“Something is wrong.”
William lifted his head, but he kept his hand where it was, angling it so he was cupping her over her underwear.
“What is wrong?”
She shook her head. “Not with me. With you.”
She plucked his hand from between her legs and cast it aside.
He tried to move closer but she kept him at bay with a hand over his heart. “This week you were distant and cold. Now you’re all over me. What’s happening?”
“Excuse me. I didn’t think I needed a reason to touch you.”
He withdrew immediately and adjusted his trousers, turning from her to tug on the cuffs of his shirt. His gold cuff links, which bore the symbol of Florence, glittered as he moved.
Instinctively, she touched her bracelet.
“William,” she breathed, her face crumpling. She turned away from him and wrapped her arms around her chest.
“There’s no avoiding it,” he mumbled. “I have to tell her.”
He wound an arm around her waist, resting his forehead on her shoulder, and heaved a great, shuddering sigh.
“I am undone.” His words were muffled against her dress.
“How?”
When he didn’t reply, she turned and touched his head. “I’m right here. Talk to me, William.”
He lifted his face, his expression tortured. “It will be a long conversation.”
“I don’t have anywhere else to go.” She scratched at his scalp.
“What about the celebration? You should be with your friends.”
“I am with a friend, I think.” She gave him a searching look.
“Then it’s best we leave.” He picked up her purse and her cane and extended his hand.
She took his hand, hopping inelegantly from the table. Without further explanation, William accompanied her out into the corridor and down one of the side staircases.
Once they reached the outside, he lifted her into his arms and began to run, gaining enough speed to scale a nearby building and ascend to the roof. From rooftop to rooftop he leapt, while Raven kept her eyes tightly shut. A few minutes later, he landed on a terrace on top of one of the structures near the Duomo.
He placed Raven on her feet.
“I don’t dare step on holy ground, not when the night has so many spies.”
She nodded her understanding. “Please tell me what’s wrong.”
William crossed to the edge of the roof and placed his hand on the stone battlement. He was quiet for a moment as he gazed out over the city he loved.
“I received a letter from your priest.”
Raven’s heart leapt into her throat. “What? Why?”
“Because you are with me. Did you really think he’d let you go? If he didn’t give you back to your mother the night he found you and your sister, why would he allow you to stay with a demon?”
“You aren’t a demon.” Raven’s tone was fierce. “He’s misguided. He thinks he has to save me. He wrote to me this week and asked me to come to Rome to work on one of the restoration projects in the Vatican.”
William turned his head. “It’s a ruse.”
That pricked Raven’s pride.
“Perhaps.” She shrugged.
“To you he offers the promise of a prestigious project. To me, he offers peace. If I deliver you to him, he will persuade the Curia to stay away.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because he loves you. Because he’s afraid for you. He thinks I’ll kill you, or worse, I’ll make you like me.”
The Prince gazed out over the city again, his body tense.
“Father told me he spoke with Cara. I’m grateful for that.”
“I’m glad for you, if it’s true.”
Raven stiffened. “He’s never lied to me. What did you tell him?”
William leaned heavily on the battlement. “I haven’t replied. That, in itself, is a kind of answer, but I doubt he’ll act preemptively. . . . I have been trying to figure out what I’m going to do.”
“What you’re going to do?” Raven repeated.
He continued to look out over the skyline. “Yes.”
“What about me? Shouldn’t I have some say about what happens to me?”
William’s eyes cut to hers. “I am responsible for my city and for you.”
She limped toward him. “I didn’t ask you to take on that responsibility.”
“You asked me to love you,” he said, reproaching her. “How can I love you if I don’t ensure your safety?”
Raven shut her mouth abruptly.
William ground his teeth. “The Vatican is the safest city on earth, at least from vampyres.”
“I don’t want to be safe from you.” She leaned on her cane, shifting her weight off her injured leg, which was beginning to throb.
William didn’t respond.
“Do you want me to go?” Raven’s voice trembled.
“No.” His grip tightened on the stones. “But what I want doesn’t matter. With one letter, he’s destroyed everything I’ve built.”
She reached out and grazed his sleeve. “You have to explain it to me, because I don’t understand.”
William flexed his arms, moving back from the battlement.
“If I deliver you to him, I shall lose you. He’ll deprogram you or whatever it is they do to those who were in thrall to a vampyre. You’ll forget me and he’ll ensure I never see you again.”
His expression tightened. “If you remain here, the Curia will come, if not for you then to ensure my reign ends. No single principality has ever been able to fight off the Curia. I’ll be destroyed and you’ll be rescued, if you aren’t killed by accident.”
She gripped his arm, leaning on him. “We can leave. We can flee the city tonight.”
He gave her a look that was grim in its resolution. “I can’t.”
“But they’ll kill you! If we leave, the Curia will stay away.”
“I won’t leave my people to be butchered. Even if I cared nothing for the city I have loved and ruled for centuries, I still wouldn’t leave. Your priest is determined to save you. He’ll hunt us. Eventually we’ll be found.”
“Isn’t there another city you can appeal to? Can’t the other principalities band together?”
“And risk massacres on their own city streets? No. There was a time when all the vampyres stood together. That was how we were able to broker a treaty with the Curia. But times have changed. Many of the covens are weak and all are selfish. No one will come to my aid. They’ll simply watch, relieved Florence is being attacked and not them.”
“So you’re just giving up?” She pushed him in the chest. “You can’t give up!”
William retreated a step, his eyes sparking in anger. “Tell me, if you’re so wise, what should I do? Kill him?”
“I didn’t say that. I don’t want you to kill him. I don’t want him to kill you.”
“But that’s precisely what will happen. One of us will die and it will likely be me.”
She searched his eyes. “I could go to him, beg him to leave Florence alone.”
“No. I don’t know what they’ll do to you.” He lowered his voice. “If you go to them, I may as well hand over the keys to the city. I’d rather find myself in hell than remain here without you.”
She looked down at her shoes. “I never believed in hell. But I’m beginning to change my mind.”
“Hell is knowing your fate and knowing there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it.” William pushed a lock of hair back from her forehead.
“Father Kavanaugh said he didn’t rule the Curia. He doesn’t think he has a lot of influence with them.”
A muscle jumped in William’s jaw. “That may be the case. But since the Curia is already interested in Florence, his pleas will not land on deaf ears. He’s given them a reason to march on my city, something they haven’t had since the old prince ruled.”
Raven turned her head and looked at the Duomo. She looked at the tiled
rooftops and buildings, the starry night sky, and the solemn structure of the bell tower that stood nearby.
“I’m not Helen of Troy. The Curia won’t wage a war with you over me, not when they risk worldwide panic and exposure. All we need is one bystander with a cell phone, and video of the Curia killing vampyres will be all over the Internet.”
“You underestimate their power.”
“I don’t care how powerful they are. They can’t control everyone and everything. War means exposure, for them and for you. That’s why Father wants me to come to him voluntarily. He doesn’t want a war any more than you do.”
William scowled. “I wouldn’t compare me to him if I were you.”
She lifted her chin. “I may not be able to choose my death, but I can choose my life. And I choose to spend whatever time I have left with you.”
“No!” he snapped.
She gave him a look that was more wounded than irritated. “Why not? Don’t you love me?”
He rubbed his chin roughly. “Of course I love you. That’s the point. I’m trying to save you. You could return to America. I could send for you when it’s safe to return.”
Raven watched him for a few seconds, the expression on his face, his body language, and the strange emptiness that filled his beautiful gray eyes.