Inferno's Kiss (42 page)

Denial scraped at every one of her senses as the word
traitor
whirled its way through her head. It wasn’t possible. She would have known.
Fuck
, her mother would have known. The man had been a part of their family since she was old enough to walk. It just wasn’t possible. But everything pointed to it. The ring, his injuries that were superficial at best, his appearance here in Rome without her mother. None of it made sense.

As she stared at Ignacio in horrified silence, her chest hurt as if someone had ripped her heart out. In the back of her mind, Dante’s thoughts brushed against hers. It was clear he sensed something was terribly wrong, but she pushed him out of her thoughts and blocked him from probing deeper. If what she feared was true,
she
would be the one to take Ignacio’s life. No one else.

“Didn’t you hear what I said?” Ignacio’s voice was harsh as he took a step toward her. Cleo recoiled from him, and Ignacio’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re a liar,” she rasped. “A liar and a traitor.”

Unfazed by her words, he studied her in silence with a cold, stony expression on his face. “A traitor is someone who betrays his own people. I’ve not done that.”

“What the
fuck
do you call this?” She spat out the words as she gestured angrily at the carnage surrounding them.

“Necessary.”

“Necessary?” she whispered as bile rose in her throat.

The denial she’d been struggling with evaporated as she absorbed his brutal, matter-of-fact response. How could he admit his guilt so calmly and without any evidence of remorse? He’d betrayed the Order. Her mother.
Her
. A knot developed in Cleo’s throat, making it difficult to breathe as she struggled with the scope and depth of Ignacio’s treachery.

“Yes. Necessary,” he snarled. “The
Tyet of Isis
document was a threat to the Collegium. I couldn’t let it remain in Sicari hands. I never condoned this slaughter. This was Nicostratus’s doing.” The last part of his statement barely registered with her.

“The
Collegium
? You stole the document just so you could give it to those fucking Praetorians? Why?” Her throat scratchy from unshed tears, she stared at him in horror. He’d betrayed them. Betrayed
her
.

“Because I’m not Sicari.” The grimly spoken words only served to add to the turbulent emotions stampeding their way through her. “For more than thirty years I’ve pretended to be one.”

“How in the hell can you pretend to be a Sicari?”

“It was quite easy.”
His words pierced her thoughts easily.

“But your telekinetic abil—” A light pressure encircled her throat to choke off her words, and for the first time fear spiraled through her.

“I’m not anywhere near as strong as Vorenus or others of my kind, but it was enough to deceive members of the Order.”

She clawed at the invisible grip around her throat as Ignacio’s cold words filled her head. Her fear made her vulnerable and allowed Dante to break through her mental block, his thoughts a reassuring caress.

“It will be all right,
carissima
. I’m coming.”

Dante’s promise drifted into the background as Cleo struggled with a new torment. The man she’d revered as a father wasn’t even a Sicari. The realization reemphasized her sense of being an outsider. Everything Ignacio had said and done from the time she was a child had been built on a lie. It was all lies. It was as if someone had come along and ripped her entire childhood away from her. For the first time, regret crossed his face as he shook his head.

“That is the one thing that wasn’t a lie,” he said quietly. “You are the daughter I never had, and if your mother had loved me, I would have willingly betrayed my vow to the Collegium for her. For both of you.”

“You sorry son of a bitch.”

She leaped forward and delivered a hard blow to his solar plexus. He grunted before his fist connected with her jaw. Stunned, she stumbled backward, the salty taste of blood filling her mouth.

“Don’t make me hurt you, Cleopatra.” He drew his sword as regret darkened his face once more.

“Why did you come back?” She spat blood from her mouth as she glared at him, her hate smothering the pain of his betrayal.

“For my ring. You might not believe me, but it means something to me.”

“You’re right. I don’t believe you,” she said in an icy voice.

The words were barely out of her mouth when she sensed Dante. A calculating look crossed Ignacio’s face before an unseen hand grabbed her braided hair and yanked her toward him. Pain ripped at her scalp as she instinctively fought to twist free of Ignacio’s invisible grasp, but her futile attempts only made her head hurt worse.

A strong hand combined with the unseen force twisted her around until her back pressed into Ignacio’s chest. With his arm locked around her, he pressed the sharp edge of his sword into her throat. The moment Dante charged into the room, Cleo’s senses reeled with the strength of his emotions. His anger, fear for her safety, and a helpless indecision she knew was unfamiliar to him crested over her. The moment her gaze locked with his, her heart ached, because she realized she’d caused this to happen. She’d taken away the one thing he’d fought to preserve. His ability to distance himself from his emotions in a crisis situation was in jeopardy because of her.

Chapter 22

DANTE straightened from checking yet another lifeless body on the floor, this time a young
Vigilavi
. The girl couldn’t have been much more than sixteen, her life ended by a slit throat. He was beyond fury. Every part of him longed to find the nearest Praetorian and slowly carve the
bastardo
up for the atrocity he’d found here in the Order’s Rome facility.

Although the installation was only a quarter of the size of the
Absconditus
, the silence was a tangible sensation on the skin. It cried out murder in a way that was only surpassed by the deaths of the innocents at the convent. But this time there were no miracles to be had. A sudden sharpening of his senses made him grow still as Cleopatra’s fear swept through his head. He immediately strode out of the room and down one of the facility’s many hallways. A couple of quick turns later, he saw Cornelia hurrying toward him.

“Where’s Cleopatra?” He didn’t even try to hide his concern. His
Praefect
’s eyes were reassuring and sympathetic as she raised her hand in a placating gesture.

“She’s fine. I wouldn’t have left her if the main entrance wasn’t secure. She found a warrior who’s still alive, and I’m looking for Noemi. You know my telepathy skills aren’t the strongest.”

Dante nodded and concentrated his thoughts on reaching the healer in the building. He had barely brushed Noemi’s mind to summon her when he sensed a change in Cleopatra’s emotions. Fury, disappointment, pain, and other feelings clamored like a warning bell inside his head. He tried to enter her thoughts, but she pushed back, shutting him out. He jerked his head toward Cornelia.

“Something’s wrong,” he snarled. “Are you certain the front door was secured?”

“Yes, Mario was the last one through the door, and I made sure the alarm was set.” Cornelia’s expression was one of confusion as she met his gaze. “The only person who can get in here is either a member of the installation or one of the
Prima Consul
’s senior officers.”

For a moment, Dante considered that possibility. Again Cleopatra’s emotions crashed through his head. This time her fear was so strong that he was able to see what she saw. Although he didn’t recognize the man she was confronting, he could tell the man was someone she knew and trusted. No. She no longer trusted him.
Christus
, the son of a bitch had her in a telekinetic choke hold.

“Bring Noemi to the front hall.
Now
.”

Dante didn’t bother to explain his command as he darted past Cornelia and raced toward the main entrance. His heart pounding with fear, he reached out with his thoughts to touch Cleopatra’s mind.

“It will be all right,
carissima
. I’m coming.”

Her thoughts were chaotic and incoherent, and it was impossible to tell if she’d heard him. It was even more difficult to understand what he was seeing in his head. The fact made him run even faster. In the back of his mind, he remembered his responsibility to protect his people equally and without favoritism. But his fear shoved the thought aside. All he knew was that the woman he loved was in trouble, and he wasn’t about to let anything happen to her.

As he pounded his way down the hall that led to the entryway, Cleopatra’s fear became an anguish that terrified him.
Deus
, if someone were hurting her . . . He flew through the open doorway of the entryway, his boots slipping on the blood-soaked marble floor. Effortlessly, he regained his balance and came to a halt just inside the room to see Cleopatra held hostage with a sword at her neck.

His initial reaction was to reach out with his thoughts and yank the blade away from her throat. Nothing happened. Stunned, he stretched out his hand and gestured at the deadly weapon to fly out of the man’s hand. Again, nothing happened, and unfamiliar threads of panic twisted their way through his body. The stranger smiled pleasantly at him.

“No need to worry. You’ve not lost your powers. I happen to possess some abilities such as yours as well.”

Dante steeled himself not to react to the man’s congenial tone, but his insides were coiled as tight as a spring ready to be released. Jupiter’s Stone. The man was a Praetorian Dominus. How in the name of Juno had he gotten into the installation? He stood silent as he assessed the situation, the indecision sweeping its way through him a foreign emotion.

He’d been in plenty of situations such as this, and not once had he ever hesitated to take action. That was until now. His instincts made him want to charge forward and kill the
bastardo
threatening Cleopatra, but he didn’t. He couldn’t risk her safety. Cleopatra’s gaze met his, and the moment her eyes darkened, Dante knew she understood his indecision. A soft fluttering against his thoughts made him realize she was trying to reach out to him with her thoughts, and he opened himself up to her.

“Don’t let him use me against you. The preservation of the Order and the Absconditus must come first.”

“I’m not going to lose you.”
He met her gaze with determination as he saw a stubborn expression sweep across her face.

“Dante Condellaire, meet Ignacio Firmani,
Celeris
to the
Prima Consul
, but most important of all, traitor to the Sicari Order.” Cleopatra’s words sounded like icicles snapping off an icy roof before they crashed to the ground. Her expression was cool and composed despite the frenzied emotions he sensed flowing inside her. Then the full impact of her statement slammed into him.
Celeris
to the
Prima Consul.

“
Sweet mother of the gods
,” he breathed.

As
Celeris
to the
Prima Consul
, the man was privy to almost as many secrets as the Sicari Lord himself. He had clearance to access any Sicari installation in the world, except for one—the
Absconditus
. Dante struggled with the knowledge that the Collegium had a mole so high up in the hierarchy of the Order. How much damage had been done and for how long?

To be chosen
Celeris
was a sign of trust, and it was a job rarely given to someone who wasn’t well known to the
Prima Consul
. Sorrow making her face pale, Cleopatra looked like she was fighting back tears. Clearly, Firmani’s betrayal was a crushing blow to her. If the man had served as her father figure, his treachery would be all the more heartbreaking. And what of the
Prima Consul
? Was it possible she was a part of something Marcus wasn’t even aware of?

“No. Atia didn’t know any more than Cleo did.” Firmani snarled, and Dante couldn’t be sure whether the man had read his mind or if his expression had given away his speculation. “Neither one of them are responsible for anything I’ve done.”

“At least you have the balls to admit that.” Cleopatra’s vicious disgust was evident in her response, and Dante reached out to her with his thoughts.

“Jupiter’s Stone, Cleopatra, will you shut the fuck up? The man has a sword to your throat. Don’t give him a reason to use it.”
His harsh mental command made her narrow her gaze at him, and despite the glare she sent his way, he knew she would do as she’d been told.

“Condellaire?” The
Celeris
said his surname with a note of curiosity as he eyed Dante carefully for a moment. “I didn’t realize Lysander had a brother. You look like him. Or at least the way he used to look until Nicostratus got ahold of him.”

“I don’t have a brother,” he said harshly. His gaze flickered toward Cleopatra as her amazement flooded his senses. Did she actually believe Firmani? Impossible.

“Think what you like, but I know Lysander too well not to recognize a sibling of his. The resemblance is striking.” Something about Firmani’s pragmatic tone sent a chill streaming through him, but he ignored the sensation as he stared at the man.

“Let Cleopatra go, and I give you my word that I won’t stop you from leaving.” Dante deliberately closed his thoughts off to prevent the traitor from realizing that Cornelia and Mario were racing toward the front hall.

“We both know I can’t do that.” The
Celeris
shook his head. “At least not until I’m safely out the door.”

“Do you really think you’re ever going to be safe?” Cleopatra asked in a flat voice. There was a haunted look in her eyes that made Dante’s body go hard with tension. She was clearly on the edge, and the thought of her doing something reckless scared the hell out of him.

“A comment worthy of the woman I raised as my own,” Firmani said with pride, but his grasp on her didn’t ease.