Chapter Fifty-Nine
LUCIEN
Lucien lounged comfortably in the metal chair as he ordered another espresso. Half hidden by the giant umbrella, he continued to people watch. He had to give it to the Italians—they knew how to make decent coffee.
The throngs of tourists within Rome hadn’t decreased since the unfortunate gas explosion at Palatine Hill five days earlier, despite the almost catastrophic damage done to the ancient ruins. Instead, it appeared they had all decided to visit the Fontana di Trevi today.
For a second, he seriously considered making them all disappear, but then he remembered humans had finite lives. Let them enjoy the beauty of human art—it wouldn’t always be at their disposal.
In the small coffee shop nestled within the ancient sandstone building, above the barista, a small screen replayed the news.
It was repeated every hour on the hour and hadn’t changed.
He dipped his spoon in the apple sorbet, taking quiet delight at the crispness of the taste.
The humans were not all that wicked if they had created this delicious treat.
On the screen, the image flashed to the ruins of Palatine Hill.
By the grace of god and the luck of the eternal city, no tourists had perished from the unforeseen accident.
It had shut Rome down for six hours, but together with the support of House Mneseus—particularly the Delacroix family—the Italians were now in the process of rebuilding the ancient site back to its former ruinous glory.
Personally, Lucien would have preferred if they steamrolled the entire site and built new buildings, but he understood the human need to connect to their past and evidence of their legacy. It was a hubris that humans and Atlanteans shared.
He pulled out the pendant from his pocket. It was cool to touch. In his hands, it was just a pretty piece of orichalcum. But somehow within his niece Rieka’s grasp, the pendant came alive. He held it up to the sky, softly smiling as the sunlight danced along the edges.
It was more than eleven thousand years since Atlantis had fallen, and somehow Rieka had done the impossible—awoken the Anki and set in motion the return of the O’hurani. He couldn’t have planned it better, even if he had tried. He was one step closer to claiming Atlantis.
Lucien ate another spoonful of the sorbet. The weather was too cold for the humans to overly indulge in the sweet treats the region was renowned for, but he couldn’t help it. His body craved the sweetness after he expended too much energy, and he had pushed his limits at Palatine Hill.
A favor he would one day collect.
He sighed, enjoying the chaos of the tourists in front of him as they politely and not so politely pushed each other out of the way to take the perfect photo of the fountain. Their energy soothed his.
Lucien took another bite, savoring the tanginess that was followed by the overtly sweet hit. Almost as good as the perfect red apple.
It was always quiet before the storm...and it was only a matter of time before the Anki made another appearance.
The pantheon of gods would return with a bloodthirsty vengeance to find the ?a that had been stolen from them.
It was why he had let the Atlanteans keep it, just like the other artifact he had found secured at Villa Aurora.
He had no need to attract the Anki to his location.
Not when House Azaes was far better suited as a battleground.