“You have a lot of friends that know things,” I said.
“It’s the best way to do business. You can sell more spells that way and avoid selling to those who are unscrupulous.”
“So, you don’t sell to certain people?”
He shrugged. “Not to warlords, criminals, or suspicious government officials.”
“And that’s all you do? Make spells and sell them?”
“Occasionally people hire me for dangerous jobs, like this one. Except I’m the one doing the hiring now.” He rubbed his chin. “It’s quite a switch.”
“So, you’re like a mercenary?”
“Exactly. Except that I only kill demons. And my price is so high that I don’t get offered much work.”
“Then lower your price.”
“I don’t need the work.”
Ah, right. Must be nice.
I followed him down several crowded streets, passing more ancient and modern amenities. The place was packed with people—only the forum had been fairly empty, and probably because it was evening. Government was shut down for the day, and so was the market.
We passed by a restaurant with an open front. A woman wearing something similar to a toga was dishing out food from massive terra-cotta pots set into the counter. It smelled savory and delicious, but entirely unfamiliar.
“In the old days, most homes here didn’t have kitchens,” Lachlan said. “People would eat at taverns like that.”
“I think I prefer my place.” But I did like the feeling of stepping back into the past—as long as I ignored the cell phone stores.
“We’re here.” Lachlan turned left, into a large courtyard. Fancy ornamental trees surrounded a fountain, and golden lights lit our path to the front door.
It swung open as we neared, and a short woman grinned at us. Her dark hair was a wild halo around her head. “Lachlan! It has been too long.”
“Lilia, how are you?”
“Better now that you are here.” She grinned cheekily. “Fabio will be delighted to see you.”
I followed Lachlan into another courtyard, but this one had no grass. It seemed like it was the middle of the house, open to the air through a square hole in the ceiling. Beneath the hole, in the middle of the area, was a shallow pool. It was surrounded on all sides by tile floor, with rooms encircling the whole thing.
It pinged a memory of the books I’d read about Pompeii. The size of this place and the layout… It was the home of a rich dude from ancient times. I wondered if they had a homeowner’s association here or someone who drove around on a golf cart trying to enforce nitpicky rules about plant placement.
The idea made me giggle, but I swallowed it as soon as a man walked through one of the doors at the back of the courtyard.
His whole aura screamed danger. He was the same size as Lachlan, and both looked like they played some kind of professional sport for a living. But his eyes were as cold as a frost giant’s butt, and the aura of power that surrounded him competed with Lachlan’s. It wasn’t quite as strong, but it was enough to make my fingers itch to draw a weapon from the ether.
This guy is on our side.
He strode up to Lachlan, his arms outspread to hug him. Then punched him in the face.
Or tried to.
Lachlan dodged, avoiding the fist by inches.
My heart leapt into my throat.
Lachlan and the man laughed, great booming noises.
Lilia looked at me. “They’re idiots.”
Lachlan threw a punch this time. The man darted his head away, but Lachlan’s knuckles brushed his cheek. The blow left no mark—the man had been fast enough to avoid a real hit—but Lachlan grinned widely. “I win this round.”
“Why the hell do you do that?” Annoyance streaked through me. With my job, I pretty much ate violence for breakfast. And I didn’t mind it so much. But amongst friends?
I wasn’t a fan.
“We met while fighting in the Coliseum,” Lachlan said. “It became habit.”
“Wait—what? How the heck did you fight there?”
“Saturday night fight rings,” the man said. “It’s how I made the money to start my business here, and Lachlan did the same. To start his spell peddling business.”
“Valuable spells.” Lachlan grinned and rubbed his jaw. “I found I got tired of taking a hit to the face that often.”
I eyed Fabio. He looked like he spent a lot of time in walk-in freezers, playing Rocky. So yeah, I wouldn’t want to spend my Saturdays going one-to-one with him either.
But I was learning a lot about Lachlan. The guy had a varied past, one that dealt primarily in power and violence. Not too far off from my life, but I wasn’t sure that was a good thing.
“I’m Fabio.” The man held out his hand to shake. His long golden hair glinted in the light, and his grin was charming.
I still didn’t really like him—not after the punching—but he wasn’t so bad.
I gripped his hand firmly, sizing him up. “I’m Ana Blackwood.”
“Of the New York Blackwoods?”
“Of the none-of-your-business Blackwoods.” I grinned at him. I had no idea who the New York Blackwoods were. I remembered only my mother, and she’d been gone nearly ten years.
He nodded, clearly getting the picture. “Come. We’ll sit, and you can tell me why you’re here.” He grinned at Lachlan. “And what you need.”
“I come to visit for other reasons than just needing something,” Lachlan said.
“You don’t.”
“True.”
“It’s fine. Ours is not a past to be celebrated.” There was something dark in his voice, and the reality of earning your money in gladiator battles hit me.
It had to have been horrible.
I looked at Lachlan with new respect.
This guy was determined, if he’d put up with that crap.
Lilia accompanied us into a room at the back of the house. A large, low table sat in the middle, surrounded by backless couches. They looked more like beds than anything else.
“I see you’re still living as the Romans did,” Lachlan said.
Fabio flopped onto one of the couches and stretched out. “It’s not a bad way to live.”
Servants filtered in, laying out platters of food and pitchers of drinks.
“I never understood lying down to eat.” Lachlan sat, and I joined him.
No way I was lying down around some guy I didn’t know who also happened to scream violence with every move. I needed to be able to jump up and fight if necessary.
“Why are you here, Lachlan?”
I nibbled on some grapes as he explained what we were looking for. I briefly fantasized about dangling the cluster over my head like one of the old cartoons of ancient Rome but nixed it.
When Lachlan finished his description, Fabio nodded. “I think I know where you can go for information. The baths.”
I sputtered. “The baths?”
“It’s the most popular meeting place in town. Massive, busy, and there are certain sections where the criminal underworld go to do their business. It’s been that way for thousands of years, and we Romans like our traditions.”
I remembered reading about the baths. They were essentially massive swimming pool complexes where everyone wandered around naked. It was divided by sex, with special rooms for cold baths, tepid baths, and hot baths. It’d be a real blast to the past, but it still wasn’t my idea of a good time.
“So it’s like a bar, but everyone is naked.”
“Indeed.”
Now, recon for this job was going to involve stripping down and having a communal bath?
Fabulous.
“Is there any chance that the baths are on Abbondanza Street?”
“They are. How did you know?”
“A hunch.”
“Do you have any idea when our target might be at the baths?” Lachlan asked.
“My spies report that they tend to do their business in the evening, after they’ve completed whatever criminal activity was on the docket for the day.”
“So we should go now,” I said.
Fabio nodded. “It would be best. I can have a servant direct you there. Once you arrive, tell them that you are my guest. That should gain you access to all areas, even the more elite ones. I can’t say where your target will be.”
“They have an identifying mark,” Lachlan said.
“And since they’re naked, we should be able to see it.” At least stripping down would have a greater purpose.
10