by Hayley Todd
“Signora Lucius?” The man called through the open window. He was middle aged and wore a flat hat on his head and a pair of square rimmed glasses. He had ruddy cheeks and flashed me a smile. I tried to smile back but I knew it was completely fake.
“Si,” I responded, opening the back door and sliding into the seat with my duffle bag beside me.
“Colosseo?” He asked.
My Italian was incredibly limited but I had tried to brush up briefly on the plane before I had been overwhelmed with thoughts and emotions, unable to continue.
“Parlo solo inglese, mi dispiace,” I responded, explaining to him that I didn’t speak Italian. He nodded in response.
“To the Coliseum then, miss?” He said, his voice heavily accented but understandable.
I nodded, unable to articulate much further.
He pulled out onto the road, taking me quickly to my destination without further conversation. I didn’t know if maybe that was his limits in English or if he had just observed that I wasn’t in any mood to talk. I appreciated the silence regardless, a thousand horrible scenarios of what I was walking into playing in my mind.
What did Henrick want? What was he going to do? I could only imagine that whatever he was doing, I wouldn’t come out of it unscathed. Maybe he would go underground. Maybe he would just kill me?
I tried to keep my focus on Will. The only way that Will could make it out of this was for me to put my life on the line. I wasn’t okay with that but what else could I do? Henrick had anticipated that Damien wouldn’t just let him go. This was his last chance.
We arrived at our destination after an uneventful drive. I climbed out calling, “Grazie,” to the driver. He nodded in my direction and went off after his next fare. A glance up from the curb revealed the Coliseum which was truly lovely.
The magnificent architecture stretched high above me, in swirling arches. The street was filled with random pedestrians and I didn’t realize how hungry I had become until a woman nearly ran into me while staring down at her phone. At the last second, she dodged out of the way, shouting at me in Italian.
I considered grabbing her and pulling her into the darkness for a moment for a bite but I knew my self-control wasn’t exactly...solid. I glanced away from her, taking a deep breath of human free air. I pulled my phone free of my pocket and dialed the number again.
He answered in silence.
“I’m here,” I said, my voice tight.
Henrick laughed on the other end of the line. “Oh, I’ll be eager to see you, Kyra,” he replied. “Liam will be out in one moment to retrieve you.”
My heart hammered in my chest at the words. I didn’t want to see Liam. I wanted to punch Liam but otherwise, I had no desire to speak with him.
“You can’t come get me yourself?” I said, my voice seething.
Henrick laughed again, the sound cold, chilling me to my bones. This sick conniving piece of crap couldn’t even come get me himself?
“He’ll be with you in a moment,” he replied, hanging up the phone.
I ventured closer to the Coliseum, looking it over carefully. The stone was ancient and enthralling, giant pillars near the entrance. I wondered idly how many hundreds and thousands of hands had touched this structure. How many people had stood on exactly this spot?
I watched people wander past, fewer and fewer as the night pressed on. Finally, after close to twenty minutes of waiting, Liam appeared from the closed entrance. He turned a key on a lock and swung the door open, stepping out.
He looked different than he had before but just ever so slightly. He seemed older, closer to mid to late thirties than his twenties, his blonde hair was a touch longer instead of the short mop on his head, it hung down near his ears. His blue eyes seemed to be a slightly different shade, making me think of someone else I had seen before.
“Kyra,” he called and I turned to him. He stepped out of the gate, opening it for me. I stepped nearer to him and my rage began building within me. Just as he began to turn away, I reared my arm back and cold cocked him across the jaw.
He leapt back from me, stumbling back inside the Coliseum and I stomped through the door, walking past him. He scrambled up from the ground, wiping a long drip of blood that had erupted for his lips and run over his chin. I shook my knuckles out, realizing I had broken two of them.
Liam jogged up to me, stepping in front. I whirled on him, grabbing him by the shoulder and without further statement, sank my teeth into his neck. He fought hard against me, trying to shove me away but I didn’t relent. I drank from him, feeling the knuckles stretch and heal. I released my teeth from him with a shove, knocking him away from me.
“What the hell?!” he shrieked.
Curiously enough though, he didn’t turn toward me or make a move against me. He gritted his teeth, grabbed my wrist, and turned away from me, dragging me down the hall behind him and absently wiping at the puncture wounds with his free hand.
I wondered for a moment if he would let me beat the crap out of him without retaliation too. I considered the possibility joyfully, feeling better than I had since the coronation but quickly discarded it as unhelpful. I didn’t want to risk Will’s life just to get some payback.
“What are you guys doing here?” I asked, following compliantly.
Liam cast a quick glance over his shoulder at me. “I have...ties to the area,” he said with a creepy grin.
I stopped, thinking it out for a moment. I had known something about Liam had struck me as familiar. “Who are you?” I asked, trying to place where I had seen him before.
“After all that with that idiot woman you haven’t figured it out? She gave me enough trouble all those years ago. Who would have thought that when those damn witches start spouting the prophecy part of their spell that it would actually work?” Prophecy...spell? “She all but told you. I’m disappointed,” he replied, walking down the halls as though this ancient arena were a home to him.
I followed him, my mind torn between thoughts of Will, churning emotions over what was to come, and that sense that I should remember him.
The spell. The prophecy. That was part of the vision Valeria had thrown me into. Valeria has been there. So had Carson in his past existence as Marcellus...the emperor had been there too.
“You!” I shrieked, stopping dead in my tracks. He turned to me with a knowing but condescending smile on his face. “You were the emperor of Rome,” I gasped, looking him over. “Why do you look different?”
He laughed a humorous bark. “Side effect. When the witches cursed your man and Valeria, they gave me some backlash for taking advantage of their abilities. They took away what little ability manifestation I had and gave me a different face. It’s hard to continue to rule when you look different.” He looked bitter, his eyes dodging to the side. “Come on,” he growled, grabbing my wrist and pulling me along.
I stumbled after him, struggling to keep my feet in the rush. He didn’t hesitate or wait for me to catch up, just tugging me after him. I was beginning to reconsider my not beating the crap out of him. Maybe I’d get away with it?
I followed obediently, staying quiet. I wasn’t really sure what else to say.
We weaved through hall after hall, burrowing into the depths of the Coliseum, beyond roped off areas that didn’t allow access to visitors. We finally hit a hallway that looked familiar. I peered through the door where Achillia had dressed for battle. It was crumbled and exposed to the sky.
We traveled farther down the hall and I realized I was following Achillia’s footsteps to the arena. I watched the broken floor carefully, feeling an eerie sense of deja vu even if it wasn’t precisely the same.
We rounded a corner and the same familiar corridor to the arena opened up before us. In the opening beyond, I could see Henrick, facing away from us and to his left was a bubble affixed in the air, lined with dancing flames.
And inside the bubble, swirling languidly through the air was Will.
Chapter Forty-One
My heart lifted when I saw Will. I felt like screaming in joy for one magnificent second. Then the rest of my circumstance caught up to me. Henrick didn’t immediately react to us as we rounded the corner and entered the arena and I watched him warily. I had made it. Will was here. And I was completely at Henrick’s mercy.
My footsteps slowed, my feet resisting the urge to step forward and Liam dropped behind me, pushing me forward with a finger jabbed into my back. I arched way from his touch, lurching forward again. My skin crawled when he touched me.
We had crossed halfway over the arena by the time Henrick acknowledged our arrival. He twisted to the side, looking barely over his shoulder. When he saw us he turned fully, holding his arms out to me. I didn’t respond to his gesture.
“Hello, dear princess. Welcome to Rome,” he said, gesturing around the arena with one hand. “I’m so pleased to finally have you here within my fold.”
“You can let Will go now,” I hissed.
Henrick looked up at the bubble with consideration and pressed his hand towards the ground, palm down. The sphere in the air, licking with flame, lowered until it pressed against the ground. The circular area burst, leaving a circular wall of fire around Will’s form and resting his feet on the ground.
He looked over at me, his face bruised and bloody but his eyes eager. He smiled at me across the field but grimaced when he did. His lip which looked like it had begun the process of healing split open again and blood welled down his chin.
Henrick looked over at me. “Satisfied?” he asked.
“I want to talk to him and then I want you to let him go,” I replied, crossing my arms over my chest.
Henrick rolled his eyes. “I’m not certain that you are in a position to be making demands, Ms. Santina.”
Liam jabbed a finger into my spine again, forcing my steps forward. I stumbled, having to fight not to fall to the ground in the midst of the arena. It didn’t look the same as it had with Achillia, most of its interior crumbling and falling to pieces. I knew from pictures on the internet that in the modern day, there was no cover over the variety of chambers that were exposed below in the center of the arena. Henrick had layered a floor here across the columns below, making it a flat surface once more. How were they getting full access of everything here? This stuff was highly protected.
As we neared closer to Henrick, Liam gave me a rough shove, knocking me forward. This time, I didn’t manage to keep me feet and fell forward, scraping my hands along the ground and plummeting to my knees before Henrick. I scrambled to my feet, not liking the idea of the vulnerable pose so close to the two of them.
“Kyra.”
I looked toward the voice. Will had spoken through the wall of flame, calling out to me. I stepped over to him. I really didn’t care what Henrick did as long as Will went free.
“Will,” I greeted, able to see him if just barely over the licking flame. “Are you okay?” I asked him. I knew that wasn’t the greatest question. He had been kidnapped, tortured, and was now contained within a cage of fire by a madman. Okay wasn’t really in the equation but I felt that I needed to say something.
“I’m fine,” he returned, putting forth a bravado that I could see right through. It looked like his nose had been broken and he had two black eyes with bruising across the bridge. His jaw was slightly disfigured and he grimaced when he spoke. His lip looked like it needed stitches. He was far from okay.
“Let him go,” I said, whirling on Henrick. “I’m here. You have what you wanted. Let him go.”
Henrick crossed his arms over his chest, staring down his nose at me. “I haven’t precisely gotten what I wanted yet, but we’re getting there.”
My fury flared.
“What do you want?” I asked, glaring at him.
He walked around me, slowly, looking me up and down with a lecherous gaze that sent a shiver down my spine. He had his hands locked behind his back as though he were perusing cattle.
“Well, I want you, of course,” he replied.
“What do I have to do?” I asked, trying to calm the shaking developing in my limbs.
“Well, with your imprint broken, I need you to be impregnated. Then you will be a figurehead at my side, rallying the Magick people in a war against the other supernaturals,” he said. He spoke so casually that it sounded as if we were simply discussing the weather and not what amounted to rape and enslavement.
“What?!” Will shrieked from his enclosure. “You can’t do that!”
Henrick flipper him and annoyed glance. “I can and I will. Or you will die. Kyra’s choice really.”
I stiffened. There was no choice really. I would do anything to get Will out of here. I looked over at him. He was glaring at Henrick but Henrick wasn’t looking at him anymore.
“They’re going to find us,” I told him, pulling my phone from my pocket and holding it towards him. “I had to pay for this trip somehow. Kellic has access to all of my accounts. When they realized I was gone, they would be checking that.”
Henrick’s eyes flew wide, a rage building there. “Excuse me?” He growled.
“They can’t be far behind me,” I reiterated.
Then he leapt at me.
We went tumbling across the ground. I tried to force him away from me, shoving hard against his chest but he was stronger. He reared his arm back, slamming a fist painfully across my face.
Light exploded in my vision, my ears ringing.
I summoned my magick, pulling the energy from the air around us, gathering it into a furious swell in my chest.
Henrick pushed onto me, holding me down with the weight of his body. He pinned my hands beside my head, pressing them to the ground beneath us. His hands immediately roamed my body, seeking the edge of my jeans.
Panic filled me, images of Raoul flickering through my mind. I bunched my legs under him, pressing my feet into his waist and hurling outward, knocking him away from me. He slid across the ground, his hand stroking the hard floor beneath us to maintain his balance.
He rose up and his eyes were already glowing amber-gold. A red glow gathered around his fists and he lifted a hand, sending a red streak of fire across the air between us. I slammed myself to the ground and just barely managed to avoid being hit, though the tail of flame burned my skin where it skimmed my shoulder.
He shot another bolt and again I lurched out of the way, missed entirely this time.
I slammed the energy built within me into my hands, sending sparks pattering along the floor near my feet and sending shimmering light all around me. I summoned the whips I was becoming familiar with now, flipping them out and away from me, grabbing Henrick’s wrists.
For a moment, there was a pleasing panic on his face when he realized I had full control of his limbs. Then, worried that Liam may join the fray, I whipped both of my hands to the right, ripping Henrick from his feet and whipping him into the wall to my right.
I was a bit saddened when a chunk of stone snapped off, slipping to the ground. The rubble covered Henrick’s back, kicking dust into the air around him.
I could feel an overall heat growing in the arena and my eyes shot to Will. So far, he was fine, untouched but if Henrick went for him, I would have to grab him and run.
As I’d worried, Liam came pounding over the ground toward me, sending a furious fray of blows toward me. I dodge him pretty easily without directing my attention elsewhere. Liam was not a trained fighter like I was. It was obvious that after hundreds of years with excess strength he had learned a thing or two but he rarely anticipated my fighting style, giving me an advantage in hand to hand fighting.
He dodged in too close for an instant but I didn’t squander the opportunity. His fist came swooping in, an inch from my face. I had expected it though and grabbed his wrist with my fingertips. I surged power through my skin sending sparks shuddering up his arm and spun, using the power behind my weight to hurl him behind me.
Another ball of fire soared toward me and this time, I wasn’
t fast enough to dodge it. It crashed into my shoulder, scorching my skin. I howled in agony, stepping to the side to keep myself from staying still.
Henrick stood a few feet from where I had thrown. His shirt was ripped and dirty, his face smeared with dust. He was furious and it was evident in the snark on his countenance. His eyes blazed casting a glow like a sunrise across his side of the arena.
There was no longer a fiery red glow around his hands. Instead, flame burned all the way to his shoulders, crackling into the air around his head. I had yet to see someone exhibit so much raw magickal strength and it was nearly petrifying.
He ripped fire through the air with a loud pop. A beam of flame as big around as my hips came barreling toward me from the other side of the arena. There was no stepping out of the way of that despite my increased speed. I hurled my arms before me, willing the flames not to impale me. I braved myself for searing agony.
But none came.
I blinked my eyes open to see a swirl of fire pressing in on me but not reaching me. Bowed out in front of me was a flickering blue-white dome, arcing with shudders of electricity as his magick beat against it, but didn’t penetrate it.
I smiled. Maybe he didn’t completely have the upper hand with magick.
And then Liam slammed into my back. He thrust me to the side of the column of fire, keeping me from being disintegrated but slammed his fists into my spine repeatedly. The pain was explosive and rippled in pulses down my back.
I threw myself forward, tucking into a roll. There was no way I could take them both at the same time. It wasn’t happening. Henrick required my full attention. Which meant I needed to eliminate Liam from the fight.
I formed my magick into whips of light down my wrists again, snapping on hand over my back. It seemed like the magick knew where to go without much direction from me and I somehow knew when it connected without turning around.
I spun on my heel, whipping my hand to the left and sending Liam hurtling into the stands. I was breathing hard now, my back aching. But I turned to face Henrick anyway.
