She nods her head. “You aren’t supposed to be here, not right now. The longer that you stay away, the harder it will be for you to return and both that world and this one will be off balance.”
“Then what?” I whimper through trembling lips.
“I don’t know, nobody does, destruction I suppose.”
“Send me back,” I demand.
Her eyes, they turn sad almost immediately. “It isn’t that easy, not for me.”
“Why?”
Her head dips, then she lifts her chin and her gaze finds mine. “Women like me, we’ve been suppressing our magic for so long that as the lines have continued, it’s weakened.”
“What do I do?” I ask as tears start to fill my eyes.
She shakes her head a couple of times, her gaze not leaving mine. “Do not fret, I will find a way. I have some feelers out there and am waiting for some calls. In the meantime, let me get you some food and take a look at your wounds. You’re favoring one side.”
“I think he kicked me.”
“Bastard.”
My lips twitch into a smile. “Pretty much.”
Chapter Twenty-One
TIBERIUS
The last thing I want to do is gather Decima and bring her here. Not because I don’t want to hand her over, but because I don’t wish to go on any type of journey with her. I’m also concerned she may figure out that I’m taking her somewhere she most definitely would not wish to go.
I don’t bother waiting for Aeliana and Antonio to appear from the cubiculum the next morning, instead, I leave quietly with just Felix and I ride toward Decima. I ride hard, knowing that it will not be a quick there and back trip.
Unless she has used magi, she should be two days behind us. We cut our travel time in half by not breaking much, not sleeping and hardly eating. Now, I go back for Decima. Thankfully, she has not used magi to spirit herself closer to our destination.
I find her easily on the path, she is sitting in her chariot, her arms crossed over her chest, her eyes narrowed on her guard. I only allotted her one, and it seems I will be giving him a raise in his wages after this trip, judging by the exasperated look on his face
“You are taking too long,” I announce. “I’ll be escorting you the rest of the way.”
Her head snaps over to me, and she tilts her chin up, her gaze finding mine, and she tries to hold it, but I don’t allow her. I break the connection instantly, turning Felix around. “We ride,” I announce.
“Tiberius,” Decima snaps.
I ignore her.
She calls out my name again, sounding even angrier. Only then, and only because I want her out of my hair, do I acknowledge her. With a sigh, I tug on Felix’s reins and turn him around. He neighs and snorts.
I hate her. She has evil in her thoughts, her heart, and her soul. He tells me.
Yes, I know. Hopefully, she will not be our problem after this.
Let us hope.
“Decima,” I bark. “What is it? We need to go, my men wait.”
She doesn’t speak immediately and I want nothing more than to throw her over my shoulder and ride, but I don’t wish to be that close to her person. So, impatiently, I wait. Focusing on her lips, so that I do not look into her eyes, I wait. She licks those lips, then finally speaks.
“I wish to have you before we go to your men,” she announces.
I snort. Surely, she is attempting to be comical. “No,” I state.
“Then, I will stay right here,” she snaps.
Gnashing my teeth together, I shake my head once. “Decima, we leave. Now.”
She must understand my urgency, my irritation at her games, because instead of arguing with me a moment longer, she dips her chin and jerks the reins, snapping them to encourage her horse to move.
Instead of riding ahead of her and leaving her in the dust again. I ride only a horse length ahead on the pathway. We don’t speak, her guard also not speaking as he rides next to her. He rides close enough that, I do not know if she seduced him, and I care not.
We ride for several hours and I am grateful when I see the wooded area where the little house resides.
“What is the purpose of this?” Decima demands.
Instead of telling her to shut her lips, I ignore her completely and continue to ride. She doesn’t stop the chariot, nor does she continue to badger me. Thankful for the quiet, I guide the horse in front of the house.
My men are milling around and I catch not just one, but several smiles as they see Decima beside me. Brutus is the first to approach after I dismount. His smile reaches ear to ear and I frown as I watch him for a moment.
“Do you wish to speak to me?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I do not, but you will love it, cousin.”
Then, before I can ask him what is happening, the door to the house opens and a gust of wind and purple mist pushes past me and straight toward Decima. Before I realize what’s happened, before anyone can react, Decima is in the air, the purple mist surrounding her.
I watch in shock and awe as it carries her toward the house, silently. Running behind the mist and a flying Decima, I don’t even register what is happening as I enter the home. Where the table was last night and this morning, there is now a long metal pole standing tall, from floor to ceiling.
Decima’s back is now against this pole, her arms up and clamped together at the wrist. I blink, surprised to see a hook from the ceiling and metal chains wrapped around Decima’s wrist, keeping them clamped as she hangs from the hook.
“Welcome,” Aeliana announces.
Tearing my gaze from Decima, I watch as Aeliana lifts her hand and a metal chain flies toward Decima and wraps around her entire torso and waist. “Now she
