Part 19 (2/2)
”But did you love her? Truly love her?”
The Green Man remained silent.
”Did she mean more to you than life itself?” Saint-Germain persisted.
”They do not love that do not show their love,” Shakespeare murmured very softly.
The French immortal stepped closer to the Elder. ”I love my Jeanne,” he said simply. ”I must go to her.”
”Even though it will cost you everything?” Tammuz persisted, as if the idea was incomprehensible.
”Yes. Without Joan, everything I have is worthless.”
”Even your immortality?”
”Especially my immortality.” Gone were the banter and the jokes. This was a Saint-Germain whom neither Shakespeare nor Palamedes had ever seen before. ”I love her,” he said.
The Green Man stared at the sphere of smoke in the palm of his hand. The globe had turned pale, almost transparent in places. He added a little more of the gray powder from the envelope and watched as it swirled through the ball like snowflakes.
”I was never sure that the humani were the rightful inheritors of this planet,” Tammuz said suddenly. ”When Danu Talis sank, some of my race choose to create Shadowrealms; others decided to live on this earth. We became kings and princes. Some were even wors.h.i.+pped as G.o.ds, and a few took on the role of teachers, claiming that the humani possessed attributes that would make them great. And love and loyalty were counted among the greatest of those attributes. Love and loyalty.” He shook his head slightly. ”Perhaps if my race had possessed a little more of both, we would still rule this earth,” he said with a sigh. ”Now, you say your wife is lost in the Pleistocene era...”
The globe cradled in his palm turned clear.
And suddenly the three immortals could see Joan of Arc and Scathach within it. The two women were standing at the bank of a river, swords drawn, facing off against an unseen opponent.
Saint-Germain gasped. ”Jeanne...”
”But something is amiss...” The Green Man's voice echoed and his eyes blazed, illuminating his silver helmet with emerald light. His voice rose as the image within the orb spun... and revealed that the women were facing a hooded man. The figure moved and the Elder and the immortals saw the semicircle of metal that took the place of his left hand. ”No! Not him. That is not possible...,” Tammuz breathed in horror.
Saint-Germain was also shocked by what he was seeing. ”The hook-handed man.” His voice was thick with emotion. ”But that is impossible,” he said, echoing the Elder's words.
”You both know this creature?” Palamedes demanded, looking from Saint-Germain to the Elder.
”I know him.” The Green Man's voice was shaking. ”I saw him ten thousand years ago. He was there when Danu Talis fell.” His voice cracked. ”He destroyed my world. I was sure he had perished with the island. If I had known he was still alive,” he added savagely, ”I would have hunted him down and slain him.”
”Saint-Germain-who is this?” Palamedes demanded, peering into the globe.
”I stole fire from Prometheus,” he whispered, ”but this is the creature who taught me its secrets.”
”What is he-Elder, Next Generation, immortal or humani?” Palamedes demanded.
”I am not sure. I believe he is neither Elder nor Next Generation. Nor do I think he is fully human. I have no idea what he is. Nicholas met him also, long before I did. He taught the Alchemyst how to translate the Codex, showed him the immortality formula.”
”What is he doing in the past?” Will Shakespeare asked.
”He is not in the past,” Tammuz said, surprising them all. ”You're looking at a Shadowrealm which has been modeled after a prehistoric world.”
And then, clear and distinct on the air, they heard a thin voice. ”Scathach the Shadow and Joan of Arc. Where have you been? I have been waiting for you for such a long time. Welcome to my world.”
Cl.u.s.tered around the globe in Tammuz's hand, the three immortals saw the figure stand and spread his arms wide-and then, suddenly, the hooded man looked up and seemed to stare out of the ball of smoke. They saw his blue eyes blaze and s.h.i.+mmer with silver light. ”And Saint-Germain, too. I told you this day would come. It is time to pay your debts. Why don't you join us? Tammuz,” the figure commanded, ”send him here to me now.”
Without a word, the Green Man reached out and caught the front of Saint-Germain's coat with his left hand; then he jammed the smoking globe into the center of the immortal's chest.
Saint-Germain instantly turned to gray vapor and vanished.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX.
The intercom on Dee's desk buzzed softly. ”Ms. Dare has returned, sir.”
”Send her in.” Dr. John Dee swung his leather chair away from the view of the streets of San Francisco. A slender red-haired male secretary held the door open and allowed Virginia Dare, laden down with bags, to stride into the enormous gla.s.s and chrome office, boot heels clicking on the marble floor.
”I love shopping,” she announced.
Dee looked at the secretary. ”Thank you, Edward, that will be all. You can go now, and thank you for staying late.”
The man nodded. ”Will you be in tomorrow? There are some papers that need signing.”
”I'm not sure at the moment. And if anyone is looking for me, I am still away.”
”Yes. I issued a press release earlier saying that you were in Hong Kong,” the man said, backing from the room and closing the door.
”You look stunning,” the doctor said, turning his attention back to Virginia. He sat forward, carefully placing his burnt hands on the desk. Although he'd coated them in aloe vera and a numbing cream, they were still stinging, and blisters were starting to form.
”Why, thank you,” Virginia said with a smile. ”I want you to know that you paid for everything, and it was all very expensive.”
”You always did have expensive tastes,” Dee said.
Beneath a heavily fringed waist-length black boar-suede coat, Virginia was wearing powder blue jeans, a red Western-style s.h.i.+rt and a black lizard-skin belt that matched her black cowboy boots. Sinking into a chair facing the English Magician, she propped her boots up on the edge of his desk and stared at him across the slab of black marble. ”I had forgotten what great boutiques there are in San Francisco.”
”When was the last time you were here?” he asked.
”Not too long ago,” she said vaguely, ”but you know I do not like to spend much time in the Americas-there are too many sad memories for me here.”
Dee nodded. He avoided England for the same reason.
”How are your hands?” she asked, changing the subject.
”Sore,” Dee said, holding them up. ”What's frustrating me is that if I could use my aura for just a single instant, I could heal them.”
”Yes, and alert everything in this city to your presence.”
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