Page 32 of Laverna

"Good. I'm glad you're finally acknowledging it. Let's call Hecate and figure out what the hell Canidia wants with the black stone. If she's going to have a way to try and control you, I need to lock you in a cage or something."

"Now, who is the kinky one?" Rom replied.

Laverna did her best to ignore him and called Hecate. She had always been a little intimidated by the goddess of the crossroads and had giggled like a crazy person when she had given her phone number to her.

"Laverna, I'm glad to see you looking so well," Hecate answered, her gorgeous face filling the screen. "Rom must have taken good care of you."

"The best care," Romulus said, giving her an absolutely filthy look that made Laverna's pussy clench.

"He's full of himself about it too. I need to ask your expert opinion on something," Laverna said and quickly explained the black stone. Circe and Medea both appeared while she was talking, which meant they must have already been hanging out with Hecate at her and Thanatos's house. Romulus moved back over while they were talking, and all three sorceresses beamed lovely smiles at him.

"Hi, Rom," they chimed.

"Ladies. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to talk to us about our little witch problem," he said smoothly.

"Don't encourage him." Laverna rolled her eyes. "You were saying about the poisons, Medea?"

The witch queen of Colchis nodded. "Look for the classic belladonnas like henbane and deadly nightshade. Yew extract and aconite. If they worked for them before, then there's no reason they wouldn't stick to their favorites."

"The stone theft is what troubles me the most," Circe said, cupping her chin thoughtfully. "Symbolically, it represents Rom, who they are trying to overthrow, so having something dedicated to his worship seems odd."

"Unless they are using it for a substitution for him," Hecate added, realization brightening her features. "That must be it. They would never be able to capture Rom himself to use in a spell to transfer the power. They needed something to act in place for the spell. Fascinating concept, but I'm not sure it would work."

Circe said, "They would definitely have to perform it in a place of power. Maybe something associated with Remus?"

"Remus wanted to build on Aventine Hill, so look in that area, perhaps," Hecate added.

A soft tap on the kitchen door interrupted them, and Roberto stuck his head in with an apologetic smile. "I hate to disturb you all, but I've just got an address where the thieves are holed up," he said and ducked out again.

"We will keep working on it. Keep each other safe," Hecate said and hung up.

Laverna laughed softly. "Give those women a problem, and they will argue it out until its completion."

"I'm glad they are on our side. An Aventine Hill location makes sense, I suppose. If they are trying to establish a new founding, then Remus did always want to build there," Romulus replied.

Laverna tapped her phone against her hand and jumped down off the counter. "I'm going to go introduce myself to some thieves and see where they dropped your rock off," she said and gestured at him with her head. “Are you coming, or are you just going to stand there and look pretty?"

Romulus's mouth twitched. "Why? Do you need me again?"

Laverna groaned. "Stay here if you're going to be a dick."

"Like I'm going to let you out of my sight again after last night," he replied, grabbing her hand and tugging her back towards him. She collided with his chest and then found she didn't mind having her face buried between his pecs.

"You're going to be stubborn about this, aren't you?" she said into his shirt.

Romulus tilted her face up toward him. "I can't risk Remus attacking you again. He already bit you once and is trying to claim you for his mate."

"I thought that he couldn't unless I agree to it as well?" she argued.

Romulus stroked his thumb across the curve of her cheek. "I don't know if the witches could force the bond. They brought him back from the dead, Laverna. We can't underestimate them."

"I'm not. They… They really scared me last night, Rom. Remus is not normal, and Canidia is far too confident." Laverna tilted her face into his palm and really hoped he didn't use admitting that against her. She didn't like to show weakness in front of anyone, least of all him.

Romulus seemed to read all of that in her face because his expression softened. "We stick together from now on. No matter what. If they would have captured you last night instead of just injuring you, there isn't anything I wouldn't have done to get you back."

Laverna's heart was in her throat again. "If you keep saying things like that, Rom, I'm going to be fooled into believing you actually like me."

"And if I do like you?" he replied.

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