“You will be relieved of regular duty for the next seven days. Polemos is not necessarily a fan of Omada,” he confided as he signed papers. “He instituted a waiting period for anyone signing up. Helps us avoid any sudden changes of heart.”
I nodded. I was disappointed they were going to wait so long before deploying me, but I understood. I just really didn’t want to have to explain my decision to Dagan.
He escorted me to the lobby and shook my hand solemnly before dismissing me. It was well past dinner by the time I got home. I needed a shower and about two days’ worth of sleep.
I passed Dag’s darkened door. He appeared to still be out. Hopefully he was with Deliah, getting to know her a little better.
I stripped quickly and stepped into the steaming spray of my shower. My eyes closed as I leaned my forehead against the cool tile and let the world fall away. No sound, no one to see, no one to judge if the water dripping down my face might be slightly salty. Visions of blue-gray eyes and golden caramel hair flashed in my mind and I sighed.
Why did I do this to myself?
Luke was—amazing. Smart. Brave. And a fuckingPrince. No wonder he hadn’t wanted anything to do with me. Some secret part of me had hoped that I would at least hear something from him once he got out of the infirmary, but I’d stopped by on my way home from the Omada headquarters and checked. He had been released shortly after I had left. He was probably meeting with the Somas he matched with even as I was walking home. Kopanos had mentioned there were at least four.
I knocked my head against the wall twice, making my head ring like a bell. I had to stop thinking about Luke. Stop thinking aboutanyMageia. I’d joined Omada, and that was the end of it.
Weirdly the vibration from banging my head on the wall hadn’t stopped. In fact, it seemed to be getting…stronger? What the hell?
I saw a bottle of shampoo fall off a shelf to splash noiselessly across the shower floor, the tiny vibration as the bottle hit the ground almost undetectable against the growing vibration I felt in the earth. Panic suddenly flooded my chest, as well as a growing certainty. There was only one Mageia I knew of powerful enough to cause this.
Luke.
Something was wrong with Luke.
I yanked a pair of pants on and was sprinting down the hall, pausing at the stairway to pull a t-shirt over my head. I had to get to Luke. The only problem was, I had no real idea where he was.
Chapter 21
Kathryn
The light of the torches glimmered across the stone-grey stone walls. The green moss that laced between the cobbled stepping-stones of the place between wound across the courtyard.
He walked along the path, his step confidant even though he hadn’t visited this part of the realm in thousands of years.
She sat near the well, her heavy cloak pulled low over her face. He could see her reaching up occasionally to self-consciously adjust the cowl and it made him smile inwardly. She had always been unsure of her beauty, and he had always played into that insecurity.
“My lady,” he said, stepping forward and bowing to the woman.
King Cyrius Alexus I strode into the courtyard, his glowing black eyes reflecting on the surface of the water.
“Your Highness,” the woman’s voice rasped slightly. “I got your message. What do you want? Have you decided to accede to Our demands?”
He stalked closer to her.
“I don’t think so,” he said, approaching her. She seemed to shrink into herself as he approached, and he grabbed her and threw her against the low stone wall. “Unless those demands include you and me and some expensive oil in some very compromising positions. I might be persuaded then.”
Kathryn laughed and abandoned the ruse, pushing the hood of her cloak back and shaking out her long white braid. She stood and soon was wrapping her body around the King and sighing in satisfaction.
“I could be into that,” she admitted. “Once you’ve kept up your end of the bargain.”
He took her hand gently in his own and seemed to concentrate. Glowing black energy surrounded his hand where it lay on hers. Slowly the glow faded, and she looked at her hand in wonder. Where before they had been gnarled and aged, the skin was now smooth, her bones straight. When she looked into the water of the well, she saw streaks of red flowing through her formerly silver hair.
“More!” She insisted, turning feral eyes on him.
“Soon enough, but you must be patient,” he continued. “Before long, even Kronos himself couldn’t save your Sisters.”
“I’m counting on it,” she said, a small smile spreading across her face as the older woman stared into the eyes of Elus, God of Alexandria.
Chapter 22
