He shifted position to get a look at his target. Stikes sat nonchalantly in a leather armchair, a glass of whiskey on a small table beside it. His haughty, smug expression as he spoke was just as Eddie remembered—though the Yorkshireman took a small amount of satisfaction from seeing that his aristocratic features were disfigured, the vivid scar of a grazing bullet wound running from his forehead up through his blond hairline.
Stikes had made himself comfortable, so Eddie guessed he would be here for a while. Good; that gave him time to locate the statues before settling old scores. He started to move away to find another vent—
“Dr. Wilde is with Takashi-san at this moment,” said the Japanese man.
Eddie was so shocked that he almost yelped What? out loud, managing to clamp his mouth shut before he gave himself away. Nina was here? The thought sent a thrill of longing through him—tempered by caution. Why would she be here with Stikes? He leaned closer to the grille, straining to hear every word.
“She will soon put the statues together for us,” the man continued. “Then we’ll finally see their power—and the plan can begin.”
“It took you long enough,” Stikes replied. “I gave them to the Group three months ago.”
“We were exploring other options.”
“But you already knew she could make them work, so you wasted time looking for someone else with the same ability. I told you she was the best choice, and that she wouldn’t be able to resist the chance to find out more about the statues. She’s an obsessive—it’s what drives her. Her work always comes first.”
The other man nodded. “She will be very valuable to the Group, then.”
Stikes sipped his drink. “If the statues do what they’re supposed to.”
“We’ll soon know. Takashi-san will see you afterward. In the meantime, I must get back to him.” He bowed and left the room. Stikes took another sip, then with a look of sardonic amusement stood and walked out of sight.
Eddie remained still, mind racing. Nina was working with Stikes’s new paymasters? He couldn’t believe it. But much as he hated to admit it, Stikes was right about her being obsessive about her work. It was something that had prompted him to everything from teasing to outright anger in the past. Even so, he couldn’t accept that her lust for knowledge was so great that she would throw in her lot with Stikes to satisfy it. It wasn’t possible.
Was it?
Either way, he had to find her. He resumed his search for another way down.
EIGHT
Takashi opened the display case. “Here, Dr. Wilde. Let us see if the legend is true. Please, pick them up.”
Nina realized as she stepped up to the case that her heart was racing. She knew what to expect of the statues individually, but the effects of putting them all together she could only imagine.
In a few moments, though, she wouldn’t have to imagine. She would see for herself.
She held out a hand, hesitating before picking up the statue she had discovered within the Pyramid of Osiris. It glowed strongly.
The industrialist didn’t appear surprised, only intrigued. “As I told you, all my life I have been fascinated by ideas such as Feng Shui,” he said. “This skyscraper was built according to its principles, on an intersection of dragon lines. It is a place of great power. As you can tell.”
Nina examined the statue. As she had seen on previous occasions, the shimmering light running over its surface was strongest in the direction of its companion pieces. The effect was a pointer, allowing those who could use it—those like her, some aspect of their body’s bioelectric field allowing them to channel the strange energy—to find the other crude figurines.
And now that they were finally together … their secret would be revealed.
She picked up Takashi’s statue. It too glowed. She brought the pair shoulder-to-shoulder, carved arms interlocking. The glow intensified, the brighter bands merging and pointing toward the last figure. Cradling them in one hand, she reached for it …
It also lit up: Its being split into two parts had not affected its mysterious properties. Excitement rose in her, as did an urge to complete the triptych—an almost electric thrill of imminent discovery.
Literally electric, she realized. There was a faint but definite tingling in her hands, as if a low current was running through them. Not painful, or even unpleasant, but a clear sign of something extraordinary.
She glanced back at Takashi. His gaze was fixed on the