Praetorian Series [4] All Roads Lead to Rome (42 page)

“You knew we were here?”  John again.

“Not until thirty minutes ago.”

“What about the answers you mentioned?”  Helena asked, clearly impatient.

He frowned but nodded.  “Few, but enlightening and… disturbing.  Let us wait until we are all convened before I speak of them.  Until then, tell me, how is my father?  Is he well?  I did not see him at the gathering.”

My mind tripped on his question, not immediately knowing who he was referring to, but then it hit me.  As my mind took a sudden break from reality, so too did my legs stop working, and I almost tripped.  I’d completely forgotten that Vincent was Titus’ stepfather, a stepfather so close they may as well have been blood related.

Titus had no idea what had happened to him yet.

I felt like an idiot for stopping like I did, realizing that it had to look immediately suspicious, and I felt horrible that I may have already caused the young boy to worry.  I was about to speak up, blurt out something to cover myself, when Helena came to my rescue by placing a hand on my shoulder.

“Why don’t you and John go on ahead?  Let the others know Titus and I will be along shortly.”

I nodded, silently thankful that Helena had covered for me and was prepared to break the news to the boy.  It had been a stupid mistake on my part.  The last thing I wanted to do was make the inevitable news worse by acting like a fool, so before I made things more awkward than they already were, I looped my arm through John’s and hurried away before I had to hear the sad news, months and months old, but news all the same to a young man who was about to lose his father.

***

Our safe house wasn’t very far, but still I felt the need to quicken our pace and get there as quickly as possible.  Safety in numbers appealed to me right now.  It was easier to hide among fifteen rather than four, and most of the others were far closer to Titus than I was, so responsibility to comfort him would fall on someone else. 

I wasn’t even sure why I felt so responsible, maybe only because Jacob was my brother, but even he wasn’t completely at fault.  It was the orb’s fault.  But it wasn’t always so easy to accept that, especially with the painful truth that I too could succumb to its influence if I wasn’t careful.  I still wasn’t sure where Archer kept the second orb, but I didn’t feel any different currently, so I assumed it, and I, was safe.

For now.

I shuddered as I held onto John’s arm.

The idea of turning into what Jacob had turned into was terrifying.

“Something wrong?”  He asked, sensing my discomfort.

I looked at him.  “I don’t envy Helena right now.”

He frowned and looked back at the road.  “I haven’t envied her in months.”

I frowned too.  “That might be the dourest thing I’ve ever heard you say.”

“Yeah,” he responded.  “Me too.  Let’s just get back to the safe house.  I’m sure somebody is there that I can make fun of.  That’ll cheer you up.”

I almost smiled.  “Thanks.”

He patted my arm and pulled me along, but we had already reached the crossroad that would take us up one of Rome’s numerous hills and deposit us into a trade district.  The road was surprisingly steep, and even had shallow steps crafted along its left bank for those unable to plod their way up the ramp.  For a moment, I considered using them myself, but figured the exercise would help clear my mind.

We reached the top, but instead of continuing forward down the district’s main road, wrought with shops and stores along either side, we took a quick left down another street.  At the end we found our safe house, Marcus still working the shop.  He looked bored and tired, no surprise since all of Rome had been too busy the past few hours to do much shopping, but he waved at our arrival and perked up at the sight of us.  John waved back, and when they came within handshake distance, John and Marcus performed an intricate duet of hand gestures, bumping and slapping each other’s hands before finishing by wiggling their fingers at each other as they pulled their hands back to their shoulders.

Typical…

When they were finally finished, Marcus swept his arm toward the curtained entranceway, beckoning us in.  “Everyone besides Helena has returned before you, and you will never guess who arriv…”

“Madrina,” John said.

“How did you know?”

“Helena’s with Titus.”

“Ah,” Marcus uttered, but then realization hit him.  “Oh…”

“Yeah,” John agreed.  “He’ll be okay.  He’s a tough kid.”

“He is.  Now, please, go inside.  I have fruit to guard.”

“Have fun with your melons,” John said with a smirk, pushing through the curtain while I followed.

Once inside the atrium, we found the others scattered throughout the pristine garden, most chatting with one another, all of them with drawn looks on their faces.  No surprise there.  John and I found a stone bench that was surprisingly comfortable after being on my feet for a few hours, and I surveyed the room again, noting two absences.  The first was Gaius, but he’d mentioned that he was going to question some of his fellow Praetorians for information after the announcement. 

The other had no excuse that I knew of.

“Where’s Jeanne?”  I asked.

I heard a snort of amusement from beside me and turned to see James laying in a narrow bed of grass, his ankles crossed and his hands propping up his head.  “Where do you think the big lug is?  Think about it…”  I didn’t need to think long, and I felt my face blush, causing those around me to chuckle, including James.  “Don’t worry.  For giants, he and Madrina are as quiet as wee kittens when they’re having it off.”

I cringed, not really wanting to think about it, but then TJ spoke up, dispelling the image from ever taking shape.  “Speaking of giants…” he said, sitting to my left on the marble floor that wrapped around the tiny oasis, his rifle in pieces and laid out beside him on a large blanket.  He had a greasy rag in his left hand, getting ready to clean the innards of his killing machine, or so months with these people suggested to me.  “…Nobody mentioned a nine foot tall god being a part of all this.”

John hooked his thumb in TJ’s direction.  “What this guy said.”

“Nobody mentioned all this parallel worlds bullshit either,” Georgia said as she patrolled the perimeter of the garden, always one to counter something TJ said, “yet it’s also an issue.”

“The problem,” Alex Cuyler started, sitting on his haunches and leaning against a wall, “is that this was originally a rescue and reconnaissance operation.  Save Jacob and gather intel on Agrippina for when Galba showed up and…”

“… and,” James interrupted, “something tells you it’s not going to be that easy with a nine foot tall god shagging Agrippina every night, am I right?”

Alex didn’t answer.  I guess he didn’t need to.

“Then what do we do?”  I asked, probably the only one in the room willing to ask since my role in whatever we decided would likely be negligible.

“We stick to the plan.”

The voice was Helena’s, even though I hadn’t seen her return yet, but when I turned my head I saw her push through the curtain with Titus just behind her.  I looked at him but immediately wished I hadn’t, as his downtrodden face was all the evidence I needed to suggest that Helena had already told him about Vincent.  His face was hard, his mouth turned downward, and his eyes cast directly at his feet as he followed Helena, and he didn’t look up to greet anyone. 

For our part, no one stepped up to welcome him either.

“Just like that then?”  John challenged but then he immediately sighed.  “Look, Helena, this is fucking
Remus
we’re talking about here.  I mean… I shouldn’t believe it.  There’s absolutely no reason I should.  Everything tells me
not
to believe it.  But I do.  My first goddamned instinct is to believe it.  That nine foot tall guy we all saw is Remus… and for all I know he really is a god.  Who the hell knows anymore?”

Helena moved deeper into the room but stayed out of the garden, crossing her arms while Titus stepped up beside her.  She opened her mouth to speak but then a new voice spoke up.

“Which makes it even less likely that Jacob is still alive…”

It was Archer’s.  Of course it was Archer’s.

I shot to my feet angrily and searched for him, finding him in a doorway that led to one of the numerous back rooms.  He leaned against the doorframe, his hands in his pockets, and his left foot propped up by its toe behind his right leg.  The casual way he was standing there sent me into a bit of a rage, and I moved toward him, my index finger flinging out in his direction.

“You don’t get to say that!”  I yelled, only a few steps away before I was close enough to punch him, but I was pulled back by Alex, who had moved from his nearby corner to intercept me.  I struggled against him as I found myself falling deeper into a frenzy.  “If not for you, we wouldn’t even be here!  Jacob wouldn’t be here!  Everything would have been different!”

“Artie…” the voice again was Helena’s.

“No!”  I yelled, whirling around to face Helena now.  “Months ago you would have killed Archer for even suggesting that!  Where’s that anger now?  Where’s that passion to rescue Jacob, no matter what stands in your way?”

“Artie…” Helena said again, shaking her head for a moment before stepping through the garden to stand in front of me.  She placed her hands on my arms and looked at me, her face, surprisingly, full of support.  “You happened to me, Artie.  You convinced me that cooler heads will prevail.  I’ve in no way given up but I’ve learned to control the recklessness.  I thought that you would have had it under control from the very beginning…”

I sniffled, but there were no tears, just more anger.  “I guess I’m pretty good at hiding how I fell about things.”

She almost smiled.  “If only Jacob was so good at…”

Another interruption broke in.

“Except,” Titus said from his original position, “Archer may be correct.  Jacob Hunter may be dead.”

Helena turned, her eyes no longer compassionate, but burning the same as mine.  “What?”

“I saw him,” Titus answered.  “Weeks ago.  He and Agrippina were not difficult to notice, so I tracked them.  He seemed very different when I first attempted to make contact, extremely volatile, agitated, distracted, so I kept my distance.  And then he disappeared the first time.”

“Disappeared?”  I asked.

“The first time?”  Asked Helena.

“Yes.  One afternoon, he simply disappeared when he was attacked by a woman who seemed as large and strong as Bordeaux.”

I looked at him with furrowed eyebrows.  Boudicca maybe?  Had she actually found Jacob and fulfilled her promise to protect him?

“What happened?”  Helena demanded.  “Exactly.”

Titus shrugged.  “He and Agrippina were circling the Palatine Hill.  Nothing seemed odd although I did not know why.  At one point, Jacob Hunter fell to the ground and struggled for almost a minute just to rise to his feet, but I couldn’t determine why it had been so difficult.  Seconds later, he seemed to see something where nothing was.  He then vacated the area but returned soon later, heavily burdened by gear and weaponry.  He then stepped toward his spot of interest, and then the woman attacked him and they disappeared.  Eleven days later, he returned, but he wasn’t alone.”

“The woman,” I asked, “did she have bright red hair?”

“She did,” Titus confirmed.  “But he returned with others as well.  Agrippina was with him, although I hadn’t noticed her disappear.  Once Jacob Hunter had disappeared, she immediately left the scene, and I never saw her return, although I wasn’t able to watch the area at all hours of the day.  I was lucky to have caught their return at all.”

“Let me guess,” John started.  “Remus was the other guy.”

“Yes, although I did not know who he was at the time.  I was too frightened by his appearance to even consider it.”

“What happened next?”  Helena asked.

“The second disappearance.  Jacob Hunter, Remus, Agrippina, and the other woman disappeared again with a large contingent of Praetorians.  When they returned, they appeared atop the hill, and while I was only able to see them from a distance, I knew he and the other woman weren’t with them.”

“You’re certain?”  Helena asked.

He nodded.

“Then how did they return?”  I asked.  “It seems likely that Agrippina needed Jacob for all this time jumping, maybe even parallel world hopping, so how were they able to return without him.”

“There were two other people that returned with Remus and Agrippina instead…” Titus started before trailing off, as though nervous about what he was going to say next.

“Who?”

It didn’t matter who said it exactly, because I think just about everyone in the room had uttered it in tandem.

“Two men,” Titus finally continued.  “One was an elderly man who appeared quite frail.  The other was a man who appeared a twin to Remus.  He… I think he
was
his twin.  I think Remus returned with his brother, Romulus.”

Silence.

Lots of silence.

Then John broke it.  “This shit just keep piling up…”