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  How the hell did I preserve the drop-off and not die at the same time?

  I sprinted around the pool, naked as a jaybird and way too close to getting hit in the face with my own boobs. I dodged another woman, darting around a group of naked grandmothers, then leapt over a bench.

  Muffin was nowhere to be seen.

  Could I get them alone and capture them? Force them to do my bidding?

  I glanced back. They neared me. There was a green glow around the dark-haired one’s hand. That looked bad.

  It smelled like death, and probably would go a long way toward delivering it.

  Ah, shit.

  Add running for my life, naked to my list of problems. I darted behind a column, panting.

  To the left, a blast of green light plowed into the tiled wall. Shards exploded outward. I ducked, covered my face. The tiny ceramic slivers sliced my arms and legs, but I barely felt it. When the worst was over, I peeked. A hole had appeared in the wall, about three feet deep.

  Shit.

  That woman had some serious magic.

  Could my weakened shield stand up to that?

  No.

  And I definitely couldn’t capture them. I was way overpowered.

  A shriek rent the air, sounding like the depths of hell had made a baby with a cat.

  I peered around the column.

  The place had exploded in chaos. All three of the Cats of Catastrophe had arrived. Bojangles was rampaging, his goofy smile wide as he stirred the patrons into a frantic race. Princess Snowflake III had leapt on the dark-haired woman and was going for the throat.

  Don’t kill her!

  I didn’t dare scream it—I didn’t want them associating me with these insane beasts, though that may have been a vain hope.

  Princess pulled back, her fangs glinting.

  It was as if she heard me.

  Thank fates.

  Muffin hurtled along the ground, then leapt into the air and plowed into the other woman’s belly. She crashed backward, arms flailing.

  I had an advantage now. Should I try to capture them?

  Oh fates, I had no idea.

  A dozen burly women rushed into the room, each one wearing a uniform that looked like an ancient Roman version of the police. Their hard eyes swept the room.

  My dark-haired nemesis spotted them, her eyes flaring wide. She looked at her friend, who was fighting off Princess Snowflake III, red scratches covering most of her upper body. “Chloe! We have to split!”

  They didn’t want to get caught by the police.

  Which meant I probably didn’t want to either.

  Chloe threw off Princess Snowflake III and ran for it, darting toward the far exit. The other woman followed.

  If I went after them, I’d have to run right by the guards.

  Too risky, especially since I didn’t know what I’d do when I caught them.

  So I slipped out the side entrance, my heart pounding. I couldn’t go to the dressing room—that was way too far away, and the guards stood between me and it. Magic sparked around them—no way I could get past all twelve.

  Cover me! I asked the cats, hoping they could somehow read my mind. Or read the situation, at least.

  Bojangles was still going wild, tearing down every towel and knocking every bottle of lotion off the shelves. Normal cat stuff, basically. It was highly effective.

  I found a spare towel and wrapped it around myself, then tried to find my way out.

  The baths were a maze, and I slipped through a garden and past a public restroom. It was in the ancient Roman style—just one long bench with multiple holes. There were a couple ghosts inside, each sitting on their throne, but no living humans. A ghostly quartet was in the middle of the bathroom, playing a cacophonous melody.

  So weird.

  “You! Stop!” The voice sounded from behind me.

  I glanced back. Guard.

  I picked up the pace, racing through the rest of the baths, darting into the men’s by accident, then veering out just as quickly. By the time I lost the guards and found a side exit, I was sweating and panting.

  So much for getting clean at the baths.

  The alley was dark and quiet, and I leaned against the wall, desperately trying to catch my breath.

  Holy fates, that had been wild.

  A demanding meow sounded at my feet. I looked down.

  Muffin stood there, glaring. He had one of my boots gripped in his jaws. At his side, Bojangles held another boot. Princess Snowflake III had brought my T-shirt.

  Just my T-Shirt.

  Was that intentional?

  Whatever. “Thanks, guys.”

  Fortunately, I’d shoved my socks into my boots, so my feet were comfortable once I’d pulled those on. Then I tugged on my T-shirt and wrapped the towel around my waist.

  “How do I look?” I asked the cats.

  They looked at me dubiously.

  “Lovely,” Lachlan said.

  I turned to face the exit. Lachlan stood there, perfectly dressed and looking too damned good.

  “I take it you had some luck?” he said. “I saw you dart into the men’s caldarium.”

  “I had some luck. You?”

  “Just seeing you in your towel. Which I count as fairly lucky.” His cold eyes weren’t so cold anymore. In fact, heat burned in their depths. The grin that softened his lips made me want to lean up and press my lips to his.

  Bree was so wrong about him being cold. “Let’s go before we get caught. I can tell you what I found when we get back.”

  He nodded, and we hurried through the darkened streets of Pompeii. Fortunately, we met no trouble as we made our way back.

  Fabio hadn’t waited up for us, but the servant who opened the door got me some fresh clothes. At least I made a habit of not carrying identification with me, so there was nothing of value left in my jeans and leather jacket back at the baths.

  Quickly, I changed into the new jeans—which fit amazingly well, surprisingly—then I joined Lachlan out in the sitting room where the servant had brought food and wine.

  Exhausted, I flopped down and picked up a glass. I sipped, then scowled.

  “It’s the old style,” Lachlan said. “Not to my taste, either.”

  “This is what they drank in ancient times?”

  “Yes. Fabio is a purist. Now tell me, what did you find? Because there was nothing in the men’s baths.”

  Nothing but a whole lot of naked Lachlan.

  Which was really not where my mind should be going.

  I ate a bite of bread and cheese as I tried to recall exactly what the women had said. “I didn’t see their silver circle tattoos, but they mentioned you by name. And said it was hard to outsmart you and your goons.” My brows dropped. “Presumably I’m one of your goons.”

  “You make an excellent goon.”

  I wanted to chuck my piece of bread at him, but my tiny well of manners stopped me. This place was way too nice for me to be throwing food. “Anyway, there’s going to be a drop-off at a port tomorrow night. They’re making a portal, and I think the boss is coming to pick up the spell. A sorcerer had it, but now it’s going to its final destination.”

  “Which port?”

  “The one at Pompeii?”

  “Pompeii used to have a port, but no longer. The sea line has changed. Now it’s just grass near some tourist shops.”

  “Hmmm. Crap. Not Pompeii’s port, then.” Disappointment filled me.

  “At least they’re unlikely to move the location of the drop. If they never said which port, they’ll probably doubt you can find it.”

  “If they thought I was looking. They were just suspicious. They didn’t have any confirmation of who I am or what I’m after.”

  “So we should try to find out which port and ambush their drop-off. It may be canceled, but probably not.”

  “I bet it’ll have extra security, though.”

  “Which means we should probably have some backup.”

  “We can ask m
y sisters. And Caro, Ali, and Haris.” I frowned. “But first, we should find out which port. I’ll call them. Maybe someone else found a clue.”

  He nodded. “Good.”

  I touched my fingertip to the comms charm. “Bree? Rowan? Any luck?”

  “What’s up?” Bree sounded like she’d just finished running a marathon.

  “You okay?”

  “Just polished off some demons. Getting my exercise in.”

  “You and Rowan safe?”

  “Better than safe. We might have a clue.”

  “Had to kill some demons to get it, though,” Rowan said.

  “Ain’t easy without magic,” Bree added.

  “What’s your clue?” I asked.

  “Found a mage with a silver circle on the back of his neck. He had a plane ticket to Rome, scheduled to leave tomorrow morning.”

  “Oh, interesting.” My mind raced. Rome had to have a big port, right? “That helps.”

  I told her everything we’d found.

  “Excellent,” she said. “We’re headed back to the Protectorate now. I’ll ask Jude if any other teams have found something.”

  “You read my mind. Thanks, guys.”

  “Always,” Rowan said. “We’ll call by tomorrow morning, all right? Hopefully we’ll know which port by then.”

  “Perfect.” I hung up and looked at Lachlan.

  “That’s some good family you have there.”

  “I’m lucky.” I ate a grape and watched him, realizing that I knew so little. “What about you? Family? Friends? Anyone you want to call in to help us tomorrow night?”

  He shook his head. “I work alone. Besides Decker, who helps me occasionally. But as you know, he’s not available.”

  “Trying to survive an abduction. Right. Of course.” I wanted to ask about family again, but he’d avoided the question. Mildred the ghost had said he had none, so the question was probably better saved for another time. “We’ll be fine with this team. And with any luck, we’ll catch them in the act. Get the spell, save your friend, and retrieve our magic.”

  “You don’t seem to be too uncomfortable without your magic,” he said. “It’s not all gone, is it?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe the curse missed me.”

  His brows lowered. “What are you?”

  “I’ve told you that plenty of times.”

  “A garden variety shield mage?” He shook his head. “You’re not. Even if you had no other magic, you’d be special.”

  “Yeah?” I had to admit that I didn’t hate hearing it.

  He moved closer. “Aye.”

  I drew in an unsteady breath. Was he flirting with me? Or trying to get info? Either way, I kind of liked it.

  But he was dangerous.

  The thing was, I didn’t really care right now. In fact, I liked it.

  I leaned toward him, drawn by the softness of his lips. His cheekbones were sharp as glass, and his eyes hot as molten metal. The scent of him wrapped around me, capturing me in a haze of desire.

  Lachlan leaned toward me, seeming pulled by a force that he couldn’t fight. His gaze dropped to my lips.

  I didn’t know who moved first, but in half a second, we were pressed together, his mouth hot against mine. His strong hand cupped the back of my head, and I pressed myself against him, lining my curves up with his harder angles.

  His lips were hot and fierce on mine. He kissed as if he were starving, as if he hadn’t felt the touch of another in years. He devoured me, making my mind spin and my skin heat.

  I moaned against his lips, and he murmured my name.

  There was so much desperate want in the single word that I knew it would be imprinted on my mind forever.

  No one had ever wanted me this much.

  I sank my hands into his hair and licked his lips, trying to get as much of him as possible. He groaned, a raw sound that ripped through me. I was about to push him down on the seat when he pulled back, his gaze torn.

  “What’s wrong?” I panted, trying to catch my breath.

  He looked like he was in agony. “We have to stop. We work together.”

  What?

  Oh crap.

  He was right.

  My cheeks burned, even as everything in my body screamed at me to kiss him again.

  “We can’t do this.” Gently, he let go of me and stood. His hands fisted at his sides, as if he ached to touch me again, but couldn’t.

  He was right. Wasn’t he?

  Either way, this was clearly over for him.

  I stood abruptly and nearly tripped over the seat. My face flamed. “Of course. Right. Bedtime for me. See you in the morning.”

  I fled the room, but my narrow escape felt more like a defeat than a victory. What had just happened?

  11

  My comms charm blared to life the next morning, Bree’s voice interrupting a wildly inappropriate dream about Lachlan.

  “Ana? You there?”

  “Yeah.” I wiped drool off my face and rolled over, falling out of the unfamiliar bed and landing splat on the rug. “Ow.”

  “Are you okay?” Worry sounded in Bree’s voice.

  “Fabulous. Just grace incarnate, as usual.”

  “You fell out of bed?”

  Aching, I climbed to my feet. “Nailed it in one. But enough about my glory. Did you find any more clues?”

  “Caro did. She was tracking a group of transport mages who said the word Civitavechia.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Google says it’s the biggest port near Rome.”

  “Bingo.” Between my clue about a meeting at a port, my sister’s clue about Rome, and Caro’s clue about Civitavechia, we’d figured this out. “Teamwork for the win.”

  “My kind of victory. Will you head back here first?”

  “I don’t think we can waste the transport charms. If you’ll bring me a change of clothes, we can meet at Civitavechia. But we’ll need a team.”

  “Definitely. I’ll talk to Jude."

  “It’s got to be a huge port, right? If it serves all of Rome.”

  “Yeah. What are you thinking?”

  “I think you should bring the buggy. We’ll need it to cover ground fast. Rowan should be done with the engine by now, and I just repaired the stealth feature last week.” We’d need to be able to move silently if we wanted to succeed. And if I were being honest with myself, I wanted to get back on the buggy. I missed it.

  “Without our magic, we’re going to need every advantage we can get,” Bree said.

  “Seriously.” And if we didn’t find the answer about the curse when we found the missing spell, we’d be well up a creek.

  Later that afternoon, Lachlan and I arrived at Civitavechia. We hadn’t spoken about the kiss. It was as if it had never happened. Except for the fact that I replayed it in my mind, over and over. But if he was going to pretend it hadn’t happened, so was I.

  Easier said than done, however.

  Civitavechia was about three hours away by car, so we’d managed to save his last transport stone by borrowing a vehicle from Fabio. It was no buggy, but it wasn’t bad. I wasn’t the type to complain about a Lamborghini, after all.

  Fortunately for me—and unfortunately for Lachlan—I had driven.

  He climbed out, slightly shaky and pale, and met my gaze. “I’ve fought a dozen demons at a time and scaled El Capitan without ropes, but that was something else entirely.”

  “Aw, don’t say my driving scared you.”

  “Your driving would scare Hercules himself.”

  I laughed. “I like to go fast. You weren’t in any danger.”

  He grinned, and I kind of wanted to jump on him. “Aye, you’re a good driver. But you don’t like to go fast. You like to go insanely fast.”

  He wasn’t wrong.

  I inspected the parking lot that I’d chosen—an old employee lot that seemed to be infrequently used—then locked the car and hid the keys under the front wheel so that Fabio could retrieve it.


  We hurried toward the meeting point in the southwest corner near one of the large docks. Bree had used a map on the internet to choose the location, and as expected, she waited there with Rowan and her boyfriend Cade. The buggy sat next to them, beautiful in all its intimidating glory.

  Their eyes brightened when they saw me. I grinned.

  Cade, who was about the size of Lachlan, towered over Bree. His magic smelled like a storm at sea and sounded like clashing swords—appropriate for a Celtic god of war. He was one of the few earth-walking gods, and he wore his power comfortably.

  My gaze darted between him and Lachlan. Did Cade realize that Lachlan had been impersonating him?

  He didn’t seem to, and Lachlan didn’t seem bothered. I’d be nervous. But not Lachlan. He just stuck out his hand and introduced himself, comfortable as could be.

  “Was it hard to get the buggy here?” I asked.

  “We had to hire a transport mage since all of ours are affected by the curse,” Bree said. “But it worked.”

  “Thank fates.” I petted the front bumper, admiring the repairs I’d made recently.

  “I’d think you were happier to see the buggy than us.” Bree grinned.

  “Never!” I threw my arms around her neck and smacked a kiss on her cheek. Then I pulled Rowan in.

  “Enough, enough!” Rowan pulled away.

  Shoot. I’d forgotten how easily startled she could be after her time in captivity.

  “Sorry,” I said.

  “Don’t worry about it.” Rowan turned in a circle to inspect the port, shrugging it off. “This place is massive! It’s like a city in itself.”

  She was right. There were dozens of massive docks, thousands of shipping containers piled up like towers, and cranes everywhere. It was a nautical industrial mishmash. The place was closing down for the night, but during the day, I had a feeling the sound of new construction was cacophonous.

  Bree held out a plastic bag. “A change of clothes.”

  “Thank you.” I took it gratefully, then found a quiet corner between some shipping containers. It smelled a bit weird, but it did the job.

  Once I was changed, I returned to my sisters. They were interrogating Lachlan, while Cade watched with a grin on his face. He’d once been interrogated and passed. Is that what Rowan and Bree were thinking? That Lachlan would become my Cade?