“Anything,” I said, and I meant it.
41
Henri
Iwas finishing up a job in Hialeah when my spirit was summoned with an all-consuming force. Its potency was so strong that I needed a moment to center myself, thinking it was only a phantom call. When it happened again, it felt as if my spirit was splitting in half.
Only one being could call me with such an immediate and visceral power. My mother.
This was not one of our regularly scheduled visits, but I could tell she was physically close. There was something else in her call as well. A promise, or perhaps it was a threat. The two often sounded similar. And then another name came to me as if carried by the wind.
Orlando.
It wasn’t fair to Xavier, but I needed a human vessel for this visit. I couldn’t afford to be at a further disadvantage. When I exited Xavier’s complex inhabiting his body, I was surprised to find a silver limousine waiting for me on the street. Standing at its side like a dutiful footman was a face I recognized.
“Lucian?” I asked, a hitch of emotion rising within me. It had been decades since we’d last seen each other. Our communications were infrequent and mostly through our mother. I’d put him in a bad position when I’d slaughtered all of those Roman soldiers. He’d been in the capital, serving in the senate and loyal to the emperor. He’d had no warning of my betrayal. It was lucky they couldn’t kill him, only torture him for answers, of which he had none. It wasn’t long after his release that he was banished from his second home. Whereas I had refused my mother’s sanctuary, he’d sought her out and had been her devotee ever since.
He was the good son.
“Andronicus,” Lucian said in a flat tone, making no move to embrace me. “Henri, is it these days?”
“Yes.”
My brother was a slighter, blonder expression of my original body. Where I’d tended toward a warrior’s physique, he was slender and fair like our mother. He’d retained, after all of these years, his youthful appearance. His presumptive innocence had deceived many individuals over the centuries, both mortals and gods alike, much to their own misfortune. Lucian was the blade beneath the silk, Lena’s most powerful weapon, and one of her most trusted allies.
“How have you been faring?” I asked. Despite our estrangement, Lucian would always be my brother. Four years younger, he was the boy who’d cried in my arms when we were sent as prisoners to a foreign land, and the boy I’d taken under my wing as my own. Lucian had idolized me when we were young, and I’d defended him ferociously from anyone who sought to harm him. He might have grown into my best friend if I hadn’t betrayed him in my vengeful pursuits and caused him to align himself so closely with our mother.
“Labor et quies,” he said shortly.Work and rest.
“Do you know the meaning of this summons?”
“Mother has a gift for you,” he said simply. Lucian spoke with relative forthrightness considering our ilk’s tendency to obfuscate. Still, the nature of a “gift” from Lena did not sit well with me. None of her gifts were given freely, and any mercy she might bestow had conditions attached.
“We don’t want to keep her waiting,” Lucian said, more as a warning than a threat.
I climbed into the limo and sat across from him. He removed his glasses in the darkened cabin. For a moment, we searched each other, looking for some remnant of the bond we once shared. He was still quite beautiful, though perhaps a bit more troubled after the years in my mother’s service. No doubt he had been expected to perform countless unsavory acts. Lucian, when I knew him, had been a gentle, caring soul, though it did not surprise me to find him a cold, impassive man. My mother could harden the softest of hearts.
It was then that I smelled your unique aroma on the car’s leather and, when I inspected it closer, saw a smear of gold paint that had been missed by whomever had last cleaned it.
“You’ve met Orlando,” I said to my brother while trying to mask the dread and panic rising like bile within me.
“I have,” he said solemnly. “A most beguiling young man.”
“Is he safe?” I tried to keep the edge of desperation out of my voice. The only thought that consoled me was that I couldn’t smell your blood.
“For now.”
I deduced that my mother currently held you in captivity, and I was on my way to negotiate your release. I only prayed you hadn’t done anything rash, and that Lena would be reasonable.
“And what is the nature of our mother’s gift?” I asked, hoping to have some indication of why you’d recently been seated in the backseat of her limousine.
“Consider it restitution.” He lowered his voice. “But you know our mother.”
His mouth formed a grim line. He was careful not to speak against her, but his restraint revealed just as much. We didn’t speak much more after that. My anxiety overwhelmed me as I imagined what cruel fate might have befallen you. How did Lena get to you? I was seldom not in your company despite my own promises to myself, and I’d only just seen you at your final performance. Then I remembered how you’d disappeared after opening night. She must have concealed you from my sight.
Had they waited until you were alone and kidnapped you? Seduced you into submission?
The limousine pulled up to a massive, ornately carved gate, embellished with the head of Medusa, our bloodborn crest. Before leaving the sanctuary of the automobile, I took hold of my brother’s arm.
