Secrets of the Deep (15 page)

He shook his head in belated shock at his own bad judgment.
I should’ve stopped this. Badly done, Archimedes! I
must
be more prudent in future.

And his poor
Turtle
. He gave a mental groan. He couldn’t believe his beloved submersible had taken a few dents and scratches on her first real venture into the open seas. But what bothered him most even now was having run over that poor dolphin.

He was not even sure from which direction the animal had come. It was just suddenly
there
, and he was so very sorry. No animal was merrier than a dolphin, and not for all the world would he ever have wanted to do one harm.

He did not want to admit it to his tender-hearted sister, but he feared he had killed it. He had never killed anything before, not even his lab mice. It felt cold and horrid, being responsible for that—especially while stuck in a situation where he must socialize with strangers and pretend that everything was fine.

Not knowing what else to do, he stayed around the edges of the party and just kept eating all the dainty foods that passed by on trays.

Upon their return today, the kids had agreed not to speak about their excursion into the sunken temple. Aunt Ramona would likely throttle them, and the locals might feel funny about it, too. These proud, dramatic Sicilians could be a little unpredictable.

Now that it was all over, Archie certainly felt as though they had intruded where they did not belong. Their explorations today had been a fascinating glimpse into the past, yet he could not escape the gnawing sense that trouble might still come of it somehow.

As for the artifact Jake had nicked from the temple, not even Archie had any idea what it was. Maybe Dani was right, with all her Irish superstitions. Maybe the thing was bad luck.

He stood near her now, letting her and the other two girls make small talk with the cluster of adult guests who’d been grilling them all about how they were enjoying their holiday. Archie continued nervously nibbling on the exquisite, buttery-sweet biscuits that came in so many shapes and varieties throughout the various regions of Italy. He had not seen Jake and Maddox for a while.

His cousin was probably off stuffing his face somewhere.

“Did you feel that earthquake this afternoon? Why, it scared us half to death,” Dani joked politely with the strangers.

Isabelle and Nixie smiled and nodded, but neither of them were good in a crowd, so the redhead was doing her best to carry the conversation.

Archie felt bad he wasn’t being his usual chatty self.

“I was not aware of any earthquake today,” said a jeweled Swiss countess with a feather on her head. She had rented a villa down the beach.

“Really?” Dani tilted her head. “But it was so loud.”

“No, signorina,” a mustachioed local grandee assured her, “I am certain there was no earthquake today. My dogs, you see, would have told me. They always bark when the tremors come.”

“Perhaps the volcano rumbled a bit, then?” Dani asked.

The Sicilian noble laughed. “Oh, no, no, child. When old Etna gives a burp, everybody hears it.”

“Oh. Hmm. Anyway, what else is fun to do around here?” Dani said with polite cheerfulness that would’ve made Miss Helena smile.

As they chatted on, Archie pondered the adults’ denial that there had been an earthquake. Perhaps it had only been detectable out at sea. They had been right on top of the seabed, after all, and what else but an earthquake could have destabilized the temple to the point of making it collapse?

Still, it seemed odd they hadn’t felt it. Considering the undersea tremor had been strong enough to bring the whole temple down, he’d have thought they’d at least noticed
something
on land. But he shrugged it off. Seismology was not his expertise.

Midway into crunching through a biscuit, Archie suddenly stopped chewing, spotting a guest he had not noticed before. His eyes slowly widened…

Bellissima!

No offense to his favorite, Nixie, but in walked right possibly the most beautiful girl that he had ever seen.

Wide-eyed behind his spectacles, he gulped down his mouthful and stared at her astonishing beauty. A late arrival? She had to be, he thought. If that fair
vision
had come in while they all had stood in the receiving line, he was not likely to forget it.

She had long, blue-black spiral curls that hung to her waist, a delicate oval face, a sun-kissed complexion, and a slim figure clad in a very frilly cream-colored gown.

Admittedly, the dress was rather unfortunate. Archie was no expert on lady’s gowns, but thanks to his impeccably dressed sister and Miss Helena, even he knew that thing was a fashion disaster.

It looked like some sort of antique—very ornate, but decidedly shabby; in fact, her gown looked like it’d been through a war. Well, maybe her family had fallen on hard times. That wasn’t her fault. It was not an uncommon plight among today’s aristocracy, he thought.

Also…
hmm
. This
bellissima
didn’t walk very well.

Limping down the colonnade, she supported herself by bracing one hand on the furniture and wall. Maybe her shoes were too tight. Maybe the poor thing had one leg shorter than the other, or a clubfoot. Or perhaps she’d sprained a dainty ankle.

Well, a gentleman ought not to think about ankles, Archie remembered, blushing.

Whatever was the matter with her, Archie watched, perplexed, as she hobbled along, pretty as a dream, clumsy as a hunchback.

He shook his head to himself in fascination as the lovely girl shambled out of view.

Hmm! Got to show Jake.
Remembering the boys’ ongoing joke, a grin flicked across Archie’s face for the first time since today’s brush with doom. Humor bubbled up inside him.
I’ll point her out to Maddox, too. Maybe that’ll help take his mind off my blasted sister.

By now, everybody knew that the reason that Maddox and Isabelle could not get along was because they were both well aware they could never be together. Guardians could not have girlfriends, and daughters of viscounts did not marry blacksmiths’ sons.

No doubt it was torture for them both having to be together every day, but the only reason Maddox was there in the first place was to help protect Jake from the Dark Druids.

Whether he’d be allowed to stay if Aunt Ramona and their governess knew about the pair’s true feelings for each other, well, Archie rather doubted it.

Eager to restore the sense of fun that had rather fizzled since this afternoon, Archie excused himself politely from the group of people standing around, and went to find his rascally cousin.

Nixie sent a curious glance after him, but Isabelle’s sudden sharp look was more suspicious. Honestly, it was the very devil having an empath for a big sister. His entire childhood, he could never get away with anything! Lucky for him, he had always been a fairly rule-abiding boy.

Dani kept talking to the adults, though, and to Archie’s relief, the girls remained behind while he went in search of his two fellows. He stepped out into the colonnade first to make sure he didn’t lose track of the
Bellissima
.

Sure enough, there she was, shuffling along. Archie started to turn away to go find his comrades, but he suddenly stopped himself with a frown and a light smack on his forehead.
What the deuce am I doing?

A young lady in his sight was obviously having trouble. Instead of standing around ogling her, he ought to be asking if the poor damsel needed any assistance. He scowled at his breach of decorum.
Henry taught you better than this.

Yet he hesitated, not sure he dared talk to her. He could see she was a bit older—fifteen or sixteen, maybe—and that made her even more terrifying, since he was only twelve.

Anyway, it would be creepy if he just walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. Right—he had to get ahead of her. Then he could make eye contact and smile politely, and she’d be forced to acknowledge him, and then he could venture to ask if she needed assistance of some kind.

He ducked back into the drawing room and hurried down to the next opening in the colonnade. There he stepped out and just waited, hands in pockets, leaning against a column, hoping he looked even slightly debonair, and studying the ceiling with a nervous whistle.

Glancing at her from the corner of his eye, he realized he needed some sort of cover. This could take a while; her progress was slow. He pulled out the miniature notebook that he had finally learned to keep on his person at all times to capture his ideas. Handy, that. Dani’s idea. Ever the sensible one.

He pretended to review his notes as Bellissima crept painfully down the corridor, listing like a ship in a gale.
Why is she all alone?
he wondered. Most guests had arrived with their families. At the very least, he would’ve thought that a young miss her age should have a chaperone or governess.

At last, she came close enough to address. Heart pounding, Archie contrived to notice her with an air of pleasant surprise. “Oh—I say, good evening, there. How do you do?” Considering he was one of the party hosts, he offered the curly-haired vision a gentlemanly bow.

She stopped, putting her hand out to brace herself against a slim white column, as though taking a little break in her painful journey. “Good evening,” she said warily. She had a strange accent.

Archie floundered because she was even prettier up close, with eyes the mysterious dark blue of the sea. They narrowed as she studied him briefly, almost as though she thought she recognized him.

The brief silence was torture; Archie had given speeches to roomfuls of his fellow geniuses around the world, but at the moment, he hadn’t the foggiest notion what to say.

“Er, fine weather we’re having, what?” he blurted out, then cringed.

Bellissima gave him a withering look, like he was just an annoying little boy. With a sigh, he supposed he probably was.

“If you’re looking for the party, it’s in there.” He gestured toward the crowded room he had left. The girl glanced in that direction with a hard look, as though she meant very much to avoid it. The poor thing! He realized she was probably embarrassed of her gimping.

He leaned closer and lowered his voice: “Don’t worry, there’s no dancing.”

She rather sneered at him for that.

“I’d be happy to assist you if you’d like to go sit down.” He stepped forward, offering his arm, but Bellissima recoiled as though he’d waved a frog in her face. “Or, er, I could fetch you a chair.”

Her dainty chin lifted. “No, thank you. Where is the lavatory, please?”

“Oh, um, that way. Just down that corridor, t-to the left. I-I hope I didn’t offend you. I was only trying—”

“Of course not. Good evening.” She dismissed him with a regal nod, and then braced herself to continue. She took a deep breath, then pushed away from the column and resumed her painful trek.

Archie pushed up his spectacles and gazed after her, all the more confused.

Once she was out of sight, he went to find his cousin. Maybe Jake could get her to be a little less prickly. Girls usually adored him, the scoundrel.

As expected, he found the rogue avoiding the guests and stuffing his face. “Arch!” Jake greeted him in the middle of devouring some cannoli. “Where you been, mate?”

Maddox was also with Jake, and looked at Archie in question.

Archie’s grin returned: “
Bellissima!
”

Jake’s eyebrows shot up. “Aye?” He gulped down his mouthful. “Where?”

Even Maddox, despite looking bored, leaned closer with a curious smile.

“She just went into the lavatory. But she should be coming out that hallway momentarily.” He explained her peculiar qualities while they waited: her grumpiness, her tattered gown, her limp.

“You actually talked to her?” Maddox asked in surprise.

“I tried to. She looked at me like she wished I’d drop dead.”

Jake laughed.

More minutes passed, but still she didn’t appear.

“Maybe she fell in,” Jake drawled.

“It’s quite possible, I daresay. She seemed awfully clumsy.”

Maddox frowned, straightening up from where he’d been leaning on the arm of a couch. “What if she really did fall somewhere? We should check on her.”

“In the lav?” Archie cried, horrified down to his polite fingertips. “Maddox, you can’t just barge in on a girl using the privy!”

“What if she’s hurt? I’m going to see if she needs help.”

“I already tried that! She’s not
friendly
.”

But Maddox went.

“Guardians!” Archie huffed, while Jake merely looked amused.

“C’mon, Arch.”

The two of them followed Maddox into the hallway, where they quickly saw the lavatory door was open and no one was inside.

“Oh…” Archie said, glancing around. “She must’ve gone the other way.”

They proceeded to the intersection of the next hallway.

“There! Is that her?” Jake nodded toward the left, then tilted his head. “Where’s she going?”

“Maybe she’s lost,” said Maddox.

“I doubt it,” Archie said in rising suspicion. “I told her where the party is.”

“Maybe she’s a thief, hmm?” Jake sent them a pointed look.

Maddox shrugged. “Takes one to know one.”

Jake scowled at him, then strode off following the girl. The other two followed in a hurry. “I slipped into a party or two in my day to steal stuff. It’s easy. Everyone’s distracted. Nobody really knows who belongs there or not.”

“I daresay she’s pretty enough to get away with anything,” Archie said with a slight sigh.

Maddox put his hands out to stop Archie and Jake, stepping in front of them. “If that’s the case, let’s hope she’s only a thief, and not something worse.”

“Like what?” Archie asked.