Much to her surprise, Cyrus actually knew one short phrase in the book. He bragged about remembering it word for word after all these centuries, but little good did it do him when he had no understanding of how to unlock the book’s true power. He had memorized the symbols and found someone who could translate them. Unfortunately for Cyrus, that Relic died a short time after from the plague. Cyrus hadn’t bothered asking the man to teach him the language. It was far too complex for a pea brain like him.
Gem rubbed her temple and stared at her papers. She had smartly left the translation book behind. There was no way she would chance Cyrus getting his hands on that, not if it meant relinquishing what little power she had. After a tedious night of learning, memorizing, and coding data into her DNA, she’d spent all day translating pages of the red book… in her head. The words she scribbled on paper were gibberish, incorrect translations for the symbols. If Cyrus discovered her deception, he would kill them both, so every word and phrase had to be matched whenever repeated and also required some semblance of logic when reading it.
Her brain hurt. This was by far the most taxing thing she’d ever done under pressure.
“Why does this take so long?” Cyrus said angrily, shoving her head toward the book.
So long? Was he insane? She was lucky she’d gotten as far as she had.
Gem gave him a cross look as he circled to the other side of the table, his arms folded like some kind of toddler on the verge of a tantrum. “Because it’s thousands of years old. Because Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
Cyrus looked at Arcadius. “I don’t like her tongue.”
Arcadius steered his gaze down to her. “Want me to cut it out?”
“She’s tired.” Niko interrupted, taking on a conciliatory tone. “Tea will help. Gem is extremely adept at deciphering complex languages. You will find no one else who can match her skills.”
Gem refrained from smiling, but his compliment warmed her. That feeling was extinguished when she noticed his tunic. Gem wasn’t used to seeing him in clothes that weren’t black, and she found herself hating it. Hating the bloodstains. Hating the untied drawstrings that hung from the neck. And, most of all, hating the meaning behind them.
Servitude.
Gem rubbed her ink-stained fingers across her camo leggings, guilty that she had warm boots and Niko walked around barefoot. At least Cyrus had kept his word and removed the cuff.
After Niko finished pouring her tea at the long table against the wall, he carefully turned and knelt beside her.
She scooted the papers out of the way. “You can set it down.”
He bowed his head. “I did not want to disturb your work. Cyrus is a generous man to offer my freedom in exchange for your services.”
With Cyrus still looming over them, Gem wanted to roll her eyes. Cyrus would never let him go. But she marveled at how easily Niko could manipulate his Mage brother.
Niko had put on quite a show to secure an agreement with Cyrus. He remarked how Gem could hasten his rise to power, but then he quickly revoked the offer and demanded that Gem leave immediately. That was enough to pique Cyrus’s curiosity on what exactly Gem could do. Instead of threatening her, Cyrus offered Niko’s freedom in exchange for her services.
It was all she needed to buy time. This book was unlike anything she’d ever read before. A maze of incantations specific to different Breeds. Before leaving Keystone, she noticed it was broken up into parts, but without a table of contents, the only way to determine the theme for each part was to translate the first page.
Gem sipped her green tea while Cyrus crossed the room and sat on the wooden sofa. Lykos joined him while Arcadius remained by the door.
“You shouldn’t overwork yourself,” Niko said quietly. “There’s no rush.”
They hadn’t concocted a plan to get out of this. The only thing they’d managed to accomplish was staying alive. But Gem held a secret plan that kept her reading, kept her searching for just the right thing. She wasn’t sure if it would work, but they didn’t have many other options, and time wasn’t on her side. Eventually Cyrus would realize that she’d created a false translation and take out his anger like a wounded dragon.
“What was your Creator’s name?” she asked.
“Artemon.”
“Cyrus says he forced immortality on him. Was that how it was for you?”
Still kneeling, Niko sighed and cupped his hands in his lap. “Yes.”
She set down the teacup. “I’ve heard stories about people forced into immortality, and I can’t imagine. I’m sorry.” Those last words seemed woefully inadequate.
“The past is where it belongs.”
“Is it?” She pushed up the sleeves on her black sweater. “How did you find out the book had power?”
“Remember the Relic I told you about whom we stole the book from? When he didn’t cooperate or respond to blackmail, Cyrus tortured him for information. The only thing he learned was that the book had the power to rule all.”
“If that’s all he told you, how did you know a Mage infused power into the pages?”
