seated at the table the Prim
a Consul
generally used, Ares was bent over a book. Opposite him, Luciano Pasquale stood leaning against one of the room’s bookcases. Ares looked up with a slight frown.
“Any problems?”
“No. She didn’t suspect a thing,” Lysander replied.
“Good. Take a look at this.”
Ares gestured for him and Pasquale to join him at the library table. As they reached the table, he turned the book in front of him around so the two men could read it.
“What am I missing?” Pasquale frowned as he studied the book.
“When Angelo reported finding the four Sicari symbols out at the Circus Maxentius, it seemed odd there were so many in one place when we’ve only found one at each of the other locations. The fact that the first Sicari Lord was one of Maxentius’s generals makes the four icons seem like a blind alley. But tell me what you make of this.”

Ares tapped at the left page of the open book in front of them. Frowning, Lysander stared at the diagram his friend had pointed to. He traced his finger over the drawing of the monument’s exterior walls.

“According to Angelo, the Sicari symbols were found at the two front towers,” Ares said as he pointed to different locations on the diagram. “And in between the rear of the circus and the imperial box, here and here.”

“If you draw lines from point to point, it forms a square,” Pasquale said quietly.

“Right, and if we draw diagonal lines from point to point—” Ares arched his eyebrow as the other man interrupted him.

“X marks the spot,” Pasquale said with excitement.

“
Christus
, it’s more than that,” Lysander exclaimed with quiet exhilaration as he looked up from the drawing to meet Ares’s triumphant gaze. “That X is centered directly over the
spina
, right where the obelisk would have been.”

“
Spina?
Obelisk?” Pasquale looked at the two of them with a puzzled frown.

“The s
pina
is the barrier that the chariots had to race around.” Lysander pointed toward the stone construction that divided the center of the circus. “There were all types of ornaments sitting on top of it, but the tallest one was the obelisk at the end of the s
pina
.”
“An obelisk, my beautiful wife pointed out earlier, that was dedicated to the goddess Isis.” Ares grinned with elation. Struggling to restrain his own excitement, Lysander grinned back at his friend.
“I take it this means we’re doing some excavation work tonight,” Pasquale said. Slapping the other fighter’s back with his hand, Lysander nodded.
“Absolutely.” He turned back to face Ares. “Emma’s going to have your head if we find something.”
“Don’t remind me.” His friend grimaced. “But we both know it’s too dangerous for her
or
Phaedra to go with us to the circus. We’ll make them see that when we get back.”
Beside him, Pasquale tensed and cleared his throat. “Looks like you’re going to have to do your explaining now.”
He looked at the Sicari fighter to see him nodding toward the library door. Whirling around, he saw Emma walking into the room followed by Phaedra. His heart dropped like a stone. Both women were dressed for a night mission, and while Emma didn’t carry a sword, Phaedra wore her weapon in a scabbard on her back. The anger on their faces was evident as Emma headed straight for her husband.

“You must think I’m a half-wit,” she snapped as she stopped in front of Ares. “I told you the obelisk was the center point of those four icons, and you casually brushed it off. But you knew I was right, and you planned this little trip out to the Circus Maxentius without

me. Did you really think I wouldn’t find out what you were up to?”

“Not until it was over,” Ares bit out as he glared at his wife.

“And you thought you could just sweet-talk me into not being angry afterward?”

“No,” his friend exclaimed before he grimaced. “All right, yes. But,
Christus
, Emma, it’s too dangerous. Do you remember the last nighttime mission I took you on? If something happened—”

Ares didn’t get a chance to finish before he landed hard on the floor with a loud thud, his feet kicked out from under him by a strong, invisible force. “Damn it, Emma.”

“How many times do I have to show you that I can take care of myself, at least well enough so I can run away if I need to? You need me now, just like you did in Chicago, and you know it.”
As his friend was picking himself up from the floor, Phaedra tapped Lysander on the shoulder. He immediately assumed a stoic expression as he turned to face her. Her brown-eyed gaze met his with about as much warmth as an ice storm. Gre
at, it was his
turn.
“So what’s your excuse, Condellaire? And it had better be good,” she said in a calm manner that belied the anger he saw flashing in her eyes.
A quick glance in Ares’s direction showed his friend rubbing the top of his head in a plain effort to figure out a way to placate his wife for not inviting her along for the ride. Caught up in the same quandary as his friend, he reached for the first thing that came into his head.
“As Le
gatus
, it’s my job to select the best-qualified team members for specific assignments. I didn’t choose you for this particular task.” He winced at her expression. Not a good choice of words, particularly when he wasn’t even sure he was worthy of his title.
“And what makes you better qualified than me to go to the Circus Maxentius in the middle of the night?” That serene note in her voice was beginning to make him uneasy. It didn’t matter. As Le
gatus
, he was well within his right to select who went on what missions.
“My fighting skills are superior to yours, and you know it, Phaedra.”
“So my fighting skills aren’t good enough for you to include me on a reconnaissance that happens to be pretty much in the heart of Praetorian territory, correct?”

It was easy to tell by the sound of her voice that she wasn’t going to forgive him easily for

his decision. It didn’t matter. This wasn’t Chicago where the Praetorians had a minor presence. This was Rome. Home base for the
bastardi
and in a deserted ruin no less—it was a hell of a lot more dangerous.
The last thing he wanted was to see something happen to her. He knew Ares felt the same way about Emma’s safety. It’s why his friend had agreed they wouldn’t tell either of the women what they were planning.
“Yes,” he said firmly as he answered her question. He knew he was right. Her fighting skills weren’t even half as strong as her healing ability. The second the thought shot into his head, he knew he was doomed and he suppressed a groan.

“Right.” She stepped around him to stare at first Pasquale and then Ares. “Tell me, which one of you is the healer on this mission?”

Christus, he was an idiot. He’d walked right into that one.
Phaedra slowly turned back to him, her indignant expression making him feel like an ass. Hell, he’d known she’d be pissed, but like Ares, he’d figured she wouldn’t find out until after the fact. He winced at her expression. Pissed was an understatement.

“Emma, let’s leave the boys to their little soiree out to the Circus Maxentius. That is where you’re going, isn’t it?” Her fiery gaze seared its way into him.

It was a statement, not a question because both women knew exactly where they were going. She headed for the door. Her back straight and rigid with anger. The next words out of her mouth horrified him.
“Emma, I think we should follow up on that Colosseum idea you had. I’m sure Cleo and Violetta wouldn’t mind some fun tonight.”
“I think you’re right,” Emma said fiercely as she made to follow her sister-in-law.
Ares didn’t let his wife get far, and he heard Emma utter an oath behind him as he watched Phaedra heading toward the exit. Furious at the way Phaedra was trying to manipulate him, he waved his hand and the library door slammed shut. In the next instant, he envisioned his hand on her arm and dragged her back to him. When she was close enough, his hands bit into soft flesh as he forced her to face him.
“You’re not going anywhere without me,” he rasped.
“I’m glad to hear you’ve come to your senses about taking Emma and me with you to the circus,” she purred.
“You’re not—”

“Of course, we could always go rogue for a few hours.” She sent him a defiant look.

“Damn it, Phaedra,” Ares snapped. “Use your head.”

“I am using my head, Ares. The problem is the two of you aren’t using yours.” She continued to glare at Lysander as she answered her brother. “You need a healer on this mission. You need Emma’s archeological expertise in case you come across something
you
can’t figure out, brother dear. So what’s it going to be? Do we go with you or should the two of us girls plan our own little party?”

“Goddamn it, woman,” Lysander growled.

She had him over a barrel, and she knew it. There wasn’t any doubt in his mind that she’d do exactly what she said, and Emma would follow. As for Cleo, the woman would find it more than amusing to go rogue for a few hours the minute she heard what had happened. It wouldn’t matter to Cleo what penalty she’d have to pay for doing so. And knowing Atia’s sense of humor, the Prim
a Consul
would find it amusing that the women had balked at the reason he and Ares had for refusing to take the two with them. It was unlikely Atia would impose even a small punishment on any of the women if they disobeyed orders to stay in the installation.

“
Merda,
” he snarled as he turned to Ares. “Suggestions?”

His friend’s expression was one of furious resignation. Ares glared at his wife then his sister. “They don’t leave us much choice. And I’d rather have Emma with me than worry about her traipsing around the city in the middle of the night all by herself.”
“You say that as if you’re the only one who worries,” Emma said sharply. “Has it ever occurred to you that I might spend my nights worrying about y
ou?”
Ares grimaced at the accusatory note in his wife’s voice and released a harsh sigh. Like Ares, Lysander was growing resigned to the fact that they had little choice but to let the women come with them. He sent Phaedra a hard look before turning to Pasquale.
“Get Cleo. She’ll balance out the strength of the team,” he said to the other warrior. “Meet us in the garage. We’ll take the Land Rovers.”
The Sicari fighter nodded and hurried from the room. With the other man gone, he looked at first Emma and then Phaedra. “The two of you are going to do exactly as you’re told or I’m going to see to it that Atia sends both of you to the White Cloud estate until Ares and I are done here in Rome. You got that?”
“I think we can manage that, can’t we, Emma?” Phaedra said as honey dripped off every one of her words.

It set his nerves on edge, and not in a good way. If she could get this furious with him about being left out of an expedition, it was clear the minute she learned his secret her

reaction would be explosive.

Chapter 19

THE cold silence filling the Land Rover made Phaedra extremely uncomfortable. She knew the two men in the front seat were furious with her and Emma, but it couldn’t be helped. The idea of Lysander and her brother going out on a mission without a healer terrified her. There were a hell of a lot more Praetorians here than there were back home in Chicago.
A fact she wondered if Lysander was aware of at a subconscious level. Cleo had been right about Lysander taking more risks over the past year when it came to his fighting Praetorians. She’d gone into the Order’s database and reviewed the past year’s reports on missions where he’d encountered Praetorians. She was certain it was because of what had happened to him, and the thought of him taking on more risk without a healer close enough to keep him alive was terrifying. She jumped as Emma touched her arm. As she met her sister-in-law’s somber gaze, Emma nodded toward the two men in the front seat.

“They’ll get over it,” her sister-in-law whispered with a slight smile.

She nodded. Yes, but at what cost to the precious ground she’d gained with Lysander. He was still skittish about their relationship. While everyone in the installation knew they were involved, he kept his distance from her emotionally when they were in front of others. It made her believe he didn’t want to openly acknowledge they were a couple, and it stung.
Then he’d do something like he did tonight. He’d been protecting her again. She didn’t like the way he’d tried to do it, but his motivation warmed her heart. There was a comforting sensation to being treated like a prized possession he needed to protect. It irritated the hell out of her, but she couldn’t deny that there was a part of her that liked his authoritative manner. It made up for some of the distance he maintained with her in front of others. It showed he cared, and that’s what mattered the most to her.
Lysander suddenly doused the lights of the car and slowly drove about another half-mile farther down the deserted roadway before he pulled off the pavement and proceeded to back the car into a large expanse of foliage until vegetation partially engulfed the vehicle. As he shut off the engine, he shifted in his seat to look at her and Emma.
“Don’t forget what I said,” he said in a terse tone. “I’ll have Atia send you back to White Cloud so fast it’ll make your heads spin if you step out of line tonight.
Capicse?”

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