Page 23 of Laverna

Laverna tried to push herself back from underneath it, tears streaming down her cheeks as ichor poured out of her. The wolf's jaws clamped down on her shoulder, and she screamed again as it shook her violently. Pain seared her through her veins, and for the first time in her existence, she wondered if she was about to die.

"Enough! Come! It is not the time," Canidia called from high on the walkways.

"You will be mine now," the wolf snarled before leaping away.

Laverna tried to blink the rain out of her eyes. Her whole body was burning in agony. She could lift one hand just enough to fumble for her phone. Ichor was running into her hair and the grass underneath her.

Can't pass out. Have to warn Rom. With her vision tunneling, Laverna tapped on his number. Her hand went numb, and she dropped the phone on the grass. She dragged her body toward it.

"Laverna? Laverna?" Romulus's voice shouted through the phone.

"Rom... Rom...listen. They are working together," Laverna sobbed.

"Tell me where you are," Romulus replied, his voice rising in panic.

"It's Remus...Rom…I need to tell you that I…" Laverna managed to gasp out before the pain tore through her again, and all was darkness.

15

Rom paced out the front of a Carabinieri station on the Via Leonina while Cluadius finalized his meeting with their contacts. Rom had been too agitated and had been making everyone uneasy, so he had gotten up and left halfway through it.

He hated being separated from Laverna when their enemies were hunting them. He had offered to go with her—the archaeological park wasn't far from where they were—but she refused. She had people to see and claimed none of them would talk to her if he were there. He hated that she was right.

Rom knew she wouldn't be willing to come under his protection, but that didn't mean he liked that she had gone off on her own. One warning glare, and he had shut his mouth because fighting with her wouldn't solve anything. It never had because she always did what she wanted anyway.

Rom looked at her number on his phone for a full minute before putting it away and taking out a cigarette instead. Apart from the occasional cigar, he rarely smoked, but after dealing with Laverna's indifference in the kitchen, he had made Claudius pull over so he could buy a packet.

"Can I borrow a light?" a young woman with blue hair asked.

Rom gave it to her, and as soon as the flame illuminated her face, he knew her. "Sagana. Bold of you to approach me like this."

The witch only blew smoke at him. "I come with a message. If you kill me, you will never find your wolf."

Sagana had always been Canidia's partner in crime, and if anyone knew what the fuck she planned, it was Sagana.

"Better hurry up and give it before I change my mind and just kill you," he said and had another drag of his smoke.

Sagana pointed at the glowing sign on the building beside them. "Right here in front of the Carabinieri? I doubt it, Romulus. But you are right—time is not on your side right now because she is probably already dying."

"Who?" he growled.

Sagana smiled. "This is the message I bring to you from my mistress, oh king of Rome. Your days of ruling are over. The power of the city will now be passed to a king and queen who will raise it up from the ashes that you have let it become. The city bond will be given to one that can hold it, and you will die. It is time for the witches to rule. You will die, and the goddess of the underground will be the new king's mate."

Rom swiped out to grab her, but she danced out of his reach, her body already fading into shadows. "Enjoy death, King of Wolves."

Rom tried to take hold of her again, but she vanished, and his hands gripped only smoke.

"Fuck," he hissed. He grabbed his phone to ring Laverna when it started vibrating in her hands. She was calling him. "Laverna? Laverna?"

"Rom...Rom...listen. They are working together."

She sounded like she was crying, and Rom's vision tinged in red. "Tell me where you are."

"It's Remus...Rom… I need to tell you that I."

"Laverna! Laverna!" Rom shouted, but there was no reply. He could hear the rain and nothing else. "I'm coming. I'll find you!"

Claudius came out of the station with a worried expression. "Rom, what's happening?"

---