To Crown a Caesar (The Praetorian Series: Book II) (20 page)

“A pity,” she said, looking away from me and towards the window once again.  “Games are so much fun in these dull times.  Without them, men grow bored and fail to realize how fun this world can be.”

“I told you I don’t have time for this
,” I growled, my hand moving on its own towards her throat.  “This is life, where there are no rules and no one gives a damn what game you’re playing.  All I want is to do what’s right, and to do that I need information.”

She chirped out a quick laugh and my hand involuntarily tightened.  I glanced at it
, deciding to loosen it.

“By whom, exactly, are you doing right by, Jacob Hunter?” She asked.  “Certainly not by me or else you wouldn’t be here trying to usurp my rule and disrupt all the fine plans I have put into motion.”

I forced the surprise from my face and tried to suppress my frustration.  She was only baiting me.  There was no way she knew what I was trying to do.

“
Perhaps this is for your Amazon?”  She continued. “Is all this an attempt to do the right thing for her?  No, I do not think so, for she was always so angry and I assume still is.  You would have brought her so that she could exact some measure of revenge if you were truly trying to appease her feelings.”  She blinked up at my slowly.  “Perhaps you really should have sent her, so that I could service her in ways you are so obviously incapable of.”

“No more games,” I growled, my hand tightening once again as my head inched closer to hers.  She moaned under the pressure of my grip.  I couldn’t tell if she was
recoiling from the pain or enjoying it.  “Now tell me, where Nero is?”

“My Nero?”  She blinked innocently.  “He’s back in Rome, of course.  Why?  Did someone tell you something to the contrary?” 

I blinked.  “You knew we were coming.”

“Of course.”  Her voice was a silky purr.  “I was not jesting when I said
that it was good that you have come in search of the orb.”

She was fishing again.  After everything she’s done, she knew we’d cause trouble for her one day.  I had no doubt that over the past few years
, much of her time had been spent imagining ways that we would strike at her.  Taking Nero from her was an obvious one.  All she had to do was make an offhand remark to her generals the other day that he was onboard, just in case we were around to hear about it.  She’s probably done it a hundred times before.

S
he had always seemed a patient woman.

And she was very good at her games.

I was growing more and more frustrated with every passing second.  Questioning her directly wasn’t going to get me anywhere, so I let my anger expedite the process.  I reached out and flipped her over so that she rested on her stomach.  I stepped on the bed and placed my right knee between her shoulder blades.

“My, my,” she said softly
.  “I had hoped you would get rough with me.”

I ignored he
r as I retrieved my boot knife and pulled a lighter from my pouch as well, making sure she could see what I was doing as I held the flame against the blade.  Before the knife could cool down, I tore away the sheet that hid Agrippina’s legs and backside and pressed it against her right butt cheek.

Jack Bauer had taught America the finer p
arts of home torture for the better part of a decade on TV, but the CIA had given me far more substantial knowledge on the subject of human intelligence gathering much later in my life.  It had amazed me how many clever household items could be used to inflict pain on someone, and there had been a few I swore I’d never utilize.  In fact, I never thought I’d ever have the gumption to use any of it, but I suppose I’d make an exception in Agrippina’s case.

And the exception was well worth it.  I took a certain amount of pleasure from her moans as her supple backside burned.  Her breathing grew more labored and her body perspired as she writhed against my knee.  I removed the knife and saw a neat little crease on
her otherwise flawless behind, a superficial wound, one that would heal easily.

“Do you want to tell me where Nero is now?”
  I asked.

“He’s not here,” she said,
her voice only slightly belabored.

My anger got the better of me again
as I relit the lighter, holding it beneath the knife until it was all but glowing.  I waited so that Agrippina could see what was to come, but with her silence came my knife and the sizzling sound of her skin burning.  Light wisps of smoke floated from the new wound, and I smelled the slight odor of charred flesh.  Her moans were intense this time.  Raw.  She’d reached the limit of her masochistic nature.

Good.

I removed the knife and saw her second wound was at least at the second degree burn stage.  It had to hurt like hell.  She’d have trouble sitting for at least a few weeks, and I only wish I could be there to see her suffer.

I leaned close to her ear.  “Where is he?”

“I told you!” She gasped through the pain.  “He is not here.”

I
decided to pull back.  There was something in her voice that told me she was telling the truth.  I flipped her back over, and leaned my knee into her stomach this time as I pressed my boot knife against her throat and leaned in close once again, my nose inches from her own.

“He’s not here?”

She shook her head, even the small motion causing my knife to nick her throat.  I left it where it was.

“He’s back in Rome?”

She nodded this time and tears began to fall lazily down her cheeks.  “Yes.”

There were ways to determine if someone was lying or not.  The CIA had taught us those as well, and everyt
hing about her tone, infliction and eye contact told me she was telling the truth this time.  She was still human after all, even with all she’d done, and therefore vulnerable to the pitfalls of human psychology.

I paused before deciding to shift tactics
again, realizing that I didn’t need Nero anymore.  Agrippina was right here.  Maybe I could coerce her on my own, but I tried to settle down first.  I removed my knee from her stomach and climbed off the bed, leaving my knife where it was.  I looked down at her and decided I had a few questions that needed answering first.

“
What are you doing here?  Really?”

There was still fear in her eyes, but her sobs slowed as my voice softened.

“I was looking for you,” she mumbled, her tears evaporating.

“Why?”  I asked.

“Because I wanted to see what you would do when you saw the orb.”

I looked at her curiously.  “Testing a theory?”

“I was,” she said easily, “and you didn’t disappoint me.”

I watched
without action as Agrippina placed her elbows on the bed beside her and scooted herself back so that she came out from underneath my knife.  I barely even twitched, let alone try to stop her.  She sat up and tossed her hair away from her face and reached out to grab my forearm.  Again, I didn’t react as she pulled me down beside her like a grumpy child in need of a good scolding.  She sat so close that her breasts were pressed up against my arm.

“
There are so many things we must discuss, Jacob Hunter,” she said softly, her expression as innocent as they come.  She was a completely different person now; all her sexual promiscuity, confusing mannerisms and air of superiority gone completely, replaced by a rational human being.  Suddenly, I doubted everything I had heard from her earlier tonight, no longer certain I shouldn’t trust her now.  All I could do was sit patiently, stupidly, and wait for her to continue.

She angled her face away from mine and smiled at no one but herself.  “
Gaius was always the family favorite, destined for great things and bestowed with many opportunities, but I was raised by the same parents who bore and nurtured my brother – the same family who insisted
all
their children be well schooled and educated.  But unlike my doting sisters, my schooling did not end when it was time for us to take on our more womanly responsibilities.

“Knowledge is power, Jacob Hunter.  I believ
e you know this to be true.  Uncle Claudius was always so insistent that we girls harness our minds as well as our bodies, advice I followed and they ignored, and the study of language became a passion of mine.  Claudius often said that understanding those who others cannot gave you power over both.  ‘Keep it secret,’ he used to tell me, ‘never let on that you are already two steps ahead of them’.”

Agrippina sighed and turne
d her head back to gaze at me.

“He was such a complex man.  Always letting on like he was less capable than he really was, I never understood why.  Regardless, the important thing to understand is that of all the languages I
understand, Etruscan is the one he personally taught me.  Few men can speak it, you know, but I believe you know another.  Marcus Varus.  He’s the one unconscious on the floor there by the door.”

My heart skipped a bea
t.  How could she know it was Varus who lay crumpled at Santino’s feet?  It was too dark and she had been facing away from us when we had come in.  I opened my mouth to speak, but she pressed a long, slender finger against my lips.  Her fingernails were well groomed, and her skin smelled of fresh flowers.

“Not yet, Jacob Hunter.  You may speak soon, but first you must understand that I know a great many things about both you
and the orb.  The past four years have opened my eyes to a great many wonders, most beyond description.  I have learned how glorious a tool the orb can be, but also how dangerous it is.  It can have a powerful effect on the mind.  Some are strengthened by its power while others are corrupted by it.  Only time will tell which.”

She looked down longingly and took my hand in her own.  “You are drawn by it.  It calls to you, beckoning you to use it.  I know this because I feel it too.  I have experienced its longing for the past four years
, and when I imagine your separation from it, I feel a great sadness.  You see, we share a bond, you and I.  The orb speaks to us.  It is something not even you and your Amazon can share.”  She paused a moment and drew my hand to her knee, gliding it smoothly along her thigh so that it rested against her hip.  She scooted closer, if that was even possible.  “I came here to see if you still had a connection with the orb and… with me.  It fills me with such joy to learn that you still do.”

“You came…?”  I started, but she cut me off.

“Yes.  I came here for you.  I want to help you.  I want you to help me.  To use the orb together and make Rome everything it was meant to be and more.  We can do great things, you and I.”

I felt a distinct soreness in my eyes, a burning sensation that meant I hadn’t blinked in qu
ite some time.  I squeezed them shut and wondered what had brought on such a trance, knowing It wasn’t Agrippina.  There was nothing sexual about her current demeanor at all, despite obvious contradictions to the contrary.  I looked at my hand pressed firmly against her shapely thigh and felt nothing at the sensation.  I had touched Helena in that manner hundreds of times, each as exciting as the last, but I felt nothing now.  I looked into Agrippina’s eyes, and failed to feel the slightest urge to lean in and kiss her.  I suspected in that moment that Agrippina felt the same.

There was something oddly off about the whole
scenario.  It almost felt like she was right, like we did share some kind of bond.  I glanced at the orb and glared at it.  There sat a perfectly good rationale in of itself.  I pulled my hand away from Agrippina’s leg and pressed it against my temple, trying to think as I squeezed my eyes even tighter.

After a moment, I rose to my feet
, pulling away from Agrippina, her hand still lazily attached to my own.  She wasted no effort keeping me close, but clung to me until I was too far away for her to hold on.  I felt disoriented and nauseous, so much so that I almost fell down the steps but a sudden adrenaline surge steadied me.  My mind started to clear and Agrippina’s spell, or whatever it was, faded away.

The orb’s blue
glow dimmed.

I sheathed my boot knife and retrieved my rifle from behind my back.  I held it out in front of me and straightened my posture as well as I could.  I felt drained
, and my head was still swimming in confusion, misunderstanding and sudden fatigue.  It took everything I had left to even look at Agrippina.

“I said no more games,” I said breathlessly.  “Stay where you are
and I won’t hurt you, but that orb is coming with me.”

Agrippina frowned and reached around to caress her burned behind.  “So you’ve chosen that path then.”  She sighed
and looked away.  “Unexpected, but if that is your choice, there is something else I wish you to know.”

I looked down at her warily.  “What?”

She met my gaze, her deep blue eyes sparkling in malice and a type of cruel enjoyment.

“I want you to know that j
ust prior to the battle outside of Rome four years ago, I issued a bounty for your Amazon.”

“What?” I asked, not completely understanding.

She blinked innocently.  “I offered five thousand
sestertii
to whoever brought me her head.  At the time, I didn’t even know why, really.  Silly decisions like that come to you when you are young, I suppose.”