The Serpent in the Stone (The Gifted Series) (41 page)

Without warning, Hakon sprang into her mind.
Aesa,
he
’
d called her, before she told him her name was Faith.
She
’
d pondered on that while caring for Sara
’
s fever.
Among its other possible derivatives,
“
Aesa
”
in Old Icelandic meant
“
to incite war.
”
How very prophetic.
What was she, the Viking Helen of Troy?

A thousand years down the line, Faith had been born with the exact same face as this Viking woman.
Heck of a coincidence.
She
’
d been charged to fulfill a mission that Hakon could not: the downfall of some rogue druid sect and their serpent ceremony.
Might as well have asked for the Brooklyn Bridge, while he was at it.

Thinking back on Hakon’s first reaction to seeing her, she gave her ribcage a discreet rub. For a ghost, he was awfully good at dealing out bone-crushing hugs. Bleeding, too. That he could touch, and bleed, and at other times disappear without a trace from her senses, made her head spin with questions.

He
’
s not completely a ghost,
she thought, startled.
That explained why she couldn
’
t always hear or feel him.
His soul had been trapped on Hvitmar, one foot in this world, and one in the next, because he
’
d never finished his quest.
He
’
d vowed himself into a half-existence for the love of a woman.

But Aesa had gone on. Why couldn’t Faith sense her here, trying to be with Hakon however she was able?

A frisson flew down her spine.
She gripped herself.
Oh, my God.
She
’
s me.
A strangled whimper escaped her.
How could she have failed to make the connection all this time?

Ian
’
s head snapped up.
“
What
’
s the matter?
”

Air refused to reach her lungs past the constricted knot in her throat. She felt the blood drain from her face, chilling her further. “I loved him. I cried for him. I’m her. She’s
me
.”

“
Faith, you
’
re starting to scare me.
”
Ian gripped her shoulder.

“
Hakon
’
s wife.
I
’
m her, a thousand years later.
”

“
What the hell are you talking about?
”

“Her name was Aesa. She loved him more than anything in the world. I felt it when I saw him.” The depth of passion Aesa and the Viking warrior had felt for one another brought tears to her eyes, even now, in a mere echo. She’d never imagined love like that existed. She fisted a hand on her chest. “I felt it like it was my own emotion.”

Ian started shaking his head.
She cut him off before he could deny her words.
“
You saw her,
”
she protested.
“
It
’
s me!
I have to finish this.
I was meant to.
”

“
I hope to God you aren
’
t saying what I think you
’
re saying.
If you think your sister
’
s going to let you sacrifi—
”

“
Ian!
”
Faith felt the shiver of her eyes flashing into silver.
She wrenched his hand from her shoulder and dug her fingers into the coarse denim of his jacket.
“
If you say one word to her, I swear I will make you regret it.
I don
’
t need you scaring her.
”
She shoved his hand away.
“
Hakon said
gifted blood
.
He didn
’
t say
sacrifice
.
It could take one drop, for all I know.
”

Ian bared his teeth.
“
Or everything you
’
ve got.
Damn it, Faith, this is insane.
Even considering it is insane.
You don
’
t know what that ley line will do to you if you try this.
”

“
You don
’
t, either.
We haven
’
t got many options.
It
’
s Callander, or Sara, or me.
”
She blinked again to let her eyes return to their normal color, then gave him a sardonic smirk.
“
Do you want to walk up to Callander and say,
‘
Excuse me, but I know you
’
re a telekinetic and a murderer.
Can I use some of your blood to ruin your chances at absolute power?
’”

A muscle worked in Ian
’
s jaw.
He sat back to push a hand through his hair.
“
Don
’
t you think Sara needs to know about this?
If something happens to you, it
’
ll kill her.
”

The knot in her throat tightened a little more.
“
You love her, don
’
t you?
”

He looked away then, his expression irritable...but he didn
’
t deny it.
Faith grinned.

She heard the shuffle of footsteps and looked behind her.
Sara came toward them with a towel slung over her shoulder.
She
’
d changed into her red bathing suit, with a beach wrap tied around her waist.
Faith felt a surge in the air beside her.
Another look at Ian confirmed him sitting up straight now, all attention.
She smiled again.
When he noticed, he glared back with a look that said
shut up
, which only made her smile wider.

Her good humor vanished when she saw Luis and Flintrop trailing behind her sister.
“
Great.
I was just saying to myself how I needed a raging headache.
”
She scrubbed at her face, angry now that Alan Flintrop might catch her teary-eyed.

“
Yeah.
My day didn
’
t suck enough, either,
”
Ian agreed, getting to his feet and helping her up.
He pulled a bandanna from his back pocket and handed it to her.

Sara reached them, beaming.
“
Found a bone comb.
”
The exultant smile died on her face when she saw Faith.
“
You okay?
”

“
Fine.
”
Faith marshaled her features into an easygoing expression.

Luis passed them with a quick hello, then plowed straight into the water.
Flintrop approached and laid a hand briefly on Sara
’
s shoulder.
“
Faith, I take it back.
She
’
s worse than she was in Iceland.
I think she
’
s on auto-pilot.
”
He took a closer look at Faith.
Damn, had he seen the tearstains after all?

Ian shoved his hands in his pockets.
“
I was making her laugh.
”

Faith warmed from the toes up, and officially named Ian her new best friend. He and Flintrop continued to hold each other’s gaze. Mutual dislike hummed in the air.

Time to return the favor.
“
Alan, I need to talk to you about one of the charts we printed out this afternoon,
”
she said.
“
Do you mind if I borrow you for a few minutes?
”

He looked at her like she
’
d just given him a violent shake.
She stifled a smug chuckle.
Yeah, normally, I wouldn
’
t volunteer to chat with you, either.
That
’
s because you
’
re a complete weasel.
With her liveliest smile, she beckoned him away and headed off down the beach.

She didn
’
t really give a damn about the slight rise in electromagnetic readings that the charts had shown that afternoon.
It could have been put down to the ley line itself—which she had no intention of pointing out, in any case.
She
’
d have told him to come inspect one of the beach rocks, just for the satisfaction of getting him away from her sister and Ian.

With Flintrop in tow, she sat at the water
’
s edge on a flat rock.
She glanced back over her shoulder to see Ian flash a grin in her direction.
He bent his head toward Sara and murmured something that made her giggle.
A split second later, she caught the glimmer of annoyance on Flintrop
’
s face.
Go, Ian.
She couldn
’
t suppress a broad smile.

“
What are you so happy about?
”
Flintrop demanded.
He plopped beside her on the sand.

“
Nothing.
About the chart...
The electromagnetic readings came back a little on the high side.
I wondered if we shouldn
’
t look into that.
”

“
I
’
ll take care of it.
Probably just a false reading, or the equipment might need adjustments.
Are we having a conversation, here?
I was just getting used to your undying hatred.
”

Touché, weasel.
“
Let me make it clear that the only reason I
’
m at this dig with you is because my firm is in control of it,
”
she said.
“
If it were up to me, I
’
d have scrimped and saved for every penny this project is costing, rather than involve you.
Your being here was Lamb
’
s decision.
”

“
All right, all right.
”
He held up his hands.

Faith fumed at the way he laughed, and then at the way she let him annoy her.
She caught him glancing over at Ian and Sara again.
“
What?
He
’
s not at the dig site.
You going to commandeer other parts of the island, too?
”

Flintrop sighed.
“
I don
’
t know how long this is going to go on between you and me, but I
’
d like to get past it.
You and I just didn
’
t work out together.
It
’
s nothing you did.
”

“
Careful.
That almost sounded like an apology.
”

His cobalt stare bored into her.
“
Are we through?
”
he asked.

“
There is no
limit
to how
‘
through
’
we are.
”

He stood.
She remembered she shouldn
’
t be antagonizing him, when her goal had been to guarantee Ian and Sara a few minutes free of Flintrop
’
s interference.
She vaulted to her feet.
“
Don
’
t go getting into a pissing match with him.
He
’
s got as much right to be here as you have.
”

“
Birds being more groundbreaking and crucial than a thousand-year-old ruin.
”

“
Listen to yourself.
You
’
re jealous!
”