Aphrodite's Flame Read Online Free PDF Page B

fire rose up in the shape of a man, and Mordi knew he’d been right—Romulus had the power to make himself invisible. Either that, or he had an invisibility cloak. And somehow he’d realized that Mordi was on to him and hidden in plain sight, carefully avoiding the third rail as he crouched on the track. Now, though, Romulus was running, a streak of pure flame taking off into the depths of the train tunnel.
    Mordi raced after him, shifting back into canine form as he did, since a superhero dog with four legs tends to be faster than a superhero with only two.
    He could hear the gasps and overloud whispers coming from the platforms, and a headline flashed through his head—
circus performers attempt double suicide
.
    Might work.
    He didn’t have time to ponder further journalistic possibilities, however, because Romulus was picking up speed.
    Oh, no, you don’t
. Mordi leaped, landing on the rogue’s back and knocking him to the ground. Romulus groaned, letting out a short, breathy
oof
before rolling over and, finally, materializing.
    “You’re in so much trouble,” Mordi said. Then he realized that, since he was once again a dog, his words would sound like only so much barking to Romulus.
    Apparently, though, his captive got the drift. His shoulders sagged in defeat, and Mordi felt the thrill of victory trill through his veins.
    The thrill was short-lived. Only seconds later, Romulus was looking at him, pure contempt burning in his eyes.
    “
Well
, if it isn’t Mordichai Black.”
    Mordi shifted back to his human form, surprised Romulus managed to spot him through his canine disguise. Some Protectors, though, had the ability to see past a shapeshifter’s change, and that must have been how Romulus had clued into Mordi’s presence in the first place.
    “So it is,” he said. “And you’re under arrest.”
    “Hypocritical little puppy, aren’t you?” Romulus sneered.
    Mordi crossed his arms over his chest and tried to maintain an air of authority. “Wrists. Now.”
    Romulus jutted his arms out, wrists together, and submitted to the binder cuffs. Mordi gave them a tug, testing to make sure they were secure, then slipped an immobility lariat over his captive.
    No, Romulus wasn’t going anywhere.
    With the rogue Protector secured, Mordi bent over and plucked the man’s fallen backpack from the train tracks. He rifled through, finally finding the paper that Romulus had dug out of the trash can. He opened the note, then frowned at the nonsense written there:

 
    Holmes says: The game’s afoot.

 
    What the hell?
    He waved the note under Romulus’s nose. “What’s this mean?”
    The Protector snorted. “Give me a break,” he said. “You think you’re hot stuff just because you’re Zephron’s newest tattle-tale? You’re nothing, Mordichai.
Nothing
. And I’m not telling you anything.”
    “Fine. We’ll see if you talk in a holding cell.” Mordi flipped open his holo-pager, taking his time to dial in the correct frequency to summon a retrieval team. This might have started out as an off-the-books mission, but the circumstances and the note were enough to engage Mordi’s authority to arrest.
    “You little worm,” Romulus continued, his voice rising. “You’re just like me, and you know it. Who are you trying to fool? Zephron? That old fart’s an artifact.”
    Mordi stiffened, stifling the urge to punch his captive in the face.
    “You’ll see,” Romulus sneered. “You of all people should know Zephron’s on the outs. The whole Council is. You should be working with us, not against us. It wasn’t so long ago that you were on the winning side, Mordi. You’re just like me. You’ve just forgotten.”
    A thousand snappy comebacks sprang to Mordi’s lips, nice-sounding words about honor and duty and the Protector’s Oath. He didn’t say a one of them.
    Because Mordi hadn’t forgotten. Hopping Hades, he could
never
forget. Try as he might, his heritage would follow him—plague