by Dannika Dark
Someone pounded against the door.
Cyrus rose from his seat and pointed at the hall. “Leave.”
She blinked up at him in surprise. “I thought I could walk around freely?”
He lowered his chin, acknowledging the promise he’d made. “Once I have greeted my visitor, you may come out. Now go, unless you wish to upset me.”
His words sent a shudder through her spine, so she hopped to her feet and padded down the hall. Gem had learned a long time ago that mouthing off to a person with a volatile personality would accomplish his goal more than yours. One had to be craftier than that. She slipped into the second room on the left and pretended to shut the door. After a few seconds, she slowly let go of the knob and leaned into the crack to eavesdrop.
“Come in,” Cyrus said cordially, as if he were hosting a dinner party. “I’ve been expecting you.”
“Where is she?”
Gem gasped when she recognized Niko’s voice.
“Safe,” Cyrus replied. “Heed my warning, Nikodemos: if you attempt anything foolish and Kallisto doesn’t receive a call from me, he’s been ordered to strike.”
“And who is the target?”
“Do you really wish to find out? Test me, boy.”
A blanket of silence fell, and Gem widened the door to poke her head in the hallway. Unfortunately, they were standing out of eyeshot.
“I don’t see my book,” Cyrus griped.
Gem crept into the hallway, her back to the wall as she slowly sidestepped toward the main room.
“You and I both know you’re a man who bargains face-to-face,” Niko replied. “I cannot barter without knowing.”
“You wanted to see the girl with your own eyes?” Cyrus laughed haughtily.
“I see your sense of humor hasn’t changed.”
“You were always too sensitive about your handicap. That was what made you weak to begin with.”
“Where is she?”
Gem held her breath when she heard someone rustling around.
“She’s here. I give you my word that I haven’t harmed her. So… are you ready to negotiate? You know what I seek.”
“Indeed. I find it remarkably uncharacteristic of you to sink this low. Why not come after me?”
Cyrus’s voice tightened. “I have been coming after you for centuries. You try my patience, boy.”
“I’m no longer the boy you remember.”
“Is that so?” Cyrus chuckled. “Let me pour you some sake. I bought it especially for you, my half-Japanese friend.”
“No, thank you.”
“You never could hold your liquor. But nothing was funnier than a drunk blind man. Remember how clumsy he was, Lykos?”
Their laughter overlapped, and Gem clenched her fists. She inched closer, realizing that the voices were coming from the right. She peered around the corner at the group. With his back to everyone, Cyrus stood before a long table and poured alcohol into cups. Niko was also turned away, but the sight of him brought her such relief.
That feeling vanished when she noticed a third man sitting on the floor, examining the pieces on the game board. Gem would never forget that face as long as she lived. That brute had held her down in the pool and drowned her. His was the last face she’d seen before water rushed into her lungs and she lost consciousness.
Cyrus half turned and handed small white cups to each brother. Lykos must have been standing near the kitchen, because Gem couldn’t see him. She slowly leaned back, careful about how much time she spent peering.
When Cyrus spoke, all civilities in his tone were gone. “Let us get straight to the matter. I want that book, and I will accept nothing less in exchange.”
“You have given me no reason to trust you. If I hand over the book, what is to stop you from harming her out of spite? Your word? You harbor much resentment, and I would be a fool to believe you wouldn’t retaliate.”
Gem held her breath and peered around the corner again. Where were Niko’s swords? Had they taken them?
Cyrus turned away, hands clasped behind his back. “So what do you offer me?”
“My servitude.”
Cyrus looked over his shoulder, his eyes wide with surprise. “You jest.”
Niko bowed. “On the contrary.”
“But it’s not you I want; it’s the book.”
“Are you not wise enough to see that if you have me, you will eventually have the book? If you harm the woman or anyone else, you’ll never see it. My anger is not an emotion to dismiss.”
Cyrus turned and gave a disparaging sigh. “I could torture her.”
“To what avail? Set her free, and you may have my life in exchange. You can win my loyalty back or torture me until I have no strength left to resist.”
Cyrus looked at him with measured interest before swinging his gaze up at the ceiling.
“You tried this hostage tactic once before,” Niko said. “Remember how that turned out? Do not make moves that will set you farther away from what you desire most.”
Cyrus turned his gaze to the Go board, which Arcadius was still studying. “Lykos, bring me the box.”
Gem scurried into the nearest room and tucked herself deep in the shadows. Lykos cruised past the doorway to a different room. After a moment, she glimpsed him walking past with what looked like a tall hatbox. Curious, she waited until he was out of sight before she tiptoed back to her vantage point.
Lykos handed Cyrus the box and then stepped out of her line of view.
“Strip out of your clothes,” Cyrus ordered him.
Niko went rigid. “For what reason?”
“You offered yourself as a servant, and I accept. But a servant cannot serve if he is in attire equal to his master. This is a long-standing tradition, and you know it to be true.” The box top fell to the floor. “I held on to your clothes for many years, but the material rotted away. So I bought a replacement.”
Niko’s disgust was thinly veiled. “Why would you have kept them?”
“I needed a visual reminder to help me sleep at night—something to give me the motivation to find you again.”
“You have me. There is no need—”
“Silence!”
Gem froze as Cyrus’s command came with a ripple of Mage energy that crackled against her skin.
“You were an insolent boy. Time for all that to change.” Cyrus tossed the garb to Niko’s feet. “Dress.”
Lykos snickered as Niko slowly removed his shirt. Cyrus merely watched, and Arcadius had no interest in any of it. Gem watched in stunned disbelief as Niko gave his freedom to these men.
He could have gone back for the book, but Cyrus wouldn’t have let her go. She already knew firsthand how willing they were to end her life. But why would Niko do this? Was it a trick? Did he have blades hidden beneath his trousers?
The same trousers that quietly dropped to the floor.
Gem had seen Niko’s bare chest on numerous occasions. He was the perfect specimen of the male form, thanks to all the strength training he did in the gym. Sinewy, muscular, and with perfect posture.
His silky long hair draped down his back. Gem had never seen his bare legs, and they were strong, his muscles taut. Her cheeks heated as she admired his bare behind, so perfectly shaped and the same golden hue as the rest of his body.
Cyrus threw back his head and laughed. When her gaze flicked up, she realized that Cyrus had seen her gawking.
“It looks like you have a captive audience, Nikodemos. I think she likes what she sees.”
Niko turned his head toward her, revealing his profile. It felt like a punch to the gut when she saw the shame on his face.
Gem whirled around. Her knees weakened, and she slid down to the floor.
“No use hiding, girl.” Cyrus gave a throaty chuckle. “You’ve gotten more than an eyeful.”
After a deep breath, she mustered the courage to stand up and confront him. Gem marched into the room, ready to start a war, but her plan backfired when she caught si
ght of Niko in his new attire. He might as well have been wearing a potato sack. His tan pants were tattered and frayed at the ankle, and when he turned in her direction, he resembled an impoverished commoner. His bare feet weren’t dirty, but his shirt had stains on the wide sleeves. The tunic reached his knees, and there was nothing embellished about it.
“You like?” Cyrus asked. “I bought it off the black market. Genuine slave attire. Not the kind we wore in our time, but fitting nonetheless. There are still bloodstains if you look closely.”
Gem seethed. “If his clothes didn’t last through the centuries, what makes you think he saved a book?”
Cyrus grinned. “Because he’s here.”
“Are you hurt?” Niko asked, ignoring Cyrus’s snide remarks.
Gem steeled her voice. “I’m fine.”
He tilted his head and studied her light. “Did they hurt you?”
Her energy must have revealed something, because his expression tightened.
Cyrus scoffed. “Cast your worries aside, Nikodemos. You’ll find her unsullied. I have never and will never bed a white woman. Especially one so ugly.”
Gem steadied her emotions to put Niko at ease. “I’m not hurt.”
Cyrus’s grin vanished. “Niko, fetch me a glass of water.”
Niko’s height shrank when his shoulders sagged. “I’m not familiar with your home.”
“Then learn!”
Lykos strode up and shoved Niko. “I also want a glass.”
“Me too,” Arcadius said, finally looking up.
While Lykos collected Niko’s clothes, Niko walked alongside the wall by the door. With his arm extended, he learned the shape of the room, including every item that was within a few feet of the walls. The hand-carved wooden sofa and silk pillows seemed more for pageantry than comfort. They were probably from the Ming Dynasty if she had to guess. When he bumped into a chair, the men laughed again.
Gem pivoted around. This was too insufferable to endure.
Niko reached the corner and turned again, heading toward Gem. His hand lost connection with the wall when he passed in front of the hallway. He snapped his fingers and cocked his head before reaching Gem.
“Do nothing to upset them,” he said quietly.
“Are you really giving yourself to them? Niko, if you’re hatching an escape plan, I can’t help. My powers are gone.”
Confusion flickered in his eyes, and his eyebrows slanted. “What do you mean?”
“Hurry up, Nikodemos. You try my patience.”
“Do nothing,” Niko repeated before continuing his process of memorizing the dimensions of the room. When he reached the kitchen entryway, he snapped his fingers and went inside.
He must have learned how sound waves bounced off objects, and maybe he could tell how long a room or hallway was. She wouldn’t be surprised if he’d developed sonic hearing over the course of fifteen hundred years.
“I’ve missed this.” Cyrus’s words were thick with nostalgia and self-satisfaction.
Arcadius rose to his feet and bowed. “A strong leader deserves those who will serve him. But he proved once he couldn’t be loyal. What can you gain from this?”
Cyrus folded his arms. “Satisfaction.”
Niko entered the room, three glasses of water perfectly lined up on a tray. He slowly moved toward the men and then stopped.
“Do it right,” Cyrus commanded.
Niko shifted his eyes toward Gem but quickly knelt, the tray raised high. All three men collected their glasses and made a toast.
Gem wanted to rush to Niko’s side, but she heeded his warning. He knew these men better than she did, and Gem trusted his judgment, even though it hurt to see him dominated by a narcissistic jerk.
When Cyrus set his empty glass on the tray, it slid off and shattered on the floor.
Cyrus kicked Niko’s shoulder and knocked him onto his back. “Fool! Have you forgotten the simple task of holding a tray properly? Do you want to know why I never treated you as an equal? Besides your obvious defect, you’re a mongrel. I don’t trust white men, and you’re half. That means I can only trust one half of you, and I never know which half I’m dealing with.” Cyrus kicked a shard of glass, and it skittered across the floor. “Clean up this mess.”
The brothers exchanged a look of satisfaction, and Gem could watch no more. She retreated to her room. Aside from the wooden stool, the only other furniture was a mattress on the floor. The lanterns on all four walls had dimmed, so she lengthened their wicks to brighten the glass globes. It gave her something to do—something to distract her mind from ruminating over this awful situation.
Had she one ounce of her Mage power, she would have blasted Cyrus and his men with an energy ball like he’d never seen.
When the door opened, she reared back and clutched her gown.
“Niko!” She rushed to Niko as he closed it behind him. “Why did you come? What’s happening?”
He reached out and clasped her wrist. His hand moved up her bare arm until he felt the strap of her gown. “Did they not clothe you?”
“It’s my swimming gown.” She peered around him at the door. “They might catch you.”
“I’m permitted to learn the house.”
Her shoulders sagged. “Why didn’t you fight them? I’ve seen you fight. You could beat them.”
He slowly shook his head. “At least one of them is armed, and I don’t know where they store their weapons and how many there are. And… you’re still here.”
“So?”
“As long as you’re still here, they can use you to thwart any plans I might have to attack. A wise man doesn’t fight against impossible odds. He must wait like the serpent in the grass and only strike when he’s certain of victory.”
She whirled around and stalked off. “This isn’t the time for proverbs.”
A moment later, she turned and watched him feeling the wall with his hands. Each time he reached a lantern, he sensed the flame as if he could see it.
“The bed,” she blurted out just seconds before he stumbled over it.
Niko kicked the mattress. “Did he at least provide you with blankets?”
“Alas, I’m too traumatized to sleep.”
Niko bent down and touched the bed before lifting a blanket. “Wrap this around you.”
Gem sighed and did as he asked. Once the blanket covered her shoulders, she sat on the mattress. “I can’t believe I let this happen.”
Niko sat beside her. “If not you, they would have chosen someone else.”
She couldn’t get used to his ragged clothes and focused on his face instead. “What’s this book they want?”
He drew in a deep breath, his crystal-blue eyes holding so many secrets. “Long ago, Cyrus was a master thief. It was how he acquired a small fortune. He would steal and resell items, only to discover that objects are worth more to their owners than anyone else. So he changed his method by targeting wealthy men and finding out what precious things they treasured the most. People will pay most anything for sentimental or rare objects. Then he tried taking people, but that didn’t always turn out well for him in the end.”
“Like he did with me.”
“Yes. Cyrus knew taking you wouldn’t guarantee an exchange, but it would force me to listen to him. I have been avoiding him since he found me last year.” Niko folded his arms over his knees. “One day he stole a book. It contained symbols and images that Cyrus didn’t understand, but when the owner was willing to pay anything for it, Cyrus tested him. The man did everything he asked. He stole horses for us, burned down a temple, even killed his wife. That was when Cyrus realized the book was far too valuable to let go, if only he knew what was inside the pages. He tried bribery, hoping the man would translate it for him, but the man refused.”
“Was he a human?”
Niko turned his head as if looking at her. “No. He was a Relic. Not someone who could fight against the six of us. Well, five of us now that Plato is dead,” he said absently.
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Gem didn’t like the way he kept saying us and including himself in the count. “How could you have been involved with someone like Cyrus?”
“He is my Mage brother, and we were on the run. He offered me protection in return for my loyalty. I wasn’t the same man you see before you now. I was weak and unfamiliar with my gift of sight.” Niko tugged at his worn sleeves.
“What’s in the book?”
“Death. Life. Power. Magic.”
She furrowed her brow. “I don’t understand.”
Niko raised his head and stared vacantly at the closed door. “There is power in this world that you cannot understand as a young Mage. Power that existed many lifetimes ago. A Mage with a unique gift put power in the words, and those who read them can manipulate energy in ways never imagined.”
Gem let the blanket fall away from her shoulders. She wasn’t cold anymore. Heat radiated from Niko as if he were the sun. “Like a spell book?”
“Exactly. Only this one holds true power. In my lifetime, I’ve heard of such books. They were destroyed along with their owners, who were accused of witchcraft.”
“But they weren’t witches.”
“Yes, but our kind was hunted and executed by humans who knew of our existence. They feared our gifts, and the only way to persecute us was to label us witches in league with the devil. That allowed them to reduce our numbers while also controlling humans using fear that they too could receive the same sentence if they didn’t abide by their laws.”
“If the book is so powerful, why didn’t you just destroy it?”
Niko rose to his feet, his hands clasped behind his back. “Because I don’t know how.”
She chortled. “How about a match for starters?”
“The paper won’t burn. The ink won’t smudge. And the pages cannot be torn.”
Her jaw slackened.
“I cannot fathom what it takes to destroy this object. The rumors I heard on other similar books never mentioned their indestructibility or how they were destroyed. If a man like Cyrus gets his hands on it, there’s no telling what he might be capable of doing. It’s been in my possession for centuries. Cyrus foolishly entrusted me to guard the book, knowing I couldn’t read it. Perhaps that is why I’m the ideal guardian.”