"Worse. He's got his eye on Mia."

"Gaius pesters Brovik for her. Let this play out. She could be the key for us. Brovik could put Dirk's obsession to good use. Careful though- we don't want her hurt."

"I wouldn't allow that."

"I could stay here on this terrace under the moon, smelling the perfume of these roses forever." Philip sighed and looked over the water. "The view here is magnificent at twilight."

"One wonders how it is by day."

"You two are a picture of melancholia," I said.

Ethan lovingly swept his eyes over me. "We were admiring the view. It's brightened considerably with your presence."

"Here... a present," Philip said, presenting me with an antique mandolin. "The poor child needs amus.e.m.e.nt. You know- she might take to piano. I know an excellent tutor."

"Bit far to travel for lessons."

"Afraid of other lessons she might learn?"

"From the master perhaps- not the apprentice- that would really surprise me."

Phillip took the mandolin and sat down on the stone bench, strumming it. "Nevertheless, you must go.

"Oh mistress mine where are you roaming?

Oh mistress mine, where are you roaming?

Can't you hear your true loves calling?

Who can sing both high and low?"

"Philip, please," Ethan begged. "Cease, your noise."

"He has a fine voice!" I protested.

"You see- this one has taste."

"Sing something else," I pleaded.

Philip c.o.c.ked his head and changed keys, singing mournfully.

"Fortune my foe, why dost thou frown on me?

And will my favors never greater be?

Wilt thou, I say, forever breed me pain?

And wilt thou not restore my joys again?"

Ethan s.n.a.t.c.hed the mandolin away. "Enough, unless you'd like to sport this over that obscene tie. Put it away before he sings again."

I took the instrument inside, and then joined them on the terrace again. Philip now reclined picturesquely on the bal.u.s.trade, admiring a rosebud he'd plucked. "Did you ever see such a garden?"

"Not since Eden," I replied.

Philip smiled, dangling his fingers on the paving stones and pulling out moss that grew between the cracks. "Our Eve is certainly destined to bring about the fall. She'll not rest until she's eaten of the tree of knowledge."

"Indeed," Ethan answered, leaning gracefully against a column with folded arms over his chest. "She's sparred with Gaius."

"The old Wolf? She is bold. She knows about that lot?"

"I enlightened her."

"What do you think of him, Mia?"

I made a face. "Not much."

They laughed.

"If her wits match her audacity, you may have something here."

"Had her wings singed the first time, now she plays him cool and slow."

"Ethan won't take me to meet his women."

Philip sat up, running his hand through his curls. "Oh my dear, you can't be serious? They aren't women. They aren't anything resembling women." A slow hungry smile appeared on his face. "Well, some parts of 'em... "

I challenged him. "And I suppose you aren't men anymore?"

"In Philip's case the jury was decided before it convened," Ethan said, dryly.

"Your slights on my manhood aren't to be borne."

"So if I am an Immortyl Immortyl, I'm no longer a woman?"

Philip looked at me closely, clearing his throat. "There are certain qualities one considers desirable in your s.e.x."

"I wouldn't if I were you Philip," Ethan said, shaking his head.

"Such as?" I insisted.

Philip cast about for an answer, a look of adorable bewilderment on his face.

"Get out of this one, I dare you."

"You've tampered with her mind!"

Ethan laughed, crossing to the bench where I sat and pulling me to my feet. "I a.s.sure you she came this way- a new breed, that sees the feminine frills for what they are, useful weapons. I'm her helpless victim."

"Bulls.h.i.t!" I broke away and looked out on the bay. The moon was high and full, the waters calm and black along the ribbon of light. I climbed up and walked along the narrow marble bal.u.s.trade in the manner of a tightrope walker, gracefully maintaining my balance with outstretched arms.

Philip said slowly, "Di-a-bolical."

"Enlighten me," I begged.

"You've been enlightened far too much. I fear for us all."

Ethan s.n.a.t.c.hed me up, lifting me high in the air like a ballet dancer. I made an arabesque to show off. "Behold my bird of prey. She'll topple the idols and see them fall."

I burst out laughing. "Stop! Ethan has delusions of grandeur. He got this idea from seeing me in that Ibsen play, and gets a thrill from loosing me on mortal men."

Ethan set me down. "She's being modest. You should see the gleam in her eye when she kills."

Philip put his arm around me, whispering in a conspiratorial tone, "Come now Mia, we're family here. You're a daughter of the blood. It's proper for you to be proud of your accomplishments."

I broke away from him. "You two act as if it's my drawing we're talking about."

"Your drawing is abysmal." Ethan laughed. I looked at him indignantly. It was a joke; still, I didn't feel any better about it. Ethan's jibes always disguised an element of truth and they stung. "She's getting riled up, look at her eyes, pure fury."

"I hate when you do this," I sputtered, heading for house.

Philip laughed as Ethan caught my arm, pulling me to him. "Our world must change- we've outgrown the ways of the ancients and must take our place in the world at large. Science will release us from our bondage and we'll become the supermen supermen we're destined to be." we're destined to be."

I gasped. "You're crazy!"

"He's a visionary and they're often madmen," Philip commented. "Well, I suppose we must tell her now."

Ethan held me by the shoulders, looking into my eyes. "Prometheus stole fire from the G.o.ds and gave it to men. So shall we."

He couldn't be serious? Did he propose that we give immortality to all men? I looked into his frosty eyes and saw he was firm in his purpose. I'd always suspected the mission in his teaching. Didn't he see the horror of this? "Ethan, we're made up of degenerates and beasts. You've often told me so yourself. If we seize power we have no right to it will be disaster. Besides, you don't think much of humanity either."

He calmly took a seat in a carved stone chair. "There are some who have potential to be a G.o.d among men."

"And who'll decide this? Is one person better than another?"

"The best will shine forth like the stars."

"The worst also have the habit of glittering in our eyes," I muttered.

"You'll be part of this work, Mia."

Philip ushered me away, holding his arm protectively around my shoulders. "Don't take his raving seriously. He's been expounding his anarchy for a century. It's one of his charming quirks of personality. He keeps me around to deflate his pomposity. You're frightening the child, Marlovian monster." Philip ruffled my hair rea.s.suringly. "Listen to reason, she's not interested in living fantastical dreams for you. A bird of prey is a wild thing that will fly on its own. Unless I'm mistaken, she'll indeed smash a few few idols along the way." idols along the way."

Ethan shook his head. "You never could understand, Philip."

"I'm your friend but I'm also the fool who chides you to retain humility arrogant monster. The old one's plans are not for us to tamper with. Ours is to obey."

Ethan came back to earth suddenly, laughing. "Perhaps I'm premature. The state of science isn't yet where it must be."

"Shall we wait until the millennium then?" Philip asked, with a grin. "Fifty years of bliss before Armageddon to enjoy ourselves?"

They laughed again. I broke away from Philip, to face both of them. "This isn't funny. Everything he's taught me is a ma.s.s of contradictions. As soon as I think I have it figured out, he throws me a curve."

"A what?" Philip asked.

"Baseball terminology. You wouldn't understand. Speak the Queen's English to our foreign friend, Mia."

"You're the foreigners." the foreigners."

Again they laughed.

"I'm serious!"

Philip started for me. "She wants to go bathing again."

Ethan rose. "I'll get her feet, you take her arms."

"Stop it! You're like two little boys! Don't I have any say?"

Ethan folded his hands under his chin, leaning back in the chair. "I'd think my ideas would appeal to you."

"Women always do the opposite of what you'd think," Philip commented.

I glared at him and he mugged at me, putting a finger to his lips.

"It's an impossible dream, Ethan."

"Our very existence challenges the notion of impossibility."

"Even if we could be cured of this thing, and give the best of it to humanity- who gets the gift?"

"Again I must chide you for your naivete. Nature decides who wins and who loses, not us. They're not all worthy."

"In your eyes I'm a princess, to Dirk what am I?"

"Dirk is an aberration."

"Don't you see? How far is it from you, or I, or Philip, and one like Dirk? Power in the wrong hands is more than regrettable- it's indefensible. Power corrupts and each one of us has a monster lurking inside. I see nothing but evil if you tamper with this."

Ethan wrapped his arms about my waist and drew me to him. "That's why we won't leave this to the others."

"The child has pangs of conscience."

I tore away. "He's murdered my conscience. There's nothing left but doubts, second guesses, and philosophies I don't understand."

"Strong words Ethan, you should heed her."

"She's not yet tapped her potential."