‘Darius,’ Servius said politely. ‘Help him reconsider.’
Darius, pride aching as much as his balls must, glowered from where he lurked. ‘He’s the only one who can touch that helmet.’
‘That isn’t what I asked.’
Servius and Darius locked eyes. Something passed between them, and Darius drew to his full height. Loren adjusted his grip on the sword and prepared to throw himself in front of Felix.
Darius said, ‘No.’
Servius wet his lips. Venom dripped. ‘No?’
‘I’ve done your bidding for years. Anything you asked.’ Darius fiddled with his badge, same as the one decaying on Maxim in the ravine. ‘But this is too much. Thatthing– look at what it did to your hands.’
‘I stalled your legion from executing you. That’s a blood debt.’
‘One I’ve paid many times over. Same as Maxim.’
Servius sneered again. ‘Once a defector, always a defector.’
‘He was my friend.’ Darius winced. ‘I won’t go the same way he did. You’ll tear down the world to get what you what. Then what will you have left?’
With a final shake of his head, he dropped his badge in the grass and strode for the exit.
‘I suppose,’ Servius said, ‘I’ll do it myself.’
He struck like a viper, Loren’s stolen gladius in hand. Loren hadn’t seen Servius draw it from his belt. Pain erupted down his thigh, a clean slash for a heartbeat, but as he watched, two paces removed from his body, the gash darkened, and out poured a river of sticky wine.
Loren swayed. Crumpled.
The sword he’d taken from Darius was prised from his grip.
A mutter in his ear. ‘Staunch that.’
And Felix charged Servius.
Loren’s head spun. Felix wanted him to stop the bleeding, put pressure on the bleeding,stop the bleeding. One problem – Loren was locked. Disconnected. There was so much blood. So much, fresh and smelling tangy as iron. He touched the wound, shuddering when his fingers came back stained purple as crushed grapes.
‘Would this help?’
Celsi had crouched at Loren’s side. He offered a torn piece of scarlet cloth, a shade Aurelia always begged to weave with but was too expensive for Livia to afford. Loren could gift the cloth to her at the shop . . . later . . .
There was no later. There was now, and that was all. He snatched the cloth, and Celsi flinched. Loren twisted the fabric tight as he could around the gash.
‘There’s this, too.’ Shakily, Celsi presented a folded document and shoved it into Loren’s bloody hand. ‘Senator Servius threw it out, but you should have it.’
There wasn’t time for this. Loren nearly tossed the papers away – nothing mattered with the world raining hellfire – but Celsi’s eyes were intense enough that Loren stuffed them into his pocket.
‘Father caught me talking to Camilia,’ Celsi confessed in a rush, gripping Loren’s elbow. His lower lip trembled. ‘He’s had me locked away since. This morning, I escaped, and I know Servius despises Julia,and I was angry. At you. So I told Servius anything he wanted to know about your family.’
Metal clanged deeper in the courtyard.There wasn’t time.
‘Celsi, you’ve done enough damage,’ Loren said. ‘I don’t care why you told my secret, or how you found out. I want you to get as far from me as possible, and I don’t want to see you again.’
‘But—’
‘Go.’ Loren grimaced as he shook free. ‘Run. Take the market road. Be fast, and you might catch Camilia.’
Be fast, and you might survive.
