“No,” Reed said, “the warehouse explosion was today.”
“Nice,” I said, and rubbed my eyes. “So my mom died … one or two nights ago?” I honestly couldn’t keep track. This was a lot to have going on, wasn’t it?
“Yeah,” Reed said, voice soft. “I, um … started making the arrangements. I hope you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind,” I said. “Better you handle it than me.” Because if I had to handle it right now, I might start to feel dark clouds of emotion descending to fog my brain further. Which would probably be bad. “We need a lead on this meeting. Why don’t we gather everybody in the conference room—”
“Why don’t you get some sleep,” Reed suggested quietly, “and we’ll talk about it when you wake up.”
“Because we’ve got two days—” I started.
“And if on the second day you pass out from exhaustion just before the big battle,” Scott said, “how’s that going to go for your team?”
I shot him a sour look. “I don’t know. I can fight better in my sleep than most people can awake.”
“Not against these odds,” Reed said with a shake of the head. “We need you at your best.”
“Not that we’re saying that your average isn’t good—” Scott added. His voice was full of concern. It was adorable. And annoying.
“I’ll be in my office,” I said, cutting him off. “I will lie down on my couch, and if sleep comes, I’ll embrace it. If it doesn’t arrive in the next thirty minutes, I want a meeting in the conference room with all hands, and we’re going to sit there and keep mulling this until we crack it.” I paused. “Is Janus out of the hospital yet?”
“We’re springing him later tonight,” Reed said. “Figure he’ll be mobile by then. Not everyone shrugs off third-degree burns quite like you, after all.”
“And why should they?” I asked, turning to head into my office. I closed the door. “I’ve had a lot of practice at it.”
I let out a long breath and realized that there was no chance I’d make a meeting in thirty minutes. Not a bit of a chance, even. I took a step and my foot dragged. Using the Wolfe power takes the strength right out, Little Doll.
Commanding fire exerts a similar tax upon the will, Gavrikov said softly.
“And constantly thinking about how to outwit your enemies when they outnumber you a hundred to one takes a toll of a different kind,” I said to the empty room.
It’s not a hundred to one anymore, Zack reminded me quietly. I sat back on the couch, felt my head press into the soft cushions, and imagined him leaning over me.
“It’s close,” I said.
They would follow you to the end, Zack said. If you let them.
“I know,” I said, my voice echoing in the empty room. “Which is why I can’t let them.”
Chapter 38
Rome
281 A.D.
“This will be a very great challenge for you,” Janus said quietly. Marius was listening, carefully, watching Janus as best he could reflected in the cloudy glass mirror that stood before him. “The first time you absorb a metahuman, I am told that the battle of wills is fierce.”
Marius nodded. “I still have to exert mine with my mother.”
Janus made a grunting sound. “As commanding as she is, she is human. Metas have a much stronger will. They will fight back harder, will provide much more of a grapple than you are presently used to. We need to acclimate you by having you take on lesser metas in preparation for the final challenge.”
Marius swallowed, felt the dry mouth that always came with nerves. “How will we do that?”
“I am working on it,” Janus said with another grunt. “There are metahumans out there who have done terrible things, who travel the land and wreak havoc upon innocents simply to satisfy their own appetites. I intend to find a few of those, to place ourselves in their path, and then cull their abilities to build your strength.
Strength, Marius thought. What if I could wield such power as Ares over men? It made him shudder slightly, in fear and … something else. He looked back at Janus, and there was a wary smile on the man’s face. “Will I be able to control them?”
“With some effort, I think,” Janus said. “It is the act of harnessing their powers in your service that will become the difficult part, I expect. Simply quashing them within your mind is what most incubi and succubi do if they should absorb a meta, and thus never learn the secret to controlling these new abilities that they gain.”