“C an’t you drive any faster?” Aoife snapped. “I could push this heap quicker.”
“My foot is flat to the floor,” Niten said calmly, “but the vehicle is forty years old and it’s only got a fifty-horsepower engine.”
“Piece of junk,” Aoife muttered. She looked at Sophie stretched out on the long backseat behind them. Reaching over, she pulled a blanket across the girl’s shoulders. “You’d think an Elder would have a better car than this antiquated minivan,” she said, turning back to Niten.
“I’m surprised Prometheus even had a car. And it’s not a minivan, it’s a microbus. I like it,” the Japanese immortal said. “This is a 1964 Volkswagen Microbus. And it still has its original red and white paint job. Usually they’re painted all the colors of the rainbow.”
“Listen to you. Since when did you become such a car expert?” Aoife asked sarcastically.
The tiniest of smiles moved Niten’s lips. “You do know that I collect classic cars, don’t you?”
Aoife looked at him in surprise. “No,” she said finally. “I never knew that.”
“How long have you known me, Aoife?” he asked in formal Japanese.
She frowned and replied in the same language. “There was a battle, I seem to recall.”
“We met at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.”
She nodded slowly. “Yes, I remember.”
“I thought you were Scathach,” he reminded her.
Aoife smiled and nodded again.
“But the moment we started to fight, I knew you were not the girl I had fought before. You had a different style.”
“And I defeated you,” she reminded him.
“You did,” he agreed. “Just the once.” He turned the big steering wheel, maneuvering the van onto the narrow two-lane highway. “So you’ve known me-what?-for more than four hundred years… and yet, what do you really know about me?”
Aoife stared at the slender black-suited man and shook her head. “Not a lot,” she admitted.
“And why is that?” he asked.
She shrugged.
“Because you were never interested,” Niten said gently. “You are the most self-obsessed, selfish person I know.”
The warrior blinked in surprise. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“This is not a criticism,” he continued, “merely an observation.”
They drove in silence for a long time before Aoife said, “So, after four hundred years, why are you telling me this now?”
“I am just curious,” Niten said. His dark brown eyes drifted to the rearview mirror, and he tilted it so that he could look at Sophie. “You don’t know this girl. You only met her yesterday, and I got the impression that you either did not like her or were afraid of her.”
“I am afraid of no one,” Aoife said automatically.
Niten bowed. “You are fearless in battle,” Niten agreed diplomatically. “So why are we now driving her toward a confrontation with a dangerous and powerful adversary?”
Aoife stared straight ahead, and when she finally answered, her voice sounded lost and distant. “She is looking for her twin,” she whispered.
“And is that the only reason?” he probed gently.
“She asked for my help, Niten,” Aoife said quietly. “Do you know who the last person was to ask me for help?”
Niten shook his head, though he suspected he knew the answer.
“My twin, Scathach,” she murmured. “And I refused.” She turned to look at Sophie again. “I don’t want to make that mistake twice.”
“Aoife, this girl is not your twin.”
“But she asked for my help, old friend. It’s been a long time since anyone asked me for anything. I have a…” She paused, hunting for the right word. “I have a duty.”
“Ah, duty. That I understand.” The Japanese immortal turned right onto Shoreline Highway, heading for San Francisco. “It is duty and responsibility that separates humankind from the beasts… and the Elders,” he added. “No offense.”
“None taken.”
They continued in silence for many miles, and then, much later, Aoife said, “So, tell me about this car collection of yours. I mean, are we talking real cars or just models?”