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“What happened in Dublin?”Nikolett demanded.

“How many times has someone tried to assassinate you?”he countered.

Their staring contest was broken by a soft knock at the closed door.Grigoris answered, speaking softly with the person on the other side.

“What is it?”Nikolett asked when Grigoris shut the door.

“A delivery.”Grigoris was frowning.“It can wait because it appears to be a page from an old journal.The package has been tested for anthrax, and the envelope X-rayed so we know it’s safe.”

A page from an old journal.Eric put his head in his hands, scrubbing his scalp with his fingers.

“What language is it in?”Nikolett asked.“Do we need a translator?”

“English.”

“Okay.Maybe Nyx can?—”

“Bring it to me,” Eric commanded, raising his head.

Nikolett opened her mouth—no doubt to object—but closed it when she saw his expression.She looked up, nodding at Grigoris.

A few minutes later, Grigoris carried in a clear acrylic case about the size of a ream of office paper.Inside was a faded piece of paper with a familiar looping handwriting.

It looked like one of the pages out of the manuscript Colum was hunting.

Eric whipped out his phone, shooting a message to the Spartan Guards he had stationed in Dublin.A tense second later, they confirmed that Colum, Xavier, and Annie were all still in the archive and okay.It hadn’t been broken into in the past hour since Colum called him.

This page wasn’t from the sections Colum had already discovered.It was from the still-missing pieces.

And it had been sent to Nikolett.

Fuck.

“What is it?”Nikolett asked, twisting to try to read the elegant script.

“Someone is playing us,” Eric said, his brain trying and failing to piece everything together in a way that made sense.“Playing with us,” he added, not sure which was right.He shook his head, heavy dread settling in his stomach.“Okay.Nikki, you’re coming with me.”

“That is definitely not happening,” she said calmly.

“This?”He held up the page.“This relates to what Colum is working on, and the Spaniard just attacked him.”

Nikolett frowned in thought, opening and closing her mouth several times.

“Exactly.Let’s go.”Eric stood and reached down to help her up, but Nikolett struggled to her feet on her own, some of the blood draining from her face.

Eric pulled out his phone and called Colum, shoving his other hand into a pocket to keep from reaching out to steady her.

“Colum,” he said, when his brother’s face appeared on screen.

“Eric.”Colum’s voice was cold and remote.Almost angry.Why was Colum angry?Ah, that’s right, he’d cut him off.He hated himself for doing that, since it was usually hard to get Colum talking, but on the flight here, he’d been choking on his fear for Nikolett.

Now?Now it was crisis mode.

Eric shook off his regret for not listening to Colum earlier.He’d deal with it later.

“Colum, get to Triskelion Castle.You.Xavier.Annie.I expect you to be there by the time I land.”

“What?Why?”