Chloe swallowed. ‘One of them might have been a name, but it was too warped.’
When Kyan joined the Wake, he changed his name from Cú Chulainn to Kyan. Not just leaving behind the name his king had given him, but even the Irish spelling.
That in itself was an important part of Kyan’s life, and revealed his mentality when he joined the Wake. Could it do the same for Alexander? Give them some insight they could use against him?
‘Any idea why he would change his name to Alexander?’ Nicole asked, sinking into the other, surviving chair, needing a moment. The memory of the sheer, bone-crushing power of his grip still made her head fuzzy.
‘Alexander? That’s his name?’ Chloe was lost in thought for a moment, as if now realising that the deadly warrior who’d been in here was real enough to have a name. ‘I mean’ – keeping an eye on the now splintered door, she lifted one hand to rub her temples – ‘Alexander the Great was before his time. If that assassin was in – from? – ancient Scotland, it would be the only Alexander he’d have heard about. It’s not a name of Scottish origin. Alexander the Great was … well, a tyrant. A power-hungry young man who had a lot to prove.’
That wasn’t promising for Alexander’s personality.
‘I’m going to need information on that knife,’ Nicole said, nodding to the bloodied item still in the archaeologist’s grip, her knuckles white.
‘Oh – I – I can’t seem to let go of it.’
‘That’s okay,’ Nicole said, rising to move shakily around the desk.
Chloe blinked a few times. ‘I feel funny all of a sudden.’
‘It’ll be the adrenaline leaving your system,’ Nicole said as Chloe began to tip. Nicole grabbed her and helped the woman sink into her chair so she didn’t smack her head on the large wooden desk.
When Chloe looked up, her eyes burned, not just with the shimmer of tears, but with fervour. ‘Don’t make me forget.’
Nicole took a moment to consider. She needed to call her family. Get away from here. But there was no guarantee Alexander wouldn’t come back and Influence or kill Chloe.
‘All right, but I need you to send me everything you have on what name that tattoo might be. Send it to the email I contacted you with. Details of Pictish life, culture, magic, and supernatural things. Anything that might get through to him, like whatever you’ve reconstructed of the language and if there are more knives like that one. Keep it, for now, just in case.
‘But first, get somewhere safe and as far from here as you can. Make sure you’re not followed and go out the back exit if there is one. Don’t wait.’
Chloe nodded, as if clearing her mind. ‘All right. Okay. But, his tattoos were scarred, like he’d been through botched attempts to get rid of them.’
Had he wanted them gone, or the Wake?
Nicole wouldn’t put it past them to have tried to erase Alexander’s identity, his origins, and any link to his true past.
But if they’d succeeded, any chance at stopping him may be gone with it.
CHAPTER SEVENTY
Nicole
NICOLE LEFT DR KANER’S OFFICE ON UNSTEADYLEGS.
‘I’ll be there in a minute,’ Kyan reported on the phone, shouts and honks sounding from his end as he no doubt shoved past anyone in his way.
She could tell from the sound of his voice that he was more than stressed, he was furious. But she couldn’t comprehend what had happened. Alexander hadn’t tried to kill her, that much she knew, otherwise he would have thrown her across the room and broken her neck. No, he’d tried to make her pass out.
Her fingers reached up for her throat.
Her Empyreal power hadn’t saved her. A slightly wild human historian with an ancient knife had. She almost laughed at the absurdity, at the relief. She owed that damn woman anything she wanted.
But the panic merged with guilt. So many people who had helped them or been involved in this had died.
Westmoore.
Verin.
What if Dr Kaner was next?
