We quickly move to the location and find the symbol. Hawthorne positions himself in front of me while I reach out and place my left palm in front of the anvil and hammer. Just like before, there’s a small glow that quickly fades. Nothing else happens.
“It worked, but this isn’t the right one,” I inform him, standing to show him the quickly fading brand on my hand. “Let’s grab something to eat. Once it gets dark, we’ll come back. I used my Duke credentials to reserve the temple for us.”
His brows crash together. “I thought the plan was to stay incognito.”
“Too many guards,” I tell him. “And too many symbols to check. Easier if they thought we were conducting some type of light experiment on the marble.” He raises an eyebrow. “First thing I could think of when submitting the request.”
“We’ll need to move fast,” he murmurs, eyes darting from the laptop to the room. “While we eat, I’ll narrow down my plan to the most likely first. The last thing we need is for our enemies to discover us here.”
I rest a hand on his arm and feel the corded muscles under his shirt. “Don’t worry. I promise to protect you.”
He narrows his eyes and gives me a frustrated look. “I know you see me as a nerd, but I assure you, I’m quite capable of protecting us both.”
Not wantingto alert the entire world to our presence, we decide to limit our light to two flashlights and one lantern. The firsthour goes by quickly as we eliminate seventy-seven marks. None of them results in a grand discovery.
Blowing out a breath, I look over at him. “One quadrant down. Where is the next symbol?”
Using the flashlight, he points to the wall across from us. “There.”
I walk over and hold my palm up to it. “Nothing.”
He crosses the spot off on the schematics and flashes his light on the next.
For the next five hours, we continue to test every quadrant until there are none left. He heaves a huge sigh and thrusts a weary hand through his hair.
“We have to be missing something,” he says, squinting at the laptop.
“Take a break,” I urge him. When his eyes find mine, I sit on the floor in the center of the room. “Eat some of the snacks Mathias sent. Drink some water.”
“We need to keep going,” he insists, but I shake my head at him.
“Frustration makes for sloppy work,” I tell him. Grabbing a bag of peanut butter pretzels and a water, I munch and drink for several minutes.
He gives in and comes over and holds out his hand for the pretzels. “I know. Normally I have all the patience in the world for research and discovery, but I can hear the minutes ticking away and your safety along with it.” He pops a few of the pretzels into his mouth.
“You know… there used to be two statues in here. Hephaestus’ stood there.” I point to a spot near the wall. “And Athena’s stood across from him.”
“Maybe we’re approaching this all wrong,” he replies as eyes follow my finger. “Tell me about the temple when it was new.”
“There wasn’t much more to it than it is today,” I say with a shrug. “The statues. The altar. A painting in the center where we’re sitting. A few more small mythological scenes painted on the pediments and the metopes that weren’t sculpted.”
He eyes the sides of the cella. “This is the exact center of the room. You say there was a painting right here.” He pats the bare floor. “Where was the altar?”
I point to the far wall and watch as he shines the lantern on the space. “There’s nothing there now. Not even a piece of rubble. Or symbols.” His tone is full of disappointment.
Pain stretches across my shoulders and neck, and I reach back to rub the tense muscles. He kneels behind me and brushes my hand away. Strong fingers knead the knots as his healing powers cascade heat into my weary muscles until I’m practically a puddle of goo. The distance between us is miniscule. I’m tempted to lean against his strong chest.
Instead, I drop my head back to peer up at him. “Thank you.” My voice is huskier than I would like, and the flare of heat in his eyes tells me he hears it.
His head dips, and the scent of him and his magic fills my senses. With a deep breath, I cup my hand around the back of his neck, telling him without words what I need.
Hawthorne stares down at me. “I want to do this again. With you. When there aren’t any enemies chasing after us.”
His lips find mine, and he claims them with a promise I’m afraid to believe in, but I let myself slide into the depths of his kiss. Unlike Jamison’s fierce kisses that pull my emotions from me, Hawthorne’s sensual onslaught makes me want to give him everything. One large hand slides under my neck as the other turns my body around to face his. Time slows. Filled with longing and desire, I arch into him, needing more. His hand drifts across my back and down my side, leaving a slow burn in its wake.
He groans and lifts his head, breaking the kiss, then gathers me into his arms. “I’ve been waiting to kiss you, and finally, here, in this temple, everything felt…right.”
Damn, that’s romantic. I sigh.“That kiss was worth the wait, but I don’t need a perfect moment,” I reply, putting my lips to his ear. “Only you. Too bad we’re in the middle of an ancient Greek temple with only a stone floor.”
