His soft, chiding words made Ian jerk to a stop, and something very similar to my own guilt, shame, and embarrassment flashed in the Viking’s gray eyes. But he shook off the emotions and started pacing again.
“Forget about Rory Forseti for a second,” Ian said. “Amanda Ersa was only on the team for two days. She didn’t even have time to unpack any of her stuff.”
He looked over at the empty desk against the wall. So did the guy with the laptop and the girl with the tools. Sadness filled all three of their faces.
“We might not have known Amanda all that well, but she was still one of us,” Ian said. “She hasn’t been dead three hours yet, and you’re already talking about replacing her with someone else.”
“I feel Amanda’s loss just as deeply as you all do,” Takeda said. “More so, because she was my responsibility.”
His voice was as soft and calm as before, but I could hear the regret rippling through his words. Like all warriors, Takeda had seen his share of death, but that didn’t make it any easier to deal with, especially not when the victim was a teenage girl.
The Roman guy sighed, quit typing, and pushed his laptop away. He asked the inevitable question. “But?”
Takeda squared his shoulders. “But the mission comes first, before any of us. You know that. You all know that, along with the risks. This is what you signed up for, Mateo. You too, Zoe.”
Zoe snorted. “Speak for yourself.”
Takeda stared at her, his face still that calm, emotionless mask. Zoe scowled and crossed her arms over her chest, causing more blue sparks of magic to shimmer in the air around her.
“Well, I agree with Ian,” Mateo said. “Amanda might not have been here long, but she was still our friend.”
“She was your friend,” Zoe muttered. “She didn’t like me.”
Mateo shook his head. “She liked you just fine.”
Zoe snorted again. “No, she didn’t. Amanda knew that I wasn’t nearly as gung-ho about this little operation as she was.” She slouched down in her seat. “Coming here wasn’t my idea, remember?”
“It doesn’t matter whose idea it was,” Ian growled. “Only that Amanda is dead. You were supposed to watch out for her.”
“I did watch out for her!” Zoe snapped back. “I used my lockpick gun to open that library door so we could go inside like we planned. It’s not my fault that I had to leave her, run around the building, and let you in through another door. I’m not a magician. I can’t be in two places at once. Besides, Amanda is the one who decided to forget about the plan and head into the library all by herself without waiting for backup.”
Ian’s lips pressed together into a tight, thin line. Takeda remained expressionless, while Mateo looked back and forth between everyone.
“And let’s face facts,” Zoe snapped again. “I’m not a great warrior. Even if I had been there, I couldn’t have done anything to save Amanda. Not against a freaking chimera. I didn’t even think those things were real.”
She threw her hands up into the air, and blue sparks streaked out of her fingers like fireworks exploding over and over again. Valkyries always gave off more magic when they were upset or emotional. Zoe shot an angry glare at Ian, then one at Takeda, as though the two of them were responsible for her being here. Maybe they were. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder what all of them were up to and why Takeda thought I should be part of it.
But I didn’t want to stick around and find out.
Once again, I glanced around the room, wondering which hallway might lead to an exit, but I didn’t have any better idea than before. Besides, I couldn’t leave my hiding spot without them seeing me. They had gone to a lot of trouble to bring me here and heal me, and they probably wouldn’t let me leave without a fight. I had no doubt that I could take out Zoe and Mateo, but I wasn’t so sure about Ian, since his Viking battle ax was lying on that desk, along with all those other weapons. Not to mention Takeda. Who knew what fighting skills and magic the Samurai might have?
I might be a Spartan, but I wasn’t reckless, and I was in no hurry to die, no matter what Babs claimed. Part of being a warrior was knowing when to fight—and now was not that time. Not when I was outnumbered four to one and had no idea how to escape. Besides, the other warriors couldn’t stay down here forever. I’d wait for them to leave and then slip away quietly.
“It doesn’t matter who was supposed to be where,” Takeda said. “We can’t change what happened to Amanda or the fact that our mission isn’t over. Now that the Reaper has an artifact, the situation is even more dangerous, and we could use Rory Forseti on our side.”
Ian’s face hardened. “We don’t need her.”
Takeda stared at him. “If Rory had been working with us tonight, if she’d had some advance warning, if she’d known what was really going on, she might have been able to save Amanda.”
Ian’s lips pressed together again, and he didn’t say anything else. Neither did Takeda. Zoe kept glaring at the two of them, while Mateo drummed his fingers on his keyboard. Hello, dysfunctional dynamic. Whoever these people were, they might be on the same side, but they were most definitely not a team.
Takeda was the adult and obviously the boss, given his air of command and authority. Mateo seemed to be a computer guru, and Ian was definitely a fighter like me. But what did Zoe do with all those tools? And why were the four of them here? What artifact had the Reaper stolen from the Library of Antiquities?
More and more questions swirled around in my mind, but I had no way to get any answers. At least, not without revealing myself to them, which was something I didn’t want to do—
“I want to see my niece right now!” a familiar voice called out.
My heart lifted. Aunt Rachel was here.
A low voice murmured something to her in response, although I couldn’t make out the words. More footsteps scuffed against the floor, and Aunt Rachel stormed into the room. She glanced around, stalked over to Takeda, and slapped her hands on her hips.
“I want to see Rory right now!” she demanded.
“Ah, Ms. Maddox,” Takeda said in that same annoyingly calm voice. “I’ve been expecting you.”
She moved even closer to him, anger staining her cheeks a bright red. Aunt Rachel didn’t often get mad, but when she did, watch out. If I had been Takeda, I would have stepped away from her, but he didn’t know her like I did.
“Maybe you didn’t hear me before.” Her was voice lower and more dangerous this time. “I want to see Rory right now. And if I find out that you have harmed one single hair on her head, then I will break you into pieces.”
Takeda’s face remained blank, but he did step back and bow his head to her. “Follow me, and I’ll take you to your niece.”
“Um,” Mateo said. “One small problem. Rory’s not in her room.”
He hit a few buttons on his laptop, and a picture of the empty infirmary room popped up on one of the monitors on the wall.