Aida looked back at Trista, who had passed out in one of the rooftop deck chairs.
She clinked her glass against his. “I hope you’re right, Dante.”
The next morning, Trista appeared at breakfast with slightly bloodshot eyes. “I need some water,” she told Ilario. “And coffee.”
“How are you feeling, Trista?” Aida asked. She hoped her aide didn’t remember the question about the catacombs. She didn’t dare ask and raise suspicion.
“What do you say in America? Like I was hit by a truck.”
Pippa set a glass of water in front of her with a smirk.
“Donotsay what you’re thinking,” Trista said.
Pippa only laughed and returned to her tasks.
Aida wondered if she had ever been drunk before. “Drink lots of water this morning. It will help.”
Trista downed the water in one gulp. When she set the glass down, the old Trista was back, serious and devoid of much emotion. She sat up straight. “What happened last night? I woke up in bed this morning with all my clothes on.”
“Dante and I helped you get to bed,” Aida said. “You passed out on the roof during the fireworks.”
“I see.”
Ilario set an espresso before her. She took a sip and made a face.
“What’s in this?”
“Fernet-Branca.”
She put the cup down and pushed it away from her. “I didn’t ask for acaffècorretto. The last thing I need is more alcohol.”
Ilario pushed it back. “No, you must drink. It’s bestperipostumidellasbornia.”
Trista looked at him blankly.
“For a hangover,” Aida explained, unsurprised that her aide didn’t know that bit of Italian.
After a moment, Trista picked up the cup again. When she put it down, she asked for another espresso and a carafe of water to be sent to her office. “We’ll not speak of this again,” she told Aida as she left.
Aida only nodded, all too glad to comply.
After the fireworks, Aida had sent Felix, Yumi, and Luciano New Year wishes, but it was so chaotic that she had decided to hold off on telling them about the lead on Effie. In the afternoon, Aida returned to the roof to enjoy the briefly warm weather, a respite between heavy rainstorms. She sat on the couch to message her friends on Signal about the seemingly impossible—getting into the catacombs during a pandemic lockdown.
I’ll research everything I can on Callixtus, Yumi said.We’ll need all the information we can get.
The place is massive. We’ll need maps, Luciano said.
Felix, do you know anyone who could get us in there? On the premise of research?Aida asked. Aside from being a guide, Felix lived just off the Appian Way near the catacombs.
Before he could answer, a heavy blanket of calm rolled overAida. She turned off her phone and slid it into her pocket right before Mo came around the corner of the veranda and sat beside her on the couch. Aida’s stomach lurched.
“Happy New Year, little novelist.”
“I am not terribly little,” she retorted, her internal fear shifting to something more sarcastic in the spell of the aegis. “Seriously, how do you manage to evade the lockdown travel restrictions?”
He shrugged, a dark lock of hair falling into his eye. He pushed it aside. “I told you, MODA has the right connections.”
Mo put an arm on the back of the couch. It reminded Aida of the old TV shows and movies where the boy attempted to be suave to get the girl to neck with him. She shifted on the couch so she could face him instead. “How did you know I was here? I didn’t tell anyone I was coming up here.”
