Air Bound

10

THEODOTUS Solovyov was a big bear of a man with a bushy beard and piercing blue eyes behind glasses that sat low on his nose. He caught Airiana’s face in his hands and kissed both cheeks before she could pull away. He didn’t seem to notice her discomfort but turned to Maxim and pumped his hand enthusiastically.

“You did it. You brought my daughter to me. How can I ever thank you?”

How could I possibly be his daughter, Maxim? Look at him. Look at me.

Theodotus dwarfed Airiana. He made two of her easily.

Look at his eyes. Really look at them. You have your mother’s build—and his mother’s. But you have his eyes.

She didn’t want it to be true. She felt nothing at all for Solovyov. If he had loved her mother so much, why didn’t he leave his wife, who by all accounts was treacherous, and take care of Marina and his daughter? As Russian’s top physicist, it stood to reason that even if his wife, Elena, had political clout, he would have even more. She didn’t understand why Maxim and Gavriil didn’t get that.

Theodotus reached for her again, and she stepped back, slipping behind the long, ornate table. The yacht was a luxury vessel and equipped with every modern convenience.

“Why did you bring me here? I was kidnapped and taken from my home and family,” Airiana said. “If you’re my father as you claim, and I’m not convinced you are, why didn’t you simply write to me or pick up a phone and say you’re coming to visit?”

She didn’t look at Maxim. She didn’t want to see if he approved or didn’t approve. He’d said to trust him no matter what happened, and she would, but she would also rely on herself—her own judgment. She had questions, and the answers had to be satisfactory or she was going to be the most uncooperative daughter Solovyov had ever met.

Theodotus smiled and nearly rubbed his hands together. “You’re definitely my daughter. No one has ever dared push me around, other than your mother. So young. So sad. She had no direction in spite of her brilliance.”

Airiana’s chin went up. “My mother was a wonderful, intelligent person.”

“Yes, yes, of course she was. I loved her very much. Her mind was . . . extraordinary.” Theodotus turned to the liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Scotch. He looked at Maxim and raised his eyebrow.

Maxim shook his head.

“Oh, surely this one time, you can dispense with your no drinking rule. We’re safe now and my daughter is home. Have a drink with me.”

“No thank you, sir,” Maxim said, his voice firm.

Theodotus sighed. “You really must learn to have fun.” He held up the bottle of Scotch. It was nearly empty. The physicist shoved that bottle beneath the bar and pulled out another full one to pour himself a drink and waved his hand at the two of them to take a seat.

Airiana took the chair facing the couch, not wanting to sit too close to either man. If Theodotus had loved her mother, he certainly hadn’t felt deeply for her. “When was the last time you spoke to my mother? Or wrote to her? I didn’t find any letters from you in her things.”

“Well, of course not. We had to be careful. She burned them.”

“She burned the letters from the man she loved all these years and remained faithful to, but you didn’t burn yours? Maxim informed me that you had letters from Marina. You had a wife who could find them. Why didn’t you burn them?”

“I couldn’t bear to let go of them. She had you. I had my letters.” Theodotus took another drink of the Scotch. “Elena never came to my office or my laboratory. She preferred a far more luxurious environment. I have several photographs of you Marinochka sent as you were growing up.”

“When did you last have contact with Marina?” Airiana persisted, emphasizing the name she knew her mother by.

Where is this going? I saw the letters and pictures. You were a teen, the last picture he showed me, although you looked very young. A mop of white hair and a long skirt and matching vest.

She’d been fourteen in that picture. She remembered the skirt. Marina had sewn it for her. She loved the fabric, and her mother had made the outfit for her birthday. She felt very elegant in it, and they’d gone out to dinner, a rare occurrence for them. It had been a wonderful night. They’d gone to the mall and had their pictures taken together in one of the machines. It had been a fun night she’d always remember. She still had the outfit her mother had made for her.

Airiana, what is it? Maxim asked.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them tightly, setting her chin on top. She felt safer drawn in as she was. She kept her eyes glued to Solovyov’s face.

He shrugged. “You were a teenager. A couple of years before she died.”

“Before she was murdered,” Airiana corrected.

He had nothing to do with that. You know your neighbor most likely killed her.

“Yes, of course.” Theodotus shuddered visibly. “She was murdered. It was so terrible. We’d stopped communicating. We thought it was getting too dangerous.”

She didn’t bother to answer Maxim. What would be the point? He wanted to believe Solovyov, but certain things didn’t add up.

“Why would you think it was dangerous after fourteen years of communication?”

Theodotus frowned. “I don’t think you could possibly understand the politics and unrest in our country. There was turmoil and intrigue and everyone walked a fine line.”

“I happen to be extremely intelligent,” Airiana said, forcing herself to keep sarcasm from her tone. “I doubt if I have a problem comprehending anything. You could have left Elena, but you didn’t. You can’t pretend she would be more valued or powerful than you in your position.”

“No,” Theodotus admitted. “I’ve never said that, only that she was very dangerous, and had tentacles into the underworld she had no problem using. She tried to have me killed. She would have tried to kill Marinochka and you had she known about you.”

“After all those years?”

“You didn’t know Elena. She was extremely vindictive. She didn’t want me as a man, but she wanted the prestige of being my wife. She had her parties and her friends, but she maintained her connections with unsavory people just so she could frighten anyone who crossed her. And yes, I was afraid of her. More than anyone, I knew the lengths she’d go to.”

“And yet you dared to have an affair.”

Theodotus pressed his fingers to his eyes as if his head was beginning to throb. “Yes. I couldn’t help myself. As I said, Marinochka was extraordinary. We talked for hours. She always had a perspective on subjects I hadn’t considered. She was young and enthusiastic. She made me more open-minded and expanded my thinking.” He closed his eyes briefly. “She made me laugh. She had a wonderful sense of humor.”

It was the first time Airiana believed him, and it made her uneasy. All along she hadn’t really believed this man could be her father. She thought perhaps it was an elaborate setup to get her to defect, or to get information from her. No one was that good of an actor. Theodotus actually looked older, sad and regretful. He wasn’t looking straight at her, but off across the room.

“She did have an exceptional sense of humor,” Airiana conceded.

“She made me feel young and as if I could live again.” Theodotus took a long swallow of the Scotch and shook his head. “We didn’t expect a baby to come along. Marinochka had no family, and I asked a mutual friend to put an apartment for her in his name. She couldn’t stay at the school.”

Airiana was certain the things he was saying now were true. He had known her mother, and she probably was his daughter.

“We talked about what to do. Both of us knew you couldn’t stay in the country, but it was important to us that you were born in our beloved country and bear my name. By that time, I’d talked to Marinochka about Elena and her family and she knew the danger to you. One of Elena’s brothers was part of the Russian mob and another was very high in the ruling party.”

She glanced sideways at Maxim. He would know the truth. His nod was nearly imperceptible. Knots formed in her stomach. More and more she was coming to believe that at least part of Solovyov’s story was the truth. Wasn’t that the best way to convince someone everything you said was true? To mix in portions of fact?

She looked around the opulent room. Theodotus could certainly afford to travel in style. Who had paid for the submarine? And Maxim didn’t come cheap, she was certain of that. Did physicists in Russia make millions?

“Why didn’t you just get in touch with me,” she repeated, insisting on an answer.

Theodotus sighed. “I received word that you were in danger. Years ago, your mother sent to me the rudiments of a project you were working on. I recognized the brilliance and potential and it became the foundation for work that I was doing here. Unfortunately, Elena had her ways of getting information and she found out . . .”

“What ways?” Airiana demanded. Was she trained to extract information using sex? She couldn’t help the small glare she shot Maxim. She had tried not to be hurt by his rejection, but still, he sat there, looking masculine and invincible, a man, not a boy, and everything in her responded to him. She didn’t seem to affect him in the least.

Elena was no agent, Maxim denied, his voice even. She was connected and she used everyone around her to get what she wanted.

“She was able to seduce one of my assistants and he used hidden cameras to take information to her.” Theodotus sighed again. “I understand your need to question me, I expected it, of course, but I didn’t realize your refusal to believe me would hurt.”

“It isn’t that I don’t believe you. I’m beginning to think I could possibly be your daughter and that what you’ve said about my mother and your relationship with her is true. But did you expect me to take this all at face value? Especially when my mother was murdered? The agents discovered that Mom was communicating with someone here in Russia and they believed her to be a traitor.”

For the first time, Theodotus looked angry. There he is. The real Theodotus Solovyov. He is not quite as easygoing about all this as he pretends. He doesn’t like to be questioned.

He is a man of great importance in our country. He has a certain stature and I’m certain few ever question him.

Exactly. If he went to his party and said his wife was a traitor and carrying on affairs and threatening him, they would have found a way to dispose of her. You know that. It’s what you do. How many times has such a request been made from men with less political clout? And look around you, Maxim. Who is paying for all this?

Your father is a wealthy man.

Surely you can see what Solovyov truly wants. He might have been curious about me. He may have really had feelings for Marina. But ultimately, men like Solovyov are all about work. They can’t ever stop, even if they know a weapon they’re developing will destroy the entire world. He’s like that.

“Marinochka was no traitor. She was a citizen of Russia, just as you are. She committed no crime in telling me of our daughter’s school projects. No money exchanged hands. She loved her country, and she loved me.”

“Why did you really stop communicating with her then? I was fourteen years old and my projects were really beginning to take off. What made you stop?”

“I told you. It was becoming far too dangerous.”

She leaned toward him, looking him straight in the eye. “It became dangerous because she was lonely and wanted to go home to you. She wanted to be with you. When you said no, she began drinking. That’s what really happened, isn’t it?”

She’d taken a stab in the dark, but it wasn’t that huge of a leap. She knew her mother. Marina had been a romantic, and if she had been rejected by the secret love of her life, her illusions about him would have been shattered. She truly was gifted. She was intelligent and she would have come to realize that he’d been using her to gain information on Airiana’s work.

She’d stopped asking. Stopped discussing. She’d withdrawn from her daughter and begun drinking heavily. Airiana had always blamed herself, that she wasn’t paying enough attention, but it would be like her mother to punish herself for believing in Solovyov for so many years. She must have been devastated.

“Of course I couldn’t allow her to return. Elena would have had her killed immediately. Both of you. I couldn’t allow that to happen.”

“You stopped communicating with her when I no longer shared information on the project I was working on with her, didn’t you?” It was another shrewd guess. More than anything, Marina would have wanted to protect Airiana, and her daughter had sworn an oath not to reveal to anyone the nature of her work when she’d turned fourteen. Marina had respected that oath, and had never asked her to discuss the work again.

“It was for your protection. Both of you. The timing had nothing to do with it. This is getting us nowhere.” In a sudden fit of anger, Theodotus threw the crystal Scotch glass against the wall. It shattered into many pieces.

“I agree. I’d like to go home now,” Airiana said, without looking at Maxim.

“I am taking you home. You’re Russian, and no daughter of mine will be working for another country.” Theodotus stood up and took a threatening step toward her as if that might intimidate her into submission.

Airiana didn’t move, continuing to watch him the way a mouse might a snake—except she had a secret weapon, and she felt rather smug about it. Theodotus might think Maxim was on his side, but she knew he was on hers. He couldn’t hide his aura from her, and he’d suddenly gone very dangerous, sitting there silently, coiled like a real cobra might be, watching his prey through narrow, hooded eyes. He hadn’t taken his gaze from Theodotus, not once he’d stood up. He hadn’t even blinked.

“I’m an adult, not a child,” she reminded. “I have no intention of being bullied into working for any country, Russia or the United States. I haven’t done that kind of work in years nor do I have any intention of doing so.”

“How dare you throw away your mind. You were put here to serve a greater purpose. You don’t just decide not to use the kind of genius you have because you don’t want to anymore. That isn’t your choice to make. Do you think I wanted to be Theodotus Solovyov?” His voice swelled, and he smashed his fist over his heart dramatically. “No. I wanted a simple life, but I was given genius and I use it for the good of my country.”

Airiana nodded as if in agreement. “I can see that you’re very passionate about your work, but I won’t help you. I won’t. I haven’t worked on that project since my mother was killed.”

“You live in the same vicinity as Damon Wilder. Did you think we wouldn’t keep tabs on you?”

“As my father? Or as a physicist? And who is ‘we’? The Russian government?”

“Both as your father and as a loyal patriot. I think you need to go rest. There isn’t anything more to say, Airiana. I certainly hope you think about this and come to the right conclusion that you’re better off with people who love you and can protect you.”

Airiana let out her breath slowly. She was better off with people who loved her. Theodotus wasn’t one of them. She honestly didn’t think he was a bad person, but his work definitely consumed him and he had lost his research data. He needed her to help him recover his work. She was certain of that. This wasn’t about saving her, although her father had certainly done that—she couldn’t pretend he hadn’t—but he had reasons other than paternal love.

“Why now, Theodotus? What’s happening that I don’t know about that has made everyone suddenly come looking for me? The man who owns that shipping company, the one who hired Maxim to kidnap me in the first place with his other goons, he really went to great lengths to acquire me. Damon Wilder was on his way to visit me for the first time. We’ve never so much as exchanged more than a hello. And you. After all these years, you’ve suddenly come looking. What is it you all think I can give you?”

Theodotus suddenly smiled, visibly relaxing. “You do have a superior brain, my little Airi. You inherited the best of your parents. I should have known that in spite of being under duress, you would still begin to figure things out.”

He poured himself another drink, ignoring the shards of glass scattered across the Persian rug, and turned back to her, beaming. He saluted her with the glass. “You will be such an asset to me, my daughter. To my work. To our work. You are needed, and having you by my side, working with me, we’ll be able to sort this problem out in no time.”

“You haven’t told me the problem,” Airiana pointed out, infusing her voice with curiosity. The truth was, she couldn’t help but wonder why all the sudden interest in her.

If she could read Theodotus, she was certain Maxim could as well, but still, she was certain her father wouldn’t continue with Maxim in the room if he thought too much about it. His work was always shrouded in secrecy.

Right now he was trying to impress Airiana, and keep her interested, certain she really was like him and her brain would need to figure out whatever puzzle he had for her. Having Maxim close allowed him two things. First, he believed his daughter had bonded with her “savior” and was grateful to him to be alive. Second, should she continue to balk, Theodotus was certain he could rely on Maxim to keep her in line.

The very scary thing was—he was right. Already her mind was going over her old project, building on it, as it had for the last several years. She had stopped working on it with others, but there had been no real way to stop. She wasn’t all that different from Solovyov—her brain demanded work and once set in a direction, she couldn’t stop the need to continue.

Theodotus went to the bar again. “Is there something I can get you, Airi?”

She winced. No one had called her Airi but her mother. She didn’t like Theodotus calling her by the name her mother did. Sometimes, on the farm, the others shortened her name to Airia, but never Airi. In some ways his calling her by her mother’s preferred nickname reinforced the idea that he was her father—Marina would have referred to her that way.

“Water, if you don’t mind. And if you can get it for me, a cup of hot tea with milk.” She tried to sound friendlier. She didn’t want to be locked up.

“Of course. Tea. Marinochka loved her tea. I should have remembered.” Now that Airiana appeared more cooperative, Theodotus was in a jovial mood. He called for hot tea and poured her water.

Handing her the glass, he raised his own. “To us. May we be the ones to solve this problem.” She saluted him and took a small sip of water, watching him carefully.

Maxim hadn’t moved a muscle, almost disappearing into the background. She realized it was a gift of his, fading his presence, using air to blur himself so that one could barely comprehend he was around. She was utterly aware of him at all times, even to the point that she knew every breath he drew. His gift didn’t work on her, but she knew Theodotus had nearly forgotten his presence.

“Your wonderful idea, the saving of our planet using weather patterns, was quite brilliant, Airiana. Your study was mainly of the ice floes, but to be able to see a problem developing and stop it before the damage was too extensive had merit. You pointed out how it could be used against hurricanes and tornadoes, both caused by weather. Have you continued to work through your theories?”

“It’s easy enough to see patterns developing,” Airiana said. She hadn’t spoken to anyone in years about her ideas and the temptation was nearly overwhelming. “I’ve thought about it, of course,” she conceded, knowing he wouldn’t believe her if she didn’t admit at least that much, “but of course I stopped working on it long ago.”

“I was able to take the rudiments of your earlier ideas and use them for a greater purpose. Can you imagine using the weather itself as a defense against an attack by other countries? You wouldn’t need weapons of mass destruction that would ruin the planet for hundreds—perhaps thousands of years.” Theodotus sank into his chair and leaned toward her eagerly.

Airiana closed her eyes briefly. She had known all along that both Russia and the United States had probably twisted what she considered changing the world for the better into some kind of weapon. She’d been a child with a giant’s mind, playing in a playroom and believing she could make the world a better place. No matter what kinds of ideas she came up with to help the planet and help countries with droughts and severe weather, of course those things had been twisted to make them destructive.

“Why the sudden interest in me,” she persisted. “If you completed your work, you don’t need me.”

“My work was stolen by my bitch of a wife when she tried to have me killed,” Theodotus admitted. “I’ve re-created some of it.”

Airiana’s heart began to beat faster. “That’s not the problem though, is it? With time you’d figure it out without me. Why am I here?”

“It didn’t work. It never worked. And it should have.”

She frowned. “Of course it worked. The patterns are so easy to spot. Anyone could see them and create new ones, it isn’t at all difficult . . .” she trailed off when Theodotus’s face grew dark and looked like thunder.

You’re an air element, Maxim reminded. Weather is part of air. You see the patterns easily because you’re bound to air.

It’s all about numbers.

No, it’s all about being bound to air, Maxim corrected. He can study weather patterns and make an educated guess, just like everyone else, but he can’t see them. There’s a big difference.

“We need you to figure out why this defense system isn’t working,” Theodotus said. “We’ve used computers to compile the data on the weather and we still can’t make it work. There’s been a threat to our country and we have to know we can defend ourselves from such an attack.”

Airiana sat up straighter. “What do you mean, a threat? What kind of threat?”

“We received an impossible demand and with it a computer simulation of weather being used to destroy our cities. Hurricanes and tornadoes. Droughts.”

“In other words, your defense system against other countries.” It took great effort not to glance at Maxim. There was a bad taste in her mouth she couldn’t get rid of. She was beginning to be very afraid. Damon Wilder had called to talk to her right before she’d been kidnapped. Had the United States received a similar threat?

A knock at the door sent her heart pounding. Theodotus called out an order, and a man entered with a tray, carrying a small teapot and cup. As the door opened, from her line of vision, she caught a glimpse of three men, heavily armed. They looked nervous, and one glanced inside—not at her—and not at Theodotus. He seemed to be looking for someone else.

Click. Click. The pieces began to fall into place. She’d been wrong all along, thinking Theodotus had viewed Maxim as brainless muscle and was willing to talk in front of him. He was talking openly because Maxim wasn’t going to leave the room alive. That bad taste in her mouth got worse. Theodotus had offered Maxim a drink, even insisted he drink. When he’d steadfastly refused, he’d taken the bottle of Scotch and placed it under the bar, taking a new bottle to pour himself a drink.

You’re part of the deal, Maxim. All this, the yacht, the luxury, the submarine, it was all provided for him so he could use you to get to me and then kill you. There are three heavily armed men outside, maybe more, and they aren’t there for me. Theodotus betrayed you and your brother.

The man, dressed all in white, set the tray carefully on the table beside her chair and poured the tea in the cup for her, adding milk. She couldn’t help but notice that he looked around the room for Maxim. He had to look twice before he saw him standing just behind the chair she was sitting in.

I knew the moment I saw this yacht that there had to be someone else’s hand in all of this, honey, he answered, his voice as steady as ever. Sorbacov was very powerful when I was a child attending his schools, but his sins have caught up with him. His son wants his crimes swept under the carpet, so to speak. We’re part of that shameful past. I knew they had already put hits out on some of my brothers. We’re their biggest threat. It was only a matter of time. The moment Theodotus offered me a drink of Scotch and so cleverly switched bottles, I knew he was a part of it.

Your brother saved Theodotus’s life at a great cost to himself. You came to help him when your brother passed on the threat to me, and yet he still betrayed you. I want to push him overboard.

She did. She really wanted to shove Theodotus into the cold seawater and just leave him there. He had strung her mother along for years, and dumped her when Marina was no longer passing him information he could use in his work. Now, after Maxim had helped him, he was willing to sacrifice him as well.

Theodotus waited until the waiter left the room and Airiana had taken her first few sips of hot tea before he began again. “This threat is very real, Airi. We know it can be done, because you did it.”

“Did you actually get the defense system working even once?” Airiana asked. “Because if you did, perhaps these people have your work.”

“In computer-generated models only. In theory it would function, but no matter how often I tried to test it in the field, I couldn’t get it to work. It was very frustrating.”

“And you used computer-generated patterns of weather?” She chewed on her bottom lip, trying to see the entire problem in her head. It should have been easy enough.

He nodded. “But there were always more variables we couldn’t factor in until it was too late. The chaos theory at work.”

“You think this person—this terrorist—has the ability to do what you couldn’t? You’re arguably one of the greatest minds alive today. Who has that ability?”

Theodotus looked pleased. Her compliment had been deliberately offhand as if she was simply stating a fact—which she was. There was no overlooking the fact that he had an amazing brain. Who could have completed his work? And how had they gotten the platform to begin with?

I believe there’s a collective universal pool of ideas and that often it seems creative minds draw the same idea at the same time from that pool. In order to complete the weather weapon, and Theodotus failed because he couldn’t do it with computer-generated patterns, whoever sent the threat would have to be an air element. How many can there be in the world? She forced herself not to look at Maxim.

If the threat is real.

What do you mean? That he’s making it all up to get me to go with him? Damon Wilder made an appointment to see me and he’s never even acknowledged me before. My guess is the United States received the same threat.

That still doesn’t mean it’s real. Solovyov believed he had the weapon wrapped up, but he couldn’t make it work. My guess is it was the same for Wilder. What makes you think this terrorist can make it work?

We have to go on the premise that he can.

If he could, why would he need you?

“I have tried myself to think who would have the brilliance for such a thing, only a handful to be sure,” Theodotus said, without a shred of modesty.

I was told the microchip containing Theodotus’s work was destroyed.

But they had the rudiments already, didn’t they? Wanda tortured your mother and extracted the information of your early beginnings from her. They had that much to go on.

Airiana tried not to wince when he reminded her of Wanda, a trusted neighbor, torturing her mother for information. Who?

I think Stavros Gratsos began the research and tried to get the more advanced work from Theodotus’s wife. When that failed and he died when his yacht went down, his brother, Evan, inherited everything. If it’s at all possible, he’s far worse than Stavros. Imagine his shock when he discovered the ideas for such a weapon. He tried for the microchip, and when that failed, he went after you. That’s why Wanda was in his employ, he found her through her connection to Stavros. She’s the kind of person men like Evan and Stavros want to keep around them.

“Theodotus, is it possible the reason you were tipped off that I was in jeopardy is because whoever the terrorist is really can’t use the weapon at all? That he believed he could kidnap me and force me to get it working?”

She kept her eyes on his face, watching him, waiting to see if he would lie to her. Of course he believed no one else had gotten the weather weapon to actually work. It wouldn’t occur to him that another person could be smarter than him and figure out whatever element was missing—unless it was his own flesh and blood. He would glory in the fact that he’d created Airiana and ultimately had a hand in everything she accomplished.

“You may be right, Airi. That would make sense, wouldn’t it? Or it is possible you are the threat to him, the only threat, and he wants you dead.”

If he’d wanted you dead, that would have been his order, Maxim pointed out.

Clearly.

Airiana sipped at her tea, settling back in her chair, trying to look more relaxed. “I don’t think he could figure it out, Theodotus, not if you couldn’t.” She yawned deliberately. “This tea is wonderful. I feel as if I can think again. I was so exhausted and freezing cold.” She wanted to imply that earlier, when she’d argued with him, she hadn’t been at her best. She wanted him relaxed, his guard down just enough that they could get the upper hand.

“Good. Good.”

We’re going to have to make our move soon, Maxim. He’s going to call those men in as soon as he has me leave this room.

I’m figuring our best course of action.

I can bring in a hurricane at sea, she offered with a small inner smile.

I don’t want to go down with the ship. We’ll do it the old-fashioned way.

Kill everyone? She was beginning to feel a little bloodthirsty herself. How did people like Theodotus get away with everything? He felt superior and entitled. To make matters worse, he was treated as if he was both superior and entitled. Once in a great while, humanity crept in, but it was gone just as fast, because he considered his needs to be so much more important than anyone else’s.

You’re a woman after my own heart.

She ducked her head and took another drink of tea. She had no idea love could come so fast. She didn’t know if it was the circumstances or the connection from her palm to his, but he owned her heart. She rarely felt even a tingle of arousal for men she met, yet just looking at Maxim could make erotic images play through her mind.

She accepted him the way he was. He wasn’t the man to settle down in peace on a farm with her and four children who were scarred for life. He would need to roam, and she needed roots. Still, he was as bound to her as the air surrounding them was.

She felt a little smug about that. Theodotus had no idea, and perhaps Maxim didn’t know to what extent they were attached, but she did. She had complete faith that he would always be on her side.

“Perhaps you did save my life,” she conceded, lulling Theodotus further.

“A trusted friend tipped me off that you were targeted for kidnapping and he sent Maxim to me.”

Airiana put her teacup down carefully. That had been her first real mistake. She’d drawn attention to Maxim, and they weren’t ready to make their move. She couldn’t allow Theodotus to call the armed men into the den. Maxim wouldn’t endanger her, not in such close quarters.

On the other hand, Theodotus should never have mentioned his “trusted friend”—obviously Gavriil—the friend who had saved his life, the one he was betraying by conspiring to kill Maxim. She wasn’t looking at Maxim, but she felt that rush of anger he kept hidden deep where no one else could ever see. It was more than anger, a rage against men like Solovyov who so easily could dispose of others when they were in his way.

Airiana stood up and stretched, keeping Theodotus looking at her. “Do you have any ideas at all who our enemy could be? It would be helpful if we knew him.” She wandered around the room, casually picking up items and putting them back down, making her way toward the bar where Theodotus had broken his glass.

What are you doing?

There was a warning in Maxim’s tone she ignored. Someone had to save him. She knew he would never fight them with her near, and she wasn’t about to let Theodotus kill him. She was certain they would do so immediately. What would be the point of keeping him alive? He was far too dangerous.

Saving your ass. After all, you saved mine.

“There was a man, Dennet Laurent, he was French. He had an amazing mind, astounding in his abilities and thinking. He disappeared some years ago. Of course, we all thought him dead, but he definitely was one who could have completed the weapon, or taken it near to completion. He may have defected.”

“Or was kidnapped,” Airiana ventured.

She stepped close to the bar, her bare foot coming down right in the middle of the shards of glass. Blood spurted. She gave a little, startled cry. Theodotus whirled around and gave a shout for the men waiting behind the door.