I was standing in the head office of the block factory Paragon Brothers in Pasadena . Pale orange walls made somewhat golden by the rays that passed through the closed glass window of the setting sun told me it was evening. Folded charts were propped in a corner of the wall. The plain desk was covered with thick ledgers, writing utensils, and paperweights. As he had promised, Captain White was there, sitting in the chair of the general manager, behind the desk of the general manager as if he belonged there. This led me to wonder about the location and the welfare of the general manager. This was, after all, his office that White was commandeering. I supposed it was better that I did not ask. He was differently attired, wearing a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt, an attire that I had never expected to see him wear, because of its casual appearance. White was not casual, given his profession. His trench coat had been thrown over the back rest. Now he looked at me wearing an expression of repressed surprise and half-concealed relief. He must have begun to believe that I would not make it out alive, that he had been waiting there in vain. But I did not speak at once, as there was someone else in the room with him, someone who, before I had emerged from the door, had been seated on the desk amidst the clutter with his arms folded. I knew who he was, having seen him before at another time in another place. Now he stood, revealing a regal futuristic uniform, his long, muscled arms at his sides. He watched me watch him with calm, patient, analytic dark eyes, waiting for someone else to speak.

“Do you have it?” White asked, leaning forward now that things were going according to plan.

“Yes,” I replied. I shifted the box in my hands for emphasis. “The Blood Vampires, they’ve gotten inside the agency and have killed several people. The others couldn’t stop them.”

“I had expected that. It was a not a fight that we could win. As soon as we’re done with this His Majesty will tell everyone to get out of there.” White gestured to the one who stood in front of the desk in a posture that suggested he had all the time in the world. “This is—”

“Ares,” I finished, wondering at how well things were falling into place, now that I had gotten hold of the final missing pieces of the puzzle that was Orion Night. I spoke to him. “You are Orion’s brother.” And a prince, the son of an emperor.

Ares folded his arms. “I have never seen you before. Did Orion show you a picture of his family?” His voice was both calm and forceful, as if he was confident about everything he said.

“He wouldn’t do that. He doesn’t know I know you.”

“But we know you. The Best Friend Styx loves to tease him about.” He pushed at the raven locks of hair that had escaped his ponytail and was hanging over the sides of his face. He looked at his feet, thinking. “You should hear the stories.”

“Give it to him, Bright,” said White serenely.

I went forward, held out the box. Ares took it in his gloved hands, lifted the lid, looked at the bracelet. I looked at his lashes, the dark fans that were attached to his eyelids. They were long, like his brother’s. On several occasions I had teased Orion about his woman’s eyelashes, and had gotten several pinches and arm-punches for my trouble. He resembled him well, did Ares, only his face was more narrow, and he held a more mature atmosphere about him.

He looked at me. “Thank you, Sapphire. You do not know what you have done for us by doing this.”

“I have a pretty good idea.”

His eyes narrowed only a fraction. “You seem to know more than one would expect you to. Without the help of my brat of a brother.”

“That’s what I said,” said the Captain knowingly. “She might just be on a level playing field with all of you, and has been playing dumb all this time for unknown reasons. Isn’t that possible, Bright?”

I looked from one to the other, lowered my gaze. “Do the Taureans know we’re here?”

“No,” the captain replied. “The building is surrounded with many of the rods. They can’t find us here. Did they send agents after you?”

“Yes, two Pyrokinetcs, Fives. The Sutiri killed them. One of the Shapeshifters who tracked me to The Hilton put a tracker in my back.”

“We’ll get it out.”

“I’ll take care of that later.”

White watched me carefully, as did Prince Ares, but neither of them said anything.

I felt the weight of the key in my pocket. A question formed in my mind. “Ares, why can’t you destroy it, the bracelet? If Shiva ever got his hands on it again…you should destroy it.”

“It can’t be destroyed.”

“What?”

“It can’t be destroyed. It was made to be indestructible for the obvious reason.”

“Which is?”

“Shiva wants to be powerful forever. It is not impossible; he might find a way to live that long.”

“There has to be a way. Everything can be destroyed once it was made on this earth.”

“It has been said that Shiva linked its longevity to that of something else, another hidden object somewhere on Earth, so that it cannot be destroyed unless the thing it is linked to is destroyed. But we have not received any clues as to what that thing might be. It could be nothing more than myth. As far as the wider population is concerned this bracelet is indestructible.”

“I do not believe this is true. There is a way. We just don’t know what it is.”

Ares ran his fingers through his hair, caught up in a ponytail that fell into his back. “Then find it. When you do, we will be more than happy to be rid of this thing. But for now it will be kept in a safe place on Vampiros.”

“You know that Shiva was alive two hundred thousand years ago?”

“We know his namesake did. He claims to be that same person. He could be his descendant.”

“It’s him.”

“He is what, reincarnated?”

I shook my head. “Not exactly. It is him; nothing has changed. Do you know who killed Shiva Shahi?”

He nodded. “I’ve heard the stories. A woman supposedly did it. What are you getting at, Sapphire?”

“Shiva has returned, so have Sefu Kalahari and Nero Gabriel. That means the other two who took the oath are here. One of them is your brother.”

There was a distinct, profound silence.

“You cannot expect me to believe that.”

I turned to the captain. “I suggest that you go to the Fridea Institute for answers. They will show you all you need to believe that I am speaking the truth. If you mention my name, I believe they will allow you to talk to them.”

“You have been to Fridea?”

I nodded. “I have. Mention Hwan, then, if you do not think they will let you in. Considering the time we are in they will tell you the story and show you the portraits.”

Ares was quiet. He had been thinking, but now he spoke. “Maybe I’ll do it before I leave. I hope you are not wasting our time.”

“I’m not. If anyone’s going to convince you of anything, it will be the General Directors.”

Ares nodded.

“And you?” I said to my captain. “What will you do? You will leave with him?”

White nodded. “I don’t see myself as having much of a choice in the matter, Bright. And Vampiros, it’s a good place for anyone to spend his retirement…when there isn’t a war going on. No, I’m not coming back. I would suggest that you come with us if you want to live to see age twenty-one, but I have a feeling you’ve got everything planned. You’re much cleverer than you’re letting on.”

That wasn’t the adjective I was thinking of when considering myself, but I did not reply to this.

“Take care of yourself, Captain.” There was a certain sadness in realizing that I might be seeing him for the last time, and that he did not seem to mind. But when had White seemed to care for anything other than his job and Orion Night? He nodded once, smiled faintly.

I looked at Ares. “You too—take care of yourself.” I reached for the key.

“What are you going to do?” asked Ares.

“I have to return the key,” I said. “I made a bargain; if I don’t return it in three days the king will remove my spirit from my body, and I will die…And there’s something else I have to do…” He was Orion’s brother; I considered giving him a message, yet I did not know what to say. “Tell Orion—tell him…” Tell him what? What was there to say? That I should have gone to him knowing what I knew but my quest for knowledge was pulling me in another direction? Even in my mind it sounded brittle. But I knew that if I had chosen to not do what I was about to do it would have haunted me for the rest of my life. Therefore there was nothing to say.

I shook my head, told them farewell, walked toward the space before me with the key poised to open a lock.

The door appeared as it should. I pushed the key in the lock.

“Take me to where Yejide lived.”

The key searched my mind for the answer it sought. I turned the lock, opened the door into a different world. The thought that I did not know where I was going and if I could return was what stopped my legs to moving forward. This was not the time to be a fool. Either I would do it, or not do it and be tormented by the things that could have been made known to me. I inhaled, clenched my jaw, then looked over my shoulder at the two men who still watched me.

I stepped through, shut the door.