“Have you ever gotten lost?”
Wyatt popped a piece of bacon in his mouth. “Sometimes I wonder if I ever returned.”
Gem awoke to crashing thunder. No, not thunder. A fist pounding against the door. Sitting up on her makeshift bed on the floor, she rubbed her sleepy eyes. After a full day of translations, she’d nodded off, thinking to take a short nap. But exhaustion had gotten the best of her, and now it was after midnight.
The incessant knocking forced her to get up.
“Coming, coming. Wyatt Blessing, you don’t have to be so—” She swung the door open. “Viktor.”
Gem’s chest tightened. Though she had prepared for this moment, the words knotted in her throat when Viktor entered the room.
She closed the door and shadowed him. Viktor was a formidable man, one who had given her hope in the bleakest of times. That hope was slowly withering like a flower in the rain as he turned his head and gave her a shuttered expression.
Viktor’s gaze settled on Niko’s unconscious body and then moved back to her. “Wyatt sent me up. He said that something bad happened, so I told everyone to stay downstairs. What is going on?”
Her jaw hung lax as she, a wordsmith, searched for the right words. “Niko’s under a spell. He won’t wake up.”
Frown lines appeared in Viktor’s brow. In just the few days he’d been away, his silver beard had filled in. He usually styled it short along the jaw and longer around his chin and mouth, but all of it had grown out. His black cargo pants and turtleneck smelled musty and had what could only be bloodstains on them. Gem should have felt guilty for not allowing the man to shower before she dropped a bomb in his lap, but Niko’s dire situation couldn’t wait.
“Spells are for children’s books,” he said.
Gem took a deep breath and then started explaining everything. From the moment Arcadius had drowned her in the pool to Niko surrendering himself to Cyrus as a servant, she left nothing out. She described the silver cuff that blocked her powers, the threats and blackmail, the plan she hatched to free Niko, and the sudden battle at the end. Viktor quietly listened, standing beside the bed with his eyes shifting between Niko and her notes scattered on the floor. She told him about Niko guarding the book for centuries and the power it contained. When he challenged her beliefs, she knelt by the book and found an innocuous fire spell.
“I’ve never read the entire spell,” she said. “And I don’t want to. But I can show you a small example of the power.”
He clasped his hands in front of him and looked down at her, signaling with a nod for her to continue.
Gem found the passage and ran her fingers over one section while reading the words aloud. “In darkness, I call upon the light of the sun.”
The flames in the fireplace roared, and every lantern burned brighter. Gem snapped her hands back and watched Viktor’s reaction. She didn’t dare read any other portion of that spell aloud, not without knowing the repercussions.
After another few seconds, the flames in the room returned to their normal state. She breathed a sigh of relief, still not fully trusting the power in the spells. Her fingertips burned, and she wiped them on her pants as she stood up.
“See? And that’s just one part of the spell. It’s supposed to give someone light in the dark, but who knows what it really does? Maybe the fires will burn forever or burn everything down. There aren’t any references in the book that explain what the spells do. Only the person who wrote this book really knows. All I can do is read the spells and come up with a best guess.”
Viktor used his foot to close the book. “Do not do that again.”
He strode to the wooden bench by the armoire and sat down. Since the team had orders to remain downstairs, Gem and Viktor had complete privacy. Gem crossed the room and sat beside him. The shirts she’d yanked out of Niko’s armoire were still in a heap on the floor. Other things were out of place from when she’d searched his room for the book, but none of that seemed to matter. Gem had put crystals all around the bed in hopes that they might restore Niko’s energy. Viktor hadn’t asked about them, but he must have understood her desperation.
“Is there not a reversal spell?” he asked.
“I’m looking, Viktor. I’m trying. The language is ancient and complicated. It’s a combination of symbols that form single words and phrases as well as parts of a word. The book I found at the pawnshop doesn’t have a complete translation. It’s like someone started but never figured it all out. This isn’t something I can do overnight. Filling in the blanks would be foolhardy. I was lucky I found a passage with every word translated.” She wrung her hands, noticing that her silver nail polish was mostly chipped off. “I don’t see any reversal spells. It’s not that kind of book. Maybe there’s another book out there that has them. Or maybe I’m just not smart enough to figure it out.”
Viktor leaned back against the wall and sighed. “We cannot tell anyone about the book,” he said decidedly. “What have you mentioned to Wyatt?”
“Nothing. He knows that Cyrus wanted a book, but I didn’t tell him anything about what it could do. I kept everyone out of the room while I worked. Even if people discover the book, it’s more important that they never find out what it does.”
“Agreed.”
Unable to look him in the eye, she stared at her feet. “Do you hate me?”
Viktor placed his rough hand on hers. When he spoke, his voice was comforting, like warm cider. “Niko was very concerned about your safety when we heard about your disappearance. But he is not the only brave one. You saved his life. You must feel a tremendous amount of guilt for his situation, but you are alive, and he is alive. And most importantly, Cyrus and his men are not.”
Gem hopped to her feet. She often found it difficult to sit still when she was brimming with emotions. It was as if they rose up inside her like tiny bubbles in a champagne bottle, and when shaken, her cork might pop if she didn’t move around and burn off the energy. “I can do this. It’ll just take time. I’ll work day and night.”
“Nyet. I do not want you working around the clock.” Viktor leaned forward. “There might be… other ways.”
She rose onto her tiptoes and clasped her hands together. “What other ways?”
He tried to smooth his hair back, but the locks kept flipping out of place as if they had been styled by a cyclone. “I want you and your partner to visit a Relic tomorrow. She is an associate of mine, and I value her opinion. But do not reveal how this happened or discuss the book. We must be very careful about keeping this a secret from everyone, including your partner.”
“How can she help if she doesn’t know all the facts?”
“Explain his condition and see what she says. She might have answers.”
“Do you want us to bring her here?”
Viktor stood up and rolled his shoulders back. “Only if she thinks seeing his condition would help. Call me ahead of time so I can prepare.” Viktor stared for a long moment at Niko. “I only hope for his sake that she has answers.”
Gem swallowed the lump in her throat. “How long can a Mage stay this way?”
Viktor shook his head. “Do not ask questions unless you are ready for the truth.” He lightly squeezed her shoulder. “Go to sleep. You will need your rest.”