Their fate was already sealed.
“If Plato is here, give him my regards.”
Cyrus belted out a laugh. “I would, but the Gravewalker I hired instructed him to stay with Kallisto.” His light fluttered. “Let’s speak openly. Where did you go after you left us?”
“Many places.”
“And who trained a blind man to fight with a sword?”
“A master at his craft.”
Cyrus sighed. “You test my patience, boy.”
Niko’s jaw set. “I’m no boy, Cyrus. I’m over fifteen hundred years old.”
“And I have the power to destroy a woman you care about.”
Niko lowered his head. “I am at your mercy.”
Cyrus’s tone lifted along with his mood. “That’s what I like to hear.”
“Let her go. She’s no longer of any use to us.”
“Nikodemos, are you begging?” Cyrus chuckled. “I don’t think I feel the sincerity in your tone.”
“You can no longer barter with her. I won’t play your games.”
“What an extraordinary gift of language she has. Did you think you could keep her all to yourself?” Cyrus sipped his tea. “Shame on you. Here I was, thinking you joined that band of misfits for the betterment of mankind. But you joined to protect your investment, didn’t you? An impregnable mansion, numerous hiding places, and a collection of despicable Breeds who would protect you. You should have stayed with me. We could have ruled this world together.”
“The only things you rule are spineless worker bees.”
“Careful. I still have a stinger just as sharp as your tongue.”
Niko worried that Cyrus might use Gem to translate the ancient text. “She’s never seen the book. She doesn’t know those languages.”
“And how wouldyouknow whatsheknows?”
Niko laughed and shook his head. “What is your intention? To hold on to a girl who will only become a nuisance? She’s talkative and opinionated. I know how much you abhor that in a woman.”
“True. Not to mention she’s fair skinned. You can’t trust them. But you know a little bit about that, don’t you, my blue-eyed friend?”
Niko lifted his chin and abandoned his civil tone. “You gave me your word earlier that you didn’t harm her. She told me otherwise.”
“Arcadius had no choice but to drown the woman to keep her quiet.”
Niko’s energy spiked at the thought that someone had drowned Gem in her one place of sanctuary. He couldn’t imagine the terror she must have felt, not even having the ability to scream for help. No chance to fight. Arcadius had a shielding ability that protected him from the elements as well as Mage gifts. Niko had long suspected that Arcadius was a Unique—one of a rare group of Mage immortals with extremely uncommon gifts. His sensei had told him stories about Uniques who were hunted by their own kind. Men who—according to legend—had received their first spark when the gods were at war and lightning crashed all around. Whatever the truth was, Cyrus was smart enough to keep strong men like Arcadius at his side, and Arcadius was too ignorant to realize that his power far surpassed that of the man he followed.
“You better tamp down that energy,” Cyrus warned him.
Niko cursed in Old Japanese.
Just as soon as he heard Cyrus rise to his feet, an object whistled through the air and struck his back. Niko winced from the sharp sting of a whip.
“Lykos! Arcadius!” Cyrus bellowed.
Niko spied their energy entering the home through the front door. They flanked him and must have taken visual direction to seize his arms.
“I’ve waited a long time for this,” Cyrus said, basking in his words. “A long time.”
