For a Roman's Heart (27 page)

“You’re dying?”

“That is what they tell me. They don’t know how long I have. I’d like to see my daughter married and provided for before I die.”

Terentius nodded. “I understand.”

Cordus’s smile was genuine. “But you won’t help me with that.”

“I will not.”

“Well, then.” Cordus wandered toward the door leading from atrium. “Nothing makes it right...what my daughter has done trying to humiliate Adrenia. You see, I blame myself in part for all this. For marrying a bitch and getting her with child and producing another she-bitch. Good day, Terentius. Go quickly to your woman. She needs you.”

At first Adrenia had hesitated to take a walk around the outskirts of the villa property. But guards were posted nearby. She could see one not fifty yards away, his watchful eye scanning the property. She’d needed space to think, and even in her room she could hear household sounds, and they intruded. As she walked, the chilly morning bit clear to her bones. Her flimsy garments and thin cloak did little to ward off winter, but she loved the opportunity for fresh air and the bright winter sun that managed to pop through cloud cover.

Still, the birds had gone quiet. She loved the chirping birds and she loved trees, period. This place, though, felt even more perilous than the woods on the other side of the road to the east...where she’d found Pella lying injured and Terentius had rescued them. Those woods were bad enough.

No, Adrenia. You imagine it all
. The forest had a voice, and the power of it made her hear things. But there was more. She didn’t like it here.

Then it happened.

She recognized this moment. It had occurred before.

She straightened and took in her surroundings. Not a breeze. Nothing. The trees mocked her from their lofty height, sentinels that dared any and all to make a sound. As if they watched her and waited. Waited for what? She drew a deep breath and that’s when she felt it. A hard pull into the maw of this primeval place. She walked into the thick interior, motivated to satisfy curiosity. A driving force asked for cooperation, wanting her to sink farther into the trees. Her heartbeat accelerated, her blood rushing in her veins.

You shouldn’t be here.

Trees, which once always felt like her friends, whispered to her messages of darkness and dread. It wasn’t the wind. Nothing stirred the leaves. Yet she heard the voices swirling around and around inside her head, calling to her with sibilant, begging voices. She didn’t know if they were evil.

Or simply lost.

Find us. Please find us.

She stopped, frozen not with cold, but stark fear.

My dream. It is my horrible, hideous dream.

Just as she’d dreamed too many times before, the pleadings urged her forward. And just like the dream, she couldn’t resist their call. Her feet moved forward. She tightened her grip on the wood. Her hands ached, her body quivered as cold reached farther than skin deep and went straight to the bone.

Oh. Oh.
How could she stop it? Her feet plunged on, her pace quickening against her will. She shouldn’t get so far away from the guard’s view.

Please find us.

Please help us.

The slithery whispers sounded female, but she couldn’t say for certain. Then the wind returned. A breeze danced among the treetops, whispering and swishing and swirling.

Hurry.

Hurry.

But to what?

She thought she heard a man’s voice calling something, but the sound was far away and separate from the voices in her head that urged her to find them.

Though fear clawed at Adrenia, her body refused to stop, crunching crispy leaves beneath her feet.

Then she saw the small stone building.

She didn’t know who would live here. Unless Cordus had constructed this little building. No. Not likely. His land ended before the forest. This forest belonged to everyone. And no one.

She stopped walking, happy to see her body no longer moved forward without her permission. She breathed hard, blood rushing and heartbeat pounding in her ears. Why had she come here?

In her dreams she reached the door to the structure. In her dreams she looked inside.

Though she woke with terror parting her lips whenever she dreamt of this place, she didn’t know who or what resided in the building. She couldn’t see a window, so perhaps it once housed an animal.

She took one step. Two.

I have to know.

I will know.

Or this place will haunt me forever.

She placed her wood on the ground in a neat pile. Then she reconsidered and leaned over to grab a long, sharp kindling stick. She proceeded toward the building. With each movement forward her fright escalated, more potent and sharp than her emotions in the dreams.

“Oh god Abandinus and goddess Coventina, keep me safe and shield me from evil.”

She walked faster, determined to know answers. Once at the door to the shack-like stone building, she noted the door was opened a crack. A smell emanated from the crack that she could identify immediately.

Death.

Her hand shook as she reached for the latch.

Rusted hinges on the wooden door protested as she pulled the latch. The door shrieked. She couldn’t see the interior well. The noise sounded like a bird in distress, a call to other feathered creatures, a warning. The opening was too small to step into directly. Adrenia covered her mouth and nose with her hand, but held the sharp stick in the other. She ducked her head and peered inside.

As her eyes adjusted to the dimness, she saw the answer to what hid within her darkest dreams. A carnal house of horrors that slithered into her blood like a serpent and sent a strangled disbelief into her throat.

She drew back with a horrified gasp.

Adrenia didn’t remember turning around and running, but she did. She tore through the trees, her heart pounding out of her chest, her gasps for breath and moans of fear mixed together. Branches tore at her
tunica
and slapped her in the face. The sting didn’t stop her. She had to run as far and as fast as she could, until she couldn’t run any more.

She broke from the woods moments later and saw Terentius dismounting from his horse not far away.

As soon as he saw her hurtling toward the roundhouse, he ran toward her. “Adrenia!”

She didn’t have enough breath to call out to him. Adrenia knew she wouldn’t feel safe until he held her.

She rushed into his arms. Safety enveloped her as she found solace nestled into his hard chest. She kept her face buried against his chest, her arms tight around his waist.

“What is it? You’re shaking, my sweet one,” he said. “What on earth did you think you were doing coming out here? The guard lost sight of you as I was riding up. I almost cut him down where he stood because he didn’t come after you.”

His endearment wasn’t lost on her, but neither was the condemnation in her town. She drank in his affection, loved the soft huskiness in his voice. His fingers plunged into her hair. She panted for breath.

“Adrenia, speak to me.”

She finally tilted her head back to look up at him.

“I’m so glad to see you.”

“As I am you. But it’s more than that.” Anger grew in his eyes, and he glared. “Answer me. Why were you in the woods by yourself?”

“I needed to get out of the villa and get fresh air. I didn’t intend to go into the woods. Then I...I felt it. I...it is hard to explain, and now I’m not sure it wasn’t a dream.”

“Come away and get warm. You can explain then.”

She shook her head. “No. I have to go back into the woods and see it again...”

“See what?”

“I used to have a dream all the time when I was younger. A horrible nightmare about going into the woods, being drawn in there when I didn’t want to go. It never made sense to me because I love the woods and always have. But not in this dream. I realized that what I was experiencing was just like the dream in every detail. I couldn’t make myself stop walking into the woods.” She explained how the forest reacted, the silence and the fear that wrapped its arms around her. “Then I saw this hut...this stone building in the woods and kept walking toward it even though I knew there is something horrible inside.” A heavy shudder wracked her, and she looked deep into his eyes. She didn’t see anything but concern and curiosity there. “When I opened the door to the stone building...”

“Yes?”

“I can’t say. I must show you.”

Terentius’s thick brows drew together. “All right. But we’ll ride.”

He placed her on the horse, then climbed up behind her. As his powerful arms surrounded her, she felt enveloped in safety.

She shuddered. “Do you believe me?”

“About the building?” His arms tightened. “Of course. You knew where to find Pella when she needed you, and you saw the man who tried to stab me in the forum.”

“You didn’t believe in the beginning.”

“I believe mostly in what I can see and hear. But you changed my thoughts on that.”

Gratified and amazed, she asked, “Then you believe I can see into the future?”

“I do.”

“So many people curse me for it and are afraid. Why aren’t you?”

“Because I don’t believe in curses. They only work if you believe in them. Do you believe in curses?”

“I’m not certain. You believe in the gods and goddesses. How can you believe in them and not curses?”

“I’m a contradiction. Most of the time I believe in them when it is politically expedient. For ceremony, to make others feel comfortable. For me...well, I like to rely on myself.”

She heard the amusement in his voice and for a minute forgot how frightened she’d been earlier when her nightmare had come true.

He caressed her stomach with a soothing movement. His powerful thighs and calves directed the horse. “How much farther is it to this place that frightened you?”

She pointed. “There it is.”

As he urged the horse toward the small abode, the horse balked. The animal twisted and whinnied. “There, boy.” Terentius soothed the horse. “Easy.”

As he again ordered the horse to proceed, it refused.

“What’s wrong with him?” she asked.

“A good question. He’s never acted like this before. I’ve taken this horse into battle. He’s never afraid.”

“It’s the building. The horse knows evil resides there.”

“Evil doesn’t live in a place. It lives within man.”

She turned enough so she could see his face. He stared down at her, with that imperial mask that belonged to a soldier. “I know what I felt, Terentius. Evil
can
seep into the bones of a place. Especially a stone building. There’s something about the stone that holds memories.”

To her surprise, he nodded. He slipped off the horse. “Stay here then.”

“Gladly.”

He cupped her thigh, his touch hot. “You felt something was wrong before you even saw the building.” When she didn’t speak, he reached for her hand. “Do you still feel it? The evil?”

“Yes. And no. No, because I feel safe with you. Yes, because the person who perpetrated these evils comes back here sometimes. I can feel him.”

“I’ll see to it. Then you can tell me who this evil one is.”

He released her hand and walked toward the small building. Her heartbeat returned to a harsh, erratic beat as fear returned. Though she knew dread could warp the mind into imagining horrors that didn’t exist, she feared for Terentius. What if a creature resided within the building, grabbed Terentius and dragged him into the pits of an unknown oblivion?

Unease dictated she jump from the horse’s back, and she dismounted. She kept her hand on the horse’s neck, unable to move closer to the house of horrors. Terentius didn’t hesitate, his steps sure upon the soil. His red cape flapped in a breeze. Around her the forest whispered again. This time it echoed a new warning.

Get out. Get out.

Her lips parted, a mere breath fanning between them.

He reached the building and looked into the open door. She had left it open in her rush to escape.

Adrenia kept her hand on the horse’s neck, as if the animal’s life and warmth would keep her grounded. What lived in that small, square, tile-roofed hut froze her, turned her thoughts mad with horrible visions she didn’t want to experience.

She held her breath as Terentius peered into the square chamber. From this distance she couldn’t see his expression. He backed away quickly, coughed and turned away from the scene. He walked toward her. She realized her body quivered, shaking not only with fear, but with disgust and a fevered desire to erase everything she’d seen.

Terentius reached her, and his eyes held the sheen of a haunted man. He reached for her, and Adrenia went into his arms without hesitation. Delicious heat enveloped her. She twined her arms around his waist, and pressed her head to his shoulder.