The Roman (The Florentine 3)

“No.” Raven swallowed hard. “I need to do it. Just—just give me time to figure out how.”

William winced. “I failed to protect you both. I am sorry.

“But we don’t have much time. The Curia will have heard about the attempted coup. I need to prevent them from marching on my city.”

“How?”

“By asking for the support of the one person the Curia won’t wage war against.”

“Who’s that?” Raven asked.

“The Roman.”

Raven passed a hand over her eyes. “What about Cara?”

“The sooner she returns to America, the better.” William turned to Cara and switched to English. “We are going to Rome.”

Cara rushed forward. “I need to go back to Florence to find my fiancé. I don’t have time to go to Rome.”

“We are leaving now.” William’s tone brooked no argument.

Cara gave her sister a challenging look.

“We can’t travel back to Florence by ourselves; William needs to go to Rome.” Raven stood unsteadily.

The Prince wrapped his arm around Raven’s waist, since she was without her cane, and helped her to the door. Cara followed them into the hall.

As they moved down one of the darkened passages, he spoke to Raven again in Italian. “I don’t think the boy suffered.”

Raven peered back at her sister, who eyed the two of them curiously. Her heart sank.

“He was good to her. She loved him.”

William gazed down at her in distress. “You mourn him.”

“I do. He was her world. She’ll be devastated.”

“What are you saying to each other? What’s going on?” Cara crowded them.

William ignored her, still speaking Italian to Raven. “If your priest is as good as you say, he could help your sister return to America.”

Raven tripped over her feet, stumbling in the darkness.

William lifted her into his arms.

“I can walk,” she protested in English.

“We are in haste, and you’re without your cane.” William increased his pace down the dark corridor.

“She’s not an invalid.” Cara trotted after them. “And I’m still waiting for someone to explain what’s going on.”

“Just a minute, Cara.” Raven turned to William, addressing him in Italian. “You want to hand my sister over to the Curia?”

William stopped, his expression dark. “I was hoping we could make arrangements to take her to your priest. If what you believe about him is correct, he will protect her. While she’s with the Curia, she won’t be prey to vampyres.”

Raven searched his eyes. “But you told me they erase memories.”

William continued walking. “They erase memories having to do with vampyres.”

“But what about—”

“Your priest wants both of you. I’m more than willing to deliver your sister, but he won’t be satisfied with that. I need to ask the Roman to support my decision to keep you.”

Raven drew a shaky breath. “What if the Roman refuses?”

“Then it will be up to you.”

“I won’t leave you.”

William’s expression was grim. “If we lose the Roman’s support, nothing will prevent the Curia from marching on Florence.”

Raven grabbed his shoulder. “Then we run away. We go somewhere they can’t find us.”

“You are a lark that deserves to be free. Not a fugitive.”

Raven placed her hands on his cheeks, forcing him to look at her. “I want to stay with you. No matter what.”

He searched her eyes. “I cannot abandon my city. I’ve seen the devastation of Prague. I can’t allow that to happen to Florence.”

“No one wants a war. There has to be a way to avoid it.”

“I wish I could believe that.” William captured her lips with his.

“Okay, if you guys would stop kissing, we could get this show on the road.” Cara sounded impatient. “And speak English.”

“William is doing his best to protect us. I need to talk to you.” Raven paused, struggling with the weight of the news about Dan.

At that moment, an Umbrian soldier materialized through one of the doorways.

William snarled, and the soldier made a hasty retreat.

Cara scowled at her sister. “Your boyfriend is an animal.”

Raven sighed. “You have no idea.”

Chapter Eighteen

“CARA.” Raven took her sister’s hand. “There’s something—”

“You really think they’re vampyres?” Cara interrupted, scanning the supernatural figures that stood several feet away.

The detachment had taken a short rest just outside of Rome, so the sisters could speak privately. Earlier, William had dispatched one of the soldiers for Florence, ordering him to notify Gregor that the Umbrian army stood on the border. The soldier was also instructed to conceal William’s whereabouts.

“Yes, I do.” Raven sandwiched her sister’s hand between both of hers. “Cara, I—”

“They look human. Obviously when they picked us up and started running, I realized they weren’t. They can’t all be Olympic sprinters.” Cara looked at her sister curiously. “How exactly does one become a vampyre?”

Raven’s gaze flickered to William, who was engaged in an intense conversation with the others.

“He explained it to me once. Dark magic is involved, but it’s like transubstantiation.”

“Good grief. As if anyone can understand that.” Cara flopped on her back underneath a tree. “You say your boyfriend is the one who kidnapped David?”

“Yes, I explained that already. Cara, you need to listen to me. I—”

“Why would he care about David?”

Raven moved closer, lowering her voice so the soldiers wouldn’t hear. “He loves me. I told him what happened to my leg, and he was angry. He said he’d give me justice.”

Cara’s eyebrows shot up. “Is he a vigilante or something?”

“Something like that.” Raven rubbed her forehead distractedly. “Didn’t you hear about what happened to David? Mom said it made the news in Miami.”

“You talked to Mom?”

“I was worried about you. You weren’t answering the landline at your house, so I called Mom. She said David’s arrest in California made the news.”

“I don’t remember.” Cara closed her eyes for a few seconds. “It must be lack of sleep. And I have a splitting headache.”

Raven touched her sister’s face, smoothing the hair back from her forehead. She knew Cara’s loss of memory was related to ingesting Aoibhe’s blood. But she didn’t have the heart to tell her.

She changed the subject. “I wanted you to make the decision about what to do with David. After we fought, I told William to send David back to California. He was arrested and led the police to a pedophile ring.”

“Back to California?” Cara rolled to her side. “So David was here? In Italy?”

“Yes.”

“That must have scared the crap out of him.” Cara paused, running her hand along the grass. “If I’d asked for a different outcome, what would you have done?”

“I would have given it to you.”

“Anything?”

“Anything,” Raven spoke without hesitation.

“Why?”

“Because I love you. Because you’re my sister.”

The words hung in the air between them.

At length, Cara broke the silence. “I wonder if I would have behaved the same way if I were the older sister.”

“Of course.”

“Not of course.” Cara flipped her long, blond hair behind her shoulder. “Most people only worry about themselves. You’ve always worried about everyone else.”

Raven avoided her eyes.

Cara continued. “I’ve always known that if I was in trouble, you’d help me. Apart from Dan, you’re the only person I trust.”

“Thank you.” Raven’s voice cracked, her eyes filling with tears.

“Don’t cry, sweetie.” Cara smiled and touched her sister’s face. “I’m sorry I flipped out on you. Dan is sorry, too. That’s why we came to see you. I don’t understand why your vampyre boyfriend won’t let us go back to Florence to help Dan.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. William had news.”

Cara sat up. “Of Dan? Is he okay?”

“He was badly injured.”

“I know that.” Cara dusted grass off her clothes. “That’s why I need to get to him.”

“Cara, Dan’s injuries were really severe. When the ambulance arrived, they tried to revive him and—”