CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
I hesitate outside Marcus' room, knowing that once I do this, I won't be able to go back.Marcus will know that I'm looking into Domitian's activities, and his.He'll know that I'm a threat.I think about his control of weather magic, the lightning he can summon.Am I prepared to face that if he decides to kill me?
I swallow.Do I really think Marcus will try to kill me?It’s hard to believe, given how close we’ve gotten, but I’ve also seen his meetings with Domitian.It’s clear that I never knew him as well as I thought.
But if he does try to attack me, won’t that just be proof that he’s engaged in something evil?If he lashes out when I accuse him, won’t that just tear down the illusion of the carefully calm senator, who acts only in the interests of the people?
And if he does attack me, he’ll find out what it means to take on a former gladiator.
I hammer on the door to Marcus' room, and he opens it after a few moments.He's still in his senatorial toga, and he has a scroll in one hand, looking as though he's preparing for a speech.He looks surprised, almost shocked, to see me.
“Lyra, what are you doing here?”he demands.“Is this… are you ready to talk?”
He thinks this is about the arguments in our relationship?It’s about far more than that.I push past him, forcing my way into the room.
“Oh, I want to talk,” I say.“I wantyouto talk.I want you to tell me about the things you’ve been plotting with Domitian.”
Marcus looks even more shocked, then begins to look outraged.
“This again?”he says.“You accused me and him before, and you didn't have any evidence then.”
“I've just been to Domitian’s rooms,” I say.“While the rest of you were arguing in the Senate chamber, I was searching for the proof I needed.Do you know he's in league with Selene Ravenscroft?Or are you just helping him to bring back the empire because you believe in it?”
“What?What are you talking about?”Marcus demands.“Lyra, you keep making accusations towards me, but you're the one who needs to worry right now.In the Senate, we were discussing Alaric, and what to do with him.Rowan was blocking any move to have him executed, but that can't last.There’s another meeting soon.And when you weren't in the senate chamber, people started to ask questions about you and how much you must have been helping him.They're starting to accuse you, and if you can't defend yourself, then there's a chance you end up right beside him.”
That threat sends a chill through me.I can imagine Domitian arguing for exactly that, trying to see me impaled alongside Alaric when our only crimes have been to try to protect the city from those who would tear down the Republic.
Marcus puts his hand on my arm.“You need to forget about all this, Lyra.It's putting you in danger.I've done my best to keep you out of all this, to protect you, but you haven't made it easy.”
What's he talking about?Protect me?He pushed me aside the moment I started to question his motives within the games.
I shake my head.“You haven't tried to protect me.”
“I have, more than you know.”
“I know plenty,” I assure him, staring into his eyes as I do so, watching for any flicker of guilt or doubt.“I know about your meeting in the theater with Lord Arin, Lucius, Domitian and the rest.I know about the fights at the Gilded Swan.I know there are meant to be deathmatches happening elsewhere.And like I said, I know that Selene is the hand behind all this.”
“But you still don't know all of it,” Marcus insists.“And the things you're doing are putting you in danger.Being seen with Alaric.Going out to meet Sorrel in the slums.”
“You know about that?”I say.“You were the one who sent the guards after us?”
Marcus shakes his head quickly.“That was Domitian, but he told me about it.It took me an effort to stop him from killing Sorrel out of hand.And he didn't know it was you with him, but he was willing to guess who it might be.He's been getting closer to another assassination attempt, and you're not making it easy for me to talk him out of it.”
I pull back from him, not willing to let Marcus continue to hold my arms.Not when he could send the lightning rippling down through that touch to stun me.I need more space.My every instinct says this is a dangerous moment, that I should be prepared for the possibility of combat.
“You keep talking as though you're trying to minimize the damage Domitian does,” I say.“But you're as much a part of his schemes as he is.I've seen you, Marcus.”
“You've seen what I needed to show them,” Marcus shoots back, sudden hurt in his voice.“You've seen fragments at best, and because of those fragments, you think I'm some kind of traitor.”
“Aren’t you?”I demand.
“No!”He says that so firmly, pacing in front of me.“How could you think that?”
“Because of everything you'vedonein the last few months,” I say.“You haven't fought back or argued when Domitian has reduced the safety of the games.You've been happy to make backroom deals with him.You seem to know all about him sending guards and gang members to attack me.You were plotting with him and the others.”
“To discover what he was doing!”Marcus says, sudden passion and anger in his voice.He falls silent in the seconds after those words burst from him, but I’m not about to let it go.
“What do you mean?”I ask.
