“Herculaneum,” Yakov interrupted, his light brown gaze flicking to me. “I told you to go to Pompeii.”
“There were too many Weard hunters there to make the journey safe. And, we knew the Lore keepers would be in Herculaneum.”
His thin lips pursed once more before he nodded. “Yes. It makes sense. Forgive me for not thinking of it sooner.” He glanced warily at Mathias and his number again before adding, “Well? What did you find? Anything? Was there any truth to the story?”
I nodded. “Yes. We spoke to two Lore keepers whose study focused on Spotters. They were able to share a story about a particular artifact tied to our people. Unfortunately, we were ambushed by hunters and the Lore keepers were killed. Two of them escaped as well. We fear they will take the information to whoever it is that is running Weard Enterprises now.”
“What information?”
I quickly told him everything I knew about the Crown of Nimrod and the fact that it was tied to the seven wonders of the ancient world. When I finished, Raz Yakov rubbed his jaw with a gnarled hand. “The Crown of Nimrod . . .”
“You know of it?” Mathias asked gruffly.
“I had heard whispers of such an artifact. One that was tied to Nimrod. I never realized it was also tied to the Spotters, not really. If anything, I believed it was one of those stories where it was more fable than truth.” He scratched at his jaw as he added, “It would not be the first time a paranormal artifact was muddled into a norm legend. Excalibur is one. If anyone could figure out which water nymph stole it, there would be a fight between the Fae and the dragons to claim it. Since Arthur was a dragon shifter. Naturally. But, Excalibur was Fae crafted.”
“The Crown of Nimrod is far more dangerous than a single sword,” I said, trying to keep the older Spotter’s mind from distraction. It was too important to lose focus now. We had to have a plan.
I quickly looked around to make sure we were still relatively alone and then lowered my voice as I asked, “What will you do?”
“Me?” He barked a laugh and tapped the end of his walking stick against my leg. “Look at me, girl. My days of adventuring are long gone. As I told you before, I cannot leave Roma. If Weard is hunting you and has succeeded in injuring your Ten, your Myrmidon, what chance do you think a broken old man will have against them. I leave Roma, and I lose all my protections. No, the risk is too great.”
“We cannot leave the artifact out there where Weard can find it. If they find all the pieces and restore the Crown of Nimrod, we have no idea what sort of destruction they can cause with it.” I hesitated then added, “They have captured Spotters. If the artifact is wielded by a Spotter, they already have a piece of the puzzle at their disposal. It’s only a matter of time before they come to open blows with the dragons and Fae. Then, where could you hide? The neutral cities won’t be respected. Weard does not care about such things. They have only grown worse in the last few years since their change in leadership. Some rogue dragon that won’t be content to leave the peace intact. Everything our ancestors fought to protect, everything we went into hiding to protect, all of it will be destroyed. You must know this as well as I.”
Raz Yakov’s wild eyebrows lowered until they nearly obscured my view of his eyes. “You think a rogue dragon has taken leadership of Weard Enterprises.”
“It is the only thing that makes sense,” I said quietly. I rubbed Mathias’ arm as he braced himself against his knee. “What are we going to do about the Crown of Nimrod?”
Yakov’s craggy face lowered and then he stated gently, “I believe there is only one solution. The only way to keep Weard from getting its hands on the artifact is if the Spotters retrieve it first.”
I straightened in my seat, eyes widening. “You know another Spotter.”
He chuckled, not quite mockingly. Then, he tapped my leg with the walking stick once more as he said, “Yes. I know you.”
I shook my head. “No. I can’t do that.” I glanced at Mathias who was slouching now. His face had gone milky white again and his breathing was shallow enough that I wasn’t certain he was paying attention to the conversation. “We cannot do that.”
“Think on what you said, child. Allowing Weard to take possession of the Crown of Nimrod, when they have at least one or two Spotters in their hold as well, would bring unimaginable destruction on the paranormal community. Then, it will spread to the norms.” Yakov looked from me to Mathias and then back to me as he added, “You would turn your back on the only chance to stop them? You might as well participate in the destruction yourself.”
The words pierced me to the core. I bit back an instinctive protest as my mind offered proof of the truth. The seer in Venice, he had called me the Destroyer. He had said that I would cause the destruction of our world. And Weard . . . Weard never would have known to even look for the Crown of Nimrod if I hadn’t gone to Herculaneum.
I glanced at Mathias. His injuries were my fault. Again. Because once again, I had put him in a situation where he needed to fight all because of my hunt for my past. My parents . . . My breathing hitched slightly at the thought of them. They had died for this, they had died to keep the Crown of Nimrod out of Weard’s control.
I couldn’t turn away now. No matter how much I wanted to disappear before Weard could track us down again. This had to be done. The crown had to be found. I was not going to be the Destroyer. No matter what the seer saw, I would not be the Destroyer.
Looking up to meet Raz Yakov’s hopeful gaze, I offered a curt nod. “All right. I’ll do it. I’ll find the Crown of Nimrod.”
His craggy face split into a smile. “Good, good. You may save us all, Lauren Hope.”
I glanced at Mathias who was teetering. “After I take him to see a doctor. Again.”
“Are Tens always such high maintenance,” he asked as I managed to get Mathias back to his feet.
I breathed a wry laugh. “This one just requires more supervision.”
* * *
Quests by Numbers
Rogue Spotter
Book Five
Kimberly A. Rogers
Dedication
To Tom Hiddleston again
because he’d still make the perfect Mathias.
Chapter One
Lauren
“Run!”
The call was almost buried beneath the screeching roar echoing around us. I scrambled to get over the same man-sized boulders we climbed over only a short time earlier. Hands wrapped around my waist and tossed me forward. I landed on my hands and knees in centuries old dust.
Boots landed beside me and then I was hauled back to my feet. I caught a glimpse of a 10 blazing golden in the shadows of the light cast by our flashlights before Mathias propelled me forward again. “Keep going,” came his terse command.
Risking a glance behind, my heart jumped into my throat as I caught a glimpse of the griffin’s blazing 8. And, it wasn’t alone anymore. “Mathias, there’s more of them.”
“Yes. I know. Keep running.” Even the delicious sounds of his British accent couldn’t hide the hint of worry in his clipped words.
Another screeching roar sounded behind us. It was joined and amplified by at least three more. I winced at the almost overwhelming sound even as I desperately tried to urge my legs to move faster. We had to get aboveground and fast. Mathias could have outrun me easily, but he stayed on my heels pushing me to keep going even as my lungs screamed and my legs burned.
Coming to Rhodes may have been a bad idea. As the griffins roared again, I flinched. Scratch that, coming to Rhodes was mostly definitely a bad idea. The worst actually.
The smooth floor grew slick with moisture. If I had any breath to spare, I would have cheered. We were close to the way out now. Out of the tunnels and chambers that were built around the one time Colossus and away from the angry guardians we had disturbed. Finally.
My cheer vanished as soon as I rounded the bend and my bouncing flashlight caught on the door. Or where the door should have been. Oh no. I
skidded to a halt in front of a collapsed segment of rock. The faded carving of an eye almost as tall as me stared mockingly.
Mathias slid to a halt beside me, bracing a hand against the faded eye as he lifted his flashlight to pan across the obstruction. I joined him, hand and light shaking, as I struggled to catch my breath. Stone was all I could see, then Mathias raised his arm. “There! There’s still room at the top. We can wriggle through.” The griffins screeched again and a look of annoyance skittered across his face as he glanced behind us. “We need to hurry. Come on.”
I was not looking forward to the climb. The eye itself was as tall as my own five foot two height and the stone surrounding it was easily another two feet up. And the gap Mathias had pointed out appeared to be extremely close to the tunnel’s ceiling. A griffin screeched and I put my foot in Mathias’ cupped hands, allowing him to boost me up.
Scrabbling for handholds, I ignored the way the flashlight bounced on my wrist banging into my arm. I could hear the rustle of the griffins’ feathered wings as they brushed against each other and the walls of the tunnel. I hauled myself up the stone, using the shallow divots and slashes to pull myself closer to the top. I had almost reached the gap when my right foot slipped. I gasped and then hissed as I banged my chin against the stone.
A hand braced against my backside and shoved me up. I scrambled to find a handhold in the gap as my boots kept slipping. The helping hand moved from my backside to gripping the back of my shirt and jacket. Mathias grunted as he hauled us both up. For some insane reason, I looked down.
My breath caught in my throat as two griffins leaped at us. Their talons just missing Mathias’ feet. Their round yellow eyes fixed on me like a hawk on some hapless field mouse. They leapt again, beating their wings slightly. Mathias’ grip on my jacket tightened, and he pulled just as the toehold I’d managed to find crumbled. An involuntary cry ripped from my throat as my right hand slipped. I was dangling by a hand and Mathias’ hold on my jacket and shirt, which were bunching rather uncomfortably and leaving most of my torso completely exposed.
The griffins leaped only to be knocked down by the overenthusiastic arrival of their brethren. As the griffins snapped their beaks and hissed at each other, Mathias let go of my jacket and grasped my free arm. At his nod, I let go of my crumbling handhold. Bracing my feet against the stone, I bounced up as hard as I could while Mathias pulled me by the arm.
I heard talons scratching stone as I was unceremoniously shoved through the narrow gap headfirst. The stone scraped against my still exposed belly and damp soil crumbled against my back. I yelped as the stone abruptly gave away, and I fell into empty air. The yelp was beaten out of me as I landed on my back in dirt and a puddle. Just to add insult to injury, no doubt. There was a scrape and then I rolled to the side as Mathias landed on his feet . . . in the puddle, succeeding in splashing me. As the beam from his flashlight landed on me, I raised a hand. “Not one word.”
He coughed and then cleared his throat as he dropped into a crouch beside me. “All right, love?”
I managed a nod. “Just peachy.” I groaned as Mathias helped me to my feet. My clothes were soaked, stomach and back both scraped, and every fiber of my body ached. I shone my flashlight up at the gap only to jump when a griffin’s talons flashed into sight. Turning back to Mathias, I said, “Let’s get out of here.”
I leaned against Mathias who must have been at least a little worried about that last fall since he had shortened his stride considerably. For the moment, I didn’t need to take three steps to his every one. Something that was usually the norm considering the fact that Mathias’ long lean frame towered over mine by a foot. I drew a breath as I kept an eye out for any more numbers, as unlikely as it seemed that they would appear since we had left the griffins behind.
My name is Lauren Hope . . . and I’m what’s called a Spotter. I spot the people who are or can be threats because I see numbers floating over their heads that indicate their threat potential. The higher the number, the more dangerous the person and the greater the threat. No other type of paranormal had this ability and that made it a very dangerous gift to have given the fact that there were just as many people who would love to control me as there were those who would kill me to keep their deadliness secret. I spent my life in hiding, keeping my head down, until the day Mathias had shown up at Halliman’s, the premier PR firm for the paranormal community, on loan from Weard Enterprises the preeminent security company in both paranormal and norm society.
Technically, he had been sent there to flush me out of hiding since Weard was now in the business of openly hunting innocent paranormals for their unique abilities. We had been on the run almost a full year, fleeing across the States and then to Scotland where I learned the truth about Mathias’ own unique abilities. He was the last of the Myrmidons, meaning Mathias shouldn’t even exist, and there were many who would kill him out of fear if they knew he was of the same species as the infamous Achilles. But, the only Ten I’d ever met was also the only man who had seen anything of worth in me.
When Mathias’ heritage tried to claim a deadly price on him, I ended up returning the favor by participating in the Trials of Achilles to save his life. And, becoming his bride. It might have started as two people on the run, but somewhere along the way attraction turned to love. Love and marriage to a Ten was something I would have said was absolute lunacy to suggest when I was living and working in Olympia, Washington.
“There’s the opening.” Mathias’ voice was low and I felt him squeeze my shoulder before he asked, “Where were you just now?”
“Wondering how I ever would have survived this last year without you around,” I murmured.
He turned off his flashlight but didn’t move away as he said softly and with complete confidence, “You would have found a way, Lauren. You survived just fine before we crossed paths.”
Brushing damp hair out of my eyes, I swallowed a retort as Mathias slipped ahead of me. Sure, I had survived but I hadn’t been living until I went on the run with him. No doubt, one of the worst ways to get to the point of actually living instead of just surviving and I wouldn’t trade it if it meant giving up Mathias. After a tension filled minute, I heard him call my name. I kept my flashlight on and pointed directly toward the ground until I found Mathias’ shadow.
Only then did I turn off the light and reach out blindly. Mathias’ warm hand swallowed mine, and I let him guide me through the broken bits of stone and pottery that littered the tunnel’s mouth. Finally, I could feel the salt-laden breeze from the ocean and then the sweeping light from the lighthouse overhead cast ribbons of light across the dark waves. The rocks were slick from the growing waves, and it took some effort to avoid twisting my ankle or falling again. The Fortress of St. Nicholas with its lighthouse towered above us as we continued creeping along the base of its walls facing the ocean instead of Mandraki port proper. The city and island of Rhodes drew tourists even as summer neared its end.
Mathias pulled me to a halt and we waited for the lighthouse’s lantern to pass over us before we climbed down to the waterline. The small motorboat we’d borrowed earlier still bobbed on the rolling waves. Mathias helped me in and then followed, steering our little boat out from the rocks and around the harbor point to enter the mouth. My hair whipped around in the breeze, threatening to blind me and making me wish I hadn’t lost my head shawl when we first started running from the griffin.
My Turkish heritage gifted me with dark features and an olive-toned complexion, which allowed me to blend in with countries all over Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. Adding a head shawl had become a habit, especially when we were so close to Turkey, and it was especially useful when Weard Enterprises spread pictures of me on the paranormal news outlets while labeling me as a rogue Spotter and offering a reward for my capture. Fortunately, I had a few tricks to keep from being too noticeable. I glanced back at Mathias and the 10 floating above his head. He noticed my gaze, and then nodded to the do
ck as he angled for one of the boat slips.
Once I was standing on the dock, every ache and scrape I had gained decided to announce their presence loudly. The skin on my stomach stung with enough force that I probably scraped some skin off. Mathias hooked his arm around my shoulders pulling me close as he whispered in my ear, “Keep walking, sweetheart. We need to get to camp. Can you make it?”
The thought of hiking thirty minutes to the glamoured safe house on the acropolis was unpleasant. But, I nodded. “I can make it. It’s just bruises.”
He must not have believed me because when we left the harbor he immediately hailed a cab. The driver was only a 3 and apparently spoke only Greek, which was not one of the languages I had ever practiced. Mathias gave him instructions of some sort, and the cab started wending its way down the streets and through the medieval Old Town. I glanced out the window to look at the square towers of the gothic castle looming over us. The Kastello or the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes kept silent vigil over both the medieval portion of Rhodes and the former military port of Mandraki. It also happened to stand over the final resting place of the Colossus of Rhodes. Unfortunately, the only way in was through a tunnel opening under the harbor fortress and then beneath the water to long buried and mostly forgotten shrines that were built around the Colossus after it collapsed due to an earthquake. This was the main reason I hadn’t expected to run across a griffin down there, much less an entire clutch of them.
The cab stopped far too soon and then Mathias was helping me out. We stood in front of the Kastello. I stared up at it with confusion and wariness churning in my gut. As the cab drove away, I glared up at Mathias. “I am not going in there.”
The corner of his mouth twitched and I could hear the barest trace of amusement in his voice as he asked, “Why not?”
Rogue Spotter Collection Page 69
