The answer came in a sudden rush of insight. "They're holding someone you care about."
Javic actually flinched.
"That's it," Max said. "He's right, isn't he? It's the girl in the picture. Who is she?"
There was a long silence. Then Javic looked at them. "My sister."
"What's her name?" Max's voice was gentle, and Gio discovered a new side of her, soft and sympathetic.
"Elina," Javic said. "She's a lot younger than I am. She's fourteen now."
"Tell us about her," Max said.
Now that the secret was out, Javic seemed eager to talk about it.
"We're orphans. Growing up, all we had was each other. Elina was very sick most of the time. She moved back and forth between a group home and hospice care while I tried to find work to support us both." Javic smiled wanly. "I never went to university. I simply didn't have the opportunity. I did a lot of manual labor and odd jobs. The one that lasted the longest was working for a traveling carnival. I know it sounds strange, but this was how I found out about the Brotherhood."
"I'm guessing that's what your cultists call themselves?" Max asked, with a quick look at Gio. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that it sounds like some kind of old monastic arrangement."
"I think it might even have been associated with a monastery at one point, but it's completely non-religious now," Javic said. "They're called the Brotherhood of Stone and Fire."
"And they do real magic?" Max said.
Javic smiled briefly and without humor. "Well, they're certainly trying. I got mixed up with them because I hoped they could help my sister. By that point, she was so sick that it seemed likely she wasn't going to live to grow up."
"What's wrong with her?" Gio asked quietly.
"She had a bad heart. I don't know if I can explain how desperate I was to help her."
"I have a little sister too," Max said. "I do understand."
There was a moment of shared fellow-feeling between them. Javic went on, "When I finally managed to make contact with them, they were in a desperate situation. They had trapped a phoenix in a place they call the Source, where their magic comes from. It's sort of a deep well that goes down into the earth. But they couldn't control it and they needed a host. You have to have shifter heritage, but not already have a shift animal yourself. Apparently, Elina and I have some shifter blood from a ways back, enough to make me the best candidate for bonding with the phoenix that they'd ever come across."
"So they actually bonded you with it," Gio said, his voice low. He was thinking about the moment when he had felt the medallion settle into him, becoming part of his bones and blood in a way he could never escape.
Javic shuddered and took a deep drink of his terrible wine. "It's not pleasant, let me tell you. Anyway, once I became the new host for the phoenix, I was able to tap into the Source and heal my sister. Long story. So she's now being held hostage to make sure I don't double-cross them."
Max and Gio shared a look. Gio said, "So if Elina was free, you would no longer hunt us, correct? You have nothing against us personally, and no reason to attack us if you aren't being forced to."
Javic looked back and forth between them. "Yes. All I want is to take my sister and get away from them. I want no part of them or anything they're planning."
"What if we help you rescue her?" Max asked. "If we do that, do you think you can help Gio with his problem? If you could heal your sister's heart, you might be able to heal him too."
"What's wrong with him?" Javic asked.
"Other than you guys coming after me?" Gio said. "It's this." He tapped his chest. "I want to somehow destroy the medallion or otherwise get it out of me."
Even as he said it, he felt a twinge of regret. Today's fighting had given him a look at what it might be like if he could work seamlessly with the stone lion, rather than regarding it as an unwanted intruder in his body.
But no. This wasn't his life. He wanted his real life back—vineyards, books, quiet and calm.
"Let me feel," Javic said.
Gio moved cautiously forward. He was aware of Max crouching beside him, her whole body tense. She set down her cup of wine so she could put a hand on her gun.
Javic raised his free hand and touched his fingertips lightly to Gio's chest. There was an odd twitch like a small electric shock. The sensation was very different, on every level, from what Gio felt when he looked into Max's eyes, but at the same time he could recognize that Javic had a shifter animal the same way he could with her. Their animals were intrigued by each other.
Javic pulled his hand back. "I really don't know," he said. "I can't promise. I'm going to have to work on this."
