to return, Cadan had felt compelled to do so. When he’d stood across from Diana in Esha’s flat earlier today, he’d realized why.
She was his heart.
He’d been stupid to ever think, no matter how briefly, that he could stay away from her. Diana drew him toward her like a dying man to his last sight of the sky. But the way she’d looked at him when he’d said that all he’d wanted to do was protect her...
“Gods damn it.” He pounded on the door again. They’d been standing here five minutes and he was starting to wonder if this was hopeless when the door swung open to reveal a scowling Esha.
“Hold your horses, damn it,” she said irritably. “What are you doing here?”
“Are you joking? I’m here for Diana,” Cadan said.
Esha raised a brow. “Any idea how she feels about that?”
“Doona care.” He pushed past her into the room. “Are you all right?” He directed the words at Diana, who stood near the couch.
She glared at him. He’d take that as a yes.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, running off?” He was at her side in a moment, running his hands over her, checking for injuries while she struggled to pull away. Relief that she was unhurt washed over him and he released her when she started to struggle.
“What I’m supposed to do! Trying to save Vivienne and stop that bastard Gaius Suetonius Paulinus.” The gleam of battle lit her eyes as she squirmed out of his grip.
“What?” It had been centuries since he’d heard the name of the Roman general. Millennia, even. And who the hell was Vivienne?
“Who is Gaius Sue Whatever?” Esha asked.
“Gaius Suetonius Paulinus. The man who killed my daughters and destroyed my home. I killed him when I was Boudica.”
Cadan’s fist clenched. He remembered the bastard well. The one who’d taken everything from him. Not only Boudica, but his family too, years earlier when Paulinus had burned his village, Camulodunum.
“And the boy who sat against the tree? Maximus?” Esha asked.
“I killed him, too.” Diana sat hard on the couch, a vacant look in her eyes.
“Oh.” Esha blanched.
“I killed a lot of people.” Her voice was scratchy. “The boy followed his father everywhere. He was being groomed to take over and he was there when Paulinus killed my daughters. He was also on the battlefield when Paulinus came for me. So I killed him when I killed his father. Now, he wants to get out of Erebus.”
“What the hell do you have to do with that?” He didn’t want her anywhere near Paulinus, and it shone in his voice.
Diana’s eyes met his. “What don’t I have to do with that? He. Killed. My. Daughters. And I’m the one who sent him to hell. With his son.” She looked ill. “I killed anyone who got in my way after they killed Aela and Calea. I don’t regret most of it.”
“Just the boy,” Esha said.
Diana nodded, looked down at her hands.
“That’s it, then,” Esha said. “Paulinus could sense you because you killed him. Or your soul, rather, sent his to hell when you killed him as Boudica. Souls are powerful. By killing him, you probably linked the two of you together. At least in a small way. You’re his link to the outside world and I bet that’s why he wants you. It’s why we had a hard time leaving, too. Your soul was attracted to his.”
“I don’t get it,” Diana said. “Why is the portal threatening to open here? Why not in Italy, if it’s the Roman hell?”
“For the same reason that the university is here. Arthur’s Seat has the most magical energy of anywhere in Europe. The boundaries between earth and the afterworlds are weakest here.”
Diana buried her head in her hands. “What am I going to do? And why does he have Vivienne?”
“I don’t know about Vivienne,” Esha said. “She could be bait, a mistake, maybe even involved somehow.”
“Vivienne?” Cadan asked.
Diana briefly explained her friend’s abduction to him. “But she’s not involved. She was teaching my classes. Maybe the demon abductors got confused. So you think he’ll try to use me to get out?”