ROME

and furious, choked curses from Holland.

lo

main hall, I heard a sho

ootsteps followed, hea

evaporated, replaced by sheer

uards, plunging deeper into the labyrinth of hedges and flowerbeds. The fli

red from behind me. It was one of the guards

ape. I pushed myself harder, my lungs burning. The path twisted, an

moss here, hidden in the

my throat as I lost my balance completely, tumbling not onto the path, bu

with a terrifying clar

ge, an arm like a band of steel sh

e-jarring strength, my momentum reversed in a single, brutal moti

ent of pine and a cold winter's night, the

was alive. Someo

pounding with adrenaline and terror,

nt silver disc that washed the garden in stark, clear lig

thick, jet-black hair, a jawline that looked like it had been carved from granite, and eyes the color of a frozen

fused. A powerful, unknown A

ew feet away. His eyes widened, and he immediately drop

s Berger, choked out, his v

ha

. Then they crashed through the fo

o the face of the man

i

d me like an object? The two images, the shadow of my nightmares and the han

me, his expression unreadable, as cold and remote as a distant star. He looked a

werful scent was the same. The unshakeab

ion of reality ti

ace. Then, without looking away from me, he spoke to the guard. His

the water," he commanded. "