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I got to my feet. The wound wasn't completely healed, but I could walk without pain and I wanted to preserve what magic I had left.
"Those are personal guards of your father's, not Roman soldiers," Brutus said to Crispus. "I'm not bound to their orders."
"Surrender your weapons now," Crispus said. "If you prefer to see how their skills compare to the soldiers of Rome, I promise to impress you."
"And this is my promise." Brutus drew his sword and aimed it directly at Valerius. "If you do not order your guards to leave, I will carry out my threat to your father." He ran forward, swinging back his sword for a strike.
"Valerius, run!" I cried, sending a new wave of magic toward the Praetors closest to him. Then I began running in that direction as well.
Crispus sent his guards into the field, where a fight broke out between them and the Praetors. Meanwhile, with the battle as a distraction, I leaned against the grapevines and searched for my magic again. I needed to find the bulla. If I could get to Callistus, maybe he could lead me to where it had fallen. I didn't think anyone had found it yet. They would've announced it if they had. But how long would it take me to find Callistus? Valerius needed my help now, just as he had helped me.
I ran over to Valerius, who was crouched on the path leading back to his home. Crispus knelt by him, urging him to get back to the villa.
"Come with us," Valerius said.
"Aurelia is here," I said. "Have you seen her?"
"I'll find her," Crispus said. "You should go with my father."
The mark in my shoulder was alive once more, but rather than creating pain this time, it was filling me with energy. Again, its contrast from the bulla's magic amazed me. The Divine Star served me, and not the other way around.
"This is my fight," I said to Crispus. "But your father must leave, for his own safety."
"We can't leave you behind," Valerius said. "Yours is the most important life of all."
I glanced back. Fists and swords and arrows were flying in all directions, but not to our favor. One by one, his men were falling, and too many Praetors were still standing.
I turned to Valerius. "I'm the cause of this battle, now I need to be the solution to it. Please, sir, the threat against you is real. Go to where it is safe."
"Where are you, Nicolas Calva?" That was Brutus speaking. "Show yourself and end this fight."
Radulf must've heard it too, or sensed it through our connection of the Divine Star. He didn't speak to me, but I felt his concern, even his panic. If I didn't get away, I was in trouble, and we both knew it.
I had not been given the chance to help my mother disappear, but I could do that now. All I needed was to picture someplace else in my mind. I could take Valerius with me, and maybe Crispus too. Bring them to safety and then return to find Aurelia. And Livia too, if she had come here with Aurelia. I hoped she wasn't anywhere near this field.
I scanned the area and still couldn't see Aurelia. The night was too dark, and the feeling of approaching rain was growing. I hoped she was halfway to the other end of Rome by now, though I knew her too well to believe that.
"Where can we go?" Valerius asked. "The Praetors will follow us to the villa."
The hypogeum beneath the amphitheater -- that's where I'd take them. No government official would descend into that filth, probably not even to find me. I pictured the animals' cages, the mazelike paths, and Felix's face as it would be when we appeared directly in front of him.
"Take my arm," I said to Crispus and Valerius as I knelt by them. "I'm going to get you two out of here."
"Can you hear Atroxia's crying, even above the sounds of fighting?" Brutus yelled. "The Mistress needs rescuing. Only you can help her, Nicolas."
"He's lying," Valerius whispered. "Shut her out of your mind."
That was harder than it sounded. Because, yes, the crying had returned in my head, louder than ever. As more men fell in the battle, I heard the Mistress's voice, begging the gods to forgive her crimes.
I closed my eyes again, and the hypogeum reappeared in my sights. According to Radulf, it was simple magic to disappear, so why was I struggling with it?
"Three is too many for you," Radulf said. "Let go of the senator and his son. Get yourself away from there."
That was not an option. I muttered for Radulf to get out of my head and do something useful instead. If he wasn't here to help, then at least he could remain quiet so I could concentrate.
"They're getting closer," Crispus said. "Whatever you're doing, Nic, please hurry."
The hypogeum. I began to see it, not as an image in my mind, but as if I were truly standing there. I smelled the animals and the acrid sweat of the slaves at their labors. I felt its suffocating heat like I was part of it a
