Nikolas (6 page)

“Older? How is that possible?”

“When a human woman mates with a shifter then has a child, her body stops aging. Caroline had her first baby when she was in her late twenties.”

Xenia frowned. “How old is she exactly?”

Sophia didn’t hesitate to tell her, “Two hundred forty-five.”

“You’re shitting me!” Xenia exclaimed. The slang term sounded funny said with her accent.

“I shit you not,” Sophia said, trying to lighten the moment.

Xenia downed the rest of her drink. “I’m too old to have a kid.”

“You’re the shifter, not the human. You will look the way you do now for the rest of your life. What you need to be concerned with is phasing and getting your shifter side under control before you go out into public. We’re not ready for the world to know we exist.”

“Yeah, I can understand that. By the way, why exactly are you here?” Xenia stood and poured herself another drink.

“It’s a long story, but if I want you to trust me, I’m going to trust you.” Sophia told her aunt everything she knew about her parents’ abduction, which wasn’t much. When Xenia asked what she could do to help, Sophia pulled the disk from her pocket. “You can help me decipher these glyphs.”

“What do you mean the disk is gone?” Kallisto would have choked the huge man on the other end of the line had he been standing in front of her.

“Just what I said, Boss. We watched the bench until lunchtime. When we never saw the woman, we checked to be sure. It’s not there.”

Kallisto didn’t bother saying goodbye. She disconnected and yelled, “Sergei, get in here!” When her faithful companion strode into the living room of their hotel suite, she threw her phone at him. “Get on your computer and hack into the video surveillance at the zoo. Find out who took the fucking disk,” she seethed.

Sergei’s men had kept an eye on the ferries, but none had reported seeing the young woman. Either she was waiting until later afternoon to retrieve her clue, or she had not followed their instructions and had found alternate transportation. The fact that the disk was missing meant she either showed up when they weren’t looking, or someone else had found it. Neither scenario was acceptable. If Miss Brooks already had the disk, Kallisto needed eyes on the woman so she could eventually retrieve it back. If someone else had the disk... Kallisto didn’t want to think about that scenario.

Her father would not find this acceptable. He didn’t appreciate failure of any kind, and in his eyes, this minor setback would be considered failure. Her father wouldn’t raise a hand to her, but he wouldn’t hesitate to raise one to Sergei. He would give her that disappointed look only a parent could give their child. Kallisto had no wish to see that look on her father’s face. She saw it often enough directed at her brother.

Kallisto stood behind Sergei and placed her hands on his shoulders as he frantically searched the video feed from the zoo. He was her best friend, her confidante. Were he someone else, she would allow herself to fall in love with him. Make love to him. Since he was not, she kept their relationship purely platonic. Her father kept a constant eye on her. Never would she be allowed to engage in a relationship with someone beneath their station. She found that ironic considering who her mother had been.

“I’ve gone back to before the gates opened this morning. Nobody sat on the bench, and none of the workers stopped anywhere near it.” Sergei continued typing, searching.

“Go all the way back to the point when I put the disk under the bench.” She squeezed his shoulder then began pacing. There had to be something there showing who took the disk. Kallisto had no idea how her father had obtained such a priceless artifact or why he would allow her to use it as a clue. Whoever discovered the disk would hold in their possession an item so rare it could land them in prison, or worse yet, in the media’s eye. The Cleopatra Disk was created in 29 B.C., a year after the pharaoh’s death. It disappeared one hundred years later and had been missing ever since. It wasn’t the only rare artifact her father held in his private collection.

The rarity of the coin was kept a secret from all the men on her crew, including Sergei. She loved her friend, but she trusted no one. Only because she was already wealthy beyond measure did her father entrust her with the object. If it were to be discovered where the disk had been all those centuries…

“Here!” Sergei pointed to the monitor. “It was an old lady.”

Kallisto couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The same old lady who had snapped a picture of the leopard as Kallisto walked past was clearly the one to take the disk. “Fuck! How could I have been so careless?” She had not seen the woman until after she hid the artifact under the bench. Even then she had waited to make certain no one was in the vicinity. “This is bad. We have to find this woman and get the disk back.”

Sergei stood from his chair and pulled Kallisto into a tight embrace. She allowed him to offer her strength. She had screwed up, and it would take a miracle to find an old woman in such a large city. “I’m on it, Sweetheart. I will not let you down.”

“Holy mother of Horus! Do you know what this is?” Xenia turned the coin over and over, studying it closely.

“No, but I’m assuming you do?” Sophia asked.

“Yes, I do. This is the Cleopatra Disk. My father was an archaeologist. This object eluded him his whole life, and someone just handed it over to you as if it wasn’t one of the most sought-after artifacts of all time.” Xenia handed the disk back to Sophia.

“
If
it’s the original. I’m not up on all things ancient, but this item looks to be in pristine condition. Wouldn’t something that dates back thousands of years be a little more, I don’t know, fragile?”

Xenia walked over to a bookcase and pulled down what appeared to be a photo album. “If it was buried under rubble for thousands of years, out in the elements, yes. If it has been kept in a private collection,
in the dark
so to speak, then no. Take a look at this.” Xenia placed the album on the coffee table and pointed at a picture. “This is a Tutankhamun Disk. It was buried along with the King. The detail is perfect, same as the Cleopatra Disk. This one here belonged to Ramesses the Great. It was found in a dig back in 1922. That is what your artifact would look like had it not been locked up tight.”

“So why give me an ancient artifact that belonged to Cleopatra? Are the kidnappers telling me my parents are buried along with the ancient Queen?” Sophia started pacing. Her parents couldn’t be dead. Why would the kidnappers bring her all this way if they’d already murdered her mom and dad?

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. Until you have proof, you need to assume they are still alive. As for Cleopatra’s burial site, no one knows where it is.”

Sophia sighed. “Great. I’m no closer than I was. Why give me a useless clue? That doesn’t make sense.”

“You said someone was watching you. Maybe they wanted to see if you would follow their directions. Or maybe they wanted you to have the disk, and they would contact the authorities. That would tie you up for months. Do you know anyone who would want to do this to your family?”

Sophia wasn’t sure how much to tell her aunt. Did she explain how JoJo was ostracized for mating with a human? How he cloned the first human baby and disappeared from society afterwards? Or did she explain what a brilliant man he was, creating all sorts of technology that was used around the world? “If it were only my dad, I’d say no. Since he’s the son of a full-blooded Gargoyle who comes from the original line? It’s possible. Jonas, your father, is sort of a rebel. As far as we know, he was the first of his kind to mate with a human. This didn’t go over well with some of the purists, and he was banished for it. That was over two hundred years ago. If he is being targeted, I’m not sure why his enemy would wait this long.”

“What are you going to do now?” Xenia asked.

“I don’t know. I guess I could go back to the zoo and pretend to look for the disk. Maybe that will appease the kidnappers, and they’ll give me another clue.”

“Won’t they suspect you going a second time? I mean, if they wanted you to have it, I would think they would have been watching. I know I would.”

“I’m impressed, Xenia. You think like they do. Are you sure you’re really a history professor?” Sophia joked with her aunt.

Xenia waved her hand in the air. “I watch a lot of movies. Back to my question, won’t they recognize you?”

“No, I didn’t exactly look like myself when I went. As a matter of fact, I don’t look like myself now. Remember I told you your father is brilliant? He is an expert in the art of disguise.” Sophia removed the prosthetic from her face allowing her aunt to see the real her.

“Oh my god. That’s amazing. Now I see the family resemblance. You must take after your father.”

“I do. And I have to get him back. Is it okay if I leave the disk here with you? If I don’t have it on me, they can’t accuse me of taking it.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but yes. I will put it in my safe, that way nobody will know of its whereabouts. But Sophia, what are you going to do with it when this is all over?”

“I will turn it over to the authorities. Anonymously. Unless you would like the honors? You can give your father credit posthumously.”

“I will think on it. Right now, I have more pressing matters, like controlling these stupid new appendages.” Xenia looked down at her hands. Within a few seconds, her claws extended.

“You seem to be getting the hang of it. The hardest part is controlling the phase when you’re excited. Scratching your nails down Keene’s back just took on a whole new meaning,” Sophia said and winked.

“Yeah, well, I doubt he’ll want me when he finds out what I am.” Xenia sighed and retracted the claws.

“Don’t sell him short, but only tell him the truth if you trust him implicitly. Now, I’ve got to find my parents. Thank you, Auntie.”

“I guess I should be thanking you. If you hadn’t come along when you did, I’d think I was going insane.”

Sophia took a pen and paper out of her bag. After writing a few lines, she handed it to her aunt. “Here is my number as well as Caroline’s, should you ever wish to contact her.”

“Thank you, little dove. I will consider it. Please be careful out there, and if you need a place to hide out, my door is open.” Her aunt pulled her into a surprising embrace.

While waiting for a taxi to arrive, Sophia replaced the disguise.
After saying goodbye to her aunt, she headed for the train station. On the ride back, Sophia considered her options. She could stay in her disguise and attempt to locate those who were following her, or she could go to the zoo as herself. Either way, she would probably run into the couple who had been on the flight with her.

Once she was back in Cairo, Sophia had the taxi driver drop her off a couple of blocks down the street from the bed and breakfast. She had to walk past her hotel as well as a couple of others before she arrived at the small inn. Sophia wanted to get some fresh air before making her decision. As she passed one of the larger hotels, a chill ran up her spine. She did not quicken her pace, but she did casually look around the area. She didn’t recognize anyone, but then again, why would she? The couple probably had a team of spies keeping an eye on her. Since she was dressed as Clara, she shouldn’t be recognized. To be on the safe side, Sophia circled around behind the B&B and entered through the side door. The feeling passed, and she chalked it up to nerves.

It was closing in on supper time, and Sophia was getting hungry. If she changed disguises now, she would barely have time to take a ferry to the zoo before it closed. That might not be a bad option, but it would also have her returning after dark. Her growling stomach made her mind up for her. She would become Beatrice, join the others for supper, and visit the zoo the next day.

Nikolas spent the rest of the day searching all over Cairo for traces of Sophia. When he failed to find her in any of the local hotels, he expanded his search to the neighboring cities. He also checked the airlines on the off chance she’d left. When he found nothing, he decided to get out of his hotel and walk around. It had been years since he had traveled outside of the States, and he’d never ventured to Egypt. There were several eateries and shops within walking distance of his hotel. He would find something for supper while enjoying the scenery.

As he walked along the sidewalk, a familiar scent floated on the air. He knew Sophia wasn’t the only one who wore honeysuckle, but his heart beat a little faster at the possibility of her being so near. As he got closer to the Nile Grand, the scent increased. He had checked the large hotel’s registry and found no listing for Sophia. It was entirely possible she was using an alias. It was what Tessa would have done, and they were cousins after all. Nikolas entered the hotel and headed to the bank of elevators. The scent was still in the air, so he decided to search the floors. He opted to take the stairs so he could stop on each floor without drawing too much attention to himself. He was still going to be picked up on hotel security cameras, but he would worry about that later.