squint wearily at the inscription.
Virescit vulnere virtus
I should ask Rhys. He obviously knew Latin. But in the meantime, I put the ring back on.
By the time I arrived back in Alexandria —or Alex, as I was already learning to call the city—the evening sun had begun to sink toward the West.
And I was frustrated.
I might be a Grailkeeper. I might even be some kind of champion, though I very much doubted that. But as much as I wanted to help Tala, Jane and Kara, I just didn't have that kind of power.
And I
did
want to help them, more deeply than I'd allowed myself to recognize until Hani's treachery gave me moral permission. It was true that this was a whole different culture with different values. But damn it, the country from which Hani had kidnapped Kara was not.
This
, I decided as I dragged up the stairs to the room I shared with Catrina, was the reason the world needed more goddess grails. Not to conquer men. Just to help restore balance.
Then I noticed that the door to my room hung open. All philosophical musing stopped.
But my step only slowed.
They'd come
back
?
This time, I had my unnamed sword with me, hanging from one hip under my skirts. Luckily there was nobody in the hallway, not that it would have stopped me. I gathered my skirts up far enough to slide the weapon slowly, silently out of its scabbard.
Sure, I could have gone for help. But for one thing, I didn't know for certain that there was anything wrong. Why risk crying wolf?
For another—what was the fun in that?
If Hani Rachid wanted trouble, I was in the mood to give it to him.
Stepping with the silent stealth garnered from years of tai chi practice, I made my way to the door and listened.
Nothing.
I drew a slow, deep breath. One.
Two.
Three! I rolled around the doorjamb and into the room in a move similar to that of a friend of mine, a cop in
Connecticut
. But I had no intention of pointing the sword and shouting, "
Freeze
!"
Just as well.
I felt silly enough when Lex Stuart looked up from where he was lounging comfortably on my bed, reading Catrina's paperback, and said, "I hear there's a good restaurant for fish on the Corniche."
----
Chapter 9
Some piece of my heart brightened at the sight of him, the reality of him right here. That piece of my heart wouldn't have objected if I'd done a swan dive on top of both him and the rickety bed. Hell, we had a past with rickety beds.
Lex
!
He was sexy familiarity amid a day of frustrating foreignness. And yet, despite that sense of homecoming…
Another part of me clearly remembered telling him not to come. "What are you doing here?"
"Reading a racy French novel," he admitted, closing the book and sitting up to lay it onto the stand beside him. I recognized Cat's book from the cigarette burn. "That, and worrying about you."
"Well, you shouldn't."
"It wasn't your novel? Damn."
"Shouldn't worry."
"Oh. Well, that makes everything easier," said Lex, sarcasm clearly intended. Worry makes him cranky. "I'll stop, then. Just like that. So when did you become a witch, and why are you trying to steal Hani Rachid's daughter?"
"
You called him again ?"
My voice actually cracked.
"He called me this time. He wanted to tell me to do a better job at 'controlling my woman.'" Lex lifted a hand to ward off my reaction. "His words, Mag, not mine."
"And how did he get the impression that I was your woman?" And why was I still standing in the doorway? I came into the room—but I sat on Catrina's bed, facing him. Like he was dangerous or something.
Hadn't we gotten past that notion? Then again, I'd seen this man in action. He was dangerous. He just wasn't supposed to be dangerous to me.
"It might've had something to do with my reaction when he answered your phone that first time," Lex confessed, eyeing the sword I laid beside me on the chenille bedspread. He'd had bad luck with bladed weapons lately.
"I can't believe you even spoke to him!"
"I had to know how he got your
Virescit vulnere virtus
I should ask Rhys. He obviously knew Latin. But in the meantime, I put the ring back on.
By the time I arrived back in Alexandria —or Alex, as I was already learning to call the city—the evening sun had begun to sink toward the West.
And I was frustrated.
I might be a Grailkeeper. I might even be some kind of champion, though I very much doubted that. But as much as I wanted to help Tala, Jane and Kara, I just didn't have that kind of power.
And I
did
want to help them, more deeply than I'd allowed myself to recognize until Hani's treachery gave me moral permission. It was true that this was a whole different culture with different values. But damn it, the country from which Hani had kidnapped Kara was not.
This
, I decided as I dragged up the stairs to the room I shared with Catrina, was the reason the world needed more goddess grails. Not to conquer men. Just to help restore balance.
Then I noticed that the door to my room hung open. All philosophical musing stopped.
But my step only slowed.
They'd come
back
?
This time, I had my unnamed sword with me, hanging from one hip under my skirts. Luckily there was nobody in the hallway, not that it would have stopped me. I gathered my skirts up far enough to slide the weapon slowly, silently out of its scabbard.
Sure, I could have gone for help. But for one thing, I didn't know for certain that there was anything wrong. Why risk crying wolf?
For another—what was the fun in that?
If Hani Rachid wanted trouble, I was in the mood to give it to him.
Stepping with the silent stealth garnered from years of tai chi practice, I made my way to the door and listened.
Nothing.
I drew a slow, deep breath. One.
Two.
Three! I rolled around the doorjamb and into the room in a move similar to that of a friend of mine, a cop in
Connecticut
. But I had no intention of pointing the sword and shouting, "
Freeze
!"
Just as well.
I felt silly enough when Lex Stuart looked up from where he was lounging comfortably on my bed, reading Catrina's paperback, and said, "I hear there's a good restaurant for fish on the Corniche."
----
Chapter 9
Some piece of my heart brightened at the sight of him, the reality of him right here. That piece of my heart wouldn't have objected if I'd done a swan dive on top of both him and the rickety bed. Hell, we had a past with rickety beds.
Lex
!
He was sexy familiarity amid a day of frustrating foreignness. And yet, despite that sense of homecoming…
Another part of me clearly remembered telling him not to come. "What are you doing here?"
"Reading a racy French novel," he admitted, closing the book and sitting up to lay it onto the stand beside him. I recognized Cat's book from the cigarette burn. "That, and worrying about you."
"Well, you shouldn't."
"It wasn't your novel? Damn."
"Shouldn't worry."
"Oh. Well, that makes everything easier," said Lex, sarcasm clearly intended. Worry makes him cranky. "I'll stop, then. Just like that. So when did you become a witch, and why are you trying to steal Hani Rachid's daughter?"
"
You called him again ?"
My voice actually cracked.
"He called me this time. He wanted to tell me to do a better job at 'controlling my woman.'" Lex lifted a hand to ward off my reaction. "His words, Mag, not mine."
"And how did he get the impression that I was your woman?" And why was I still standing in the doorway? I came into the room—but I sat on Catrina's bed, facing him. Like he was dangerous or something.
Hadn't we gotten past that notion? Then again, I'd seen this man in action. He was dangerous. He just wasn't supposed to be dangerous to me.
"It might've had something to do with my reaction when he answered your phone that first time," Lex confessed, eyeing the sword I laid beside me on the chenille bedspread. He'd had bad luck with bladed weapons lately.
"I can't believe you even spoke to him!"
"I had to know how he got your
Similar Books
