“Take me home,” I whisper to the sky, hoping that they can hear me. “Please, take me home.”
With a heavy sigh, I decide to shower and dress again for another day. I can’t stay in my room forever. I need to see if I still have my job. I need to find out if I can find someone somewhere who can send me back to Tiberius.
I have a million things that I truly need to do. None of them include my scarred warrior and my heart twists at the thought. Once I’m dressed and ready, I grab my phone and purse. With my keys in my hand, I reach for the apartment door, opening it, but not stepping out, and something happens.
Pain radiates throughout my entire body. It takes me down to my knees. I cry out with a blood-curdling scream as that pain doesn’t weaken, it only grows stronger. I hear someone in the background shouting, but I can’t even open my eyes to look up, to see who it is.
My body starts to tremble, then it begins to shake and convulse. Someone in the distance shouts that I’m seizing, but I don’t know what I’m doing, because I’ve never felt this way before, the pain is just too much to bear.
Then everything goes dark.
TIBERIUS
Cassia narrows her gaze at me, flicking her eyes from Decima to me, then back to her and back to me again. I expect her to say something, but she doesn’t. Instead, she stands and turns her back, walking away without a single word.
“Your family does not like me, Tiberius,” she hums.
“I do not like you, Decima,” I snap.
She lifts her chin in the air, then I watch as she places her palm against her belly. “It matters not, Tiberius. I am to be your empress and the mother of your children.”
“Child, and we shall see.”
“You shall see?” she hisses. Nodding my head, I lift my hand and motion for Brutus to come over to us. “Yes, Decima, we shall see. You are not my empress and cannot be as such. We shall see if you are indeed with child.”
She growls just as Brutus arrives, but I ignore her and turn toward my cousin. “Lock her in the cubiculum that I have been residing in the past few weeks.”
Ignoring her, I walk away and head toward Marcellus, who is watching the exchange with an unreadable look on his face. He doesn’t say anything as I approach, but he needn’t. I know without a doubt that he is unhappy and curious, the rest I could guess, but I don’t plan to.
“I need the pontifex maximus,” I announce.
Marcellus dips his chin, his gaze finding mine and holding it for a long moment before he speaks. “He is here, staying in guest quarters. I didn’t think I should send him away just yet. Where is your empress?”
“That woman is a venefica. Unfortunately, they gather and play with the prophecy. She claims to have been implanted with my seed.”
“Tiberius, you didn’t?” he hisses.
Shaking my head, I plant my fists against my hips. “Not willingly.”
Marcellus’ eyes widen and he dips his chin in a short nod. “Understood. Where is she?”
“Amare and Odium sent her somewhere to stay safe until… I don’t know when. Until this is sorted.”
“The gods?” he rasps.
Nodding my head, I don’t bother confirming this with words. He knows as well as I do that this is the work of the gods. Though the venefica play, the gods will no doubt ensure that all is as it is meant to be, though it may take a bit longer than any had planned at this point.
“I will gather the pontifex maximus,” Marcellus announces before he turns and hurries off.
Deciding that I cannot stand out in the middle of the room and do nothing, I head into my office and sink down in my chair with a heavy sigh. I close my eyes for just a moment, glad to be alone, but it does not last long.
“You disgust me,” Cassia announces as soon as she bursts into the room.
My eyes open, widening at her outburst as I sit up and look at her across my desk. Her hands are on her hips, her gaze narrowed and her face red.
“Where is your empress,” she grinds out.
I tell her the story, the shortened version at least. The color drains from her face by the end of the tale. Her knees give out and she sits in the chair across from me rather forcefully.
“Tiberius,” she whispers. “What are the repercussions of the prophecy not coming to fruition?”
“Ruin, for the people, for the world.”
Cassia shakes her head a few times. “And for you?” she asks. “Do you love her, your empress?”
I cannot answer this, not because I do not love her, but because I am unsure of the feeling of love. I know how I feel about my family, but it is different when it comes to Drucilla. I do not understand the feeling, other than that sensation of ownership and possessiveness.
“I know not of love, Cassia.”
Saying the words aloud causes me to feel… saddened. Emotions are not something that I am used to. In war, I understand anger and conquering. I do not understand defeat as I am not someone who allows it, but I have just done it and that combined with the constant questions about love, it is bothering me.
“You do, Tiberius. Do you long for her?”
“She has been gone but a few days.”
“Do you long for her?”
“With my entire being.”
Cassia smiles, then she stands and makes her way to the edge of my desk. She leans over, planting her palms on the wood, and continues to grin at me. I watch as she licks her lips, sinking her teeth into her bottom one before she speaks again.
“You love your empress, Tiberius. I expect you to get her back here, fast, before it is too late.”
“Too late?” I ask.
“That woman you have here is evil. Do not allow her to take over your soul, she will do irrevocable damage. You are stronger than her, than whatever magic she has. You must fight her and you must bring Drucilla back.”
“You love her, then?”
“Drucilla?” she asks. Nodding my head, I wait for her to speak, to answer me. “I cannot speak to her, but I can tell you with all honesty that I think the gods created her for you for a very good reason.”
Looking down at the desk, I slowly lift my gaze to meet hers. “The language barrier, it was why I went to Curia in the first place. I had planned to free them and ask them to cast a spell on Drucilla so that she could speak and understand us.”
Cassia arches a brow, then shakes her head a couple of times. “We must fix this, Tiberius. I know not how, but we must.”
“I agree and I will try.”
“Not try,” she snaps. “Get your empress back where she belongs.”
Chapter Seventeen
TIBERIUS
The pontifex maximus is completely useless. He mumbles and bumbles, and gives me absolutely nothing. He helps me not even a single bit. I send him home, away from me.
In fact, I banish him from my sight and ask Marcellus to find another, one who is more educated in my situation, if there is such a man.
Retiring for the evening, I don’t bother eating and have food sent to Decima. Making my way toward my cubiculum, I see the famulus with her back against the wall, her head tipped down and her gaze focused on her feet.
I recognize her as the one who spoke the same language as Drucilla. “Look at me,” I demand. She slowly lifts her gaze, her eyes focused on me and nowhere else. “You are to be the famulus of Decima. You are to be my eyes and ears on the venefica. Do you understand?”
“You wish for me to spy?” she whispers.
My lips curve up into a grin. “Spy, listen, watch, and report back to me, yes.”
“Yes, Emperor,” she says with a dip of her chin. “Emperor?” she calls out as I begin to walk away.
I stop, looking over my shoulder, my gaze connects to hers. “Famulus?”
“You will bring the empress home?”
Clenching my teeth together, my jaw is tight at her words. “I will do everything in my power to find her and bring her home, yes.”
The famulus lifts her chin,
her eyes never leaving mine and she nods. “Good.”
Making my way to my own quarters, I sink down on my bed and close my eyes. Falling backward, I cross my arms over my chest and almost instantly, I fall asleep.
It seems like only a few moments later when I feel a heaviness pressing against my chest and soft lips sliding down my throat. Lifting my hand, I shift my fingers in the back of the hair of the person sucking on my neck. Tugging on her head, I look down and see my Drucilla.
She smiles but does not speak. One of my hands grabs at the gown she’s wearing and I wrench it up. Her hands work between us and then finally I am inside of my empress. With a groan, I lift my hips and push into her sweet body.
I hear her gasp of breath before I flip her onto her back and take her. I do not hold back, I give her everything. My empress is home, she is back with me and I aim to welcome her with everything that I am and have.
It does not take her long to find her release and when she does, mine is also forced out of my body. Lifting my head, I let out a roar that bounces off of the surrounding walls right before I spill my seed inside of my empress.
“Yes, my emperor,” she cries.
Tilting my head down, I jerk backward and stand, stumbling as I look down at her. She’s lying on the bed and instantly her body shifts from that of my Drucilla to the venefica.
“Decima,” I growl. “How?”
“I am venefica, you did not think that you would sequester me to the cubiculum and that would be that, did you?” she purrs, pushing up to lean back on her elbows, her legs still spread with my seed leaking from between them.
“You are here, but you are not welcome to come into my personal cubiculum. Not now, not ever. You are also not to change forms. You may be venefica, but there is no spell you can perform that will save you when I’ve severed your head from your body,” I growl.
She stands, closing the distance between us, and I feel her palm press against my chest. Tilting her head back, her gaze finds mine.
“I will refrain from changing forms, if you give me the respect I deserve as the woman carrying your child.”
I think about all of the women who carried my father’s children. I think about them and how he put them up in the back of the domum. They were not allowed to dine at his table or be seen in his presence, not unless he sent for them or went to them himself.
“You wish to be treated the way that a concubina is to be treated?” I ask.
She shrugs a shoulder, looking up at me through her lashes. “I wish to be treated as the empress,” she says.
Shaking my head, I hold her gaze. “You cannot. It would be a grave insult to the empress herself. It is unacceptable. I have insulted her enough in our short marriage.”
“Once this child is born and she has not returned, you will declare her a traitor and a deserter to the people. I will be your empress and if this is not done, then you will not have to fear the gods and unfulfilled prophecy, I will ensure that your people suffer, gravely.”
I think about denying her request, but I decide against it. If she will cooperate, then I would rather have her compliance than anything else right now. My Drucilla will be back before her child is born, if there is even a child to be born.
“I will agree to those terms, but no more coming to me. As a true concubina, you will wait until you are required and called on by your emperor.”
She narrows her eyes, then jerks her chin in the air and looks down her nose at me. “I agree,” she grinds out.
Stepping to the side, I look at the door, then back to her. “You may leave,” I state.
She doesn’t respond, instead she stands and walks past me, stopping at the door before she turns her head to look back at me, her lips curling up into a snarl.
“You will be mine soon, Emperor. You will be under my spell and there will be nothing you can do to stop it.”
Without giving her a reaction, I stare straight ahead at her. Seeing her for the first time since I initially laid eyes on her. She is ugly. Her face is beautiful, but she is an ugly person. She is nothing like my Drucilla. I should have seen Drucilla for what she was immediately, not just mine, but also goodness.
I see it now and I would give anything to have her back where she belongs, where the gods wish her to be.
“I will never be yours as I already belong to another. This situation was created by you and the only reason I facilitate it is because of my people.”
She doesn’t respond to my words, instead she stomps away and I listen for her to walk to her room, knowing how many steps it takes to get there, then I hear her door close and only then do I shut my own. I had the lock switched back over from the outside of the door to the inside when we left for Curia.
Putting my lock in place, I wonder how all of this happened. Then I wonder why I am not strong enough to stop it, why I did not stop it. Walking over to the window, I look up at the sky, knowing that the gods’ gazes are pointed down at me, at the world.
“What do you wish of me?” I ask them. “How do I get my Drucilla back?”
They do not answer. Amare and Odium do not magically appear before me, nothing happens. Making my way back to bed, I sit down on the edge and decide that I cannot have Decima’s scent on me.
Leaving the room, I head toward the baths, wishing to have her smell washed from my skin. My next step will be to attempt to find my empress. I may have to find a different type of magi, maybe something that isn’t as conventional as a pontifex maximus or venefica. Perhaps I need someone a bit different.
DRUCILLA
I open my eyes and again am assaulted with a bright light. There is a beeping in the distance and I let out a groan, inhaling a deep breath and knowing exactly where I am.
A hospital.
Letting out a sigh, I stare at the ceiling and wonder what will happen next? How much more can I endure or what other freaky shit is going to happen to me?
“Miss Collins?” someone asks.
Turning my head, I look to the side and see a doctor that I recognize really well—too well. Sitting up, I frown at the sight of him.
“Miss Collins? Really?” I ask.
Chad arches a brow, his eyes warming as he looks over me. I know that look. That’s the look that means he’s ready to sweet talk me. Chad’s gorgeous and a doctor. Like he is super, superhot, and I fell immediately. He was the only man I’d ever had any feelings for. He was also very married.
Something he neglected to inform me of.
“You had a fall and the way your neighbors described it, a seizure. However, nothing in the tests we did can confirm that. In fact, you look very healthy. All of your levels are the best I’ve ever seen, blood and otherwise.”
“So, what happened to me?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I don’t know. I would like to keep you overnight, do some more tests. See if I can figure it out.”
“Can I have another doctor,” I whisper.
I don’t feel anything for Chad, not even a twinge of heartbreak. A year ago, I would have burst into tears at the sight of him, my body would have ached, my heart would have broken into shards, but nothing happens when I look at him anymore, not since Tiberius. I just don’t want to be around him.
“You know that I’m the best here, especially for this circumstance,” he says.
I’d forgotten his extreme amount of ego. What a dick. Although he does come by his ego naturally, and honestly, he’s good… at a lot of things. I could make a list, but I never would. His head already fills the room.
“What happens now?” I ask.
“Do you have anyone that can stay with you?”
I think about my sisters. I think about Tiberius, and I realize they are all in another world and other than my parents who are across the country, I have nobody.
“I don’t. Doesn’t matter,” I say, shrugging a shoulder.
Chad takes a step closer to me, his eyes softening even more, so much so that pity crosses his face.
G
ross.
“Dru, you know I am here to help you,” he rasps, his voice going deeper and huskier.
This is his sex voice and I can’t believe he’s seriously doing this with me admitted. There is something wrong with me and he’s using the sex voice.
Double gross.
“I am married, Chad,” I blurt out.
He blinks. Then his lips curve up into a grin. “Your last name hasn’t changed, you don’t have to lie.”
“I’m not lying. It just happened.”
“I don’t see him anywhere?”
Pressing my lips together, I tell him a half-truth. “He lives in another country. I had to come back for work, he stayed and I am going to move there soon. I just have to tie up all my loose ends here.”
“Just get some rest, we’ll talk more later. I’m here all night.”
“There’s no later, Chad. I’m married and there is nothing to talk about other than medically.”
He watches me for a moment, but I can tell that my words have not registered with him. Egotistical bastard that he is. He just smiles and dips his chin, then walks away from me and out of the room.
I let out a breath of relief, a sigh that he’s finally gone. Reaching for my phone that is on the small rolling table next to the bed, I’m glad that one of my neighbors was thoughtful enough to make sure it came with me.
Deciding that I have no way to avoid it, I call my mother.
“Darling, I had a dream you were with a handsome warrior. Why are you calling me?” she says as her greeting.
“I was, you were right, Mom.”
“About?” she asks in a singsong voice.
There is a moment of silence, mainly because I don’t want to tell her, but then I know that she is the only person who will not only help me, but will believe me too.
So, once I start to talk, I easily spill everything.
I tell her the entire story, not even omitting all of the fantastic sex I had with my man. My mom is free and open with all things, she always has been. It was super embarrassing when we were younger, but right now, I’m thankful for it.
Bride of the Emperor (The Prophecy of Sisters Book 4) Page 12
