“See, Deirdre?” Sasha cooed, taking another step forward. “He can’t deny it, because it’s all true.”
“Please, mate,” Anders said, adjusting his grip on the gun. “Step aside. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Deirdre couldn’t say the same. “Do something,” she said softly to Marius. “Stop him. I know you can.”
He raised a golden eyebrow. “Are you certain?”
“Yes!” she hissed.
“Very well, then.” He raised a hand.
“No!” Anders shouted, stretching out his arm.
Deirdre tensed, waiting for the fatal sound of a gunshot, but it never came. Anders continued to stand rigid, teeth bared, the muscles of his jaw bulging, his fingers tight around the gun. She kept her eyes on him; he did not move, not even to blink.
It was just like Marius had described in the journal, when Adalbrecht had rescued him in Advocate’s Close. She looked at Marius as he lowered his hand. For a second green sparks shone in his gold eyes, then they faded. He took a staggering step back, and his face was suddenly ashen.
“Thanks, darling,” Sasha purred, sauntering forward. “I had wondered how I was going to get rid of the big lug. How nice of you to do it for me.”
Deirdre shook her head. What was Sasha talking about?
“I see,” Marius breathed, his expression thoughtful.
And Sasha pulled a small pistol from the pocket of her slacks, aiming it directly at Marius’s heart.
Deirdre’s knees went weak, and if she had not gripped the back of the chair she had been sitting in earlier, she would have fallen. A feeling beyond words came over her. It was not pain, not exactly. Nor was it horror. It was as if a hole had opened up inside her–a void in which nothing existed, like the rifts in the heavens.
Sasha clucked her tongue. “Really, Deirdre, after all you’ve been through, I expected you to put up more of a fight than that. You’re not quite the legend you’ve been made out to be.” Her dark gaze flicked toward Marius. “But then, I suppose legends never are.”
Deirdre shuddered. Marius had lauded her, telling her that her instincts were deep and powerful. But that was laughable. Her instincts had been wrong. Dead wrong.
Only that’s not true, Deirdre. You wanted to trust Anders despite everything that had happened. Deep down, you believed in him, but your stupid brain convinced you otherwise. It was Sasha he was aiming the gun at, not you or Marius. He was trying to make you get out of the way so he could shoot her.
Only Deirdre had stopped him.
Another crash of thunder shook the windows. “Oh, this is going to be fun,” Sasha said, moving closer, gun resting easily in her slender hand.
Deirdre cast a glance at Marius. Couldn’t he . . . ?
He shook his head. “I do not have the strength to perform another spell,” he said, understanding what she had wanted him to do. “The first took far more out of me than usual. And I am not at my full power. It has been over a decade since I’ve journeyed to Crete.”
Sasha’s deep red lips parted in a grin. “She told me that was the case. Everyone else had returned to Knossos, to renew their strength in preparation for what’s to come. But not you. That’s one reason she’s been suspicious of you, Marius.”
“Phoebe,” he said softly.
Sasha shrugged. “Names aren’t important.”
“So she hasn’t revealed herself to you,” Marius said. “I wonder what else she has failed to reveal.”
Sasha rolled her eyes. “I’m hardly going to start doubting my benefactor now. Not after she’s been so very kind to me. I know whom to trust, Marius, unlike poor Deirdre here. It seems the little shaman has lost her magic vision.” Her lips curled in a sneer. “Assuming she ever had it, of course.”
Those words stung, but Deirdre welcomed the pain, letting it fill the emptiness inside her. “So you’ve been working for the Philosophers all this time,” Deirdre said. “I suppose you were the one who gave Travis’s photo to the sorcerers and told them where to find him.”
Sasha pantomimed a yawn. “Of course I did. Shall I confess everything, Deirdre? Isn’t that what a good villain does at the end–gloats over her victory? But really, what’s the point? It’s not as if you’ll be around for long to lament it.” She sighed. “Well, I suppose I couldthrow you a morsel for old time’s sake. Yes, I communicated the desires of the Philosophers to the sorcerers. I told them where to find Wilder, and even mapped out the location in the Charterhouse for them, so they could open a gate there. The Philosophers didn’t want Wilder to interfere with their plans. They wanted to get him out of the way, and the sorcerers were all too easily used to that end. There–happy now?”
Deirdre’s mind raced. How long would the spell Marius placed on Anders last? She had to say something to buy them more time. “What if the Scirathi turn on you?”
“Not bloody likely,” Sasha said with a laugh, “seeing as they’re all dead. The Philosophers gave the few of them that were left little gold vials of blood. The sorcerers gobbled it up like the greedy things they are. Too bad for them it was tainted with something nasty. The sorcerers curled up like poor dead spiders.”
Deirdre tried to cast another surreptitious look at Anders. He still wasn’t moving. “How did you get that photo of Anders? Did you fake it?”
“I didn’t need to, Deirdre. It was a wonderful stroke of luck, catching him in the act of going through your things.”
“So what you said about Anders was true,” Deirdre said, her gut clenching.
Sasha gave a satisfied smirk. “Every word of it, darling. Anders has lied to you about who he is from day one. He’s been keeping tabs on you, never letting you get too far out of his sight, the loyal, pathetic git. He followed you up here to protect you.”
That didn’t make sense. “To protect me?”
Now Sasha’s expression edged into a look of disgust. “Everyone’s always saying what a brilliant Seeker you are, Deirdre, but no offense, you seem a bit thick to me. Maybe they’re right; maybe you’re good at spotting the footprints in the dirt. Problem is, you don’t notice the elephant walking by. Why do you think Nakamura assigned a former security guard to be your partner, then let him keep his gun? It’s been Anders’s job all along to protect Nakamura’s precious star agent. Only the lovable lump has failed, hasn’t he?” The gun moved from Marius to Deirdre.
Deirdre cast an anguished look at Anders’s still‑frozen form. He hadn’t told her the truth because he was protecting her. Only that deception had caused her to mistrust him, and now . . .
Lightning flashed, and thunder crashed outside. Deirdre thought she heard a sharp sound along with the thunder, but before she could think what it was, Marius raised a hand. Had he regained enough of his strength to try another spell?
It didn’t matter.
“No you don’t,” Sasha said, pointing the gun at him. “You may be three hundred years old, but I can still blow your head off. And in fact, that’s what they sent me here to do.”
“So what have they promised you?” Marius said, gazing at Sasha. “Immortality? I know them far better than you ever possibly can. Even if they find what they seek, they will not give that to you.”
For the first time the smooth mask of Sasha’s calm cracked, and anger twisted her face, ruining its loveliness. “You lie, Marius, just as they warned me you would. Even at this moment, they’re preparing the way for those who have been faithful. We True Seekers will be rewarded. And traitors–they will die.”