The Roman(40)
She placed her other hand atop their conjoined ones. “You, of all people, know the power of choice. You must respect mine.”#p#分页标题#e#
“Think of what my life will be when you are gone.” His eyes were pained.
“You have choices, too, William.”
“This is not the life I would have chosen for either of us.”
“Then don’t ask me to choose it.”
“No suicide,” he murmured. “Promise me, no matter what, that you won’t take your own life.”
“I don’t intend to kill myself. Why are you worrying about it?”
“You don’t believe in an afterlife, but I do. And suicides…” His body shuddered.
“I promise. But you’re worrying about something that doesn’t exist.”
He hummed in her ear but did not acquiesce. “I pray my teacher will continue to watch over you.” He breathed a resigned sigh against her skin before burying his face in her neck.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“COULDN’T YOU SECURE more comfortable accommodations?” Aoibhe threw back the hood of her cloak as she surveyed the simple room in which Ibarra was living.
The garret was in a partially renovated building that stood on the bank of the Arno, across from the Uffizi. Saw horses and tarps littered the ground floor, and most of the ceilings and walls were in various stages of repair. Dust and grime coated many of the surfaces, as well as the staircase.
Ibarra squatted under the roof. He’d tidied the room somewhat and moved in some furniture. The garret’s only entry was a leaded-glass skylight; the door had been boarded shut from the outside, making it a very suitable place for a vampyre to hide.
“We could meet at your home instead.” Ibarra gave her a wolfish grin.
“And have the Prince cut off my head? No, thank you.” She lifted her crimson skirts high above her ankles as she crossed the dirty floor. “You should have quit the city by now. It’s only a matter of time before the Prince finds you.”
“I’m not leaving until I have my revenge.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly. “Now, what news?”
“A policeman stumbled onto Teatro. Gregor was quite worried, but the Prince has emerged from his precious villa and ordered him to have the police take care of it.”
“Interesting.”
“There’s more.” She kissed him and withdrew, taunting him.
“Tell me.”
Aoibhe twirled, the folds of her red velvet dress peeking from beneath her black cloak.
“This particular policeman has an interesting history. He’s been investigating a robbery at the Uffizi, and he’s taken an interest in the Prince’s pet.”
Ibarra scoffed. “The pet seems very popular. Does it bleed gold and silver?”
Aoibhe laughed, tossing her long, red curls. “No, but once again, there’s more. It seems this officer is looking for William York.”
Ibarra’s dark brows lifted. “The Prince? How is that possible?”
“It seems he’s been involved in the human world, and somehow the policeman has learned his name. Apparently, he’s a suspect.”
“The Prince would never be so careless.”
“Ah, but it’s well known he has a weakness for art. Perhaps he stole from the Gallery.”
“That wouldn’t be enough to give a policeman his name.”
“No.” Aoibhe rubbed at her chin. “That is rather puzzling.”
“And interesting.” Ibarra pulled her close once again, his dark eyes dancing. “Finally, something to our advantage.”#p#分页标题#e#
“In what way?”
“In the way in which human beings have always been useful, as a tool for our agenda.”
She pushed him away. “The coup failed. The Curia isn’t coming, and the Princess of Umbria withdrew her troops from our borders. If we are patient, the Prince’s time will elapse, and he’ll weaken. Then we can strike.”
“Aoibhe, I’m not waiting for the Prince to gain his thousand years.”
“I won’t be party to another coup,” she snapped. “I nearly lost my head in the last one.”
“There won’t be a coup.”
Her brown eyes narrowed. “Then how do you suggest we seize the throne?”
“We allow our enemies to dispose of the Prince, and then we take control.”
“What makes you think we’d survive a war with Venice? Or Umbria?”
“Ah, that is the beauty of my plan. We don’t provoke a war. We simply motivate our enemies to assassinate the Prince.”
She flounced across the room. “That was Lorenzo’s strategy. See how successful it was.”