Page 11 of Laverna

Rom growled a low and angry snarl that did nothing to alleviate his frustration. The sooner he killed the fucking witches, everything would go back to normal, and he would be fine. The wolf inside of him only huffed in amusement.

8

Laverna spotted Eris sitting at their favorite café on the Viale Vaticano and people watching. It was a short distance to the entrance of the Vatican Museum, and the lines were already stretching down and around the corner.

Eris liked to languish in the chaos of tourists, but mostly, she liked to seduce the young and handsome priests who also frequented the café.

She had always told Laverna she loved corrupting them the most because so many were left in such turmoil afterward. It was sex and a power charge all at once.

Eris didn't seem to have seduction on her mind because she was dressed toned down in black trousers, a button-up shirt of purple silk, and a leather blazer. She was still stunning though. Her long raven hair piled up effortlessly, and her dark eyes lined like those of a sexy Egyptian pharaoh.

"Behaving yourself today, sister?" Laverna greeted her and bent down to kiss both her cheeks.

Eris smirked. "As much as I can." Her curse meant that she caused chaos wherever she went, whether she wanted to or not.

Laverna looked around at the busy but relatively calm café. "You are doing a good job of it."

"It's why I was in Egypt. Isis has been looking into the curse for me, and I've managed to build up my control of it for two hours before fights break out around me," Eris replied, her eyes brightening.

Laverna reached across the table and squeezed her hand. "That's great news! I'm so glad you are trying to find an answer for it again."

Eris let out a sigh. "Well, I started talking to people again, didn't I? Hades has been letting me stay in Elysium whenever I need to have a break because my curse doesn't work in his realm. Hermes can't resist a challenge, and he's already working on Dionysus's curse, so he's studying mine too. Thoth and Isis got involved, and now I'm having to work on my issues whether I want them to or not."

"La nostra famiglia." Laverna laughed loud enough to make heads turn. "You have to love their enthusiasm."

They ordered Spritz and pasta, and it wasn't until they had their drinks that Eris's expression turned serious. "Okay, Laverna, tell me about Rom and the witches."

"Both are trouble." Laverna recapped the past few days, starting with finding the bodies of her murdered people and ending with the update that Romulus had given her. She left out the part about him going wolfy because she felt like that loss of control was told to her in confidence, and she didn't think he would want anyone to know about his weakness. It was a miracle he had told her.

Eris ordered another round of drinks. "It's nice to see you and Rom playing nice with each other for once, despite the circumstances."

"I don't know if what we are doing is what I would consider playing nice," Laverna said vaguely, poking at the piece of orange in her drink. Heat burned on her neck at the space where he had kissed the day before.

Eris snorted. "I've said it more than once, but you two really need to fuck and get it over with. You both would feel a lot better."

"Yeah, never going to happen," Laverna said a little too quickly. "My standards are too high, and I'm the only woman he's never wanted."

"Ah, huh. If you two would stop bitching at each other for five seconds, you might see how much you are alike," Eris replied with a roll of her pretty eyes.

"You are such a liar." Laverna laughed. "Stop trying to cause chaos and eat your fucking ravioli."

They ate and turned the topic to Eris's work with Isis on controlling her curse. Laverna's mind was still on what she had said about her and Romulus being alike.

Preposterous. If that were the case, they wouldn't have been at each other's throats since the moment they met.

Stop thinking about throats. The sooner she forgot what had happened in the mud the day before, the better. Romulus getting dirty played havoc with a part of her she wasn't going to acknowledge.

"I'll put out my feelers and see what I can find out about witch activity, but I won't stay in the city. Rome can't handle my curse and witches right now. Not to mention whatever is happening between you and Rom," Eris said as Laverna walked her back to her car. Eris hugged her tight. "Don't get caught by the witches. I've seen what the humans did to Medea, and I couldn't handle anything like that happening to you or Rom."

"Don't worry. We will have each other's backs on this, just like last time," Laverna assured her and grinned. "If anyone is going to take Romulus apart, it's going to be me."

"I bet he will enjoy every minute of it too." Eris's smile was so wicked a cyclist crashed into a pedestrian beside them. The chaos wasn't Eris's fault, but it still made Laverna laugh every time.

"Get out of here before you make the traffic in the city worse than what it already is," she said and waved her goodbye.

Laverna's phone buzzed, and she fumbled for it in her pockets. She huffed out an annoyed breath when she saw it was Rom again.

Did the Vatican survive you two?

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