Page 25

CHAPTER 25

brIAR

I put a hand up to shade my eyes from the late-afternoon sun after I step through the portal. The stone pine trees that line the riverbanks still have their needles, even in the middle of January. They provide convenient cover for portaling so none of the humans see anything they shouldn’t. The last thing I need right now is to accidentally reveal that magic exists, freak out the humans, and have them start hunting us too.

Once Saint walks through and closes it behind him, I ask, “So where to now?”

Malachi rubs his chin, and I can’t help but notice it’s now covered with dark stubble that sharpens his already angular jawline. “That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?” Pulling out a neatly folded piece of paper, he glances down at a map of what scholars think ancient Rome looked like at the time of the Temple of Janus. “A good start is crossing the river.”

Malachi takes off through the trees, and I make a move to follow him. Before I can get very far, Bastian snags one of my hands and intertwines our fingers. Looking up at him in surprise, I see him smiling down at me. “It’s a lovely day for a stroll, isn’t it, pretty girl?”

I snort because nothing about this day is lovely other than the surprisingly nice weather. Whereas Wolves Hollow is rainy and cold, Rome is sunny and ten or so degrees warmer. It’d be a nice place to vacation in the winter, if the threat of the Knights killing us all weren’t hanging over our heads.

“It’d be a hell of a lot nicer if we were here for a different reason.” Xander’s gruff words echo my thoughts.

Bastian flashes his twin a grin. “Don’t be such a Debbie Downer, twinnie. We can enjoy the weather while we find what we need to kick some Knights of Aeneas ass.” While his words are upbeat, his emerald eyes shine with worry that he tries to hide.

Huffing a laugh, Xander just shakes his head at Bastian and reaches down to grab my other hand. With the twins on either side of me, Malachi in front, and Saint behind, I’m boxed in by my protective mates.

After we walk through the trees for a while, we come to a bridge supported by columns of cream-colored stone. It’s topped with iron lattice work and scrolled railings. Cars drive by in the middle as pedestrians meander across to the side.

Xander drops my hand as we walk two by two, with Malachi alone in front. We silently cross over the rushing water that has a yellowish cast that reflects green where the sun hits it. Once we’re across, Malachi hooks a left.

I try not to gawk at the beautiful city as we wander through. The mashup of ancient Roman, Romanesque, Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassical architecture is breathtaking. My head is on a constant swivel as I take in all the towering columns, shining domes, tiled roofs, and more.

After about a fifteen-minute walk, we arrive at a collection of ruins. The crumbling stone, half-destroyed columns, and plants growing where they shouldn’t give the whole place an eerie vibe. Combined with only a few people milling about since it’s not tourist season, the area feels like a ghost town.

Malachi twists back to look at me. “This is the Roman Forum, or what’s left of it at least.” As we walk through, he points out ruins like the Temple of Saturn and the Basilica Julia. We come to a stop in front of a crumbling brown stone wall with an arch that looks out onto a few broken columns. “This is the Basilica Aemilia. The Temple of Janus should be around here somewhere.”

I fish the key we found in the crypt out of my pocket and nervously rub the engraved surface of the brass between my fingers. We don’t even know if the map is still here, and I don’t know what to do if we can’t find it. “Should we split up to look for where it could be?”

Chuckling, Malachi steps up to me, forcing me to tilt my head back to meet his gaze. “There’s no way in hell I’m letting you wander around here on your own, baby girl.”

Rolling my eyes at his overbearingness, I sigh. “Fine. You and I can search together. Should the others split up to cover more ground?” The sun is already dipping low in the sky. Once night falls, it’s going to be even harder to find a temple that doesn’t exist anymore.

“I’m good with that, pretty girl. I’ll go check out the other fancy building across the way. Holler if you find anything.” Bastian spins me around and presses his lips to mine for a short, sweet kiss before bounding away.

“I’ll get the northern part if you want to get the southern areas, Saint?” Xander waits for Saint’s nod before he, too, swoops in for a barely there kiss. He then disappears in the direction Bastian did.

Saint’s mouth tips up in amusement. “Well, I don’t wanna be left out.” He tunnels a hand into my hair and takes my mouth in a lingering kiss. When he reluctantly pulls away, Saint spins on his heel and marches to the opposite end of the Forum.

I’m left standing there dazed from the very different kisses from three of my mates. Malachi’s husky laugh breaks me out of my haze, and my cheeks flush at him seeing how affected I am. Shaking my head at myself, I pick a direction at random and start striding over there.

Malachi catches up with me before I’m even halfway to the ruins of the basilica. He places a warm palm on my back as he guides me to the arch.

“Any idea what we’re looking for?” I ask as I squint at the stone, like if I stare hard enough, a neon sign that says map here will pop up.

He tips his head back to inspect the top of the arch. “Not really. I’d say just search for anything that looks out of place or stands out for any reason.”

I nod because I don’t have any better ideas. While Malachi’s scouring the arch, I walk around the front to see if there’s anything there, but something shimmering to the side grabs my attention. When I look at it directly, I don’t see anything. But when I glance at it out of the corner of my eye, it almost looks like bronze double doors with a garland hanging in front.

That’s odd and definitely out of place.

It’s either what we’re looking for, or I’ve finally lost the plot and am hallucinating random buildings. At this point, it could honestly go either way.

Deciding to check it out before I get anyone’s hopes up, I trek over the uneven stone and moss-covered ground to where I can faintly see the shimmer. As I get closer, I can feel the telltale electric charge of magic making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. This is definitely something.

“Malachi,” I call to get his attention.

His head snaps up and instantly finds me. When he notices that I’m a little ways away from him, he scowls at me. “I told you to stay with me.”

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “I’m, like, thirty feet from you. And I think I found something.”

Shaking his head at me, Malachi’s face is still twisted in displeasure as he starts picking his way to me. “Stay put until I get there.”

“I wasn’t planning to go anywhere,” I retort as I turn back to the weird shimmering doors. I take a step closer but still try to stay a safe distance away. Unfortunately for me, I trip on a bit of uneven stone and go flying. Putting my hands out to brace myself, I squeeze my eyes shut and prepare to face-plant.

“Briar!” Malachi shouts right as I should hit the ground.

Instead, I pass through something that feels like a cool breeze. My outstretched hands slam against smooth metal as my momentum stops. Blinking open my eyes, I’m startled to see that I’m in a room made completely out of bronze. The walls, ceiling, and even the floor are all the same yellowish-brown metal.

Wondering how I got here, I whirl around and see two doors that look almost exactly like the ones I saw before I tripped into a different dimension. Only I could manage to be so clumsy that I accidentally transport myself through strange magic to land wherever I am.

Clamping my mouth shut to prevent the slightly hysterical giggle at the absurdity of my life from slipping out, I go over to the doors and try to pull and push the handles. They don’t budge, even as I throw all my weight behind them.

Awesome.

Looks like I’m trapped in a random metal room armed only with a key and kept company by an odd two-faced statue. The bronze man doesn’t have two heads but, rather, a face on either side of his head. Both faces appear to be the same, so it’s odd that he has multiple.

If this is indeed the Temple of Janus, I’m guessing the bearded dude that the whole space is built around is Janus. The statue dressed in flowing robes with sandal-clad feet peeking out of the bottom seems about right for what I would expect of a Roman god.

Cautiously approaching the statue, I wait for something to jump out at me. When no traps deploy and no Knights pour into the building, I grow bolder and walk right up to the two-headed statue that’s a good three feet taller than I am.

Latin is inscribed around the base. Here’s hoping it doesn’t have any instructions, because I can’t even begin to read that.

For many reasons, I wish I had waited to trip until Malachi reached me. He’d know what the inscription says, and I wouldn’t be trapped in here alone. Plus, he’s going to be absolutely livid with me if I do manage to get out of here. Even though I didn’t mean to enter this weird pocket of existence on my own, I still ignored him and wandered farther away than he wanted. He’s so not going to care that I didn’t do it on purpose.

But that’s a problem for future Briar.

Right now, I need to figure out what I’m supposed to do with the key.

Since I have no idea, I go out on a limb and call, Hey, Dido?

“Yes, child?” she answers immediately.

Do you have any idea what I’m supposed to do in here? I spin around the room so she can look at it through my eyes.

Her brows scrunch in confusion. “Where are we?”

I laugh, the sound more unhinged than I would like, because that’s an excellent question. I have no idea. I tripped and fell into this strange bronze room. It might be the Temple of Janus.

Dido purses her lips and shakes her head. “I am sorry, but I do not know. I am not familiar with much of Rome and have never been to the Temple of Janus.”

It makes sense that the Phoenician queen doesn’t know much about Rome or their religion. I would probably avoid learning much about the culture of a man who killed me out of spite too.

That’s okay. I just figured I’d ask.

“If you need help shifting or fighting your way out, let me know,” Dido tells me before she fades away. I snort at her offer to help me fight my way out of things. Hopefully it won’t come to that, but it is helpful to have a badass goddess who can make me fight like I actually know a thing or two.

Sighing, I decide to inspect the giant bronze man. Circling the statue, I see no obvious keyholes. I begin to search the rest of the room, which only takes a minute because there’s nothing else in here. Not even an altar or a chair or a fountain. There’s not a thing besides me and the statue.

Blowing out a rough breath, I walk back to the two-faced guy. Since I couldn’t find anything by looking at him, I start running my hands over the base of the statue. While my grimy little paws rubbing all over it is probably horrible for a multi-thousand-year-old statue, I’m all out of ideas.

I’ve almost made it around the entire inscription when my fingers drop into a small divot with what feels like a hole in it. I bend down and squint at the metal, trying to see what I just felt. Hidden between two letters is a small vertical line that looks a lot like a keyhole.

Fishing the key out of my pocket, I take a deep breath and insert it into the metal. Nothing happens for a second, and I deflate. Then the metal starts screeching, the sound echoing in the empty room.

I reach up to cover my ears at the sound that’s worse than nails on a chalkboard. As I watch, the base of the statue separates just enough that someone’s hand can fit into it. Prying my hands away from my ears and hoping the god-awful sound stopped, I wonder why I’m always having to stick my fingers in strange hidey-holes I find in historic places.

Hesitantly reaching my hand in the dark chasm, I pat around until I brush against what feels like a scrap of paper. My fingers close around the sheet, and I pull it out. I don’t have a chance to even look at it before the world goes black around me as I fall through space.