The Serpent in the Stone (The Gifted Series) (22 page)

Well, now she ought to be keeping her mind off dreaming about him and on her job.

As hard as that was.

“
Coffee,
”
she said briskly.
“
If I don
’
t get more coffee, this project is going to come to a screeching halt.
”

He grinned at her, and she knew he was thinking of their mutual love of Waverly
’
s secret blend.
“
One large bag of caffeinated goodness.
Check.
”

Lambertson approached them.
“
Sara, where did you—
”
He stopped when he saw Ian.
“
You must be Mister Waverly.
”

“
Yes, sir,
”
Ian replied, shaking his hand.
“
I
’
ve heard a lot about you.
”

Lambertson
’
s gaze swept Ian
’
s figure from head to foot in what Sara thought was a look of scrutiny.
“
You
’
re here for wildlife?
”

Ian didn
’
t seem bothered by Lambertson
’
s evaluation.
“
Yes.
I
’
m studying coastal birds on the north end of the island.
”

“
Waverly, you lucky son of a bitch!
”
chortled another voice.

Ian peered over Lamb
’
s shoulder at the man jogging toward them.
“
Lu!
How
’
d you land a gig like this?
”

Luis Rivero clapped Ian on the back.
“
I was about to ask you the same thing.
”

Sara raised her brows.
How, indeed.

“
I pulled some strings at the university,
”
explained Ian.
To Lambertson he added,
“
Luis is the reason I
’
ve heard so much about you.
He talks about your work nonstop.
”
He turned again to Sara.
“
Thanks for the boat.
I
’
ll catch up with you later.
”
He went to the edge of the trench and climbed out.

“
Coffee!
”
Sara called after him.
“
Lots of it!
”

Walking away, Ian waved a hand in the air to indicate that he
’
d heard.

When Sara spotted Lambertson, the smile vanished from her face.
“
What?
”

Her mentor surveyed Ian
’
s retreating figure.
“
How long is he going to be here?
”

“
I don
’
t know, another month.
Lamb, he isn
’
t going to interfere.
He
’
s not interested in what
’
s going on down here.
”

Lamb made a doubtful noise and walked away.
Luis went with him.

Becky stared after Ian.
“
Wow.
Maybe I should have gone into wildlife.
”

Prickles danced across Sara
’
s shoulders.
She picked up a stray shovel and tried to sound amiable.
“
I
’
ll see you around the dig.
It was nice meeting you,
”
she murmured, then strode off.

At sunset, the entire crew gathered around a fire.
Sara sat cross-legged beside it with her sister, discussing the project.
She was in the middle of a lament about not finding any artifacts yet when she noticed Faith wasn
’
t paying attention.
Sara prodded her.
“
What
’
s the matter?
”

Faith snapped out of it and leaned toward her.
“
I
’
ve spent the past two days reading the books Dad had in with the Shetland research.
In
Beardsley
, I came across something about—
”

“
Good day
’
s work,
”
interrupted Flintrop, sitting down on Sara
’
s other side.

Faith sank into reticence.
Her mouth pinched like someone had just force-fed her minced leeches.

Sara hunched her shoulders.
“
Yeah.
You, too.
”

When Faith touched her arm, Sara turned away from Flintrop.
Her sister made an urgent face.

Sara gave an imperceptible nod and called on her power.
From where they sat, the others would not be able to tell her eyes had changed.
She released her hold on mind reading.

A serpent ceremony,
Faith told her silently,
performed by a religious order that manipulated the ley lines for some kind of ritual.
If I
’
m right, and the amulet is part of it, the man in the white robes may have been a druid.

Faith
’
s explanation was overlaid with the disturbing image of her vision from the amulet.
Sara saw a large blond man drive a sword through another man
’
s belly.
Blood pooled around the sword hilt, staining the victim
’
s white robes.
She recoiled in surprise.

“
Are you all right?
”
came Flintrop
’
s voice.

Sara shifted where she sat, and blinked to shut off her power.
“
I must have been sitting on a stone.
”

He studied her.
“
Did you do something with your hair?
”

Faith made a noise of disgust and got to her feet.
“
I
’
m going to my tent.
I
’
ll see you in the morning, Sara.
”

Sara smiled and said good night, even though every fiber of her being was suddenly and instantly begging,
Please don
’
t leave me with him if you love me at all, you traitor!
There weren
’
t too many times she wished Faith could read her mind in return, but now might have topped the list.

Flintrop cleared his throat.
“
I know we haven
’
t gotten on very well, Sara, but I do respect your work.
I don
’
t want you to hold South America against me.
”

She nodded in the direction of Faith
’
s tent.
“
I think my sister holds it against you more than I do.
”

He sighed and tipped his flask again.
“
Faith and I never quite saw eye-to-eye on things.
”

“
Is that what you call it?
”
Sara muttered.

“
Look, I saw the reports that came back to Eurocon so far on this job, and they
’
re brilliant.
I
’
m not supposed to tell you, but Lambertson was even talking to Oxford about getting you a seminar, if this is as big as we think it
’
ll be.
”

She gaped.
“
Really?
”

“
It
’
s too early yet to make any sort of decision, obviously, but he was serious, and so am I.
I back him one hundred percent.
You deserve to get the credit on this.
”
He smiled.
“
Call it my apology for South America.
”

She didn
’
t know what to say.
Gemini needed just the sort of publicity a seminar would promote.

Then again, credit for the dig wasn
’
t his to give.
What had seemed an expansive gesture began to smack of empty bribery.
“
You want something.
”

He chuckled.
“
I always did like your directness.
”

“
You don
’
t throw bones without expecting something back, Flintrop.
What is it?
”

He touched her hand, only briefly, but she froze.
“
I want to be friends.
Ever since I
’
ve known you, you
’
ve been running a race with me to see who
’
s the best of the best.
You don
’
t need to prove yourself, Sara.
I already know you
’
re talented.
”

She shot him a scathing look.
“
I
’
m not proving anything to you.
”

“
All right, that came out wrong.
What I
’
m trying to say is, we
’
ve been working at odds with each other so long, it will be a nice change to work together on this project.
With your skill and my resources, we
’
re going to blow the lid off this thing.
”

She scrutinized him. He looked so enthusiastic, he almost convinced her he meant it. Then she noticed the way he leaned toward her...exactly the posture he’d presented to Faith while trying to seduce her in South America. Sara had enough experience—reading minds or not—to know that body language often gave away people’s true intentions, no matter what came out of their mouths. She jerked backward with an uncomfortable ooze of dismay.

So much for goodwill.

A bag of coffee with a Waverly
’
s label descended into the gap between them.
Sara beamed and looked up.

Dangling the bag, Ian grinned down at her.
“
Saved from imminent sleepiness.
This is from my private stash, I
’
ll have you know.
I took pity.
”

Delighted, she accepted the coffee.
“
Thank you.
”

“
The keys are back in your tent.
Thanks for the loaner.
”

Flintrop stiffened.
“
I take it you
’
re the wildlifer.
”

Ian nodded. She noticed he didn’t bother offering his handshake. Impeccable timing
and
impeccable judge of character.

Then Ian turned his attention back to her, and his indifferent mask relaxed.
“
I brought you something else.
I had a sweet tooth, so I made an emergency side trip.
”
With a triumphant smile, he rummaged in his jacket pocket and withdrew a small paper bag.

She took the bag and opened it.
Cinnamon drops.
Pleasure swarmed through her.
“
I was almost out, too.
How did you know?
”

His smile was all genial charm, but something passed through his eyes that flushed her body with heat.
Her memory shot back to searing kisses and skin on skin.
She couldn
’
t look at him, afraid that everyone could tell what was going on in her head.
How could they
not
tell, when her thoughts were so loud?

“
Know anything of archaeology, Waverly?
”
asked Flintrop.

Ian shrugged.
“
I
’
m familiar with the digging part.
”

“
Ian spent part of a day helping us dig peat,
”
Sara said, still distracted by the way her thoughts kept snapping back to the afternoon in Ian
’
s tent.