“You make them seem innocuous,” I said, “as though they had no culpability in sending all the fiends that they did after me. Wolfe was just the start, remember? Henderschott was no peach, either. And trying to get Fries in bed with me—”
“I don’t think that having Fries sleep with you was part of any plan,” Janus said stiffly, “I believe that was a concession made to get him to try and recruit you.”
“Nice,” I said. “It’s good to know that your organization would have no problem with a man using me for sexual gratification without thought or regard for what were to happen afterward. That certainly strengthens my opinion of you.”
Janus let out a sigh. “I am not condoning the actions they’ve taken.”
“I don’t hear you condemning them, either.”
“I have a hard time mustering much anger for condemnation given what’s presently on its way toward us,” Janus said. “Yes, I would not have done it that way myself, but I understand the fear—the raw fear—that Century breeds. Look at her,” he waved back toward the Greek restaurant a hundred yards behind us. “She’s convinced that we’re returning to the darkest age of our history, a time when Hades was annihilating entire populations—”
“You don’t think that sounds like what’s happening now?” I looked him over.
“Oh, I’m very certain that Century is taking some pages out of Hades’s book,” Janus said calmly. “But Hades is dead. Very dead. Very certainly dead. I watched him die, and it was in a manner that left no ambiguity as to whether he might rise up again or not.”
“You’re being vague.”
Janus gave a slight nod, made a sound of acknowledgment. “Some ground is best left untrod. There are things I cannot tell you, things about why we need you, specific things about yourself that I am simply not allowed to get into.”
“Sounds like we’re back to the same issue as with Fries—you people don’t care how you use me so long as you get to use me, huh?”
“It is neither as simple nor as vulgar as you put it,” he said, sounding a little exasperated. “What would you be willing to do to save the world? To save your people?”
“Very little at present,” I lied. “Remember, I’m here for revenge, not because of the gallantry of your quest.”
He let out a mild exhalation of annoyance then shook his head. I was sure it was feigned, though, that he could see through my lie. “Very well. We’ll have to work on rekindling your concern for others as we go on. We have things to do now, anyway.”
“Oh?” I asked. “We’ve just swayed some girl into coming into your fold, so what else is on the agenda? More recruitment?”
“Heavens,” Janus said, “if only. If only there were more to recruit, more to protect. Unfortunately, there are few, which is part of the problem with our little subspecies. Too few and far too dispersed to be of great use. This is why Century is such a threat. They have banded more of the powerful metas of the world together than Omega has ever been able to.”
“Whatever,” I said. “I want Winter, and I still don’t care about all this other stuff, these hoops I have to jump through to get him. What’s next?”
“Yet still I notice you continue to absorb the background and the history I give you on all these events,” Janus said. “It is almost as though you are learning, saving them up for a time when you will need them.”
“Look at it however you want,” I said. “But don’t forget the agreement under which I came here. You can try and recruit me for the next three months, but if you don’t deliver on the promise of getting me to Erich Winter and allowing me to kill him, all your recruitment efforts will be for naught.”
Janus gave me a slow nod. “Very well, then. Let us move on.” He turned and started to walk back down the street as the wind came howling through again.
“Wait,” I said, and he paused to look back at me. “Where are we going?”
A small smile lit his aged features. “Why, to Omega headquarters of course.” The light faded from his eyes. “I believe it is time that you came into the den of those you have so long despised so that you can see for yourself exactly what you are up against.”
Chapter 9
Janus’s car was a black Mercedes that slid through the light morning traffic as I stared out the window at the bright, sunlit London day. The blocks passed one by one, though it was disconcerting to find myself sitting in the place where the driver would be were I in America and that we were driving on the opposite side of the road from what I was used to. Janus had the window slightly down, and a soft breeze ruffled my hair as we waited at a traffic light.