Rome and Jules Page 2

  “Come on. It’s probably just a myth, or if it did exist, it’s long since collapsed.”

  “Luke, I am your father. Would I lead you astray?”

  Rome barked a laugh. “Are you telling me you know where this corridor is?”

  “Yep. I figured if it ever came to war, it’d be useful strategic knowledge, so I went searching and—ta-da!—I found it, man. This is a way better reason to use it than war.” He laughed that raucous Merrick bray. “Come on.”

  They slid out of the car and began walking down the road in full view, their costumes concealing them and making them less conspicuous than if they tried to hide. As they came up on the edge of the Havilland mansion grounds, Merrick looked around and paused until a group of costumed guests walked by, then grabbed Rome’s arm and pulled him into the bushes. The game was afoot, as the saying went. Here’s hoping we’re still on our feet by the end of the night.

  Chapter Two

  DARK. Click. Rome’s vision shifted to a near infrared, making the surroundings clear but eerie, like an old film negative. Merrick stumbled, and Rome grabbed his arm.

  “Jeez, man, thanks. You’re one sure-footed bastard.” He grinned and began feeling around in the underbrush.

  Rome said nothing. The “alpha advantage” was a whispered myth among weres, never confirmed by the leaders. Reason? The fact that no one knew for sure that born alphas had superior sight, hearing, smell, and other senses added advantage to the advantage. In battle, they could lead their pack from a position of strength. Of course, against other alphas—tough luck.

  Only one person knew that Rome had the advantage—his mother’s father, Lawrence. The old man lived away from the pack in the forest near the wolfgod’s temple, and Rome had loved to visit him since he was small. An alpha in his own right, Lawrence knew the secrets and kept them guarded. When Rome suddenly started seeing aphids on leaves at ten paces in the dark, he’d run to Lawrence. Shit, he’d thought for sure he was sick or a weirdo and was scared to tell anyone else—even his best friend. Once he knew what he had, he still kept it secret so that a year later, no one else knew he was a confirmed alpha—including his father. Different alphas got their skills at different ages, Lawrence told him, and Rome had acquired the advantage earlier than most. Still, he sensed that neither of his older brothers had ever been blessed with the advantage. Anthony never could have kept it secret, and sometimes he caught his father staring at Federico, the oldest, with what seemed like disappointment. Why hadn’t Rome told Benedetto? Now there was a complex question.

  “Hey, man, I found it!”

  Rome shook himself. Right, this skulk through the woods had nothing to do with admiring the shine of dewdrops. “Let me help.” He hunkered down beside Merrick, who was struggling with a huge iron door set flat into the ground.

  Moderating his strength so he didn’t knock Merrick off his feet, Rome grabbed the big handle and pulled. With the rasp of scraping metal and the squish of sucking mud, the door opened.

  Merrick popped up and stared around, wide-eyed. Rome quieted. No sound. Apparently no one heard. They both looked into the hole below the iron door. More dark.

  Okay, he could see to the bottom, which wasn’t far, but Merrick couldn’t, and Rome needed a plausible way to tell him they could easily jump in. He grabbed a handful of small gravel and tossed it into the hole. Only a second later, it made a tinkling sound as it hit something hard like stone. “Not far down. I’ll go first.”

  “No, I should. If anything happens to you, they’ll kill me, so I might as well risk my life. Besides, it was my idea.” He chuckled.

  It didn’t look dangerous, so Rome nodded but stayed alert as Merrick slid over the edge and dropped to a solid floor below. “Terra firma, baby. Come on down.” Rome dropped smoothly to his feet, reached up to close the iron door, and Merrick slapped a hand on his arm. “Wait. It’s dark in here. Have you got a light?”

  “Yeah, I’ve got a flashlight app on my phone.” He fished under his Batman cape into his pants pocket, pulled out the phone, and flipped on the brilliant light.

  “Good man!” Merrick grabbed the phone. “Let me lead.”

  Rome climbed up a wooden ladder built into the wall, leaned out and grabbed the door, pulled it, and it slammed shut.

  Merrick frowned. “How did you do that? That bitch is heavy.”

  “Not coming this way. It opened on an angle, so it closed pretty easily.”

  Merrick nodded and started down a narrow passage lined with gray stone. The tunnel curved slightly and ramped upward. Gradually the plain gray of the wall began to be interspersed with colorful blocks showing drawings that appeared to be older than the mansion was. Rome walked closer and stared. Faded colors depicted humans changing into wolves, wolves running through forests, and, amazingly, wolves mounting each other. Rome grinned. Did the Havillands know these were here?

  Merrick chortled. “Whoa, werewolf porn.” He stared at the pictures with the flashlight close to the stone. “Holy shit.”

  “What?” Rome looked back from his inspection of a dinner scene.

  Merrick pointed at a drawing. “Am I nuts, or does the werewolf on the bottom have a dick?”

  “Where?”

  He tapped the wall, one brown eyebrow raised. “There.”

  Rome snorted. “Well, I guess there’s not much question about the gender of the wolfie who’s getting ass-fucked.” The dong on the wolf extended from its haunches almost to the ground.

  “That’s pretty amazing. Man, look. Here’re more of them.” He pointed at another block of drawings. “It’s a couple of human-form homos. Gods, who’d do this? I mean, I always knew the Havillands were pretty perverted about their sexual preferences—too much inbreeding, you know? But who’d advertise it on a wall? Shit.”

  “Actually, I think these drawings are really old. I’m not sure the Havillands did this, or at least not any contemporary Havillands.”

  “Shit, old-time ass-fuckers.” Merrick shook his head.

  Rome turned away and shrugged. “To each his own, I guess.” His swelling dick reminded him that ass fucking was very much his own.

  “You’re kidding?”

  “No, hell. I stay out of other people’s business.” He started walking down the passage until he remembered he needed to let Merrick go first with the flashlight. He stumbled on purpose and bumped the wall.

  “Here, dummy, let me in the lead.”

  Rome fell in behind Merrick, and they marched a couple of minutes in silence.

  “Uh, Rome, doesn’t the idea of two guys disgust you? I mean, beard stubble and chest hair. Shit, no boobs.”

  Rome released a breath slowly. “I think people ought to live the way they want unless they’re hurting somebody else.”

  “Well, yeah, me too, but I mean, the idea. You know, just between us.”

  I could tell him. No. No reason. It would just put Merrick in an awkward position, having to keep my secret. He let his voice sound amused. “Hell, I bet gay guys go—” He waved a hand, minced his walk, and raised his voice. “Yuck, boobs and pussy. That’s disgusting.”

  Merrick laughed so hard he dropped the phone and had to scamper after it as it slid back toward the entrance, highlighting the fact that they were on an uphill climb.

  Rome’s half-mast erection from looking at the wolf drawings finally went down.

  After climbing for another five minutes or so, they got to a door, also iron like the one in the woods, but this one upright. Rome scowled at it. “What happens if there’re fifty Havillands on the other side when we open the fucking door?”

  “That’s the beauty of it. First, this opens into a small lounge back near the servants’ staircase, so it’s not used much. But the opening’s also covered by a heavy tapestry and this door pulls in, so we can listen to be sure there’s no one in the room before we barge through.”

  Rome gave Merrick a sideways glance. “You have intimate knowledge of this secret entrance, my friend.”

&
nbsp; He flashed his teeth. “Like I said, the female had serious interest in my visiting her bedroom without getting caught. I didn’t tell her how I got in because I didn’t want her to know that I found the tunnel. Honestly, it wasn’t that tough since the Havillands don’t seem to have many servants left—or maybe they were all somewhere else.” He shrugged.

  “No, that jibes with what we’ve heard. Gerard Havilland hasn’t got his shit together and is running through the fortune left to him like claws through butter. Maybe this party is to get some of his dog on again.”

  “Could be. The return of the Havilland heir has gotta be a big deal. He’s been gone a long time, and if he’s supposed to be the next alpha, he better be around to generate some trust among his pack.”

  “Why was he gone?”

  “Not sure. Sowing wild oats, maybe?” He grinned.

  “Still, odd to leave your pack.” He shrugged. “Well, we’re here. Let’s see if we can get the door open without signaling every Havilland enforcer in fifty miles.”

  Rome got to the door latch first, pushed it down, and pulled, trying to make it look harder than it was. There was some soft scraping, but not enough to attract anyone who wasn’t within a few feet. In the space he opened, Rome could see the stitches on the back of a heavy tapestry. He pressed closer and listened. Nothing. He sniffed. No one. With a shake of his head at Merrick, he slid into the narrow space between the wall and the tapestry and tried to keep the wall hanging from moving as he crept to the end and peeked around into a smallish room crowded with too much old-fashioned furniture. A fire burned in a large fireplace, even though the spring weather was mild, but nobody was there. Rome waggled a hand at Merrick, who started through the door just as the entrance to the room began to open and voices drifted in. “Get in here, young man, and don’t give me any of your shit.”

  Rome slithered back behind the tapestry toward the opening and waved frantically at Merrick to stay put. He made it into the opening and pulled the door closed, leaving a narrow gap. He pressed his ear to it. His hearing was good enough that he probably could have picked up voices in the hall outside the salon , but even if he’d been hard of hearing, he would have caught the loud, slurred voice coming from the other side of the tapestry.

  “I didn’t track you down and bring you home to defy me, boy. You’re going to do as I say.”

  The reply was soft, lilting, and sent shivers up Rome’s spine. “I have no objections to the idea, sir. I just don’t understand why it has to be so fast.”

  “Shit.” Whoever spoke sounded about forty sheets to the wind. “What is it about bankruptcy you don’t understand?”

  Rome looked back at Merrick and widened his eyes. Suspicions confirmed.

  The soft voice said, “If we have an agreement, surely they’ll do whatever you need done. There’s no reason you have to rush me into this. It’s going to have people talking, which I don’t think you want.”

  “Okay, okay. We’ll discuss it. But we need to get this deal inked, and that’s gonna happen tonight.”

  “All right.” The pretty voice sounded resigned.

  The door to the room opened, then closed. For a second Rome thought it was empty, and then a soft sound stopped him.

  Crying. The person was crying.

  Something in Rome’s heart squeezed tight until his chest hurt. Maybe this person was a Havilland, but those tears sounded hopeless—a feeling he tried not to share.

  Merrick opened his mouth to speak, and Rome pressed his fingers against his lips. “Shh.”

  A couple of heartbreaking minutes later, the room door opened and closed again.

  Silence.

  Rome released his breath. “Okay, the coast is clear.”

  “What was going on? I couldn’t hear it very well.”

  “Oh, uh, me either. I just knew there were voices. There at the end, I think one of the people stayed behind for a minute. I just wanted to be sure.”

  “Shall we give it a try?” Merrick’s teeth gleamed in the soft light.

  Rome nodded and slid behind the tapestry again, this time emerging into the dimly lit room. Merrick pushed against his back. “Go. Who knows when someone else will come in?”

  They hurried across the room to the door, and Rome pressed his ear against it. The sounds of partying murmured through the thick wood, but not any close conversations. “It’s okay—I think.” Slowly he opened the door. No one. He stepped out confidently, and Merrick followed. Swathed in their masks and costumes that covered their family tattoos, they only had to fit into the crowd.

  Rome walked toward the noise of the party.

  As they strode down the hall, they encountered more and more people, so they slowed their pace and looked convivial. A waiter passed with a tray of wineglasses, and Merrick and Rome each grabbed one.

  Once they reached the huge reception area, an artifact from another time, they found people crowded into all the available spaces. Though the room was brightly decorated with candles and flowers, it added up to lipstick on a hog since the walls and furniture seemed to have a general air of shabbiness. The conversation in the reception room earlier flashed in Rome’s mind. Bankruptcy. Yeah, that’s what it looked like. Too much real estate and too little money to support it.

  Still, people weren’t shy about consuming the liquor and getting into the spirit of the party. They sported every kind of costume from historical to contemporary. Quite a few of the females had taken the opportunity to show off their assets in skimpy outfits, masquerading as superheroes or famous vixens.

  Merrick nudged Rome. “Check it.” He bobbed his head toward a gaggle of girls clustered by the far wall. Even among her peers, Rhonda stood out, dressed as what might be Helen of Troy, giant boobs draped in diaphanous chiffon, her tiny waist clasped in gold silk ties, and her long legs mostly bare to the world.

  Rome nodded. “Yeah, she’s pretty spectacular.”

  Merrick shook his head. “Shit, my man, you’re the master of cool if you’re not passing out at that sight.”

  Rome leaned toward Merrick and said softly, “I kind of wish her brain was as big as her chest.”

  “Uh, why?”

  Rome snorted. “Okay, point taken.” Of course, if she were smart, she’d never be interested in him.

  Merrick hooked an elbow toward a pretty girl alone by the wall. “Go ask that girl to dance. First, leave your cape with me so Rhonda gets a good look at your ass in those tights. She’ll be dying of jealousy over someone else getting your attention.” He laughed.

  “She doesn’t know who I am and, if she did, I suspect she’d more interested in my bank account than my butt.”

  “Multiple assets, my man. Multiple assets.”

  “I’m keeping the cape, but I’ll ask her to dance.”

  “Aww, damn.”

  Rome gave Merrick a raised eyebrow that was wasted under the hood and threaded through the crowd to the female by the wall. She wore a witch outfit that covered most of her body, and when he got closer, it was obvious the black hair was a wig. He extended a hand to her. “May I have a dance?”

  She looked surprised and then pleased. “Okay.” She pushed away from her spot and followed him the few feet to the dance floor, where she raised her arms. Rome swept her up and glided her across the smooth surface. She was a decent dancer.

  He let the music carry him and actually enjoyed himself for a minute until he glanced at Merrick, who was pointing inconspicuously but emphatically toward Rhonda and her cronies. Rome sighed softly and shifted his trajectory toward the giggling group.

  His dance partner said in a cool voice, “Do I know you?”

  He smiled since she could see his lips under the mask. “It’s a mystery.”

  “Oh? You like to play games?” Under her green makeup, she looked pretty but also a touch scary.

  “At a costume party, it’s hard not to.”

  “Umm. I don’t recognize your voice or your stature, which I have to say is notable.” Wow, the woman
was sexy in a terrifying sort of way.

  “Thank you kindly.” Think fast. “Actually, I’ve been away—at school.”

  “Interesting.” She gave him a cool once-over. “That explains why you weren’t afraid to ask me to dance.”

  “Afraid?”

  “Yes.” She looked up at him with a tight smile. “In case you don’t know, I’m Yolanda Montgomery. Ty’s sister.”

  Chapter Three

  HOLY shit! Rome controlled his face and swooped Yolanda into a big twirl to cover his surprise. As he came out of the spin, he leaned in and said, “Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf now, huh?”

  Yolanda gave him a gutsy laugh. “Whoever you are, cutie, you’ve got balls. Not many guys want to take on my brother.”

  “Surely he can’t object to you dancing?”

  She shrugged. “I guess the problem is that no one knows what Ty will object to.”

  “Must limit your social life.”

  A crease popped between her arched brows. “Tell me about it.”

  “Uh, where is your brother?”

  She shrugged. “I guess he got kind of beat up on the tennis courts today and decided to go drown his sorrows with some of his cronies rather than attending this command performance.”

  “But then that means he’s not performing on command.”

  She spoke softly. “Ty doesn’t give a fuck. Not like old man Havilland can do much, or at least will do anything. Too busy with his friends Jack Daniels and Jim Beam.”

  Rome quirked a half smile. The music stopped, and he hid his sigh of relief. He gave Yolanda a small bow. “Thank you for the dance.”

  “Thank you for the courage.” She chuckled again. Shame she was a blatant enemy. He kind of liked her.