“I can’t leave him.”
“I will remain.”
Her belly did a flip. “What about everyone else?”
Viktor guided her to the door. “They will stay out. You and I will take turns watching him. I do not want him alone for a moment. The book stays in here.”
“But—”
“No arguments. The book is safer here for now. You cannot keep moving about with such a valuable instrument. Others will notice. If he has protected the book for centuries, then it was not by displaying it to others. Niko is a clever man who knows the importance of keeping valuable things out of sight, an interesting challenge, considering he cannot see what the obvious hiding spots would be.”
“I could stay with you. That way, I could keep an eye on him while you shower. I bet you haven’t even slept.”
“Spasibo. I have slept, little one. It is time for you to do the same. Your notes will stay with me. I do not want you working yourself to death.”
Gem was torn. She didn’t want to leave, but she trusted Viktor, and he needed time to digest the facts. After he closed the door, she felt a glimmer of hope.
Once inside her dark bedroom, she passed the scenic windows on her left that overlooked the courtyard. The rain must have stopped. Normally the sprinkles would tap against her windowpanes, but it was quiet now. Her feet brushed over the colorful rugs that covered her floor, and though she couldn’t see in the darkness, she knew how many strides she needed to reach her canopy bed.
Because of all the fabric, she used candles sparingly. There were some in mason jars, but the vast majority of her lighting was derived from battery-operated lights she’d artfully hung about the room. Gem switched on the ones that twined around the corner posts and overhead railing of her bed. The violet swathe of sheer curtains hanging from the sides lit up like an enchanting aura.
As she crawled across the purple-and-gold patchwork quilt, she felt heavy with sadness. Her positive mindset had gotten her through the day, and she’d accomplished so much after verifying her notes against books in her private library. But now that she was alone with nothing to offer a distraction, all she could think about was Niko. Could he hear everything going on around him? Was he a prisoner trapped inside his own mind? She hoped not. Even worse, what if he no longer had a soul? What if she somehow broke the spell and something else woke up in his place? Something not Niko.
She gasped when someone crawled into bed with her. “Claude, you gave me a start!”
Gem had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t heard the door open. Once her heart slowed down, she settled back on her right side while Claude curled on top of her feet to offer his warmth. The smell of clean soap wafted off his bare chest as he lay there like an Adonis. Sometimes he was too handsome for his own good and used it like a charm. Chitahs were confident, persuasive creatures, and that perfect trifecta made it easy for Claude to get what he wanted. It was what made him perfectly suited for spy work at his day job among both male and female clients.
“What upsets you, female?”
“It’s been a long week. I really missed you guys.”
He turned his head and rested his chin against his broad shoulder. “I thought you were lost to us. I wanted to be the one who brought you back, but Viktor sent Niko. I’m your partner. I’m supposed to protect you, and—”
“I know,” she said quickly, noticing a ripple of spots appearing on his torso. Claude was visibly upset, and she could only imagine how he had taken the news. “This is how it had to be. There’s nothing for you to fret about. It’s over. I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine, but we’ll talk about it later when you’re ready.”
Claude was so different from anyone Gem had ever met. Some of the intimate acts he performed for her were ones that Chitahs normally did with family: purring, curling up in her bed, and even bringing her meals. Since the day that Viktor had assigned them as partners, Claude had always treated her as if she was special.
When a rumbling purr sounded, she sank back into her pillow. It calmed her like nothing else, and she marveled over his innate talents. “Did Viktor talk to you?” she asked.
His purr died down, and Claude propped his head in his hand. “He said Niko’s fallen asleep and won’t wake up. He ordered us to stay away until otherwise told. Does Niko’s condition have anything to do with the men who were chasing him?”
She frowned. “Why would you ask that?”
“The man we captured fell asleep too.”
She sprang to a sitting position. “What other man? Kallisto?”
“I don’t know his name, but Raven recognized him. He followed us into the woods.”
Gem couldn’t believe her ears. All this time she thought Kallisto had set his sights on breaking into the mansion and going after Hunter. Cyrus’s threats were oblique, so she’d assumed he’d go after someone she’d least expect. Crush had crossed her mind, as did Kira. She had forgotten about Kallisto in the midst of all this madness. “Tell me what happened.”
Claude’s fangs punched out, marring his angelic face with a ferocious appearance. “He tried to murder the children.”
She clutched the pendant around her neck. “He went after the children?”
That was ten times worse than going after Keystone. Cyrus must have decided that Keystone members were expendable, but children weren’t.
That conniving little monster.
“They’re okay,” Claude assured her. “But we almost lost one. Our duty was to transport them to a secret location. One female fled with her boyfriend, but we know where to find her, and Viktor is going to drop in on the family and have a little chat.”
“What did Kallisto do? You said you almost lost one.”
“Toward the end of the journey, lions were hunting us. And then this Mage comes out of nowhere and shoots a poison dart into one of the boys. If the deviant hadn’t fallen unconscious on his own, I would have killed him myself. Slowly.”
“What did you do with him?”
“Viktor turned him over to the higher authority. He’ll be spending the rest of his life in Breed jail. I think there were disagreements about executing an unconscious man, but hopefully someone has the good sense to do what’s right. No one should ever harm a child and live.”
Gem secretly wanted the man to rot behind bars. Death was too swift, and an eternity in a cell would serve him right.
Claude frowned. “Is Niko afflicted in the same way? What happened?”
“I can’t say.”
His gaze lowered for a moment. “Understood.”
Claude was admirably trusting. He knew they were each bound by duty, so he never pressured her to divulge private information. Even on the rare nights when she had nightmares, Claude never prodded her to talk about them. He didn’t need to. He could scent her fear, her pain, and even her sorrow. Gem needed his unwavering support, so she kept much about her past private.
After all, if he found out her dark secrets, he might think differently about her. His affection might come with conditions, and Gem couldn’t afford to lose that. Claude was the closest thing she had to a friend, but much of their relationship was based on their partnership.
Claude quietly watched her, lifting her emotional scent with a twitch of his nose. Then he stroked her calf as if she were a wounded animal. She didn’t dare tell him about the drowning, not now. He’d flip his switch and squat over her all night like some kind of guard dog. As adorable as that could be, she wasn’t in the mood for coddling.