That gave Sotiris time, but didn’t help him find Dragan. On the other hand, he realized if he got close enough to the girl, he could track the hexagon. It had been created with his power after all. Or close enough as to make no difference.
He didn’t need to find Dragan. He needed to find the girl. Unfortunately, he’d never bothered to hang a tracking spell on her personally. There’d been no reason. However, she did own and carry with her the usual assortment of electronic devices so pervasive to this age, every one of which should make her eminently trackable. Sometimes, technology was a fair substitute for magic. Not very often, but sometimes.
Going into his office, he picked up the landline phone on his desk, which would route the call through so many places around the world that it would be close to untraceable. Not that it mattered—it would be a short conversation. He dialed a number from memory and started talking as soon as the call was picked up, before the other man could even speak.
“I want Maeve Collins located. You have her information.”
“It’ll take time.”
“It’s urgent. Bonus fees will apply.”
“I’ll get back to you.”
The line went dead. Sotiris dropped the phone to his desk, and sat down to consider his next steps.
Chapter Three
Near Cuyahoga National Park, Ohio
MAEVE WAS TIRED and hungry by the time they neared Cuyahoga Falls. The five hour drive had seemed much longer, given the stress of their hurried departure and the fact that she hadn’t slept much the previous night. There was also the constant worry that they’d been followed, which had her looking at the rearview mirror as much as the road. Wanting to get as far away as she could before stopping for the night, she’d taken them through the first drive-through they’d hit once they passed Buffalo. She’d figured Dragan had to be starving, no matter how or where he’d been imprisoned. There was physical hunger, and then there was the psychological need for food. She understood that, but driven by instincts that were telling her to run, she’d settled for McDonald’s as the easiest and fastest stop.
Dragan hadn’t known what to order, so thinking about her male cousins—every one of whom towered over her—she’d ordered four quarter-pounders with cheese and four giant orders of fries. She went with water to drink, since she couldn’t imagine he’d be too thrilled with any kind of soft drink, much less a milkshake, which was her sin of choice.
She paused in the parking lot long enough to show Dragan their gourmet lunch selection, then watched him study it before taking a tentative bite. His first reaction was a wince, but long-dormant hunger must have kicked in after that, because he ate through three burgers and the better part of four orders of fries, before gulping down three bottles of water, and looking around for more.
More? Jesus, he made her cousins look like picky, thin super-models.
“We’ll eat more when we stop for the night. Better food, too,” she said, hoping she wasn’t lying. She’d never been to any part of Ohio, and had no idea what to expect. Especially since they were heading to an area known mostly for a river which had caught fire and then served as the poster child for national environmental legislation.
On the other hand, she’d already decided to stop close to the national park, rather than driving the extra distance into Cuyahoga Falls. It wasn’t as if either of them cared about the scenery. They only needed a place to sleep for a few hours, and then they’d be moving on. Even northern Florida was a lot farther than Tennessee. Using Orlando as a target, mostly because she’d been to Disney World there, her nav system estimated almost sixteen hours of driving, and that didn’t include stops to rest. But since every mile was one more between them and Sotiris, she didn’t mind.
“That looks good,” she said, spotting the sign for a major mid-priced hotel chain.
Dragan read the sign. “I thought that was your word for holy days.”
“Oh, hmm. I’m sure the word originated with that since the only days off used to be religious holy days. It’s not my field, but I’d guess holidays”—she gave it the contemporary pronunciation—”didn’t become common until after World War II.”
“World War?”
She glanced at him.
“Since my imprisonment, I spent more centuries than not in complete darkness. You, sweet Mae, were the first person to visit me in a very long time. Other than that fucking sorcerer, and he never bothered to tell me about the latest world events.”
She wondered about his use of the word “fucking,” but given its sexual nature—and the fact that she was far too aware of him sitting only inches away from her, looking all studly and gorgeous—she decided to forego any further etymological conversation. Instead, she focused on what he’d said. Centuries? Was that even possible?
“May I ask you a question?”
He glanced at her with a lingering smile, then turned back to the road and said, “Ask.”
“How did you . . . ? I mean, why would Sotiris do that to you?”
“Why do men usually do such things? Greed. Hatred. It was a vastly different world, then. Perhaps an entirely different world. I don’t know.” He shook his head. “But in my world, sorcerers ruled great territories and led armies of thousands in search of more. Nicodemus was young, but already the most powerful sorcerer in the known world. And Sotiris hated him for that. He was two decades older than Nico, older than any of us, and resented losing the eminent position that had been his, especially to someone so young.” He shook his head, eyes closed, as if remembering. “Nico was . . . amazing. He was able to do things as a child that even mature sorcerers could never master. Feats which only fed Sotiris’s envy and hatred.
“We fought battle after battle against him, and always won, taking great swathes of his territory, and gaining the love of people who’d been his, since Nicodemus was a far more benevolent ruler. Sotiris was a greedy bastard—the world wouldn’t have been enough for him. He always wanted more. Fortunately for the world, he wasn’t strong enough to hold it.” He frowned. “Which is why he resorted to treachery and magic to finally defeat us.
“We had gathered for a final decisive battle, the one that would have ended the fighting and seen Sotiris dead, or at least gone from our world. But he cast a great spell moments before the battle began. The four of us—my brother warriors and I—were imprisoned in stone and cast into the winds of time. Nicodemus was left free, and yet not. But I know him, and if he still lives, he will have spent the intervening years searching for the four of us. And if he’s dead, then he died still looking.”