Page 60 of Vesuvius

‘Coincidence,’ Loren admitted, hoping torchlight concealed his fluster.

‘Thought you didn’t believe in those.’ Felix hitched his shawl higher on his shoulder.

A man’s loud laugh echoed through the temple, Pompeii pressing on, as always. But this time, the energy had shifted in a way Loren couldn’t pinpoint. Even though Umbrius had ended the ceremony, high-ranking men lingered all over, murmuring in clusters. Agitation coloured their voices in a way Loren had never heard.

Partially hidden by the column wasn’t good enough. Eyes and ears were everywhere.

‘You shouldn’t be here,’ Loren whispered. ‘Someone could see.’

‘Embarrassed to be spotted with me? Worried I might damage your reputation?’

‘I’m worried aboutyou.You’re meant to be lying low. Surely this can wait.’

Across the courtyard, Umbrius cracked open a barrel of wine. Now was Loren’s opportunity to talk to him about the helmet. About his visions.

‘Not this.’ Felix’s stare pierced Loren to his core. ‘I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t important. I found something that will change whatever you’re planning. About Julia. And –it.’

Wine cascaded from the barrel, pooling ruby on tile, and nervous mutters turned to cheers. Umbrius toasted the sky and threw back a swallow. Loren was torn. Julia had done exactly as she promised: granted him the opportunity he desperately craved. He’d be a fool not to take it. But Felix had come here, despite the risks, despite his distrust of temples. He’d sought Loren out. For once, Felix wanted to help Loren’s search for answers rather than hinder it. It startled Lorenhow frightened that made him, but his choice, when it came to it, was no choice at all.

Tomorrow. Loren would find a way to speak with Umbrius tomorrow, away from shaking ground and watchful eyes. Felix needed Loren now. The rest could wait.

As he beckoned Felix to follow, a flash of movement caught Loren’s attention. From the next column over, Celsi was dashing for the exit, but skidded to a stop. Suspicious eyes landed on Loren, then snapped to Felix.

‘Celsi—’ Loren started, but it was too late. Celsi fled.

‘That’s the little boy Aurelia is friends with,’ Felix said. ‘I ruined their game of marbles. Do you think he heard much?’

Loren shook his head, even as his tongue dried. ‘Come on. Tell me outside.’

Surely they hadn’t said anything implicative. He didn’t know about any marbles game, but something in the way Celsi had stared at Felix made Loren’s hair stand on end.

It was the type of look that saidI know a secret you don’t.

Chapter XV

FELIX

Outside the cramped temple, the festival was in full swing despite its shaky beginning, again proving Felix’s theory that madness plagued every Pompeiian.

He followed Loren along the edges of the Forum, weaving between stragglers. He kept his head low, pulling his stifling palla tighter. A last-minute addition to his disguise, he’d swiped it after distracting its owner with a kindly offer to carry her laundry basket – before promptly dumping it to tail Loren into the temple.

They ducked down the same alley where Aurelia and Celsi had played marbles. Felix repressed a shudder when he stepped over the scraped chalk remnants of his own face. It touched a nerve he couldn’t explain. He lived. He breathed. The drawing, haunted and inhuman and crested with wings, was no more than dust.

‘Felix?’

Fingers brushed his wrist, a question, and he jerked like Loren had pinched him. Maybe it was how for once, he wished the touch went deeper. Down to his bone. Anything to prove he wasn’t transparent.

‘Sorry.’ Loren pulled back. ‘You were drifting. What did you need to tell me?’

Felix’s breath gusted out.Focus. ‘Clovia’s murder wasn’t random. It was a message.’

Loren’s mouth opened in a perfect circle.

Felix regurgitated how he’d spent the afternoon. For the first time since they’d met, Loren kept silent, eyes round as coins. ‘I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t have proof,’ Felix said at last. He withdrew the letter, dog-eared from rough handling, and slapped it against Loren’s chest. ‘But I do now. I took this from the statesman – the one who wants the helmet.’

Loren caught the parchment before it slid. ‘You said you’d lie low. Not trespass into the house of the man hunting you down.’

‘Just read it.’

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