The Serpent in the Stone (The Gifted Series) (2 page)

Sara followed their retreat with an open-mouthed look as though she wanted to call the others back.
Then she came toward him with slow, deliberate steps.
Her eyes were hazel, not the bright green from before.
He found himself wanting to step back anyway.
She studied his face, her own as pale as porcelain, but her full lips firmed.
“
Luis Rivero.
”

“
Yeah,
”
Ian said, thinking of his friend back at the university.
Luis worked in Sara
’
s department.
It was he who had told Ian of her upcoming assignment in Shetland.

“
Man can
’
t keep his mouth shut,
”
she muttered.
With uncanny insight, she fired,
“
Are you following me?
”

“
No,
”
he lied.
“
I
’
m here to study birds.
Think you can handle that?
”

She backed off one step at a time, with a look that seemed to go right through him.
Torn between hostility and unbidden curiosity, he watched her turn to walk away.

Well, you got what you wished for,
he told himself.
What was he supposed to do with the proof, now that he had it?

It was sure as hell too late to give it back.

****

“
He
’
s cute,
”
Faith said as she and Sara checked Sara
’
s tent stakes.

Sara shoved a lock of hair behind her ear and tried to trade fear for focus.
No such luck.
Her belly was in knots.
“
Are you nuts?
I
’
m telling you, that man is the same kid who saw me first use telekinesis!
”

Faith gave one of the tent ropes an experimental tug and said,
“
I don
’
t see why you
’
re all wound up about it.
If he didn
’
t blow you in when we were ten, what makes you think he
’
ll do it now?
He might even think he dreamed it.
”
She grabbed another stake, looking much calmer than Sara felt.
Uncharacteristic for Faith, whose temper had legendary changeability.

“
You didn
’
t see the look on his face,
”
Sara snapped.
“
He remembers, Faith.
”

“
Well, since he
’
s here, you should at least have asked him if he wants to come down for dinner,
”
chided her sister.
“
He
’
s alone up there, or didn
’
t you notice?
No army on his heels, waiting to arrest you for being you.
You could examine him more closely for nefarious intent.
”
Faith wiggled her outspread fingers with what Sara assumed she meant to be scathing sarcasm.

Sara refused to admit that she hadn
’
t noticed much beyond the pulse-pounding look he
’
d given her...and her reaction to it.
Part terror, and part...well, she wasn
’
t willing to admit what that other part might be.
“
Sure, I
’
ll just waltz up there and volunteer to become a government guinea pig,
”
she said.
“
What if he
’
s working for a lab, and waiting to dissect me once he
’
s proven what I did?
I
’
m not about to make myself his best pal.
”

Faith shot her a look of impatience.
“
Honestly.
Don
’
t you think you
’
re overreacting even a little bit?
”

Snatching a mallet, Sara pounded the last corner stake into the ground.
“
Need I remind you that his presence here endangers you, too?
Mom
doesn
’
t even know what we are, and I trust him a lot less.
”

Jabbing toward her with a tent stake, Faith said,
“
If you won
’
t go up there, I will.
Come on, Sara, this is just crazy.
”

Sara flung a hand toward Ian
’
s camp.
“
You want him?
Go get him.
Just don
’
t cry to me when he goes mad scientist on you.
If we
’
re lucky, we
’
ll finish this dig without having anything to do with him.
”

Her sister secured a last rope, then stood up.
She shook her head.
“
It
’
s been years.
You might consider actually
talking
to him before you decide he
’
s out to lock us up.
”
She stiffened, and her gaze swept the moor.
“
Did you hear something?
”

“
No.
”
Sara checked, but Thomas and Dustin had returned to the boat for a second load of supplies.
Faith often heard things Sara couldn
’
t, but she knew Faith wasn
’
t using her psychic power at the moment.
Worried that Ian might be watching them, she turned in a circle.
Nope, nothing.
At least, nothing
she
could see.
“
Birds?
”

“
Maybe.
”
Faith waved a hand through the air as if testing it for vibrations.
“
I could have sworn— No.
”
Her mystified tone returned to normal.
“
If you
’
re so worried about Ian, you should go up there and keep an eye on him.
Just saying.
”
With that, she walked away to her own tent.

Feeling chastised—and irritable, because Faith was right—Sara watched her go, then swept aside her door flap and entered her tent.

It smelled of old canvas.
At the moment, it looked like a bomb had gone off.
Crates, chairs, and her camp table had been scattered on the tent floor.
Her cot stood waiting for setup in the corner.
In a few hours, the disaster would be transformed into a tidy microcosm of sleep, study, and on-site labwork.

First things first, then.
She
’
d need somewhere to sleep after the long day ahead.
She pulled the cot open and locked it in place.
She
’
d forgotten they were so small.

A flash of Ian
’
s eyes barged into her memory.
Vivid.
Intense.
She
’
d never seen such a blue.
Even now, the warmth of his hand seemed to linger on hers.

Damn it!
Get out of my head!
She tossed her sheets onto the cot to rub her palm on her jeans as if she could wipe away the remembered feel of his skin against hers.
“
You have no business being in there,
”
she said aloud.

“
Are you talking to the cot, or someone invisible?
”

She turned around.
Thomas stood in the tent doorway, scratching his sandy-blond head.

She gave him a wan smile.
“
Sorry.
A little internal argument.
Too many things to do, and not enough caffeine in my system.
”

“
Equipment
’
s set up for survey, and Dustin
’
s working on preliminary photos.
Anything else?
”

“
No, that should do it.
I
’
ll be out after I tame the tent mess.
”

When Thomas left, she went back to spreading the sheets out on her cot.
Faith
’
s scolding rang in her ears.
If she weren
’
t so cautious, they
’
d have been lab experiments by now.
She hugged the wool blanket to her body, pressing her fingers into the rough fabric.

She
’
d never been on a dig alone.
Teammates kept each other out of trouble, called for help when it was needed, and prevented injuries.
What if something happened to Ian, with no one around to know it?
She grimaced, not wanting that on her conscience no matter
what
his intentions were.

What the hell was he thinking, coming out here alone in the first place?
Birds.
Yeah, right.
She pitched the blanket on her cot, and stalked out of the tent.

Faith met her before she
’
d gone more than a few steps in the direction of Ian
’
s camp.
“
Good, you
’
re out.
Ready to start surveying?
”

“
I was going to... Never mind.
What needs doing?
”

“
If you had something to do—
”
Grinning, Faith tilted her head toward the south end of the island.

Sara raised a hand to cut her off.
When Faith wouldn
’
t stop grinning, Sara added a glare that she hoped Faith interpreted as
Shut up and quit looking so smug
.
“
It can wait.
”

So could giving that man a piece of her mind.
First chance she got tomorrow.

****

What in hell is this?
Ian wondered.
He was locked in a room he didn
’
t recognize, barely able to see and without a clue what was happening.

The small room
’
s murkiness closed in on him, coffinlike.
He tried the door again, but the handle still wouldn
’
t budge.
The air boiled with hissing voices that made his skin prickle.
A sharp metallic scent stung his nose.

Blood.

“
Okay, not liking this now.
”
Determined to escape, he crept forward into the space.
His questing fingers landed on what felt like a bookshelf, littered with heaps of scattered volumes.
As he paced along, he kicked a few more of them and they slid across the floor.

He groped blindly, and winced when he touched something sharp that sliced across his fingers.
His hand fell upon a banker
’
s lamp.
He switched it on, squinting as the room came into focus.

A scarred cherry desk stood before him, all its drawers ripped out and the contents tossed on the floor.
Broken glass.
Shredded paper.
File drawers thrown open and kicked aside.

The surface of the desk bore a blackish stain.
He reached out to touch it.

A hand slapped down on his shoulder in a vise grip. He whirled around.

A man loomed over him, his face stark-white, his blue eyes burning.
Blood covered him from head to foot.

Ian swore and wrenched backward over the desk in a futile effort to escape.

The man gripped Ian
’
s shirt in both hands and hauled him closer.
Ian
’
s heart thundered in his chest.
His attacker
’
s eyes shone like knives in the gloom.
“
Hhhhelp her.
”

Ian gasped and sat bolt upright on his cot.
The nightmare faded, giving way to the soft pre-dawn gray of his tent interior.
His heartbeat crashed in his ears.
Panting, he raked a hand through sleep-tousled hair.