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My head was down, trying to manage the pain. I didn't look up at him, but it wasn't necessary. He could see her hand locked around my wrist. He immediately understood.
"The Mistress is alive," he whispered. "I knew it!"
"We don't know what'll happen if she wakes," I said. "It could be bad for both of us."
Brutus pulled the blanket away from her face, though I couldn't see it. "She's just a woman," he said, obviously disappointed. "The stories I've been told of her greatness ... well, this isn't what I expected."
She wasn't an o
rdinary woman. If he could've felt the grip of her fingers, he'd have known that. In a better light, he might've seen the strain on my face as I struggled to keep breathing. With the bulla, I was stronger than I used to be, but even that wasn't enough to make her release me. Maybe she looked like a sleeping vestalis, but she was holding the strength and power of an angry goddess. Diana.
"I'm going to awaken her," Brutus said. "The Malice is nothing compared to her power. And when she wakes, she'll find the Malice for us."
"You will not wake her," I said. "I will destroy this temple over our heads if you try."
Brutus laughed, and even that bit of noise caused the Mistress to clench her grip. It might as well have been around my neck for the way her grip was suffocating me. Enough of this.
I had to get free and stop Brutus. If the Mistress awoke, none of us would leave this temple. I might not be leaving anyway. Even if I got my wrist free, I wouldn't be able to climb the ladder now.
I closed my eyes and pictured the temple's entrance, where my mother was. I saw it as clearly as if I was there, then felt the pressure on my chest as the room faded around me. My arm was released, and when I opened my eyes again, I was there, directly beside my mother.
The two Praetors who had been holding her started to react to me, but I had the advantage of surprise and dropped them both with a small burst of magic.
My mother pulled me into a hug, and though it was torture on my wrist to be pushed against her, I didn't protest. I had missed the presence of her love, and wanted it and needed it in more ways than I could count.
"Nicolas," she whispered. "If your father could see you now --"
Her tone was kind, but she didn't finish her sentence, and I wasn't entirely sure I wanted her to. This was not the kind of life my father would have hoped for me; I already knew that. And yet at the same time, I knew he'd never have wanted me in chains, slowly dying in the mines outside of Rome. I wanted to think he'd be proud of me for having come so far in my life. If where I stood was proof that I had come far.
"You have to run," I said to my mother. "I will shield you long enough to get past the Praetors, but once you get into the vineyard, a unicorn will be waiting there."
Her eyes widened. "A unicorn?"
"He'll take you to Radulf's home."
"Your grandfather's home?" Mother asked. "If you know about Radulf, then you probably know he was never ... happy to have me for a daughter."
"But he will protect you," I said.
"I won't leave you here," she said. "We'll go together."
I glanced back toward the ladder hole. Brutus was still in the catacombs with the Mistress, and I had no doubt of his evil intentions. "There is more for me to do here," I said. "But I won't be far behind you. Now run. Go!"
The moment she left the temple, I raised the shield for her, at the same time as I called Callistus to the vineyards.
The Mistress was no longer crying in my head. In fact, I no longer detected any feeling of sadness from her. That would've been good news, except that the emotion was being replaced. With rage.
With my left wrist held against my chest by my other arm, I crept back to the ladder.
"Come with me now," I called to Brutus, speaking no louder than necessary for him to hear me. "Or you will be trapped in here forever. I'm going to collapse the temple."
There was no answer from him, though I knew he could hear me. Softly, his voice rose to my ears. He was chanting. He was waking her up. There was no choice but for me to leave them both in here.
I sent out enough magic to cause the ladder to fall apart in splinters. Then I braced my wrist again and started running toward the door. Sunlight beckoned me out, but I needed no encouragement. Although it hurt to release my wrist, I aimed my good hand toward the entrance. The moment I was out, I would destroy the door and let the rest of the temple fall with it.
Just before I reached the door, it slammed shut, turning everything into perfect darkness. Darker than Caesar's cave had been. Darker than the mines ever were on the blackest nights.
Any magic I had offered for my mother's protection was shut off with the door, and I could only hope she'd had time to reach Callistus. Then I dug within me for all the magic I had left.
