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Now he knew

She had Viktor on the scene, supposedly looking after her But had he been?

Stephanie, too, would have to face a few consequences when this was over

He spotted a stone altar lit by two laht and a sheer wall blocked what lay past the turn Light splintered off the towering gray rock in shi their existence, burying them under an avalanche of responsibilities Yet in truth, he was utterly dependent upon them—a fact he’d never realized until far too late

He’d ined

He’d loved her—yes, he had—but could never bring himself to utter the words

Why the hell not?

A gong sounded in the distance

Deep tones faded, and a great, eulfed him

NI WAS DETERMINED THAT HE WAS NOT GOING TO SHOW WEAKNESS He would face these fanatics down to the end

“The Soviets maintained,” he said, “that they could force the people to serve theium pointed out that mistake”

“The Soviets did indeed make many errors We must avoid those”

“But I will not allow China to lose its way,” Tang declared “The West tries every day to pro that we can be destabilized by son By democracy”

“You have no idea the dangers we face,” Ni said “We are not the China of Qin Shi’s day”

“We are still Chinese,” Tang said “Toppling our government, whether from outside or within, will be far more difficult than it was in the Soviet Union”

Ni watched both Tang and Pau Wen Men so deceitful were no different from the despots who’d come before them China did indeed seem doomed to repeat one mistake after another

He stepped away from the plinth and stared into the three other charound counterparts in Xi’an, but roooods

Pau approached “A few of the bronze vessels are filled with liquid I broke the seal on one and savored an aar, fat—a buttered ruo”

Any other ti to deter in a helicopter crash

“Those bronze la said “There Are they the same?”

Ni had already noticed theed around the walls on pedestals, on shelves, and on the floor A dragon’s head on a tiger’s body, with the wings of a phoenix Maybe a hundred of them Just like the one he’d retrieved at the museum

“They are the same as the one in Antwerp,” Pau said “Each is filled with oil extracted froo I kept one, as a keepsake, and took it with ium”

“I need that oil sa said

“I’er pristine,” Ni said

Malone and Vitt had told him what happened after he fled About the fire and the smoke He told Pau

“Hopefully,” Pau said, “the dae was minimal The mineral oil I left to shield the h, is another matter Its vapors will take time to flush away”

“Itsaid

“Unlike you,” Ni said to Pau, “he seems to care little for the past”

“A fault he will remedy We shall discuss the matter”

“There are s you seelected to mention”

Pau faced Tang “Like why I killed the men you sent to my home?”

“That’s one”

“We will talk But know that I explainclearly did not appreciate the rebuke “This ”

“No, Minister,” Pau said “This disagreement is real”

CASSIOPEIA’S GRIP WAS WEAKENING, THE FREEZING CURRENT lancing her joints with pain For the third time in two days death seemed close She doubted she would survive the ride downstream and, surely, at some point there’d be a waterfall to the valleys below A cloud of brown foaht

Sorip free from the rock

She opened her eyes to see Viktor staring down at her He was balancing atop a boulder, right hand locked on her arm She reached out with her left hand and her body spun as she was lifted from the water

He’d saved her life

Again