I staggered over to the window and braced a hand against the wall as I stared out blindly. It was too early for much movement outside. Warm hands wrapped around my shoulders, and I felt Mathias’ solid form behind me. Instinctively I leaned back into him, allowing his arms to wrap around me. “What do I do now?”
“Maybe, we should postpone our holiday to that island, love.” He kissed the side of my head and added softly, “Maybe, it is better that we go to Petra first. Find your father’s people and, hopefully, a teacher who can help you control your Jinn talent. If you could learn to use it consciously, that would be a handy thing indeed.”
He paused and I looked up in time to catch uncertainty in his blue-green eyes. That was something that didn’t often show up. Not with Mathias being a far too confident Ten. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
He opened his mouth, then hesitated. “I don’t know that I want to tell you.”
“That means you need to tell me.” I patted his arm. “Best to get it over with, Myrmidon.”
Mathias studied me for a long moment. “The Lore keeper claimed that she knew more about your parents. Their fate. She claimed to remember them.”
It felt as though the already shaky floor had fallen out from beneath me. If I hadn’t already been leaning against Mathias, I might have dropped to my knees. “My parents came here?” my voice broke despite my best efforts to control my volatile emotions as they snarled into an ever growing knot. “They came here? Why? And, why didn’t they come back for me? I was in that home for a year before they moved me to another family. They said they would come back, but they never did. And, I don’t understand why. Why would they leave after promising to return and never come back? What happened to them?”
“I don’t know, Lauren.” Mathias’ arms around me tightened as he added softly, “I wish I had the answers.” He paused then added, “There’s time to go back if that is what you want. We came out a back door, and I think I can find it again. It would be better to slip in and out without going past the dragon prince’s guards.”
I nodded slowly. “Yes. Let’s go now.”
“Are you sure you don’t want some tea first?”
Pulling out of Mathias’ hold, I turned to face him. Crossing my arms, I raised an eyebrow at him. “Tea?”
He heaved a dramatic sigh. “Oh very well. Continue being a heathen about tea. I love you in spite of it.”
I smiled, shaking my head. “Overly dramatic Myrmidon. You can have your precious tea after we see the Lore keepers.”
“Is that a promise?” he grinned at me.
“Behave yourself. If you can.”
His grin grew wicked as his gaze flicked over me. “No promises there, little Spotter.”
* * *
Chapter Thirteen
Mathias
Lauren’s grip was slowly squeezing the blood out of my fingertips. I glanced down at the top of her dark head. She was moving better than she had been when we first left the hostel, something I was relieved to see. However, I could tell that she was still shaken by everything that had happened and the new memories. So far, she hadn’t mentioned her father but I knew when she had more time to process the reality of his being a 9 and a Jinn, she would likely pull back.
I let her continue strangling my fingers as we walked through the barren streets of Herculaneum. The hour was so early that even the archeologists and Lore keepers had yet to return to the street. I didn’t even see any of the dragon prince’s guards. Something that seemed odd. Although I couldn’t find any sign that there had been a struggle.
Of course, I had also failed to find the way back to the alternative route into the Villa of Papyri. Something I found more than a little annoying. The path wound through the abandoned homes and then to the villa, but it remained empty. I reached up with my free hand out of habit only to brush against the leather of my jacket. I had left my sword in the lorry again. Herculaneum could be strict about obvious weapons. Yet my palm itched with the need to grasp a solid hilt, ready to throw or slash.
Hiding a frown, I scanned our surroundings again. Nothing but the bones of a town lost to time. No one moved around us. Nothing stirred at all. It was as though even the memories of the past had been lost. More desolate feeling than the abandoned village in Scotland where Lauren and I had hidden for a time, which was a rather remarkable achievement.
“Mathias?” came the low whisper.
I glanced down to meet Lauren’s wide dark eyes. I nodded to her. “Let’s hope they are inside.”
We entered the villa without ever seeing another soul. I paused before entering. Turning back to face the ghostly town, I studied the murkier outlines in the faint dawn light that was now mostly hidden behind dark clouds threatening rain. There was no movement save the wind blowing off the bay and the crashing sound of the waves only a short distance away. Yet . . .
After another minute of watching nothing, I shook my head. Perhaps, I was becoming paranoid. In any case, when we found the Lore keepers, I would make sure Daniel showed us the back way out again.
* * *
Lauren
Daniel was nowhere to be seen in the public area of the villa. Mathias found a lantern and we walked into the depths of the buried portion of the villa once more. It was a little creepy without the chattering company of the dosen to keep my mind from focusing on the lava deposits.
Even when I looked up, I couldn’t make out the roof of the villa. A roof that was weighed down by the deposits of a volcano that could explode into activity at any time, if experts were to be believed. Why did I think of that? Now it was all I could think about. Ugh, the mind is a terrible thing at times, and this was definitely one of them.
“Are you all right?”
“Do you think Vesuvius is going to erupt today?”
To his credit, Mathias actually looked thoughtful instead of immediately laughing at my off the wall question. “Not today, I think. Possibly next Tuesday, though.”
I tilted my head. “Why next Tuesday?”
He shrugged. “It seems like a good day for it. Partly cloudy with a twelve percent chance of eruption and ash plumes.”
I shook my head as I breathed a laugh. “You are such a strange man. Why did I marry you?”
A smirk curved his lips as he winked at me. “I believe it was my delicious British accent. Good job I don’t have a brogue.”
“Oh, a very good job,” I mimicked him. Then, my eyes went up to the hidden ceiling once more. Actually, it was better not to look at it anymore. I quickly turned my attention back to Mathias. “How much further?”
He gestured in front of us. “Just need to squeeze through that.”
“I hate this part,” I muttered under my breath.
Mathias’ hand landed on my shoulder and squeezed lightly. “So do I.”
Still we had to do it. So we did. Somehow, the narrow tunnel felt even tighter than it had the last time. By the time we finally emerged, I was ready to scream. I couldn’t even explain why since I was not actually that claustrophobic.
However, that didn’t keep me from gasping for breath like I had been drowning. Mathias’ hand on my shoulder was the only thing that kept me from sinking to the ground when I saw the familiar arch with the faint reliefs of Minerva and the two-faced Janus. In spite of my need to see Marie again, to learn what else she knew about my parents, I couldn’t make myself walk forward.
A cold stone sank in the pit of my stomach as I drew a harsh breath. Mathias came up beside me and shifted his hand over so his arm was now draped around my shoulders. His breath tickled my cheek and moved my hair as he whispered, “You can turn back. I will follow your lead. You can go forward. I will follow your lead. However, you do not need to face this on your own. That is why we are here together. Whatever you decide, Lauren, I am beside you every step of the way. I promise.”
I nodded slowly. Turning my head, I pressed a quick kiss to his lips and then I forced myself to walk forward. My heart began beating frantically
behind my ribs as I did so, but I couldn’t let myself turn back. I would not run from this, no matter how painful.
Mathias remained a silent, but steadfast presence at my side. The light from our lantern played across the ancient bookshelves and the familiar sight of the stacked scrolls. At first, I thought the room was empty when we reached the table to find only scrolls laying on its surface. Then, steps came from one of the far corners of the room. The steps merged into two shadows, and then Marie and Daniel stepped into the circle of light cast by our lantern.
The Lore keepers exchanged looks and carried their scrolls to the table, placing them next to the others. Marie then nodded to us both. “You recovered. I had hopes that you would do so.” She walked around the table to join us. “Allow me to offer my apologies. Had I known you were under a Jinn’s influence, I would have handled the memory retrieval differently.”
I waved a hand. “There is nothing to forgive, Lore keeper. We could not know what my . . . father had done.” It felt so strange to speak of him as though he had been a presence in my life. As though, I remembered him being a presence in my life. I shook the swirl of emotions away and focused on the woman in front of me. “Marie, you told my husband that you knew my parents.”
She nodded and motioned for us to take a seat. I took one of the stools, but Mathias remained standing as Marie took another stool. She glanced at him but didn’t press the issue, which was wise of her. Her gaze fixed on me, solemn yet giving away no other hints to her emotion. I glanced up at her number and felt only a fraction of comfort to see it was still a 4. After another long moment, she broke her silence. “It was close to twenty-six years ago so forgive me for not seeing your mother in you right away. I was here in Herculaneum even then.” She waved her hand to encompass the room around us. “We had only begun excavating this area of the villa. Had only just begun to read the scrolls. But the man and woman who appeared in the mirror, I saw them. Natalia and Elam Serkan came here in search of a particular artifact. One that was mixed into the lore that tied Spotters to the great Tens of the ancient world.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “Spotters helped hunt Tens down because they were quick to become too dangerous. It was what brought the purge to bear on the Spotters themselves.”
Marie looked . . . almost amused as her mouth twisted slightly before she spoke. “These scrolls say that the first Spotter emerged from among the Seers in the days of Nimrod, who was the first recorded Ten in all history. She was said to have helped cast him down from his place of power, though the details of how she did it remain . . . elusive. However, there is an ancient tale that was first passed down from elder to elder among the Spotters until it was finally written on papyri here in Herculaneum. An artifact that emerged around the same time as the first Spotter, one created through the joint magics of Fae and dragons to be wielded by her to put an end to Nimrod’s vile plans. They called it the Crown of Nimrod.”
Daniel glanced up from where he was carefully spreading out a papyri scroll and interjected, “Unfortunately, there’s no description of the crown. Or drawings. Terrible piece of record keeping.”
Marie slanted him a sharp look and he adjusted his glasses, muttering an apology under his breath. Her mouth curved for half a blink into a fond smile before she continued, “It is true that the artifact known as the Crown of Nimrod was never described. However, the tale goes on to describe it as being dangerous beyond its creators’ expectations. It was able to be turned into a weapon that could be used against all paranormals, especially when it was paired with the Sapphire of Shinar. A gemstone that was said to be unbreakable. But, it was removed from the Crown of Nimrod and the artifact was broken into five pieces. These pieces along with the Sapphire of Shinar were scattered, their locations lost to time. However, the tale ends with the caution that the ancient wonders held clues to the pieces’ locations, perhaps even the pieces themselves.”
“The seven wonders of the ancient world?” I asked, not quite believing what I was hearing.
Marie nodded. “Just so.” She leaned forward on her stool. “Your parents were attempting to find the Crown of Nimrod. Your mother had a vision that it would be captured by a great evil. They were trying to find the pieces first.” She paused once more and added quietly, “Natalia spoke of a child that she was determined to see again. I never saw them after they left to seek out the pieces of the artifact.”
Something must have happened. The leaden realization squeezed around my heart, pinning my emotions into a small box, as I struggled to grasp them all at once. I opened my mouth to ask another question only for Mathias to shove me to the ground. “Down!”
I heard Marie scream.
Mathias hissed in a voice so cold it sent involuntary shivers through me, freezing me in place. “Stay down!”
* * *
Chapter Fourteen
Mathias
I leapt forward, drawing my daggers, as five hunters charged into the light. For only a heartbeat I worried about Lauren, then came the cold and with it focus. One of the hunters lunged in an attempt to get past me. I hooked my arm through his and at the same time I slid my foot around his ankle using his own momentum against him as I brought my free dagger up to catch him in the ribs. I threw him to the floor, and he landed without a sound as his body relaxed.
The threat eliminated, I turned my attention to the next hunter. The one who had learned from his companion’s mistake. He swung a club, and I ducked low to avoid being clobbered in the head. Lashing out, I earned a cry as my dagger cut through his dark jeans to the flesh beneath. The cry quickly morphed into a bellowing roar.
I looked up to see him transforming into a bear. Shifters.
Baring my teeth at him, I charged and ducked low before he could drop to all fours. My hand brushed against his thick pelt as I fought to sink the dagger through layers of fur and fat. The bear bellowed, but I knew the wound wasn’t mortal.
He bellowed again and swung his massive head around, nose snuffling. Lauren. The name pierced my icy focus even as it sharpened it to a point. I abandoned my previous strategy. The Bear was trying to get to Lauren as she dragged the female Lore keeper beneath the relative protection of the table.
I gave a hoarse wordless shout as I charged him. My daggers weren’t long enough to cut through his pelt so it left only his head, his face as a feasible weak point. The Bear swung his head back toward me and then a massive paw crashed into my left side lifting me off my feet and tossing me across the room.
I rolled across the floor and then crashed to a halt against one of the ancient shelves. My ribs burned even through the ice. They hadn’t finished healing from the last fight with a shifter. Lauren screamed, the sound driving me to my feet.
The other two hunters leapt over the table, blood staining their hands and short swords. The guilt of innocent blood seemed to drip off them as I studied them through an icy film. They charged me.
I slipped under one hunter’s blade, burying my own between his ribs. I grabbed his sword as he dropped and immediately blocked the second hunter’s strike. He was fast. I was faster.
Moving before his body even finished dropping to the floor, I jumped onto the Bear’s back. Still holding the short sword, I plunged it into the meat of his shoulder hump. He roared and turned away from the table. I slipped off his back and slashed at his face, earning another bellow as the sword cut across his right eye and down his snout.
I drew my sword back to deliver a fatal blow. A hand wrapped around my ankle as a voice cried, “Mathias, wait!”
My attention jerked down to Lauren’s wide eyes. The Bear snorted and rushed toward the darkened shadows. I watched him vanish into them, realizing it was the same direction Daniel had led us when we left through the back tunnel. And the fifth hunter had vanished already, no doubt running in the same direction.
Pursuit was useless now, however, and I turned back to Lauren. My gaze fell on the Lore keeper beside her. Open staring eyes confirmed what the blood now cov
ering her chest already hinted. She was long past protection. I crouched beside Lauren and leaned into her touch as her hand came up to cradle my cheek, clearing away the rest of the iciness covering the world. Beyond her, on the other side of the table, I spied the limp body of the second Lore keeper. Mere confirmation of what I already knew. More victims of Weard’s unscrupulous hunt.
I forced myself upright once more as the echo of running feet and harsh shouts in Italian filled the chamber. Men wearing the same drab grey uniforms as the dragon prince’s watchers flooding into the circle of light. Their eyes glowed with dragon fire as they looked from the bodies to me. Realizing I still held the bloodied short sword, I tossed it to the side and raised my hands.
Lauren’s hand wrapped around my arm as she broke the tense silence. “Please, do not attack. He was defending us. And, he is injured.”
Faint surprise filtered through me at her words. My ribs ached with dull throbs, but it was not bad if I did not breathe too deeply. Then, I became aware of the way the left side of my shirt felt damp and clung to my skin. I looked down. Dark blood covered the front of my shirt where my jacket had been shoved back. It spread across my side. I tugged the jacket back into place, covering most of the bloodstain.
* * *
Lauren
The dragons had all been 8s when they took us into custody. They separated me from Mathias and placed a cloth bag over my head. When they took it off again, I was in a small stone room with no windows and only a single door. They handcuffed me to a chair and left me.
Hunt by Numbers Page 14
