The shout that originated from the samedirection as the door slamming got me moving, and I shoved Aviolatowards his hideout, calling over my shoulder to Demeter andMarcellus to come inside as well. I was not surprised but stillhappy to see that Septimus, Alex, and Gaius had not been idle, theevidence being three figures stretched out on the floor, handsbound behind them with rags stuffed in their mouths.
“If this cunnus is telling the truth, we don’t have muchtime,” I told the others. “So we have to decide whether to try andget him talking here or take him back to the ship and run the riskof being caught out on the street when we run into the men he saysare coming.”
It is impossible to say why with anycertainty, but Aviola seemed to think that he had some sort ofcontrol of his fate, because he said coolly, “If you let me go now,I swear on the black stone that none of you will be hurt, and Iwon’t report any of this to the authorities.”
A quick slap that buckled his kneesagain, which was accompanied by my growling, “You’re not goinganywhere, you cunnus, andneither are we, not until you come up with the money that youcheated from Gaius Pullus.”
I suppose that with a man like LuciusAviola, it is second nature to lie, because he frowned, shook hishead and replied, “Gaius Pullus? I’ve never heard of him.”
This got him another slap as I reminded him,“You just called me ‘Pullus’ brother, the Legionary,’ you fuckingidiot.”
His body sagged as he realized his error,pulling my arm down a bit, which reminded me that it was gettingtired from holding him up.
“Did you find a chair in thiscachole?” I asked, and Alex nodded,then pointed at the doorway into the next room.
I half-dragged Aviola into the room.He was not actively resisting but had instead decided to just golimp. The room was smaller than I imagined it would be, barelylarger than the cabin we had used on the Persephone, but I took no notice in the moment,dropping Aviola onto the chair. Before he could react, I grabbedboth of his arms, yanked them behind the back of the chair, andpulled out one of the leather thongs we had all carried with us,securely binding his hands. He submitted to this, and now thatsomeone had found a second lamp and lit it, the room wasilluminated enough for me to see the beads of sweat on hisforehead.
“Gnaeus, can I speak to you?” Alexcalled to me from the main room, and while there was no window inthis room, nor another exit, I still called for Marcellus to watchhim before I joined Alex and the others save Demeter, who had takenup a post at the rear door, opening it a crack to watch outside.Without waiting, Alex asked, “Are you sure this is wise? Trying toget the information from him here? Because,” his voice turned grim,“I think he’s going to be making a fair amount ofnoise.”
This was true, and I had thought aboutit.
“I know, but I think trying to get himout of here and back to the ship is riskier because we’re going tobe out in the open on the street, and if he’s telling the truth, wemight run right into these men he’s talking about. At least here,”I indicated both doors and the two shuttered windows, “we candefend ourselves better. And,” I added, “I think I have a way tomake him talk that won’t cause him to make a sound.”
Gaius was performing the same duty asDemeter, watching out the front door, but he spoke up now, “Gnaeus,I don’t think he was telling the truth.” By this time, I hadlearned not to ignore or dismiss Gaius, so I asked him why. Inanswer, he pointed to the three men, two of whom were conscious androlling about in an attempt to get comfortable. “There’s three menhere, and Marcellus told me what happened to the man across thestreet. That makes four, which is what Alex counted earliertoday.”
“That’s true,” Alex allowed, but hewas dubious. “But I think Demeter was right that Aviola would havea man inside with him.”
“Let me go ask him,” I turned and wentback into the room, grimly pleased to see how Aviola was eyeing meand making no attempt to hide his fear. Marcellus stepped aside toallow me to stand in front of Aviola, and I spoke in aconversational tone, “I’m assuming you heard what my cousinsaid.”
He nodded, then licked his lips before heanswered, “Yes, I did. But he’s wrong, and the other man was right.Flaccus and Pulcher were standing watch in the front, Tymnes andTimon were guarding the back. And,” since his hands were bound, hehad to nod in the general direction of the other room, “Glabius waswith me. That,” he finished with satisfaction, “makes five. And youonly have four men here.”
“So which one went forhelp?”
“Glabius, of course,” heanswered.
Honestly, I did not think that I could havetripped him up that easily. And, I had to acknowledge, there hadonly been one man in the back, the newly deceased Timon, so it waspossible that he was speaking the truth. He did not see the slapcoming, and as I intended, it snapped his head to the side,stunning him as I put a foot against his chest and pushed himbackward. Within the span of a heartbeat, Aviola had been slappedand then fallen heavily onto his back, his arms pinned under hisweight. I am certain he would have cried out, but the wind wasdriven from his lungs, and before he could draw in a breath, Istraddled him, bent over, and clamped my hand over his mouth andnose. This was a technique I had only heard about; rather thanrunning the risk of Aviola’s screams drawing attention from thesurrounding homes, I was going to make him fight for his breath,and I waited until his face had turned almost purple before Ireleased my grasp. He immediately drew in as much air as he couldin a great, wheezing inhalation as I stared down at him, bent overat the waist so that my hand
