Inferno's Kiss by Monica Burns

tonight he was recanting everything he’d learned in the first Tabulati of the Novem Conformavi . One of the tenets of the first level of the ancient philosophical teachings was honesty, and he’d been breaking that discipline left and right this evening. He clenched his teeth with frustration at his inability to remain true to his beliefs.
    He looked away from his friend’s astute gaze. Cornelia was older than him by only sixteen years, but in many ways, she was like a mother to him. While he was growing up, her strong intuitive abilities had always told her when he needed to talk. That was something his mentors, Placido and Marcus, had never been able to do where he was concerned.
    “It wasn’t your fault,” she said quietly, but he heard the unspoken disappointment in her voice. “I’m sure the Order won’t be pleased to learn she performed the assassination alone. Did she say why she didn’t have a partner with her?”
    “She said Angotti had some information she wanted.”
    “She questioned him?” Cornelia’s surprise made him look back at her as she shook her head in puzzlement. “What for?”
    “She asked him about the convent. I think she’s planning an assault on the facility.”
    “By herself ?” The amazement in his friend’s voice made him grimace. “Why would she do that?”
    “I don’t know. She wasn’t very forthcoming about her motives. All she said was that Angotti had information about the convent she wanted.”
    “And she didn’t tell you what he said?”
    “She wouldn’t tell me,” he said through clenched teeth as he remembered Cleopatra’s stubborn refusal to talk. “She tried to blackmail me into letting her join the rescue team before she’d tell me anything.”
    “You didn’t agree to that, did you?” The appalled note in Cornelia’s voice made him send her a look of annoyance.
    “You know me better than that,” he said with disgust. Regret flashed across his Praefect ’s features as her gaze met his.
    “I’m sorry. It’s just that even if she is a Sicari, she’s still a stranger. The fact that she’s even here in the complex makes it dangerous for her and us. We should have taken her back to the Order’s safe house.”
    “She’s not quite the stranger you think she is,” Dante said quietly as Cornelia eyed him with a questioning look.
    “Of course she is. We know nothing about her.”
    “She’s the daughter of Marcus and the Prima Consul .”
    “ Daughter? ” Cornelia gasped and shook her head in disbelief. “I knew Marcus had blood bonded with the Prima Consul and their son was taken by the Praetorians years ago, but I didn’t know he had a daughter.”
    “Neither did he until a few weeks ago. He didn’t fill me in on all the details, but I don’t think Cleopatra has adjusted to the news quite as well as Marcus has.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “She thought Marcus had sent me to keep tabs on her, and she wasn’t happy about it.”
    “Marcus? I thought you’d found out about Angotti from the tribunal records. I didn’t realize it was Marcus who told . . .” Cornelia’s eyes widened with horror. “Sweet Vesta. He’s found out what we’re planning.”
    “No. He’s monitored the Order’s tribunals for years.” Dante shook his head in a reassuring manner. “But Angotti’s sentencing was the first time he’s ever cited a specific case to me.”
    “Then he doesn’t know what we’ve been planning?” His Praefect ’s expression of panic dissolved into one of relief.
    “If he does, it wasn’t because I told him anything. I had a hard enough time convincing you that my plan to rescue Beatrice had merit,” he said in a dry voice. “Do you really think Marcus would be any easier to convince?”
    “I doubt it.” Cornelia made a face as she acknowledged that Dante was right. “So how do we explain her presence here?”
    “Aside from Placido and me, you’re the only other person in the Absconditus who knows about her