Romulus turned a little in his seat to face her. The rain was coming down heavily again and they were trapped in a warm little pocket amongst the storm. Laverna's heart skipped a beat, but she blamed it on the caffeine rush.
"You need to reach out to your networks in the city. The witches might be keeping a low profile, but they can't be leaving no trace at all. They can't hide what they are, so there will be signs of them," Romulus said, and the muscle in his jaw ticked. "They targeted you first. I don't like that."
Laverna opened the paper bag and made a happy sound at the toasted panini inside. "They are bullies, so they go after who they perceive as the weakest. They fucked up thinking that hitting either one of us was a good idea."
"I don't suppose I could convince you to stay at one of my safe houses while we deal with this?" Romulus asked. His amber eyes skimmed over her face, and her neck heated.
Laverna stopped chewing. "No. I have safe houses of my own. I don't need yours."
"You can't blame me for asking," he said. "Either way, we need to work together on this."
"That might be tough, seeing how we hate each other." Laverna quickly bit into her panini to stop herself from talking.
"I don't hate you, goddess." Romulus smiled a little and watched her eat. "I just can't control you."
"And that thought just keeps you up at night, doesn't it?" she couldn't resist teasing.
Romulus's eyes dropped to her lips, and the air charged between them. "Amongst other things." He looked away from her and winced through another mouthful of coffee.
Laverna cleared her throat. "If it's really witches, we need to act fast. No matter what our personal shit is, Rome will suffer longer if we don't deal with the hags. Your alarms are already going off which means they must be planning something. We aren't that far from a full moon, and we all know they love it just as much as the wolves," she said, trying to overcome the jittery feelings inside of her. She didn't know how to deal with this new Romulus who talked about things, bought her food when she was cold, and admitted that he didn't hate her.
"So we have a truce? You tell me what you find, and I'll do the same?" he asked and held out his hand.
"Truce," she replied and put her hand in his. It was so big and warm that her cooler palm fit perfectly in it.
Romulus shook it once and let her go. She had accidentally smeared melted cheese on his thumb, but he only licked it off without complaint. Heat pooled low in her core, and she swallowed hard.
No, she really had no idea how to handle this new side of Romulus at all.
6
Laverna spent the rest of the night trying to catch up on all the things that needed her attention. Spending the day with Romulus had left her behind, and with so many mouths to feed and mischief to cause, she was left scrambling to get it all done.
"Nice shirt," Roberto commented when she finally made it to dinner. There was a soup kitchen that they left open in one of the old chapel areas in the catacombs, and Laverna liked to eat there at least once a day.
Roberto was handsome but had a lean, shifty look about him, which made people underestimate him in every way. He was a demon with daggers but wasn't quick to use them. He was as close to a second in command as Laverna had.
"My other one got wrecked, so I took what was available," Laverna said. She had been too busy to take off Romulus's black shirt, the red wolf logo reminding her of the way he nuzzled her in the field.
Laverna got herself a tray of food, and they sat down at one of the long tables. Roberto joined her, producing a bottle of wine from his shoulder bag and setting it between them.
"Tell me, boss. How bad is it?" he asked.
"Bad," Laverna said around a mouthful of fresh bread. "Witches bad. They haven't been back to Rome in a really long time, and if they are the same ones, we are in double the amount of shit."
Roberto nodded, taking the information on board. It took a lot to shock him, which was why Laverna liked him so much. Roberto didn't know how to panic.
"Okay, witches. What do you need me to do?" he asked.
"I need you to look and see if we have any reports of missing children under the age of ten. I also need any information on women in the city selling love potions. Any of that twin flame, capture your true love nonsense," Laverna replied and had a mouthful of the wine.
"That could be a long list. What else?" Roberto pressed.
"Grave desecration and robbing. They were always big on that shit," Laverna ran a hand over her face in frustration. "I know we might get a million reports, but we might not. The witches used to offer their services to rich and poor alike. They would help you poison your husband or help you steal one from someone else. They could raise the dead, promising to give your loved one back, and then the thing they brought back would kill the family. The witches would move into the house and take the family's stuff. They cause problems and heartache, and they do it all for profit."
Roberto nodded and finished off his minestrone in silence. He was absorbing and processing, and Laverna let him. She liked that he could be silent. Her brain was on fire and had been all day.
Romulus admitted things weren't right with him, and she had seen a fresh vulnerability in him that she didn't know what to do with. One of the things that had always pissed her off about him was that he was always so powerful, confident, and in control.