“Where were these men on the morning Floriana died?”I persisted.“Who went to meet her behind the Porticus Octaviae?”
“I don’t know.No one.”
“Or didyou?”I pressed him to the wall again.“So she wouldn’t betray that you weren’t qualified to be a vigile?”
“No.”Avitus’s eyes widened.“In any case, I don’t care anymore.They could have slung me out if they wanted—I’d rather have looked after Floriana even if it meant I had to quit the watch.I don’t care about being promoted through the ranks—I’ll never be an officer, anyway.They come from the legions.Some even rise to be Praetorian Guards, like Severus Tullius, but that has no interest for me.I’m happy with what I have.”
I stilled, and Cassia went very quiet.
Then I grabbed the front of Avitus’s tunic.“Severus Tullius was a vigile?”
Avitus’s alarm warred with perplexity.“A vigile captain—my captain.Went up to the Palatine about a year back.Why?”
Chapter 23
At Avitus’s announcement, I abruptly dropped him, turned on my heel, and marched back to the road.
“Where are you going?”Avitus bleated behind us.
Cassia answered him.“To the Palatine.Come with us.We might need your help.”
Avitus said nothing, and I imagined him staring, open-mouthed.Then I heard rapid footsteps as he scrambled away in the opposite direction.
“Never mind him.”I strode rapidly, and Cassia had to run to catch up.“You go home.I’ll find Tullius.”
“No, indeed.”Cassia trotted beside me.“You will need me to explain things.”
That was true.If I could think clearly, I’d have decided we needed more authority, and perhaps run for Marcianus or even Priscus.But rage burned through my blood at the man who’d pretended to be a friend, who’d flattered and praised, offering to help, while he lied about everything.He’d showed us where Floriana died, yes, but he’d known there would be nothing to see there.
Rome was vastly dark, and I’d lost the lantern Decimus had given us.We passed another party with a litter, this one surrounded by five guards with torches.The guards tensed as I approached, the slaves shuffling the litter aside, ready to lower it and fight if they had to—or perhaps run and abandon their master to his fate.
I took Cassia by the hand and pressed past them.They muttered in relief once we’d gone.
The Subura was one of the most dangerous places in the city at night.Even I had remained indoors at Floriana’s when I stayed there and left again in daylight.Aemil had always known where I was and that I’d return in the morning.
Desperate men who would slay another for the fabric of his tunic roamed the gloom.I sensed them, heard the click of pebble on stone, the whisper of footsteps.Cassia’s clothing alone would bring a good price, not to mention her person.
I kept tight hold of Cassia, pulling her against my side.We tripped on each other’s feet, but I refused to let go.
“Let me fetch my notes,” she whispered to me.
I agreed we’d need proof to sway our argument.Magistrates and lawyers valued records, and I’d have to convince them I wasn’t wrong, or mad.
We cut to the street that led to our apartment, where all was dark but marginally safer.The wine shop had shut hours ago, boards fitted into grooves to cover its opening.
“Leonidas?”An amazed voice came out of the gloom.“Thank Vesta.I’m lost.”
Gnaeus Gallus the architect materialized from the corner.Moonlight that had shimmered on Priscus’s garden sliced a white gleam on Gallus’s high forehead.His eyes were wide, full of fear.
“What are you doing here?”I demanded.
He was another person connected to Floriana’s.I’d first found him walking through her house to study its walls, deciding whether it could be saved.I’d reflected that it was unusual for a loftyarchitectusto do an assistant’s job.
Perhaps he’d been there for another reason—to destroy anything that could connect him with Floriana.I’d noted that all her belongings had been cleared out—I’d assumed the women had taken what they could before they fled, or perhaps Floriana’s husband had sent people to empty the place.But I hadn’t seen who’d done it, and Gallus had been there ...
“I worked late on a job,” Gallus said quickly.“Tried to get back home.Took a wrong turn.I don’t know this part of the city.Would you walk me there?For pay, of course.I wouldn’t presume—”
“No.”I cut him off, and he flinched.“No time.”
