Chapter Forty-Two
RIEKA
Rieka closed her eyes. She could hear them in the distance, a whisper that became a thundering cry, their screams becoming one as she tried to sort through the voices. Tried to find the source of them. Every time she thought she got close, the voice changed or disintegrated into nothing.
The Anki.
Forcing her attention inward, she ignored the extravagant sitting room she was in.
Any other time, and she would have spent hours exploring the room and the villa, but she was here for a purpose.
The red velvet curtains faded to the background, as did the glitter of gold that kissed all the furniture.
One voice was stronger in Rome. A female, whose voice grew insistently louder the longer Rieka remained in the city.
The gauntlet on her arm throbbed—the electrical shocks had grown more forceful during the last hour.
Each shock was like a fire that burned within her, and it was growing harder to ignore.
Or feign indifference when Dante was in the room.
If he’d had an inkling that the gauntlet had reactivated the moment she arrived in Rome, he would have had her on a flight out of the city in a heartbeat.
She had learned that if given the choice, Dante would let the world fall rather than sacrifice her.
But here, she could be of help, even if she didn’t know how.
Something was wrong, and she was powerless to stop it.
Holding out her hand, she willed the violet flame forth—the flame that had helped them stop the wayfarers in Egypt—but she got nothing.
Not even the fizzle of a fire. Even if she concentrated hard enough and opened herself to the gauntlet, it was a one-way connection to the Anki.
The whispered promises of power and sacrifices still slithered through her. She would have given it almost anything it asked for to control the flame. Except for power over herself—the desire to taste the limitless gifts of the gods was tempting, but she knew better than that.
She poured everything she had into calling the flame, the same flame her grandmother, Vandana, had wielded and used to stop the O’hurani and the Anki the first time. But nothing happened. Not even a tingle or a spark.
Maybe she had used it all up in Egypt. A one-time trick. Maybe she wasn’t quite worthy of her grandmother’s flame. She pushed that thought away as soon as it appeared. She was more than worthy.
The door slowly opened behind her, the sound muffled by the matching red carpet. She didn’t need to turn. She could taste the whisper of a cold flame brush up against her. Dante walked through the connecting door from their bedroom.
“When did it start?”
“Not long ago,” Rieka sweetly said, gritting her teeth as another jolt of pain went through her. Her limbs weakened, and she tried to steady herself. Dante moved and caught her before she tumbled to the floor.
“Don’t lie to me, Wildfire.” His voice went through her, demanding but sensual. She leaned against him, listening to his heartbeat as he gently placed her on the couch. He tucked an errant curl behind her ear before he slowly stood.
Dressed in dark pants and a white shirt, he appeared out of place in the antique room. His emerald eyes flashed neon as he slowly looked her over. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he focused on the gauntlet.
The best defense is offense. She’d learned that recently from Dante’s playbook.
“There is something else out there. I could sense something when we arrived, but it was like it was behind a wall. Just out of my reach. Now.” She tilted her head as she rolled with the pain, not bothering to hide it. “I can feel it.”
“Do you know what it is?”
“Someone ancient.” Rieka sat up on the couch, her throat dry as she stared around the room. “And who has power. It could be Ninhursag.”
A tick started on Dante’s jaw, the only hint of his annoyance.
“We need to make sure we stop them from unleashing carnage. We have a chance of slowing it down,” she whispered.
The visions were always the same, an extension of what Sypha had told them just after they had regained consciousness.
The voices from the ancient gods had fallen silent before they had left for Egypt, but in Rome, they had grown increasingly louder and more insistent that she listen and obey.
Open herself up to the power they promised to bestow upon her.
Instead, the dreams had become so real that she had seen them when she was awake.
Falling cities. Massacres. It always ended the same, with the subjugation of humans and Atlanteans.
Transforming into Pandora and being responsible for the awakening of the O’hurani and some of the Anki, was not what she had wanted her legacy to be.
“It has already started,” Rieka added. And just like Pandora’s box, once it had been opened, there was no going back to the way it was. She would not stop until they were no longer a threat.
“What are the voices saying?”
Rieka chewed her lower lip—she had been hoping Dante wouldn’t ask. It actually made no sense. Only every third or fourth word was in a dialect she recognized. She fidgeted, but it didn’t fool Dante. “All I can understand is O’hurani and heart. Everything else is in languages I don’t understand.”
“What did Talik and Khalida find?”
“An artifact. Chaucer has been sent a digitized version and is attempting to decipher it. Kade thinks they can locate Ninhursag at Palatine Hill.” Dante looked through the window.
“The House refuses to cooperate with the limited information we can share.” Ice tinged his voice, the only hint of emotion he ever shared.
“I have thirty Atlanteans I can trust who will support us.”
Rieka whistled softly. The denial wasn’t a surprise.
They couldn’t exactly inform the House that an ancient sect of gods was awakening and wanted to remake the world into something a lot less palatable to the Atlantean and human population.
Not without having to explain who the Anki and the O’hurani were.
She might not entirely agree, but until they worked out how to stop the Anki, adding worldwide hysteria to the mix would not help them in the short or long term.
Not all the Houses could be trusted to work together for the greater Atlantean good, let alone want to also help their human counterparts. “Do you have a plan?”
Dante smiled, the light reaching his eyes. “The thieves guild still owes me a favor.”