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.”
