“Move back,” I told her.
Her jaw went slack as she realized my intent. “You can’t. You’ll fall.”
“I might.” On the other hand, I had no intention of waiting for the room to fill up with smoke or for a murderer to return and kill me.
I caught the edges of the hole and heaved myself out. Instead of swinging around and making for the landing spot Cassia hastily vacated, I hoisted myself upward and onto the tower’s roof.
Chapter 23
Rome spread before me. The cistern had been built partway up the Quirinal, giving me a view of the Forum Romanum, flanked by the forums of Augustus and the divine Julius Caesar. Beyond those were the roofs and columns of temples, including that of Castor and Pollux and the round elegance of the temple of Vesta, leading to the crags of the Palatine Hill.
To my right was the Capitoline, with the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus dominating it. On its lower slopes towered the huge Temple of Saturn and the street that wound past it down to the basilicas. An ant-like stream of people moved through these spaces, oblivious of the drama on the hill above them.
Cassia stood safely on the broad, flat roof of the insula and gazed up at me in consternation.
The roof of the cistern was flat to hold its stone tank of water, which was now partially filled from the recent rain. The portion of the roof we’d collapsed was damp, the rubble slick beneath my feet. I had the rope, but again nothing to tie it to.
A pigeon landed on the edge of the roof, started when it saw a tall human here with it, and then eyed me in grave suspicion. I envied it, able to fly from danger with ease.
Below me, the wood and debris piled in front of the tower’s door blazed merrily. The stack was well away from the buildings around it, a pyre meant only for this unused tower. The people on this street had already deserted it because of the fire further up the hill. I saw a crowd pulsing there, either trying to fight the fire or escape it.
My best route down was to the insula on which Cassia stood. Risky, and the landing would hurt, but better than being stuck on the roof, waiting for a killer to return. I could fight him, yes, but the footing up here was bad, and he might bring help. One wrong step would send me to my death.
Cassia moved hurriedly out of my way. Instead of waiting for me, she continued to the top of the next building, easily stepping across the small distance between rooftops. The second insula covered the distance to the corner of the street, and there Cassia halted, shouting down at those below her.
People stopped, turned, and looked up in astonishment. Cassia continued calling to them, gesticulating toward me. I waved smoke that had followed me out of my face and saw men on the far street turn and point, then start running this way.
One of those men was Regulus. His large body pushed past the others, his pounding tread audible. Water sloshed over the rim of the bucket he carried as he ran.
He halted below the tower and gazed up at me in amazement. “What are you doing up there, Leonidas?”
Without waiting for my answer, he flung the contents of his bucket over the blaze in front of the tower and grabbed another from the man behind him.
Scaevola led a stream of vigiles toward the tower, most with buckets, some with poles. The vigiles began raking the debris apart, scattering it so it could be doused by the bucket chain.
The smoke thinned, but it still filled the tower below me. Trying to climb down through it might mean my death.
Scaevola peered up at me, almost as amazed to see me as Regulus had been. He shook his head and started jogging off, as though leaving the men to put out this fire while he returned to the more worrisome one in the streets above.
“Regulus!” I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted down. “Stop him!”
Regulus sent me a baffled look, then he caught on. Thrusting his bucket at a vigile, he broke from the pack and tackled Scaevola before he could reach the end of the lane.
Scaevola, army trained, turned and fought, but Regulus was more than a match for him. In one-on-one combat, very few could best a well-trained, champion gladiator.
Scaevola snarled, punching and kicking. Regulus feinted right then struck left, grabbing Scaevola and flinging him against a wall. Regulus rested his brawny arm against Scaevola’s throat, grinning evilly into the man’s face.
A grappling hook landed on the stones beside me, thrown by one of the vigiles. He waved and tugged on the rope attached to it.
He and the other vigiles, focused on rescuing me and putting out the fire, hadn’t noticed their leader struggling like a trapped bug against the might of Regulus.
Someone on the upper floor of the insula Cassia stood on was helping her down to their balcony. She disappeared inside, and I waited in apprehension until she hastened out the insula’s front door to the street.
I tested the rope the vigile had thrown and the strength of the grappling hook, then sat down on the edge of the roof and tied that rope around me. I turned around and started to lower myself, angling toward the insula’s roof. My sandals and toes scraped on the stone, my arms straining as I tried to keep my descent steady. I swung out from the tower, then had to trust luck and kick away from the wall, hoping I landed well.
One of my feet struck the edge of the insula’s roof. I caught myself with the other foot, swaying until I gained my balance. Once I was standing solidly, I untied the rope and threw its end down to the vigile, calling my thanks.
Leaving him the task of figuring out how to get his hook loose, I sprinted across the rooftops. When I reached the last insula, I flung myself over to the balcony of the startled woman who’d assisted Cassia, and ran from her apartment, down the stairs, and into the street.
