Once we climbed Capitoline Hill in the shadows along the walls, I sensed the presence of many dragons before I saw them. I stopped before we rounded the final corner where the prison would come into view and pressed my back to the wall, as did Lela. Peering around the corner, I saw what I’d been smelling and hearing.
I whispered back to her, “Ten centurion guards out front.”
Apparently, Caesar had added more guards everywhere. They weren’t only patrolling the streets and terrorizing people in their homes.
While I was thinking the best way to approach, she tugged on my sleeve. I leaned down for her and she whispered, “All I need you to do is cut one or two of them for me.”
“Just follow my lead.”
She looped her arm through mine, and we strode out onto the street toward the small square in front of the building. She pretended to stumble, and we weaved together. Then she tossed her head back with a loud laugh as we crossed the square.
“I might do that for you,” she said in a loud, coquettish voice, “but I’ve never done that before. Not even with my husband.”
I whispered in her ear, “They’re watching.”
She threw her head back with another loud laugh.
The guards didn’t move, but they watched us meander along the cobblestoned street in front of the prison.
She leaned in close to my ear and whispered, “Get rough.”
Not hesitating, I jerked her close and pretended to bite her neck, letting my dragon rumble to the surface.
“No!” She beat me with her fist. “Please stop!”
I let her go and she jumped backward while I snapped my jaws at her.
“Please don’t hurt me!”
She stumbled away and ran toward the line of guards at the edge of the road. There were four of them at the street level of the prisonand four more up the stepped terrace close to the entrance. Two more stood on the side of the building that led around the back where we had entered our first time here.
“Officer,” she begged as she approached the closest one, with me quickly on her heels. “Can you tell this man I want to be left alone?”
“Lady, you need to move along home,” he said gruffly, though he was already hypnotized by her beauty. Not surprising.
I unsheathed my short sword and swung high, knowing the officer’s instincts would force him to defend. He instantly withdrew his gladius and lunged at me. Our swords clanged, then I spun and sliced across his bare calf, ducking away toward Lela.
“Ahh!” he cried out, falling back as another guard rushed toward us.
I lifted the blade and Lela swiped a finger along the flat of it, touched her tongue, and then shouted, “Stop him!”
She’d pointed to the one charging toward us. The first guard swung at him, cutting through his tunic at his shoulder.
“What the hell are you doing, Felix!” he yelled as he ducked another blow.
The other guards sprinted toward us, drawing their swords.
I readied to engage with the closest, also trying to figure out how to help Lela get to their blood without getting slashed by their swords, when an eerie chill trickled down my spine. Otherworldly energy filled the square. Rather than the jarring and sharp sting I felt when I shifted, this energy swept over me like a ghostly caress.
When I glanced to my side, Lela held out her hands, palms up, and I saw a stream of blood fly from the shoulder of the newly injured soldier directly into Lela’s upright palm. She licked her palm then said, “Fight the guards. Protect me!”
His face contorted into rage as he swung against another soldier barreling toward us. Without thinking, I attacked the next and cuthim near the knee then set about finding a way to wound them. That was all that Lela needed.
Each time, she simply summoned their blood silently, and it flew to her. Each drop she tasted gave her the power over another guard, until all ten were swinging swords with all their might, doing her bidding.
Suddenly, she shouted, “Stop fighting!”
All at once, they froze where they were, panting with exertion.
