The Darkness in Dreams (Enforcer's Legacy, #1)(91)



“You’re near Seattle,” a cool voice remarked. The woman sat in a cream-colored upholstered chair. There was something regal about her posture and the pale hair swept back from a patrician face. Her hands were folded precisely. An opal-colored silk blouse and tailored pants reinforced the image of quiet authority.

The woman's eyes, though, were dangerously silver. She waited while Lexi pushed upright on the couch.

“You were in Zurich,” the woman continued as the music faded. “In a converted building Six maintains. I brought you to Seattle two days ago. I’ve allowed you to sleep because you needed to heal. And I needed to decide what to do with you.”

“Why must you do anything with me?”

“That was inelegantly phrased.” The woman lifted her hand, but the gesture was lost in the brilliant light streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Water shimmered across the bay, and in the far distance, Lexi could see the distinctive skyline. “I am Three. You are safe here, Gaia.”

“My name is Lexi.”

“You were Gaia when we first met. I will always think of you as Gaia.”

Lexi shifted on the couch, felt her muscles protest. All the tiny cuts Six had inflicted were gone. The only trace of the battle was the pink scar across her palm. Lexi glanced at the Calata member who’d kept her asleep while deciding what to do. The immortal was sitting with absolute calm, watching her.

“What is it you wish to know?” the woman asked.

“Why I’m here.”

“They attacked you in Florence.”

“Not just me.”

“True. The enemy attacks you in the alley, and when he loses he makes it worse by doing something stupid, like attacking the villa. It is the way of things.”

“Immortal things?”

The woman nodded. “You understand that Six is my enemy?”

“Yes.”

“He started this war.”

Lexi glanced around, not entirely comfortable in the woman’s presence. This was Three, the immortal who had forced Christan from the Void, who believed he belonged to her. A woman involved with the Agreement that took away the choice. Lexi could feel the power radiating through the air when the woman moved and realized the immortal was exerting a subtle intimidation.

Lexi would not be intimidated. She held the immortal’s steady gaze and waited.

Three, however, merely smiled. The opalescence of her clothing reflected the colors in the sky as she crossed one knee over the other and readjusted her hands.

“Who provoked whom?” Lexi asked.

“He provoked me.” The immortal shrugged. “I provoked him. That’s how you ended up in Zurich.”

“I thought I ended up in Zurich because of Christan.”

“You did,” Three said, watching Lexi carefully. “Six knew I wouldn’t bring Christan back while you were here unless there was an advantage. I knew the same thing. Six should have figured it out before he compelled Christan to Zurich.”

“You wanted Six to take Christan?”

“Yes, if it was necessary.”

“Why, for god’s sake?”

“I needed you to perform the blood bond. You would only do it if you thought you were saving Christan’s life.”

Lexi thought about the attack on the villa, the barking dog, a woman’s scream. Broken hands and a pool of blood on a concrete floor. It took a moment before she could speak. “Why didn’t you just ask me?” It was only blood. She would have agreed.

Three turned her head slightly to the left and said, “Christan would have refused if he’d known.”

Lexi swallowed once and glanced around the elegant room. “You did it behind his back?”

Three remained silent, not a good sign.

“How could torturing Christan possibly benefit you?”

“He was never in any real danger.”

“You didn’t see him.”

“I didn’t need to see him, I know what he is.”

Lexi tried to be calm. “People died at that villa.”

“You say that with such shock,” the immortal said. “But Christan has belonged to me much longer than he has belonged to you. I understand him better than you. I made a decision rather than arguing about it.”

Lexi turned her head to stare through the large windows toward the glittering water beyond. There were differences between human and immortal perspectives that couldn’t be explained. When she glanced back at Three, the woman was watching as if daring judgement.

“The answer is yes,” the immortal said.

“About what?”

“I appreciate a need for blood when necessary. But I am not evil. What I did had to be done. When we created warriors, we knew the alchemy was not an exact science. There was a risk.”

“What kind of risk?”

“That our characteristics would dominate and the warriors would become totally ruthless and amoral.”

“And ruthless, amoral warriors might be inconvenient?” Lexi asked.

Three ignored the sarcasm. “You’ve encountered Kace on multiple occasions. You tell me.”

Lexi didn’t answer.

The immortal said, “No one has survived more than Christan has, nor paid a higher price, but he’d stayed too long in the Void. I needed him more human and the blood bond was the fastest way.”

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