Chapter 8

Hel

When Bea finally got in the car, the drive to the Tower took longer than I would have liked. I knew the buses the others had taken would have a much shorter trip to the Pavilion, but we were going to the War Master's offices. We would have to travel most of the way around the Tower to enter. The car really wasn't built for speed, but with Elex settled in next to me, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Part of me wished he'd let me just wrap myself around him, but I knew he was too damn independent for that. I had to resign myself to just wrapping an arm around the back of the seat. When he sighed and leaned his head back against me and smiled at me, I counted it as a win.

Bea's insult shouldn't have surprised me. I'd heard far worse after Ri had died, but after the last three years of relative isolation I'd forgotten some of the attitudes in Illyria that had driven me to accept my inadvertent exile. The only good thing about her comment was seeing Elex jump to my defense. Something about my fierce little Mageia rushing to protect me warmed my heart more than Bea's insult had chilled it.

When we reached the buildings surrounding the tower the car finally slowed. We passed a number of checkpoints where Bea showed her papers, and we were waved forward.

She slowly circled the exterior wall of the Tower complex before stopping at a door, waving her badge over some kind of sensor that caused the metal fence in front of us to open. We drove into the building, parking the car in an underground parking area.

When we exited the car Elex looked taken aback. There had to be hundreds of vehicles in this parking area alone. From what little he'd told me, I knew in Alexandria only the very rich used conveyances, and they were usually either animal or Mageia powered. Everyone else walked.

Beatrice was speaking to someone on a cell phone. She seemed to be issuing some kind of coded commands, because her speech certainly didn't make any sense to me, even with my training. Allard was watching her closely, her orders catching his attention.

"Clear Holly Tango five to the elevators," she said over the device. "Then clear the thirtieth to Eagle one."

"Acknowledged," I heard a voice on the device say. I didn't even need Soma senses to hear it.

Allard raised his eyebrow at me, and I shrugged. For all I knew this with standard operating procedure. I had no idea what she was doing, or why. I still didn't know why Polemos wanted to see me. As we gathered outside the car, I saw Elex looking around in amazement.

While he wasn't as obvious as his brother, Elex had a fiercely curious mind. I knew he had to have a million questions about what he was seeing. The loyalty they had for each other was one of the things that had attracted me to him in the first place. I knew that no one and nothing would get between the two brothers, a fact I'd had driven home to me shortly after I'd met them.

I had been in Heraklion on a mission to look for more Mageia to recruit during the Machi when I'd met Elex and Luke. Elex had stayed with Betts for the day, so Luke had gone with me to talk to any Mageia we encountered. We had stopped for a rest a few miles away from our camp in a courtyard that held four carved statues of former heroes of the city, one in each corner of the courtyard.

"Hel, can I ask you something?" Luke had said.

"You just did," I responded flatly, then laughed as he rolled his eyes at me.

"I'm serious," he said.

"Okay, ask away," I said, taking a drink from my canteen. "I reserve the right not to answer, though."

"Fair enough," he said, his face going somber.

"The way you and Elex interact… You… You like him," he said. "I mean, like as in really like, right?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business," I said with trepidation. Here it comes, I thought. He's going to tell me I'm not good enough for his brother. He was probably right, but something about the Mageian with the dark hair and startling blue eyes just drew me to him.

"I— I'm glad," he said. "Really. After his mom and Erix died, he didn't have anyone other than me. There were three years when he was in the Legion alone, and he had no one. I wasn't allowed to see him. So I'm really glad you two are hitting it off. I just want to make one thing crystal clear. "

All his good humor vanished, and his face went deadly serious.

Some subsonic dissonance grabbed my attention, a low ache in my jaw as some vibration began from deep beneath the earth. A flock of birds took off from nearby trees just before the ground around us began to vibrate, a rumble emerging as the earth began shaking violently. Parts of the road lifted and moved, the earth seeming to flow like water, causing huge cracks to appear in the battered pavement under us. I'd been here for three years and had never experienced an earthquake like this.

The cracks spread throughout the courtyard radiating out from the center where we stood, opening deep chasms. The statues at the four corners toppled forward, falling down into an abyss that had opened at each corner of the courtyard before the ground slowly ceased its shaking and the earth seemed to flow and flatten back out. The statues were gone, as if they had never been.

I turned and looked at Luke, who seemed unaffected. Luke began to speak, his voice low, an echo of the power that had just remade the courtyard reverberating in his tone.

"You fuck my brother over and no one will ever find your body," he said, his eyes never leaving mine. "Got it?"

All I could do was nod. Luke was scary powerful, and he wasn't even Bonded yet.

***

"You with me?" Elex asked, squeezing my hand and bringing me back to the present.

"Yeah," I whispered as we followed Beatrice through a set of glass doors.

The halls were strangely empty, the result, I assumed, of Bea's coded orders.

I wasn't sure what she was trying to keep hidden. It was an open secret in Nymphaeum that we had had an influx of foreign Mageia. We'd been doing our best to pair them all with Somas in the hopes of creating additional Tesseris Mages. Every unbonded adult Soma in Illyria was being summoned to Nymphaeum in an attempt to make matches.

Bea escorted us to the elevators. I had been in the lower levels of the building before, but had never seen them this empty. I usually restricted myself to the infirmary areas where I could at least do some good.

The elevator doors slid open and we stepped in, Elex and I quietly observing. Bea pushed the button for the thirtieth floor, and my nerves returned in full force. Everyone knew that the thirtieth floor was where the highest levels of leadership worked.

"Gee, the penthouse? You shouldn't have," Elex snarked.

"It's where the War Leader's offices are," Bea said coolly.

"Seems like that would make this location a high value target," Allard said.

"We have our own defenses, Alexandrian," she said stiffly.

He just pressed his lips into a thin line. After a few moments the elevator dinged, and the doors opened.

I had never been here before. This floor was obviously for executives. The carpeting was plush, the lighting soft, and instrumental music whispered from the hidden speakers. Oddly, there was no one in sight here, either. Elex looked at me, but again I shrugged. This was all new to me.

Bea led us down a corridor to a conference room marked "WL-30".

"Stay here," she said. "Someone will come get you, but it may be a little while."

She didn't slam the door behind her, but it was a near thing. I was actually surprised when I didn't hear a lock click.

The room was large and open on one wall with windows overlooking the city. A door led to what looked like an attached office. The conference room was tastefully decorated. There was a table with a dozen chairs surrounding it. The wood positively gleamed. I could tell the workmanship was exquisite. Woodworking had always been my hobby. If it hadn't been for the war, I don't think I would have ever become a doctor. I'd much rather have been a carpenter but needs must.

"Do we sit?" Elex asked.

"If you want," I said. Allard took a seat, seemingly unflappable, but I had too much energy to sit. The uncertainty of why Polemos wanted to meet me was grating on my nerves.

I walked over to the windows, looking out over the city. The view was incredible. I felt more than heard Elex come up beside me. He didn't touch me, but I could feel the comforting warmth of his body as I gazed at the city.

"You okay?"

I nodded.

"You seem a little on edge," he continued.

"I just don't know why Polemos wants to meet with me," I said. "I mean, he's the leader of the war effort. What the hell would he want with one Soma?"

"Maybe he wants to commend you for recruiting so many Mageia," he said thoughtfully.

"Maybe," I responded. "But why now? I—"

My voice was cut off as I heard the sound of a pair of swiftly approaching footsteps and Bea's voice calling out. I whirled around.

"Polemos, please! Be careful! It might to be some kind of trick—"

The door to the conference room flew open and a slight man dressed in an expensive suit stood in the doorway. His wavy white hair was shoulder length, with a single streak of black in the front. He stood frozen with shock, and I realized his face was a mirror of the one that had been filling my dreams.

Elex had already whirled and dropped to a crouch, anticipating an attack, whirls of elements appearing around his forearms. He froze, staring at a man who wore his face before straightening slowly.

Silence stretched for long moments, then Elex said a single word that shook me to my core.

"Erix."