Page 43 of Sacrifice
“You can feel it, can’t you?” he said. He seemed quite normal to her now. “It’s a rare ability to be sensitive to its vibrations. You are special, Eve. I knew it the first time I met you.”
The crown vibrated slightly on her head; a faint buzz that made it feel like it wasn’t quite making contact. Light from the fire seemed to disappear into Lucien in a way she had never seen before. He absorbed it into a dark halo of nothingness that surrounded his entire body.
“Eve,” he said, and his words sounded in her ears like a gong, amplified and clarified by the crown. “We are meant to be together. I know you feel the power, too.” He touched her arm and electricity ran over her skin. She’d felt the sensation before. Sensuous and intensely pleasurable, it niggled for the recall of a memory just out of reach. Now, when she looked down at the spot, she could see concentric waves rippling out from it. Waves in a field of electric blue that stood half an inch proud of her skin.Wearing the crown had enabled her to see it. Her eyes widened in surprise.
“Can you see this too?” she asked and ran her own hand along her arm. Her own fingers cut through the blue as it if were mist.
“You’re something special, Eve. Someone extraordinary. You are sealed by magic. Protected. Kept from me. Like Ishtar and her Elham.” He stepped forward, so much of his body almost touching hers that she buzzed all over.
Her head swam, and she took a step backward. Lucien’s expression fell as she pulled the crown from her head. Blinking away the fuzzy sensation and trying to catch her breath. She handed it back to him and shook her head. “That’s quite an item.”
Lucien set it down. “You connected with it. I hoped you would. We have a bond beyond the ordinary. I’m even more convinced of it now.”
Eve’s heart pounded in her chest. She wanted to run, to get out of that stifling room.
“Come and look at some of the other items. Choose three more things for the exhibition.”
He was so calm, like nothing had just happened. Eve stared at him, looking for an explanation of the darkness she’d seen. Instead, she found his olive skin with a sweep of stubble. Gently waving hair flopped to his forehead in a dark sweep.
“Are you OK?” He brushed his hand down her arm and goosebumps rippled from his touch. Deep inside her body craved him.
What the actual fuck?
“Eve?” He took her hand. The buzz she’d felt from his touch moments earlier was not so obvious now.
“I, I’m fine.” It was madness. “I think I’m seeing things.” She laughed, and Lucien tipped his head questioningly. “Nothing. It’s nothing. Just tired I think.”
Lucien’s eyes narrowed. “Come and look,” he said.
Not knowing what else to do, she stepped forward to examine the shelves. The rarest of treasures sat on display. An eclectic array of ornate ceremonial masks, finely crafted necklaces, and other grave goods. From their cuneiform inscriptions, Eve could tell they were Mesopotamian. Each was egg-yolk-yellow gold, the deep color a sign of purity. The contents of the cabinet must have been worth a fortune, yet somehow, Eve found them repellent. The crown, so fascinating in its intricacy, would not be enhanced by any of these.
It was a small clay bowl that caught Eve’s eye. A swirling design of words from a language she could not translate on its surface. It drew her in.
“The bowl’s interesting,” she said. “Aramaic?” She was delighted to be able to recognize an aspect of it. Lucien looked taken aback, like he wanted to talk her out of it.
“The bowl is,” he searched for his words, “rather plain.”
Eve reached in to pick it up. It didn’t give her any of the buzz she’d experienced from the crown. “I like that about it. The other end of the scale. Juxtaposition.”
Lucien took it from her. “As you wish. I’ll get it wrapped. It might be plain but it’s still sixth century.” He quickly put it down on the shelf. He didn’t seem happy that she’d chosen it.
Eve bit at her lip. Perhaps she shouldn’t just randomly pick things up. Her head was still fuzzy. Clasping her hands behind her back, she stepped away from the cabinet, and crossed the room to the bookshelves, trying to take a hold of herself. She’d noticed some interesting items among the books and made a beeline for a brassy metal disc whose surface was inlaid with aseries of other notched rings. She reached out to take it and then thought better of doing so without asking. “May I?” she said.
“The astrolabe? Yes. I like that idea much better. I’d thought about including it myself. You know what it is?”
Eve shrugged. “I’ve heard of them but never seen one in reality. It’s for calculating the position of the stars, isn’t it?”
“And for our purposes, predicting when Venus will be in transit across the sun.”
Eve squinted at him. “So that Ishtar can visit her Elham?”
Lucien nodded. “There are star charts too.”
“The perfect combination.”
“Then we have our three.” Lucien took an ornate silver tube from the shelf. Through its filigreed surface she could see a map of the stars, rolled to fit inside.
Eve was starting to feel that this astrological event was going to be important for her too.
