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He stopped in front of what I recognized as the door to the colosseum and pulled a rope, the sounds of a bell ringing inside the room.
The door opened, and Janus stepped back to let me enter. He didn’t come inside since he wasn’t a leader. Not yet at least. I had no doubt he had what it took to make it to the top.
The door closed as soon as I’d stepped through. I ignored the guards standing on each side and instead took in the four princeps sitting in the middle of the huge circular room.
“Take a seat,” a faceless voice instructed, pointing to a chair set up in front of the large table they sat behind.
Making my way down the stairs, I carefully perched on the edge of the seat, refusing to think what my presence here might mean.
“Fortuna. You’re one face I never thought I’d see at the forum.”
The voice came from the figure on the far right. I vaguely recognized it, but with the hood casting their face in shadow, I couldn’t tell who it was.
My heart hammered in my chest. “May I ask why I’m here?”
“You broke the rules.”
Clenching and unclenching my hands, I shook my head. “What? No. Never.”
“You told someone about us.”
I frowned, my brain working overtime to figure out what they were talking about. “I swear on my brother’s life I’ve never told anyone about you.”
“Then why was Jude Olysses in here asking to join?”
My throat closed up, my eyes unblinking, staring at the hooded figures in front of me. “Jude Olysses?”
My voice was croaky, the world stilling around me.Jude’s last name is Olysses? He told me it was Smith.
“You know the consequences.”
Everything seemed to restart at once, adrenaline crashing into me. “I didn’t talk. He must have found out another way. Please.”
“Lying to Curiata is punishable by death.”
My body trembled, and I clenched my hands by my sides. “I’m not lying.”
My voice sounded weak, my mind turning in circles.
Please let this all be a nightmare I’ll wake up from soon.
“His father’s assassination was the only contract you ever failed.”
The unspoken accusation hung heavy in the air.
“I would never fail an assignment on purpose. I didn’t even know him then.”
Silence greeted me. Because Gladius didn’t make a mistake. If I was here, then it was because they’d already made up their minds.
A sense of betrayal stuck to me like a black slug, crawling over my skin, making me want to scrub every inch.
How could I have been so clueless? And why didn’t I investigate Jude before letting him get close to me and Lenny? I’d let my guard down, and now I was paying for it dearly.
Stupid Ariel. I made a rookie mistake. One that could cost me my life.
“I can make this right. I can prove I didn’t tell him anything. Please, just tell me what you want me to do.”
They always had an agenda. And since I was still breathing, they must want something.
