with black hair was on his knees behind her, his head bent to her neck, his arms about her, one hand cupping her sex, one hand cradling a bare breast.
His face was hidden in her neck.
But her face bore an expression of ecstasy.
“Eros,” I whispered.
“A god of the ancients,” Cassius whispered back. “I don’t need a reading, Elena. That speaks for itself.”
“Are you finished?” I queried.
He was not for he threw another card.
I could not stop my intake of breath.
“Pure beauty,” he murmured.
It was.
The Unicorn.
“And she means?” Cassius inquired.
“Joy,” I said softly. “Serenity. Fulfillment. Change.”
He said nothing to that, but he didn’t need to. I felt emotion coming from him, I just could not say what it was.
“Can we be done now?” I asked.
Apparently, we couldn’t for although he set the deck aside, he reached forward, took hold of the ones that had fallen, flipping them so mine was facing up.
A card drawn of purples and blacks, whites and charged blues. A landscape of devastation and destruction behind a woman in a long, wide, black skirt with an ornate purple apron at the front, all of which flowed in a threatening way and was decorated with blue lightning. She had black gauntlets on her forearms with gloves over her hands, her elbows pulled back, her fingers formed into claws.
Her bright white hair flowing up and out, she was leaned forward, her eyes spiteful, her mouth opened wide, her expression dreadful in its fury.
The Banshee.
“Bloody hell, what is that?” Cassius asked.
“An omen. The Banshee. Death of someone you care about. The shifting of the whole of your life as you know it,” I said quietly. I turned to him again. “Can we stop now?”
He turned his gaze to me.
“I sent Nero away.”
I blinked.
“It is but a temporary fix to a troubling problem,” he continued. “But you and I need time. Theodora needs time with us. There is much happening. Much change.” His sky-blue gaze moved to the card before coming again to me. “If she comes to know me, my men, trust will form. They’re good men, Elena. Fathers all to my own daughter. They show Aelia great affection and love. They will do the same for your Theodora.”
“This is a tidy plan, Cassius. But first, that trust will evaporate if it becomes known to her who Nero is, and it wasn’t shared with her before she came to care about your men, and possibly him. But I have thought on this and I would not like her to know at all. However, my fear is, Serena will take that option away from me.”
“I’ll handle Serena.”
I stared into his eyes before asking, “And how will you do that?”
“Leave it to me,” he stated.
I did not want him there at all, definitely not that close, most definitely not reading his cards (which were telling and embarrassing) and most definitely not conversing.
However, when he made a move to shift away, I caught onto the leather of his shirt, gripping it in a fist.
“How will you do that?” I demanded.
“Your sister is being handled.”
Presently?
My eyes narrowed.
“How?”
“It might be best you not know.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” I told him.
He looked amused (and I wished he didn’t for he wore it well). “You cannot be the judge if you know and then wished you didn’t.”
“Do you intend to harm her?” I asked.
His face softened (and I wished it wouldn’t do that either because he wore that better). “Bodily? No. Her pride? I’m certain.”
Oh my goddess.
“You intend to humiliate her?” I whispered.
“Yes, though she will be the only one who will know. She and Mars and the man who is pleasuring her in a way she’ll become addicted to him. And, of course, now you.”
I blinked.
“You have my vow there will be no harm, except to her, which, you must agree, Elena, she deserves. No one ever needed to know Nero’s role in Tiana’s demise. Anyone who knew such as that would have died with that knowledge. Serena did not. She used it for no reason other than spite and to cause discord. To that end, for Theodora’s protection, and yours, she will do as he says while he has her and you and Theodora will be safe from him.”
“Controlled by a man?” I queried.
“If she liked sex with a woman, we would have sent one in. As reported by the servants who attended her in camp, she didn’t mind women present when she engaged in her version of hedonism, but she didn’t take any.