Muses of Roma (Codex Antonius Book 1) by Rob Steiner

Author:Rob Steiner [Steiner, Rob]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Quarkfolio Books
Published: 2013-12-13T07:00:00+00:00

29

Ocella was staring into the darkness, her back against a plastic wine barrel and the boy leaning against her, when she heard a scrape at the door. She sat up, and Cordus awoke with a start. When the door opened, she squinted against the light from the hallway. A large man stood in the door, his silhouette blocking most of it. Two other men stood behind him, their hands resting on the pistols in the holsters around their chests.

“The domina wants to see you,” said the man in the door.

She had no idea how long she and Cordus had been in the room, but she knew it was hours. She was hungry and had a terrible urge to urinate. She assumed Cordus felt the same.

She stood on cramped legs and then helped Cordus up.

“Just you,” the man said.

Cordus looked up at her, his eyes wide.

“It’ll be fine,” she assured him.

Cordus's face said he didn't believe her. She turned to the man in the door. “Can you at least take him to the bathroom? Otherwise he's going to piss all over your domina's wine.”

The man frowned at her. Then he turned to the man behind him and nodded to Cordus. The man brushed past the larger man and grabbed Cordus's arm. Cordus yanked it free and said, “I need no assistance walking.”

Ocella hid a smile.

“So sorry, highness,” the man said, then grabbed his arm again and pulled him from the room. Ocella jumped forward, but the man in the door put a hand on her chest.

“Don't be stupid,” he said. “He's going to the bathroom, like you asked.”

“Make sure your dog doesn't hurt him, all right?”

The man grunted, then said, “Let's go.”

The man led her up the stairs, through the kitchen, and out the back door. It was night, and the city lights made the sky glow orange beneath a canopy of clouds. Her captor took her to a van with its engine running, its side door open. Gaia Julius sat in the passenger’s seat with her window down.

“We’re going for a ride, Ancile,” Gaia said.

Ocella stopped. “Not without Cordus.”

“He’ll be fine. Get in.”

When Ocella didn’t move, Gaia said, “I’d rather not force you.”

Ocella jerked her arm free and smashed her elbow into the face of the man holding her. He stumbled back, blood spurting from his broken nose. She kicked the other man in the crotch, and he fell to the ground gasping. The third man drew a jolt gun and jabbed the prongs into Ocella’s chest. White-hot pain screamed from every nerve in her body. Her muscles seized, and the world turned black before she fell to the ground.

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