Since we were going to be spying at the baths, we needed listening devices. I called Jude on my comms charm and explained what the situation was. Within thirty minutes, Hedy arrived, using a transportation stone and apparently charming her way through the gate.
She arrived at Fabio’s house dressed in one of her usual long, flowing silver dresses and met us in the room with all the low couches.
She took in the scene, her eyes wide. “This place is amazing. Like I’ve stepped back in time.”
“Isn’t it?” I said. I really liked being in a place where the past had come back to life.
“I’m definitely coming back for vacation.” Her gaze turned serious. “But I hear you have a lead?”
“We do.”
“Good. I’ve brought two hearing charms.” She held out her hand, and two earrings sat there. A glittering gold one and a shiny one that looked like titanium or something. “Hopefully they’ll pass as jewelry.”
I glanced at Lachlan. He really didn’t look like the jewelry type, but he didn’t hesitate to clip the charm onto his ear. “Thank you, Hedy.”
“Absolutely. Best of luck.”
I took the golden charm and clipped it on, saying goodbye to the witch. Then I turned to Lachlan. “Ready?”
He nodded.
Our guide, Kyle, was a slender man in his late twenties. He didn’t speak much as he led us through the bustling streets of Pompeii, but I was so busy looking around that I didn’t mind the silence.
We passed by numerous bakeries, each of which had its own collection of large hourglass-shaped millstones. They were cranking away even at this hour, grinding the flour for the bread that would bake early in the morning.
On the less savory side of things, there were a lot of people loitering outside the bars, drinking and smoking and having a good time. I was on the receiving end of more leers than normal, which meant that my stink eye got a good workout.
“Busy place at night,” Lachlan murmured.
“Seriously. All the life takes place out in the streets.”
“Or in the baths.”
“So we’ll split up? You check out the dude’s side; I’ll check out the gal’s side. And we can meet back at your friend’s place once we find something?”
“Good plan.”
Our guide stopped in front of an ornately decorated building and swept out his arms. “Here we are.”
“Thank you, Kyle,” Lachlan said.
We left Kyle and climbed the wide stairs to the entrance. A woman with long black hair and wide dark eyes waited in the entry foyer, which was bigger than my apartment back home.
We stopped in front of her, and Lachlan took over. “We’re guests of Fabio Laretti.”
She smiled. “Welcome. We’re so glad you could come. Would you like the separated baths, or the joined one?”
Separated or joined?
Understanding dawned, and my cheeks heated.
There was a joined one for the people who were modern or brave enough to not mind wandering around naked in mixed company.
I glanced quickly at Lachlan.
I was so not ready to see him naked. Not that I wasn’t curious—real curious—but it would completely fog my mind. I’d be in no state to hunt bad guys.
“We’ll start with the separated baths,” Lachlan said.
The rest was clear. If we couldn’t find our target there, then we’d worry about getting naked together and hunting in the joined section.
I really didn’t think I could handle the stress of that. Not gracefully, at least. I would definitely fall flat on my ass while naked. I could already see it.
The woman gave us a few directions—all of which went over my head as I was imagining falling on my ass, naked—then we were off.
Lachlan and I traded one last look, then went through the separate doors that the woman had mentioned. A sign above my doors that was done in a mosaic pattern made of tiny stones read Apodyterium.
I had to guess it was the changing room. It turned out that I was right.
And boy, was it fancy.
It was laid out roughly like a locker room at a modern gym, but it was built of stone with beautiful frescoes on the walls. Nymphs and animals frolicked all around as women stripped out of their clothes and stacked them in little cubbies. There were people dressed in all manner of clothes, from ancient Roman to modern.
I found a cubby near the entrance to the baths and stripped quickly.
Muffin appeared in front of me, peering around.
This is what humans do for fun?
“I feel you,” I muttered. “I’m not so sure myself. But shouldn’t you be on the boys’ side?”
He gave me a look that said I was an idiot. I’m a cat.
“Right, of course.” A pile of fluffy towels sat nearby, and I grabbed one and wrapped it quickly around myself. I definitely wasn’t used to wandering around naked in front of a whole lot of people. They might not have been looking, but I still liked my security blanket of a towel.
How had the ancient Romans done it?
Then I remembered their public toilets—long benches with holes cut in them. If they could manage that side by side, then they definitely could handle a little public nudity.
As I headed into the first bathing chamber, Muffin trotted alongside me. No one complained, and he was a great bodyguard once the claws started flying.
I tried to surreptitiously check out the backs of the other women’s necks. Hopefully no one labeled me a creeper, but at least I was keeping my gaze above the shoulders.
A woman walked by us wearing a bikini. Swimsuits were allowed?!
Damn. Would have been nice to know that.
Muffin huffed. Look at her. She shouldn’t be out in a bikini.
I glanced down at the judgmental little cat. “She looks like an actual supermodel. Her legs went up to her neck, and her boobs totally defied gravity. Like spaceships.”
Exactly! Bad for my self-esteem. He wiggled so his little belly jiggled. I laughed, then turned my attention back to the hallway. We were almost to the first room.
I stepped through a doorway into a room that had a huge, round pool. Steps surrounded it on all sides, and women lounged around, talking and resting. A few swam in the middle, but most floated toward the edges, their arms resting on the side of the pool. The ceiling was domed overhead and painted with a beautiful forest scene.
I gripped my towel to my chest and sucked in a deep breath.
Funny how I could fight a dozen demons, but this had me nervous.
Culture was a weird thing, but hard to escape.
Have fun. I’m going to go lick my butt. Muffin trotted off.
I took off the towel and hung it up, then stepped toward the pool.
Hey, this wasn’t so bad.
Kinda freeing, actually.
I dipped my toe in and shivered.
The cold bath.
There was no way to avoid it, though. There were so many women in here. Over a hundred, at least. Their voices filtered through the charm at my ear, and I had to focus to separate them out.
Like Fabio had said, most of them were gathered in small groups, talking. I resisted touching the little charm that allowed me to hear them. Hopefully it would pass as an earring and not a listening device.
I submerged fully, then floated around the pool, trying to be sneaky about checking out the backs of other women’s necks. With my listening device, I caught snippets of conversation—gossip, lectures, and a few business transactions that sounded like they were worth a lot of money.
They sounded legal, though. Or at least not dangerous. The selling of massive quantities of a fish sauce called garum and a silver trade. There were a few neck tattoos, but they were the normal sort made of black or colored ink. No silver circles.
Shivering, I climbed out of the cold bath and grabbed my towel, then headed to the next archway. A mosaic sign above read Tepidarium.
Muffin trotted over to join me. I hope this one is warmer.
“Don’t get in,” I muttered. I could only imagine the response if the little gremlin jumped into the pool and started swimming around.