Blood Never Lies (Mark of Mars) Read online

  Unbeknownst to him, her mother Amanda had also been a McVale student when she was twenty. She was studying in Apollo’s temple at the time and awoke one morning to find a young woman leaving a baby in a basket on the temple steps. The woman was of noble birth and had had a secret affair with a high ranking official who was already married. She and her lover had hidden the pregnancy from her family but she had no choice but to give the baby up when it was born. The woman was an ardent worshipper of Apollo and prayed the God would find a loving home for her baby.

  Amanda was distraught that the baby’s fate would either to be sold into slavery or prostitution, and fell in love with her almost on sight. Then and there she made the decision, the baby would come home with her. Professor Daniels shook his head as he envisaged the storm that must have come down on the Institute when a student came through the gateway carrying a child. Amanda argued that it was too late to return the child, history had already been altered. And if the baby was supposed to find a different life, fate would have seen to it that she had not woken so early that morning.

  The result was that Amanda left the Institute with a forged birth certificate for Jenna and, by chance, went on to meet Alexander Duvall shortly afterwards, who promptly adopted the baby on their marriage. The Institute apparently kept a very close eye on Jenna and as she showed a strong leaning towards the classics, they hoped to be able to reintroduce her back into her natural era. And the Institute had sent her back to the correct time zone.

  Now at least he knew why her blood had traces of diseases long extinct, she inherited it all from her natural parents. He flicked through her family medical records; unsurprising there was no copy of any blood results. Her mother would not have let them remain in her file. He still thought it mind blowing that Jenna was actually Roman born. He just hoped she would never find out.

  He smiled as he shut the file. You could take the girl out of Rome, but you couldn’t take Rome out of the girl.

  “Where’s Jenna?” Julius asked, looking around the temple.

  “She’s had to go away for a while,” Amelia propelled him into the rear room. “But she asked if you wouldn’t mind taking care of Ares in her absence.”

  “She wants me to look after him?”

  “In the temple. She knows how much you enjoy playing with him.”

  Julius sat down and shared his latest offering with the forever grateful kitten. It made Amelia smile how attached the young boy was to the cat. “Have you seen your brother?”

  “Yes, he’s not far from here. He said he’d stop by and walk me home later.”

  Oh bliss, Amelia sighed. She needed to talk to Augustus, she wasn’t sure if her centurion guard was now dismissed, as Jenna and the Marshall were no longer an item. She would give the Marshall his due, he had been fairly persistent in trying to get to see Jenna. His informants however were not that good as he had no idea she had left the city.

  She glimpsed a flash of red outside and went out to meet him.

  “You are a rare sight these days,” he smiled and took hold of her hand.

  “Sorry, but I’ve been on my own.”

  “Is Jenna unwell?”

  “No,” Amelia squirmed a little. She could not lie to Augustus. “She’s left Rome.”

  “She’s gone?” he was stunned.

  “Not permanently. She’s travelling with Luke.”

  “I fear the Marshall will not be happy.”

  “The Marshall is the reason she left,” Amelia could not conceal her dislike for the man.

  “Julius will be sad too. He is very fond of her.”

  “She assigned him the kitten’s protector before she left, so he is content with that for now.”

  “But I am not content. I want to spend time with you. Without Jenna, that may be difficult.”

  “Perhaps not if Julius is with us,” Amelia thought quickly. She wanted to spend as much time as she could with Augustus.

  “And his attention is easily diverted,” Augustus grinned mischievously. “If I have time, I will escort you to deliver bread to the children.”

  “I look forward to it,” she smiled and headed indoors to retrieve Julius. A few stolen moments with her centurion was better than nothing.

  CHAPTER 6

  Three days of olive picking were taking their toll. Jenna’s body was aching terribly, so much so Sextus had let her finish a little early that morning so she could stretch it out. She walked down to the lake to inspect the statues. All twelve Olympus Gods were represented, but the one that held her attention was Mars.

  “I just can’t keep away from you,” she murmured, running her hand down his arm. It was a life size statue, and was beautifully sculpted. She leant against him, trying to banish the thoughts starting to creep into her head. Mars reminded her of Marcus, they both had this aura of such masculinity about them. But a statue was a lot less troublesome.

  She sat down at his feet and dipped her legs into the lake, the cool waters doing wonders for her aching body. Another few more days of picking olives and she would be screaming to go back to Rome. Nothing like manual labour to restore one’s strength of mind.

  Her stomach gave a loud rumble. Lunch time. She stood back up, giving Mars one more fond stroke, before sauntering back to the villa.

  “I need to head into Vasillis tomorrow, so you’ll be glad to know you’ll get a morning off,” Sextus announced.

  This was met with much delight from Jenna and Luke.

  “We will however be leaving quite early, so the cart needs to be packed ready to go this afternoon.”

  “Anything is better than picking bloody olives,” Jenna grimaced.

  Marcus was standing in front of the Senate, giving his latest update on the situation in the Via Lata and Isis regions.

  “The additional centurion presence is acting as a deterrent in the Isis region but the unrest in Via Lata is not abating.”

  “Do you have a proposal, Marshall?” Senator Agrigor asked.

  “We can increase the guard there as well, but I fear it will do no good.”

  “How so?”

  “I can keep up the military action as long as I need to, but I believe the solution will eventually have to come from the Senate.”

  “And what would that solution be, Marshall Vilnus?” Senator Prellus piped up.

  “That is not within my remit to ……” It caught him by surprise, her touch running down his arm. How he had missed it. It was replaced with a continual burning; what was she doing to his statue?

  “Yes, Marshall?”

  He tried to get a grip of himself, whilst this burning ran through his body. “It is not within my remit to offer a solution.” He glanced over at his father, who understood the pain he was experiencing.

  “I think we have delayed the Marshall long enough,” Aurelius announced, dismissing him.

  Once outside, Marcus mounted up and headed straight for his temple. Rushing inside, he found it strangely empty. The burning was still on his left hand side, but Jenna was not touching his statue. He strode to the back room, only Gaius was there.

  “Where is she?” he barked.

  “Did you mean Jenna?” Gaius asked.

  “Yes,” he snapped, rubbing his still burning arm.

  “She is not here.”

  “I can see that, man.” His temper was starting to fray. “Tell me where she is.”

  “Didn’t you know? She left Rome three days ago.”

  Marcus felt the blood in his veins start to slow. “She left?” He looked towards the gateway.

  “Not through there,” Gaius responded. “She went south with Luke to do some travelling.”

  He shut his eyes for a moment to keep his temper in check. “Where exactly?”

  “I do not know. She wanted to get out the city, so Luke went with her. They will be gone a while, I believe.”

  Marcus turned and left. He was starting to panic. She had gone and so had any protection he could offer her. But worse, was there now an attachment
between her and Luke? The idea did not sit well with him. She was somewhere that had a statue of him, but that certainly didn’t give him any clue as to her exact location. He rode back to his villa so angry with himself. Had he reacted differently to seeing his mark, then Jenna would still be by his side.

  His mind was filling with various different scenarios, none of which did him any good. He had to find her and quickly, not only for her safety but his peace of mind. But how did one find a mortal amongst so many. He let out a frustrated howl which had Rome shaking again. He no longer cared that much. He wanted Jenna more than anything and she was ironically with one of his temple priests. Gaius did not mention that Amelia was with them.

  He headed into the stables attached to his villa, Augustus was there.

  “Have you seen Amelia recently?” he asked.

  “Yes, today,” Augustus responded.

  “She is still at the temple?”

  “Yes.”

  “I need you to do something for me tomorrow.”

  Amelia was in the private chamber at the Baths of Trajan when she heard the commotion outside. She just had time to hold up a sheet when the bathroom door was flung open. The Marshall strode in.

  “Our apologies, Amelia, but we are looking for a rioter who just entered the baths,” he announced.

  She pulled the sheet tight to her chest. “As you can see, there are not many places to hide in here, but you’re more than welcome to try the water.” And preferably keep your head under it for ten minutes, she added to herself.

  “As you’re on your own, I will assign you a guard in case the man comes in here.”

  “It is really not….” she stopped complaining as Augustus stepped into the room and shut the door behind the Marshall. He dropped his helmet on a stone seat.

  “You’re looking beautiful,” he beamed. “It’s rare to see you with your hair down.”

  Amelia turned beetroot, the sheet suddenly feeling very thin. “Augustus, I’m not dressed.”

  “Strangely enough, that fact had not escaped my mind,” he approached her and slipped his arms around her.

  His kiss turned her stomach upside down as his hands started to caress her bare back.

  “You should leave, “she murmured between kisses. “It is not right to be with a practically naked temple maiden.”

  “I have my orders,” his hot breath in her ear was driving her crazy. “And I cannot leave until they are fulfilled.”

  “Trust me, there is no man hiding in here.”

  “I know. My true orders are to find out where Jenna is?”

  “Travelling,” Amelia gasped as his hand stroked her butt.

  “The Marshall wants to know her exact location.”

  “The Marshall won’t get that information from me,” she wriggled out of his grasp and backed away.

  “I have the authority to do whatever I need to extract it.” He stepped towards.

  “Really?”

  “Yes.” He reached out for her, but she darted out the way.

  “Behave,” she squealed.

  “Not until you give me her location.”

  “That won’t happen.” Amelia tried to be firm.

  “In that case, I get very lucky,” he murmured. He caught her this time and she found herself backed up against the wall. The sheet had somehow disappeared. His kiss had become more urgent as his hands were definitely going places they shouldn’t. His cloak and sword landed on the floor.

  Oh hell, Amelia thought, if she didn’t stop this right now, she was certainly going to lose something in a Roman bathhouse. But did she really want to stop? Her body was saying yes, but deep down she knew this was not how she wanted it.

  “Alright,” she squeaked. “Stop.”

  Augustus swore under his breath. He was half hoping she was going to hold onto the information. At least a very specific part of his anatomy wanted to keep going. It took tremendous willpower to stop.

  “The information?”

  “The Laumus Estate outside Vasillis.”

  “See, that wasn’t so difficult,” he grinned, kissing her again but much more softly. He then stepped back and restored her sheet. “We will continue this. But hopefully when my commanding officer is not waiting outside.”

  “No chance,” Amelia huffed.

  He gave her a wicked grin as he left. “Most definitely.”

  CHAPTER 7

  Jenna was used to getting up early at the temple, so being ready to leave to go to Vasillis was no great hardship. Anything to get out of another day of picking olives. She wondered when she would be moved up to the packing section.

  It was strange not wearing temple robes, nowadays she was just an ordinary citizen. And she enjoyed not being stared at all the time, here she really could blend into the background.

  “I think Gaius must have you confused with another student,” Sextus announced to Jenna, as the small cart trundled along the road towards Vasillis. “He had you painted as harbinger of doom, yet not one mishap has occurred in the last three days.”

  “Give it time,” Luke sniggered. “Remember, she’s been behind closed doors. It’s usually in public mayhem occurs.”

  “Careful,” Jenna tapped his arm. “I am sitting right here and can hand you your butt any day.”

  “That’s sounds more like my Jenna,” Luke grinned.

  She snorted in an unladylike fashion and watched the countryside roll by. As they neared the small town, the road seemed to get a lot busier.

  “Is this the ancient equivalent of rush hour?” she yawned.

  “Saturday market,” Sextus replied. “We’ll use the money I get from the merchant to buy a few supplies for the villa.”

  “What do you need that the estate does not provide? It’s virtually self-sufficient,” Luke was curious.

  “We lack a vineyard,” Sextus smiled.

  Sextus stopped the cart at a dwelling on the outskirts of the town. “Don’t take offence, Jenna, but this is a very rural town. They don’t have much business dealings with woman.”

  “I get it, I get to wait outside.”

  “That’s my girl,” he nodded. He tossed her a few sesterces. “Why don’t you wander around the market.”

  Jenna had often wandered around the Trajan market in Rome, but it was the first time she actually had any money to spend. Ironic really considering how much she was actually worth at home. Thoroughly excited, she jumped out the cart and headed off to find the market.

  It was nothing of the size and grandeur of the Trajan market, but it still had stalls and things for sale; she was female after all. Looking at the jewellery and fabrics, she could tell she was out of Rome. She found a small twisted leather wrist band for Luke and a pewter pin in the shape of a laurel leaf for Amelia. Happy with her purchases, she wandered off in search of Sextus and Luke. As usual, she hadn’t paid too much attention to her whereabouts. It wasn’t a large town, so she would come across them eventually.

  She was on the edge of town, but still couldn’t find the right street. How she missed the Satnav on her iPhone. The street was a little shabby, so she figured she best head back towards the centre. Two men exited what looked like a tavern, swaying a little.

  “She’s a pretty one,” one slurred.

  “Not from here,” the other lurched.

  Great, drunks, Jenna thought and picked up her pace.

  “Where you going, sweeting. We only want to talk.”

  “Then you have each other for enlightening conversation,” Jenna retorted, heading down another street.

  “She obviously wants to take us somewhere private. This street goes nowhere.”

  Crap, a dead end. They wouldn’t let her pass. “I’m looking for my friends, so please step aside.”

  “We’re your friends now.”

  One made a grab at her and ended up with a broken nose, bruised ribs and sore groin. She looked at the other man. “Do you fancy your chances as well?”

  Foolishly he did and also ended up flat o
n his back. Why didn’t men understand what no meant in this era? She stepped over their bleeding bodies as Luke appeared at the end of the street.

  “I thought I told you to play nice with the locals,” he rolled his eyes.