They sat in silence for nearly an hour while she read the book and he read the letters. So far, he hadn’t found anything particularly useful in Agnes’s letters, but he suspected that if they had Phinneas’s responses, they might complete the puzzle. Some aspect of them seemed important to him, but he couldn’t place his finger on it at the moment.
Mostly Agnes spoke of everyday life in their village, of missing Phinneas, and of the love that they shared. But every now and then, he’d come across one that felt as if Agnes was talking about something far more important than their vegetable garden or how one woman had had a particularly difficult birth. He folded the parchment back up, then set it aside.
Max watched Sabine read the book. She was hiding something, physically hiding something from him. He’d seen her conceal something behind her last night before she’d kissed him in the kitchen.
He could have accused her right then and there, but it was far more interesting to watch her try to deceive him, particularly when her attempts at deception included hot kisses… Well, who was he to discourage her? She’d felt good pressed against him. Without her dress, he’d been one layer closer to touching her warm skin. On the earlier train ride, he’d touched her, but they had never removed their clothing.
A day later and he could still feel her mouth on his, her soft arms beneath his hands, her molten curves pressed to his body.
Thoughts like that would only cause the remainder of the train ride to be particularly uncomfortable, though, so he turned his thoughts to something else.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said, “about this Chosen One. Scotland Yard is investigating the murders of our military officers. I think I’ve been looking at this entire thing the wrong way.”
Sabine put the book down and leaned in. “How?”
“I thought what I needed to do—what we needed to do—was help them identify the killer. If we did that, we could protect the military and the last guardian”—he nodded to her—“and stop the prophecy. But I suspect that we should leave the detective work to the inspectors and instead focus our energy on something else entirely. What happens if the Chosen One finds the remaining guardian? What will happen to you?”
“He steals the elixir, the guardian dies, and the prophecy is completed. With the way events have unfolded thus far, I suspect he will try to use England’s military to complete what the Atlantean army started so many years ago,” Sabine said.
“Which was?” he asked.
“World domination. He will use the elixir to make your military impossible to defeat. At least he will attempt to do so.” She shook her head.
“Then instead of trying to discover the identity of the Chosen One, we should find the dove. The prophecy states it’s the only way to stop him. He’s already found the other two guardians. Despite your clever way to hide in plain sight, chances are he will eventually find your identity.” He clasped his hands together. “So we need to be ready for him.”
“With the dove,” she provided. “The problem is, we don’t exactly know what the dove is.”
“Clearly they don’t mean the actual bird,” Max said.
She rolled her eyes. “Obviously not.”
He took that moment to take the map out of his bag and spread it out on the table.
Sabine’s breath caught. “I didn’t know you had that with you,” she whispered. She splayed her palm on the map as if trying to touch the actual island.
“I thought perhaps it would help the Seer with the prophecy if he could see it.” Max shrugged. “But that didn’t work so well.”
She gave him a sweet smile. “It was a good thought. I have no doubt he would have loved to see it.”
Max pointed to the inscription that mentioned the dove. “Perhaps it is a weapon of some kind. Which makes sense. If we are to do battle, we will definitely need a weapon.”
She glanced down at the map and then back to his face. Something in her expression softened. She reached into her own bag and held out a folded piece of parchment.
“What is this?” he asked.
“I found it. In Phinneas’s house,” she said.
“This is what you were hiding,” Max said.
She opened her mouth, then shut it with a heavy sigh. “I merely wanted a chance to read it first. Alone. I thought it might be something else.” Then she shook her head. “Just read it.”
He looked down. It was dated three days before and was from Phinneas to Madigan.
‘I believe I’ve located the dove, but have decided not to remove it from the current location. It appears safe enough and disturbing it might be even more dangerous.’
Max caught her glance. “He knew where the dove was?”
“Yes. It appears as though he might have deciphered that part of the prophecy.”