Max stopped what he was doing.
She brazenly winked at the other man.
The scholar’s eyes rounded, then a bright shade of red covered his entire face, and he quickly turned to go.
“I apologize,” she said to Max when they were alone again. “It was the first thought I had to get him out of here. It worked,” she said cheerfully.
“Next time think of an alternative solution that doesn’t involve touching me.” Then he turned to meet her eyes. “Unless you fully intend to finish what you start.”
She started to chuckle, but then she caught sight of his expression. He was deadly serious.
She swallowed, but said nothing in response. While Max took an impression of the entire inscription, she stood watching and smiled sweetly at any passersby who happened into the room.
“Done,” Max whispered. He handed her the two sheets of parchment, which she tucked neatly into her bag.
“Let us be done with this place before we attract any more attention,” she said.
He nodded as he gently turned the tablet back to its original position. “Lovely piece,” he said to a lady and her two young sons as they entered the room. Then he and Sabine made their way out of the library.
Their waiting carriage took them directly to Max’s home, and they made their way into his study. It was late afternoon, Agnes was probably upstairs while Lydia and Calliope were still at the shop. Momentarily, Sabine felt a pang of guilt for leaving them to do the menial work when it had been her idea to begin with. But she had been set on this course, and she felt it was her duty to stop the prophecy and protect Agnes.
He laid the pieces of parchment on his desk then read them aloud. “‘Deception is deceiving,’” he began, then finished the inscription, though it wasn’t very cohesive.
“Well, that doesn’t make very much sense. Are you certain you translated that correctly?” she asked. She came around the desk to look for herself.
“It’s the first line,” he said.
She stared from one page to the next for several moments and again was struck by the familiarity. “Wait a moment.” She picked up the first sheet and held it upside down. Then she smiled. “Do you have a mirror?”
“Why?” he asked.
“Trustmefor a change,” she said.
He nodded. “This way.” He led the way out of the office and up the stairs. They went down a hall and then another until they came to the end and entered a room.
“Is this your bedchamber?” she asked, still standing in the hallway.
“You asked for a mirror, and it was the first one I thought of.” He pointed to the full-sized framed mirror in the corner of the room.
Even though it was a very large room, the massive bed commanded her full attention. Covered in the lushest of blue silks, it beckoned to her as she breached the threshold. She quickly turned away and walked right up to the mirror. She turned over the sheet of paper until it was upside down and the reflection shown in the mirror. “That’s it,” she said. She smiled broadly.
Max peered into the mirror and saw what looked to him to be upside-down Greek letters. “That’s what?”
“It’s written in Atlantean,” she said. “I don’t know how I missed that before. Hand the other one to me.”
He held the sheets to the mirror as she scribbled the translation into her notebook.
“So what does it say?” he asked.
“Your task is nearly complete, and the reward is near. The dove is before you, if you have the right eyes to see.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he asked.
“I have no idea.”
Spencer stood near the French doors enjoying the evening breeze while the music played and couples littered the ballroom floor. His fellow guests jested and laughed about other men in Parliament or the latest scandal. On occasion, he’d nod and chuckle to remind them he was participating, that he was one of them, even though he knew that wasn’t true.
He was better than every one of them, far more important. It mattered not that his title was lower, and his coffers might not be as full. When it came to importance, he ranked at the top, and whether they realized that now or not had no bearing on the truth. The truth would be revealed soon, and then everyone would know.