Starling (10 page)

the masses.”
He reached out to touch the diamond necklace that hung in the
hollow of her throat—a lily. He had given it to her before his arrest.
“You’re a little well adorned to be a servant,” he said drily.
Cass tucked the pendant inside her bodice and chemise so that
even the chain was hidden. “All better,” she declared. “Besides, consider this: if anyone is still looking for us, there’s a greater chance
we’ll be recognized if we stay together, right? It’ll be safer for us to
split up.” She wasn’t sure if this was technically true, but it made a
logical kind of sense. The Senate knew she and Luca had escaped as
a pair. They would most likely be expecting them to still be together.
Luca appeared to be thinking it over. “Just the market?” he asked.
“You promise you won’t go anywhere else without me?”
“I promise I won’t do anything foolish,” Cass said. “Between the
two of us, perhaps we’ll hear something about Dubois or Belladonna, or if not them, then something about this sudden scourge of
vampires.
If we don’t, we’ll plan to head to Florence tomorrow.”
Luca frowned. “I know how strong you are, Cassandra, but I hate
the thought of leaving your side even for an instant. Perhaps we’re
crazy to fight the Order by ourselves. Perhaps you should remain
here and I should take the pages we have to the Senate and ask them
to hear my testimony.”
Cass shook her head vehemently. “Don’t be ridiculous. Dubois
owns
the Senate. They wouldn’t hear your testimony. They’d probably execute you immediately.” Leaning close to Luca, she ran her
fingers through his hair and then pressed her lips to his cheek. “I
risked the world to get you back.” She thought of Siena and Agnese.
“I have lost everything else that matters. I will not lose you too.”
Luca turned toward her. Cradling her face with one hand, he
closed the gap between them until his forehead rested against hers.
“I never imagined you . . .”
“What?” Cass whispered, the soft word melding with Luca’s
breath. The sharp smell of the theriac balm tickled her nose. She
could see the beginnings of a beard already growing out on his
cheeks. “Wouldn’t want you to die?”
He leaned away so that he could look into her eyes. “That you
would look at me as you are, and speak in this manner. Not as if
you’d feel responsible if something happened to me, but as if you’d
feel . . . lost.”
Cass felt her heart opening. It was like Luca had put into words
something she hadn’t been able to herself. “Without you, I
would
be
lost,” she admitted.
He tilted her chin upward. Softly, he pressed his lips to hers.
Reaching up into her bonnet, he buried one of his hands in her hair.
Without breaking the embrace, she yanked the hat from her head.
Luca’s grasp tightened on her hair, and pleasure raced through her
body.
He tried to pull her into his lap using only his good arm, but
ended up half dragging her across the wooden crate. The medicinal
ointments went flying onto the floor, the containers rolling across the
wet stones with a clatter.
Cass pulled back. She wanted to kiss him harder, to melt into his
arms. “We need to go,” she said instead, raising one hand to her face
to blot the sweat from her cheeks. “Once we have taken down the
Order, there will be time for . . . everything else.”
Luca started to protest, but then they heard the sound of the key