Chopsticks tumbled to the floor when Cyrus rose to his feet.
Niko’s eyes widened, and he slowly shook his head at her.
But Gem was on her feet. She couldn’t stand another minute of it.
Cyrus strode toward her with the intensity of a gathering storm. “Arcadius, cut out her tongue.”
The moment Arcadius lifted his sword, Niko moved so heart-stoppingly fast that he blurred before her very eyes. The sword was knocked out of Arcadius’s hand, and the men crashed against the wall.
“Get him!” Cyrus ordered.
Lykos, who was leaner than the other two, launched from his seat and into the fray. Niko had his hands around Arcadius’s throat, his grip so tight that the man’s eyes bulged. Lykos punched and assailed Niko from behind, and in a matter of seconds, Niko was fighting both men. They kicked and pivoted, each one skilled in martial arts. Gem had never seen anything like it. The way they moved was a ballet, the artistry behind each attack sublime.
When she had a moment to catch her breath, she saw beyond the fast moves and flawless execution. Niko’s cheek split. Blood spattered on the wall and streamed onto the floor from Arcadius’s head. They fought in the center of the room with Cyrus on one side and Gem on the other.
Cyrus circled behind the couch and reached for a sword mounted high on the wall. He moved languidly, his face stoic.
Gem’s heart quickened. She clenched her fists, tempted to wield an energy ball but going against all instinct. It would destroy them all in this confined space. Cyrus gripped his sword with both hands and moved toward the men.
She rushed back to the table and dropped to her knees, her hands shaking uncontrollably as she flipped through the pages. There wasn’t time to look, to see what was happening over her shoulder. He wouldn’t kill Niko. He’d promised! But would that stop Cyrus from maiming him?
When Gem placed her fingertips on the page, the world had never felt so fragile. She began the chant in a quiet voice. “Children of light, I call on you.”
Her jaw went slack when she took her fingers off the page, and golden light encompassed her hands. She glanced at the men, and theirs were glowing too. Cyrus held his sword, waiting for an opportune moment. Evenhishands were illuminated.
Gem swallowed hard, and when she put her fingers back on the page, the light in her hands extinguished. “Dim the light of all except the children of Artemon.” Once again, she let go of the page, and the golden glow quickly faded from her hands. But that was not the case for all the men in the room.
Cyrus snapped his attention to her and back to his hands.
She needed to hurry, but she was afraid for Niko. Based on the spell’s behavior, she was certain that whoever was touching the book was immune to any spellcasting, and by that logic, surely that would apply to anyone touching her. “Niko!”
He knocked Lykos unconscious and shoved Arcadius against Cyrus’s sword. It impaled him through the stomach but didn’t kill him.
“Come here!” she called out. “Hurry!”
Niko rushed to her side. “Are you hurt?”
“Touch me, Niko. Please sit as close to me as you can.”
“What are you doing?”
“Hurry!”
He knelt beside her and placed his hands on her shoulders.
“Bind their light. Bind their minds.” She grimaced as the symbols sent sharp currents of energy into her fingers. “Make them sleep for all time. No sun will heal, no light will wake.”
“Stop!” Cyrus bellowed. “Stop what you’re doing!”
He flashed across the room and lifted his bloodstained sword. Niko rushed him before the blade swung and severed her neck.
Gem shut her eyes. “Sleep, children of Artemon. The dreamworld awaits.”
She flew back, raw power exploding from the book and showering golden light across the table like a fountain. Her fingers burned hot with energy, the heat radiating up her arms and into her shoulders.
“It worked. It worked!” she exclaimed. Gem watched the embers of light glittering as they floated to the floor and disappeared.
When the light show ceased, Gem felt the silence more than heard it. She sat up and spied Niko on his stomach. Filled with dread, she scurried across the floor to his side.
