Marcus was struggling to thrust himself through a packed crowd at the edge of Urbs Romae when a hand closed around his arm. A voice he didn’t recognize said, “As you value your children’s lives, come with me.”
Shocked, he turned—and found himself staring into haunted grey eyes.
He could not have said if the person watching him so narrowly was male or female. But there was pain in those grey eyes, desperate pain and fear and something else, something dark and deadly that made his pulse shudder.
“Who—?”
“Your wife is safe. For the moment. But I can’t keep her safe forever, not from the people who want her dead. And your children are in terrible danger. Please. I can’t tell you why, not here. But I swear to you, if you’ll just come with me and bring your little girls, I’ll do everything in my power to keep all of you alive.”
It was insane, this impulse to trust. Too many people had betrayed Marcus over the years, and too much that was precious to him, more precious than his own life, depended on his making the right choice. This is Shangri-La Station, he found himself thinking desperately, not Rome. If I am betrayed here, there are people who will move heaven and stars to come to our aid . . .
In the end, it came down to one simple fact: this person knew where Ianira was. If Marcus wanted to see her, he had to go. And the girls?
“I will not risk my children until I know Ianira is safe.”
Impatience flared in those grey eyes. “There’s no time for this! My God, we’ve already killed one of them, before he could shoot her. They’ll murder your little girls, Marcus, in cold blood. I’ve seen how they kill! Cassie Tyrol died right in front of me and there was nothing I could do to save her—“