* * *
Victoria’s first glimpse of Rome caused an unexpected shiver along the tops of her shoulders. As she looked upon the city of so much history, she felt a sense of foreboding prickle her, as though the sight of the city portended some catalyst of which she was ignorant.
But when the wagon that had brought her and the others from the port of Ostia finally stopped and she alighted, Victoria didn’t feel the sensation, nor the trembling of the earth underfoot that she might have expected when stepping into a place that burned with such a sense of prophecy. She merely felt that her consciousness would be overwhelmed by the sounds, the smells, the sights of the streets…of Roma.
Despite the lure of the city, Victoria didn’t have much opportunity to enjoy or experience it. Within a day Aunt Eustacia had her settled in a small town house with Oliver and Verbena and a retinue of Italian staff, approximately fifteen minutes from where the Gardella matriarch herself was staying. As in Venice, Victoria and Aunt Eustacia had deemed it prudent to keep their connection under wraps.
Victoria didn’t know where Sebastian had gone.
They’d seen each other only at meals after their mock sword battle and tête-à-tête confessions, and he was nowhere to be seen when Victoria and her retinue disembarked from the ship back in Ostia. He had apparently found other means of transportation into the city.
She was content not to see him, for she wasn’t sure how to react to his announcement. What did it mean that he’d lost his father to the vampires? Had he been killed by them? Or had the senior Vioget been turned into a vampire? It was also possible, she supposed, that his father was a member of the Tutela. That could explain why Sebastian knew so much about them.
That made the most sense. It would account for how he’d gotten involved with Polidori, and how he claimed to know where they would be meeting here in Rome.
He made no contact with Victoria for three days after they arrived in Rome, leaving her to wonder if they’d come here only to be manipulated by Sebastian. But then on that third day, he sent a message indicating he would call in the afternoon.
She was waiting for him in the parlor. She would have mistaken the tiny room for a broom closet if it hadn’t been for the two chairs and small table that made it what the Italians who’d let the town house to her claimed to be a parlor. Whatever it was, it was much too small for her and Sebastian. She felt the room condense when he came in and closed the door behind.
“I presume you’ve spent the last three days working very hard to establish the clandestine location of the next Tutela meeting, and determining the best way to sneak me in,” was how she greeted him. She sat, despite the fact that he remained standing, making the room feel even smaller.
His eyebrows drew together but his words were drier than chalk. “Now, whatever would have made you think that? I had other business to attend to, acquaintances to call upon, an opera to see, and the Trevi Fountain to drop in a coin for a wish. But in regards to the Tutela meeting, yes, indeed, you shall be attending. I hope your calendar is free tonight.”
“I had box seats to the opera myself, but I shall forgo them in lieu of going with you to the meeting, of course. Duty before pleasure.”
“Not in my book.”
Before she could fathom what he was about, he came in toward her and closed his hands over her shoulders, pressing her into the high-backed chair and clamping her in place with his fingers curling over the top. He bent to kiss her, covering her mouth—which had opened to protest in surprise—with his as he slid his knee onto the cushion next to her skirt.
Her face tipped up, the high center of the chair digging into the back of her skull as she welcomed his kiss with lips that parted more to taste him. She felt the bulk of her hair, pinned up behind her head, loosen with every movement of her head as it scrubbed against the wood frame and velvet upholstery, and the sharp poke of two pins as they dug into her scalp.
A warm, languid feeling coursed through her limbs, and she sighed into his mouth. He tasted as golden and warm as he looked. His knee in the chair next to her had her tipping slightly to the side, leaning against its solid weight, her left hand brushing against the hem of his trousers.
He pulled his mouth from hers and pressed sliding kisses along her jaw toward her ear. He was definitely breathing deeply, and his fingers had closed more tightly over her shoulders, but with one last buss at the corner of her jaw, he stopped. Leveraging himself off the chair, he looked down at her and said, “That is payment in kind for your little display after our swordfìght.”
She didn’t have to ask what he meant. Her heart was beating much too hard in her chest, and she felt warm and damp everywhere.
“I’m fully prepared to go to whatever lengths you wish to go, and when you decide to, Victoria. The only thing holding us back from what we both want is you.”
She nodded. It was true. And she wasn’t even sure why she was holding back. Goodness knows, she wasn’t innocent, and she had most certainly enjoyed making love with Phillip. But he was gone, and she had little pleasure available to her in this life.
“Now,” Sebastian said, as though the interlude had never happened, “we must talk about the Tutela meeting. There is a gathering tonight that is more of a social event but will include many of the Tutela members. It is not a meeting or ritual, but Conte Regalado, one of the more prominent Tutelas, is hosting it as a way to recruit more followers.”
“I’d like to go.”
“I was certain you would. They are heavily recruiting, Victoria, and there’s almost an edge of hysteria and panic to their need for more. I believe whatever it is Polidori learned from his interaction with them has something to do with this need for more members. They are preparing for something—probably the activation of Akvan’s Obelisk.
“The event tonight is held under the guise of the unveiling of Regalado’s latest portrait—he fancies himself an accomplished artist. There will be Tutela members there, and they’ll be searching for opportunities to lure interested parties to their cause, so a few words dropped here or there will certainly be to your advantage. I believe he will be welcoming visitors as of eight o’clock.”
“I’m certain if I ask how you obtained all of this information, you won’t tell me.”
“You continue to impress me with your intelligence, determination, and needless virtue.” He looked at her pointedly for a long moment, causing a warmth to rush over her bosom and up into her neck and cheeks when she read the blatant message in his eyes: Blast virtue!
“You will attend with me, then?” she asked when she had to tear her eyes away.
“Actually I will not. It would not be prudent for me to be there tonight—Tut, tut! Don’t ask why, my dear. A man must have some secrets.”
‘‘Some secrets? Sebastian, there is nothing about you that is not secretive.”