The Serpent in the Stone (The Gifted Series) (46 page)

Ian didn
’
t give a damn.
It absolutely wasn
’
t going to happen.

“
All right, Ian?
”
asked Luis.

He shook himself out of it.
“
Yeah, fine.
”

“
Good,
’
cause you
’
ve been staring into space for the past fifteen minutes.
”

With a rueful look, Ian turned back to the peat bricks he and Luis had been stacking beside the ruin
’
s outer wall.
He could have been working on his own project...at least, wrapping it up.
But the later it got, the less he wanted to leave Sara and her sister to whatever was coming.

The sun lowered in the sky.
Sweat trickled down the back of his neck, along with an increasing sense of dread.
He could almost hear a clock ticking under the lonely whoosh of wind and clink of tools.

At last, Flintrop
’
s voice boomed across the moor.
“
Pack it up, guys.
This dig is done!
”

Ian
’
s stomach wrenched the moment Flintrop said it.
He doubled over in surprise and clamped an arm against his belly.
His knees buckled.
He wheezed, feeling like he
’
d been kicked in the gut.

Luis said something, and then Faith was there, pulling Ian onto his feet.
“
Get up,
”
she said in an insistent whisper.
“
Get up.
”
She waved Luis off.
“
He
’
s fine.
Just give him some breathing room.
”

Ian struggled to regain his breath.
“
What the f—
”

Flintrop
’
s hand descended onto his shoulder, and a canteen loomed into his field of vision.
“
Easy, Waverly.
Take a drink.
”

Ian grabbed the canteen and downed a mouthful of water large enough to make him choke.

“
Out of here.
Come on,
”
Faith said, tugging on his sleeve.

He dropped the canteen and staggered along with her, away from the dig.
The screaming in his head faded.
He clenched his teeth and gripped his belly again.
“
It
’
s...fucking...
alive
.
”

“
I know.
”
She rushed him toward her tent with worry in her eyes.
“
I can feel it.
What I want to know is, why can you?
”

“
You
’
re the expert.
”

Once they were inside her tent, she pushed him into a seat. Sweating, he braced his elbows on the table and cradled his head, half expecting it to split apart. He took a few breaths, and the stitch in his midsection eased. “Is that what it always feels like?”

“
More or less.
Now do you see why we have to do something?
”

He said nothing for several minutes, panting through nerve-jangling surges.
He gritted his teeth against a final wave of pain.
“
Sara.
”

“
I
’
ll go check on her.
You stay put.
”

Ian lurched to his feet anyway, fully intending to go to her himself.

****

Blood.
Oh, God, the blood.

Waves of it crashed against Sara.
She struggled to breathe, but she was drowning in it.
Her chest burned.
She thrashed against the gory tide.
Every time she tried to call out, the surging waves forced her back under.
Help!

A hand descended onto her forehead.
She came awake with a scream.

Flintrop snatched his hand away.
“
I just came in to check on you.
How are you feeling?
”

Sara sat up and cast a look around her tent.
The dig.
Shetland.
Panic seized her.
“
Is it finished?
”

Flintrop chuckled.
“
Yes.
”

She tried getting out of bed, but he sat on the cot, pushing her back down.
“
Sara, you
’
ve worked hard on this project, harder than I
’
ve ever seen you work.
No one appreciates the magnitude of that more than me, you know that.
But you
’
re really running yourself into the ground.
”

“
I
’
m all right now.
I feel better.
”
She rubbed her eyes.
“
I had the most horrible dream.
”

“
About what?
”

She ran her fingers through her hair.
“
Blood.
God, it was awful,
”
she murmured, more to herself than to Flintrop.
She thought about the countless druid sacrifices that had been done to open the ley lines, and shuddered.

Flintrop raised a hand to her face.
She felt the gesture and looked up at him, but the nightmare still held her attention.
“
You
’
re going to be fine.
”

She didn
’
t feel fine.
Nausea was still doing the backstroke in her belly.

The door flap swept back, and there stood Ian.
He froze when he saw Flintrop with his hand on her cheek.
His expression turned icy.
“
Is this why I haven
’
t seen you in half a week?
”

Sara came into the present.
“
What?
I don
’
t even—
”

Flintrop released her and stood up.
“
There
’
s nothing going on here.
She just woke up.
”

Ian moved into the tent.
Sara noticed her sister hovering outside the doorway.
Ian stepped back and left just enough room for Flintrop to leave.
“
Bygones, huh?
Don
’
t let me stop you from not being here.
”

By the set of his shoulders, Flintrop was about to say something nasty.
Sara shifted and swung her legs over the edge of the cot.
“
Alan, don
’
t.
”

Both Ian and Flintrop stared at her.

“
He wasn
’
t doing anything wrong,
”
she said.

Ian stiffened.
The two gave each other a long look, then Flintrop left the tent.

Faith hurried inside and sat down on the cot.
“
We found the ceremonial bowl that they used for sacrifices.
”

“
Just give me a second,
”
Sara murmured.
She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to order her still-scattered, still-agitated thoughts, then shoved the blankets aside.

“
Sara.
”
Faith laid a hand on her knee, and Sara looked up.
“
We need you.
Are you well enough for this?
”

Sara felt for the amulet hidden inside her shirt.
“
I
’
ll have to be.
What do we need to do?
”

“
I read the bowl.
”

Sara gripped her sister by the shirt.
“
You did
what
?
”

Faith pushed her hands away.
“
I
’
m fine.
I
’
m here, aren
’
t I?
There are some incantations.
We know they needed blood to open the ley line, and we
’
ll need blood to close it.
And—
”

“And what?” Sara prompted.

Faith shot a glance at Ian before adding,
“
I
’
m going to use my blood.
”

“
The hell you are!
”
snapped Sara.

“
Hakon said gifted blood can close the ley line,
”
her sister said.

Ian stepped forward.
“
Faith, I said we
’
ll find another way.
This isn
’
t it.
”

Sara turned on him.
“
You knew she was going to try this?
When were you going to tell me?
”
she demanded.

He bristled and came forward another few steps.
Every hair on the back of her neck stood on end in response.
“
If you want to talk about telling people things,
”
he said,
“
why don
’
t we start with Golden Boy out there?
”

Her skin prickled as though a mass of ants were crawling down her spine.
Surprised, she backed toward the door.

“
We haven
’
t got time for this.
”
Faith stood up and planted herself between them.
“
Ian, I need you to help me reconstruct the map from your dream.
I need to know exactly where everyone stood.
Think you can help me with that?
”

“
Why didn
’
t we do it earlier?
”
he shot back, still glaring at Sara.

“
Just help me.
The more prepared we are, the better.
Sara, the amulet?
”

Sara touched the leather lace at her throat, then nodded.

“
All right.
I have the sword,
”
added Faith.
“
Let
’
s hope that
’
s enough.
”

Sara backed out of the tent before either of them said anything further.

****

Ian sat beside the campfire with Faith, who picked at the last of her dinner.
He cast a suspicious glance at the twilight sky.
The moon rode ever higher, full and yellow as ancient bones.
Everyone around the fire went about their business as if it were a typical night.

He pulled his journal from his coat pocket, then flipped it open, angling it toward the fire to see it better.
The first several pages overflowed with birding notes and sketches.
He flipped ahead and came upon a shadowy silhouette of Sara as she
’
d looked the night they
’
d made love at the inlet, with her hair blowing around her shoulders and the curves of her body outlined by the moonlit water.

Even on paper, she made him crazy to touch her.

Tonight, she had flopped down as far from him as possible, still furious at him for not telling her of Faith
’
s ridiculous plan for shutting down the ley line.

Worse, she sat beside Flintrop.
Ian wanted to jump across the fire and pummel the son of a bitch just for looking at her.
He saw Flintrop brush her knee, and all but growled.
She didn
’
t seem to notice.
What the hell was wrong with her?
She hated him...so she said.

Ian set his jaw and turned to a fresh page, then started sketching a rough outline of the ruin.

Faith leaned toward him, whispering,
“
Where was the one with the bowl?
”