Chapter Seventeen
TALIK
Talik cast a furtive glance at Khalida.
She continued to stare straight ahead and had barely spoken on the ride from the villa to the library.
He leaned against the soft black leather seats, legs stretched out, as he watched the world go by through the dark-tinted windows.
The unmarked vehicle sped quietly through the streets of Rome, bypassing cameras and CCTV.
It had only been a ten-minute car ride, but the icy silence was enough to put him on edge.
Khalida sat unnaturally still, taking up almost no room, as if sharing the car was more than her sensibilities could handle.
A wall of ice surrounded her, and no matter how much he wanted to chip at it, there was no end in sight.
They stopped at the front of the old library.
There were a hundred thoughts that should have been going through his mind about what they were about to embark on.
Instead, all he could focus on was Khalida and how she had looked in his room—beautiful and deadly.
It was a combination he could never walk past. At some point, Khalida had imprinted herself onto him, and it wasn’t only the consort mark—there was a small part of her that had buried itself within him.
He had scented the change in her demeanor as soon as she noticed him walk out of the bathroom.
The heat of the room had gone up a hundred-fold, and he’d nearly walked back to take a cold shower and matters into his own hand.
The lovers he’d taken, no matter their gender, had never filled the ache that Khalida had left him with.
Even after all these centuries, Khalida was the only one who had the power to make him forget and want something that was forever beyond his reach.
Talik would gladly worship her if it meant condemning him to centuries of damnation.
He would take a taste of heaven if it meant living in hell for the rest of his life.
But he was no longer in a position where it was a choice.
He had decided to walk away—he had thought it was the most altruistic thing he could do.
There was no amount of wishing or hoping Sidra hadn’t died as a result of her inherited human genetics that would change things.
He would forever be at fault. He hadn’t wanted to be the reason Khalida was reminded of their daughter’s death on a daily basis.
Talik opened the door, holding it for Khalida as he waited on the quiet sidewalk.
Despite his Atlantean lifespan, there were a handful of customs and rituals he maintained from his human childhood.
Parts of himself that he had never adapted to the Atlantean way.
And the notion of a heaven and hell had never been wiped from his conscience.
Particularly when the Atlanteans had no direct comparison.
He holstered his blasters as Khalida walked past him, her head held up high. The driver, one of Dante’s, nodded before silently taking off into the rising traffic.
After picking up his backpack, grunting at the heaviness, he followed Khalida into the cool night.
The mission was a reconnaissance, but it didn’t mean he was going in without an arsenal.
Taking a page out of Khalida’s book, he had numerous knives strapped to him and a few more surprises in his backpack.
But he couldn’t bring himself to leave his favorite blasters—the girls, Blanche and Rose—behind.
If their charge ran out, he would use them as glorified bats; it had worked relatively well last time.
He strode after Khalida. As they approached the stairs to the library, he reached out, careful not to actually touch Khalida.
“Wait,” Talik called, ensuring he kept his voice low enough that only Khalida could hear.
She turned a couple of steps ahead. They were now at eye level.
Yellow eyes stared at him blankly. The streets were alive with tourists and voices, but all the noise faded into the background.
She held her arms loosely by her sides, a bored expression on her face.
He had always detested her ability to tune out her emotions with a thought. He couldn’t sense anything from her.
“Yes?”
Talik gritted his teeth. “Don’t take any risks that are out of the ordinary.”
Khalida raised a perfect silver eyebrow and crossed her arms.
“We find the glyph, and if we are lucky, we locate the relic. Sypha said nothing about going up against the Anki or the wayfarers,” he added. “We come across anyone down there—we don’t engage with them and we return to the library. No heroics.”
“Worried, are you?”
“With our limited firepower.” Talik forced himself to relax and smile. “Just a reminder. If you die, I die. It’s called self-preservation. You should try it someday.”
Khalida scoffed. “I don’t plan on dying anytime soon. And as much as a small part of me hates us not confronting anyone we come across, I don’t like the idea of facing anyone in a tunnel.”
“Good, we agree on at least one thing,” Talik added. “We don’t know how the Anki were able to sway Idris and convince him to be loyal to them. And Rieka’s connection with them is because of the bracelet.”
This stopped Khalida. “Did Sypha give you any further information?”
Talik sighed. It had taken hours to decipher the cryptic comments Sypha had left him with, and he still wasn’t sure if he had interpreted them correctly.
“It sounds like a glorified Faustian bargain. The Anki will offer anyone standing in their way their greatest desire, in exchange for a blood allegiance.” And now came the hard part.
“From what Sypha said, they don’t believe it will work on us because of the consort mark.
We would both need to agree to the bargain. ”
Khalida glanced down at her wrist. It was the same as his.
The faint markings had darkened and were glowing, but it was nowhere as bright as it used to be.
The longer they stayed together, the greater the likelihood of the consort mark rebooting to its full capacity.
Back to a time when the mark would be triggered if they spent too much time separated, and instead of the slight pleasurable tingle they were now receiving when they were within the vicinity of each other, it would be long, excruciating jolts.
“I don’t think it will be an issue. There is nothing a god can give us that will make us agree to a bargain.” She took a step away and then looked back. “Can we be influenced in any other way?”
Talik shook his head, not really sure of the answer. “Sypha only mentioned iron but provided no further information.”
“No.” Khalida crossed her arms. “If you are about to do something stupid or agree to a bargain, I will stab you.”
That did not fill him with warmth. “And what will I do?”
“I give you permission to try to stab me.” She turned, and with the bearing of a warrior goddess who had never been defeated in battle, she walked off, leaving him alone.
Talik involuntarily flexed his hand.
She was going to be the death of him.