Thrall

by Jennifer Blackstream

  I left the room and headed for the elevator, then cursed as I realized I didn’t have the code to access the lower level.

  “I know the code,” Peasblossom offered, flying ahead to press the button to call the elevator.

  “Did they catch anyone besides Nikolaos?” I asked. “The rest of the Sanctum?”

  “No. Nikolaos had a teleportation circle inside the shipping bay doors.”

  I checked to make sure no one was in the elevator before getting in. “A teleportation circle. All right, now this is getting out of hand.”

  Peasblossom paused with one tiny pink hand on the first button. “What do you mean?”

  “That’s the third teleportation circle we’ve had in this case. And we’ve been seeing more and more people with enchanted contracts.” I frowned. “The teleportation circle at Acme. Was it a temporary spell, or inlaid, like at the club?”

  “Inlaid. Silver like the one at the club.”

  I leaned against the wall, resting my head for just a minute. “So someone put money into it to make sure it was there when he needed it.”

  “Not common spells,” Peasblossom observed. She aimed one pink fist at the second numbered button and punched it.

  “It’s not just that they’re uncommon. Permanent teleportation circles are expensive. Pure silver, pure copper, and if you want to be extra careful, solid gold. And the contracts. Those are tricky, you have to be just specific enough to keep someone from revealing information you don’t want them to talk about, but not so specific that they can get around it. I only know a handful of people who bother with them.”

  “Stavros,” Peasblossom said grimly.

  “Stavros is dead!” I slumped against the wall and closed my eyes. “He’s dead.”

  Peasblossom didn’t say anything more. The elevator stopped and the doors slid open. I followed her to one of the doors down the hall and on the right. It opened before I could knock.

  Liam’s sleeves were rolled up so high it cut into his biceps when he flexed. He filled the doorway, blocking my view of the room. The tendons in his forearms stood out as he flexed his hands into fists, then forced them open. The alpha was frustrated. Either he’d hit someone, or he wanted to hit someone. I checked his knuckles. No blood.

  Just wanted to then.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked. His eyes roamed over my face and neck, then up and down my body. His hand twitched forward, as if he wanted it to follow the same path as his eyes, probe for wounds, make sure I was still in one piece. For a second, his aura shifted from the unpleasant march of fire ants against my skin to the warm buzz I’d grown to associate with him.

  Some of that heat washed over my face, leaving my cheeks warm. I cleared my throat. “Better.” I nodded toward the room. “Is Nikolaos in there?”

  Liam nodded and stepped back to let me inside. The room was a large square, with plain white walls. There was a table in the center, with a comfortable couch on one side, and a hard-backed chair on the other. Arianne sat on the couch, looking for all the world like she was ready to curl up with a good book. A table beside the couch held a glass of red wine. She looked completely at peace.

  Nikolaos sat in the chair. He turned to look at me, and the chair tilted on uneven legs, making him tense at the brief tilt. His hands were tied behind the chair, and there was a circle of salt around his seat. When he saw me, he nodded.

  “Ms. Renard.”

  “Mr. Sideris. If that’s your real name?”

  “No, it isn’t. Is Shade Renard your real name?”

  I shrugged. “Touché.”

  “Tell her what you told us,” Liam said, positioning himself between me and Nikolaos without blocking my view.

  “My name is Nikolaos Sideris.” He winked at me. “For now. I am a sorcerer. I was born in Ebla many years ago.”

  “I’m from Ebla,” Arianne said, lifting her wine glass. Her eyes remained on Nikolaos.

  “And as I’ve told the dear lady, I remember her well.”

  I raised my eyebrows at Arianne, but she didn’t look away from Nikolaos.

  “But I do not remember you,” she mused.

  Nikolaos shrugged. “Perhaps I did not make the same impression on you as you did on me.” He met her eyes and held them. “And you did make an impression. I dare say, I’ve spent a lot of time since then searching for someone who might stir me the way you did. But alas. You are one of a kind.”

  I wrinkled my nose at the leering quality to the praise. Arianne seemed similarly unimpressed.

  “According to him,” Liam said, pacing around the circle, “he died a long time ago.”

  “Died?” Peasblossom echoed.

  “Sadly, yes.” Sideris let out an exaggerated sigh. “There were many who were jealous of my power. My skill. Unfortunately, that jealousy overwhelmed them and drove them to desperate acts. I was indeed assassinated.”

  I unzipped my waist pouch. This conversation called for a soda. “So how did you come to be here, committing crimes in my city?”

  “Your city?” Nikolaos raised his eyebrows. “I’ll keep that in mind. But to answer your question, in those days everyone had to live with the possibility of assassination, especially anyone with power who dared to use it. I used this—” he nodded down at his chest where a pearlescent orb hung from a gold chain to rest near his heart “—an artifact of my own creation, to give me the chance I needed to survive. It allows a ten second pause before death.”

  “Not a lot of time for medical help,” Liam noted.

  “But enough time for me to project my consciousness to the astral plane,” Nikolaos finished. “Before my assassination, I spent a great deal of my time on the astral plane, preparing for the possibility that I may find myself there without a reliable way to return to my body.” He paused. “Or rather, to a body. And of course my hard work paid off. After my body was killed, I spent a century on the astral plane, gathering more power, honing my skills. When I was strong enough, I possessed a body.”

  “How did you come to be Stavros’ business partner?” I asked.

  Liam paced the room. I was guessing he’d already heard this, but he listened intently, waiting to catch any inconsistency in Nikolaos’ retelling.

  “The modern world lacks the structure of the old one,” Nikolaos said simply. “Status doesn’t bring the same benefits. I missed aspects of my old life. And I found I wasn’t the only one who missed certain…ideals.”

  “Like slavery.” I cracked open my soda.

  Nikolaos frowned. “Slavery? Those women would be dead in a year if it weren’t for me. Or do you avoid the news because it’s too unpleasant for your delicate sensibilities? You think, perhaps, it would be better for them if they’d come over here officially, so they could sit for twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week in a cage while the government argues over political implications?” He scoffed. “I give them food and shelter, medical services. I help them find jobs.”

  “Are they free?” I asked. “Could they choose a job you didn’t want them to have? Could they live somewhere else? Move to a different state?” I leaned closer. “Can they marry whomever they please?”

  “Ah, so you believe if I am not one hundred percent altruistic, then I’m evil. You think I should spend my money to help them and receive nothing in return, is that it? I don’t deserve to keep the money I make, I should spend it on others?”

  “If you want to keep your money, then keep it. But you used your money to prey on people desperate for a better life,” I said coldly. “You asked of them what you would never be willing to do yourself. You made them give up their freedom.”

  “I gave them a better life,” Nikolaos countered. “You were at the boarding house. Did those women look like victims to you?”

  “They do in the crime scene photos,” Liam said quietly.

  I jerked my attention to him, watching as he walked to the table. He picked up one of the files and brought it back to me. He held my soda so I could open the file.
r />   “Not pretty,” he warned.

  Nikolaos looked away when I opened the folder. I spotted the picture on top and quickly shut the folder. The arson team had sent pictures of the bodies.

  “That wasn’t me.” Nikolaos sighed. “Renee. Poor misguided creature. She was always threatening to burn the place down. She would never have made an obedient wife, but I think I could have found her a husband willing to take her. Some men do love a challenge.”

  Renee. Again her words came back to me. I opened the folder, forcing myself to stare at the pictures. Five bodies. Why five? Who was that fifth person?

  “Rima loved science,” I added, shutting the folder. “She wanted to help people. She’d heard stories of the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation, and she wanted to be a forensic anthropologist and help find names for all those missing people who disappeared during the civil war. She hoped that when the fighting was over in Syria she could do the same for her people.”

  I lifted my chin. “And you would have treated them all like horses. An animal to be prized for their beauty, trained in whatever skills their future husbands desired them to have, and sold off. Property instead of people. You’ll forgive me if I’m not in awe of this better life you gave them.”

  Nikolaos arched an eyebrow. “That was a very lovely speech. Go ahead and congratulate yourself if you’d like. And when you’re done, you can join us in reality.” He nodded to Arianne and Liam. “To answer your question, as I’ve already told them, I contacted Stavros because the wizard had the two things I needed. First, he could connect me with the people necessary to run my new empire. And second, he had a gift when it came to magical contracts. He could ensure that no one spoke of my business. Much more effective than a generic confidentiality agreement.”

  I snatched my Coke back from Liam and took a big gulp before facing the sorcerer. “The Sanctum follows you,” I said. “They were loyal to Stavros. Did you inherit them as part of the business?”

  “They follow me because they trust me as they trusted Stavros,” Nikolaos said simply. “And as you observed, they are followers. They need a leader.”

  “Some leader.” Liam stopped to stand in front of him, careful not to block Arianne’s view. “You made them follow Stafford. I can’t imagine they appreciated that.”

  Nikolaos rolled his eyes. “Stafford. What a fool. It is such a pity when a man fails to realize that part of having power is getting it. If you didn’t earn it, then you won’t be able to keep it. There are no short cuts.”

  I frowned at him over the lip of my Coke can. “But you did order them to obey him. They knew him from before. Why would they follow his orders, then kill him less than a day later? Why bother to make them follow him at all if you were just going to let them kill him anyway?”

  Nikolaos twisted his body to face me more fully. “I thought you already figured that out. Your lover here told me you received the pictures.”

  I let the lover comment go. “But that doesn’t explain why you made them follow him at all?”

  “I had every intention of honoring our bargain,” the sorcerer said slowly. “But then Arianne decided to step in and round up dear Kurt and Toby. It was only a matter of time before they told her about me and our working relationship.”

  Arianne stiffened.

  Nikolaos stared at her, then laughed softly. “They didn’t tell you? Oh, my, they really are worth the ridiculous prices they charge.”

  The energy in the room changed. Cold crackled in the air, not unlike an arctic wind. I took a step back, staring at Arianne, the icy darkness in her eyes. She rose from the couch, her gaze locked on Nikolaos.

  “You have sat here, and told us everything,” she said softly. She took a step forward. “I think you truly believe you were their savior. You brought them out of the country they love, the country that has been destroyed by—”

  Her voice broke, and she stopped. The room grew colder still, until I half expected my breath to fog in front of my face. Then she took a deep, slow breath.

  “You would sell them to your rich friends. Watch as they were forced to bear children, to help populate the world with more insufferable, entitled men like you. A twisted empire.”

  She circled the table. One foot in front of the other, her heels clicking on the floor, she stalked up to the very edge of his salt circle, careful to stop before disturbing the line. “You say you knew me once. I have not changed so much. I trust you know what’s coming.”

  Once again, a thought nagged at me. A tiny voice in the back of my head. I looked at Nikolaos, and was startled to find he wasn’t looking at Arianne. Instead of watching the sorceress who seemed very much like she intended to kill him now, he was looking at someone else.

  Me.

  He stared into my eyes…and smiled.

  “Oh, blood and bones,” I whispered. “It’s you.”

  Chapter 22

  “Where are you going?” Arianne asked me.

  Her heels threatened to crack the cement floor with every step as she followed me out of the room. Heart pounding, I forced myself to stop just outside the door, pacing in tight, quick circles as my brain struggled to process a barrage of new realizations. Liam followed both of us, leaving the door open to keep an eye on Nikolaos.

  “Shade what’s wrong?” he asked, keeping his voice down.

  “If this is about turning him in, you can forget it,” Arianne seethed. “That man accused my wife, and he enslaved my countrywomen—and killed them when they were no longer useful! He will remain here until I’m done with him.”

  “That,” I said in a harsh whisper, “is not the Emperor.”

  Arianne’s lips parted, her dark eyes growing wide. “What? Are you… Are you that stupid?”

  The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I felt Nikolaos’ gaze settle on me. Now that I knew who he was—who he really was—all I wanted to do was get as far away from him as possible. And take Peasblossom with me.

  “We have photographs of him with Connor and his brothers,” she continued. “He employed both Renee and Jamila. He knew about Foundations. And, oh yes, he’s admitted it!”

  “Why didn’t he escape?” I lowered my voice even more in an attempt to urge Arianne to do the same without having to tell the sorceress to stop shouting. “At the Acme Building, he had a teleportation circle ready to go. He was right next to it. He’d obviously planned the confrontation, had his escape ready. But he didn’t take it. Why?”

  Arianne pressed her lips together. Her eyes darkened, black pupils swallowing the white.

  Liam sucked in a breath. The muscles in his neck flexed as if he were trying not to look toward the man in the circle. “You think… You think that’s Stavros?”

  Peasblossom clung to my neck, her slight tremor giving me the illusion I had a second pulse. “Are you sure?”

  I looked at Arianne, bracing myself for the fury simmering in her eyes. “Why isn’t he afraid of you? You are terrifying and right now he’s confessing to framing your wife. He has to know he’s not looking at being turned over to the Vanguard, or even a quick death. But he’s not afraid.”

  “He will be,” Arianne promised.

  “Unless he’s waiting for us to figure out we have the wrong man,” I argued. “He said he knew you from before, right? And he was obviously very upset at the idea any of the women under his control might go to you. You were clearly a threat to his business, so why stay here in Cleveland? Why not go somewhere else, farther from you?”

  “You think he wanted to be near Arianne?” Liam asked.

  “I thought you said you don’t believe he’s the Emperor?” Arianne said, exasperated. “You are not making any sense, witchling.”

  One step forward, two steps back. I sighed and shoved a hand through my hair, pushing it back from my face. “All right, you were questioning him for a while before I came downstairs. Did you look at him with your third eye?”

  “Of course I did.”

  I waited, but she just s
tared at me, every inch the uncooperative witness. I gritted my teeth. “Arianne, I know this is all upsetting for you. I know he’s preying on your countrywomen, he’s accused your wife. It’s personal, and believe me, I understand that. But don’t you want to make sure that when you finally do get the chance to punish the Emperor, you’re actually punishing the right man?”

  Liam stiffened at my mention of Arianne punishing the Emperor, but I ignored it. If he were honest with himself, he had to know she’d never let us turn him over to the Vanguard. The Emperor had made it personal for the sorceress, and whether we liked it or not, she’d be the one meting out justice. If he thought he could stop her, he was welcome to try.

  I knew better.

  “I did not see two souls inside his body,” Arianne said finally. “But if that is his permanent body, then there would be no second soul. He would have evicted the true owner of the body as soon as he was strong enough. If he’s as powerful a sorcerer as he claims, he would have the ability to remove the soul.”

  “What about a tattoo?” I asked. “Did he have an enchanted tattoo like the others?”

  “Yes.”

  My jaw dropped, but before I could recover enough to say anything, Arianne rushed to continue.

  “Don’t get excited, that tattoo doesn’t mean he’s a victim. It means the body was a victim.” She shook her head. “When the Emperor first decided to make that his permanent form, he would have had the body tattooed to make it easier for him to remain, despite the original soul’s natural instinct to push him out. The tattoo for his current victims, and his original victim, so to speak, would be identical.”

  She held up a hand. “And before you ask, yes, he is bound by a contract, as the women were. But once again, that means nothing. If he partnered with Stavros, then the wizard would have insisted they both sign a contract. Stavros was many things, but he was not a fool.”

  Frustration spilled more adrenaline into my blood, and I had the wretched urge to pace again. I resisted, trying to stay calm and think clearly.