“Well, damn.” Simon ran a hand over his head, making his newly shorn hair stand up on end despite the breeze coming off the ocean below them.
“Double that,” Veronica replied. She turned in a circle again. Was the Eye wrong? Had they misinterpreted it?
In her gut, she didn’t think so. She knew she was right. She let her pack slide to the ground. Tired or not, she was not going to let this mystery get the better of her.
Sitting down cross-legged in the dirt, she retrieved the codex and took another look at the map through the Eye of Artemis. There was the coast. The indentation. And the combined sign of Artemis and the Stone.
“Anything?” Simon hunkered down beside her.
Nothing had changed. “I don’t understand,” she said, putting both back. “This is the place.”
Simon stood and offered her a hand up. “Perhaps it was already excavated, then filled back in.”
“No,” Veronica said. “If they’d found the tomb, then they should have found the Stone, and there is no way an archaeologist could keep quiet about that, not even with government interference. There would have been some news about it, I’m sure.”
“Then we’re missing something.” Simon took their translation notes from the pack. “Something obvious.”
“I can’t imagine what. I’ve gone over this so many times that it’s lost all meaning,” she said, rubbing the back of her neck as tension tightened every muscle.
Simon flipped through the loose pages. “We’re assuming a lot, and I think that’s hindering us. Forgive me for sounding like a corporate monkey, but we need to think outside the box.”
“Corporate monkey it is,” she said. “I’m willing to give it a shot. Let’s go over what we know.”
“The Stone is on Delos.”
“Definitely.”
“Thalassa is the guardian and it’s buried in her tomb.”
“No. Womb,” Veronica corrected.
Simon kicked at the dirt, hesitated, then gave her a curious look. “Veronica, this might sound crass, but hear me out.”
“Okay. Shoot.”
“Assuming womb is right—”
“It is.”
“To get to a womb, you go between a woman’s legs.”
Her “what the hell?” expression made him stop short. She smoothed her features over. “Go on.”
He raised a guarded eyebrow but continued. “In this case, the womb might belong to a metaphorical Artemis since she’s the mother of her priestesses. So what if Thalassa isn’t buried in a regular tomb? So why do we assume that womb translates into a traditional tomb. What if it’s something less obvious? Like a cave?”
“An opening into the mother earth, or in this case, mother Artemis since this is her island,” Veronica finished, excited by the breakthrough.
“Exactly!” Simon proclaimed.
The question was where? The only known cave on the island was the Sacred Cave and it had already been excavated.
They turned toward the cliff at the same time.
Walking out onto the twenty-foot-wide piece of land that jutted out into the sea, they looked downward along both sides of the fifty-foot cliff. The sheer walls were rocky and broken but there were no signs of any caves.
“Nothing,” Veronica groaned, disappointed.
“Wait,” Simon said, grabbing her arm and sounding anything but disappointed.
“What?”
“Look.”
Across from them, another projection of land jutted out fifty feet into the sea, paralleling the outcrop they stood on.
“What?”
“These two projections…could they represent legs?”
“Possibly,” Veronica said, drawing out the reply. “But it would be a stretch.”
“Maybe,” Simon agreed, but there was a stubborn glint in his eye. “But it does correspond to the map.” He glanced up at the sun, then down to the blue waters that slapped the side of the rocks below.
“Have you ever seen the Blue Grotto at Capri?”
“Yes, it’s a tourist trap.”
“It is,” he said. “But what’s interesting is that it lies at sea level. The only way to get in is to take a boat at low tide, and even then you have to lie down in the hull of the boat to clear the entrance.”
He walked with her until they stood exactly between the two outcrops of land and in the indentation where a symbolic “womb” might reside. He pointed toward the surf. “I think we found the entrance.”
Veronica stared, straining her eyes. The waves washed in and out. It was on the third cycle that they both saw it.
A dark spot on the wall peeked about the waterline.
Thalassa. She gaped at Simon. “I’m a woman. You’d think I would have figured that out.”
He shrugged, looking exceedingly pleased with himself. “I’m more familiar with the path to a womb that you are.”
Veronica felt herself blush and tried not to laugh. She was getting used to his sarcasm. Even appreciated it. But this was new. “That was so crude.”
He wiggled his dark eyebrows up and down, leering at her. “I have more. Want to hear it?”
“Not if it’s that crass.” She threw her arms around Simon’s neck and kissed him on the mouth. “You rock, you know that?”
“Yes. I do.” He gave her a quick kiss in return.
Untangling her arms, she nodded toward the way they’d already come. “Let’s get out of here. There’s a lot to do if we plan to finish this tonight.”
“Right. Contact Rebecca. Rent wetsuits and scuba tanks. Buy a tide table.” Simon ticked the items off on his fingers. “This is going to be tight.”
Veronica’s heart dropped. “We’re going to dive? I thought you said we could use a boat.”
Simon shook his head. “This is low tide and the cave isn’t above water except on the backwash. It’s dive or nothing.”
“At night?” she asked. Her voice unexpectedly squeaked.
Simon’s right brow shot up. “You can’t dive, can you?”
Veronica flushed. “I never said that. I can dive.”
His brow lowered, and she saw doubt in the way he looked at her. “Really?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Just because I’m scared of sharks doesn’t mean I don’t dive.”
He didn’t look convinced.
“I don’t run from my fears, Simon,” she explained. “I face them, and in this case, it meant that I had to learn to dive.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I don’t ever want my fears to govern my actions. Can you understand that?”
Admiration replaced the doubt in his expression, and he gently stroked her cheek. “I get it.”
“Good.” She said, taking his head and squeezing it.
“I doubt there’ll be any sharks,” Simon assured her. “Chances of us running into one, much less having it harass us, are slim. We stand a better chance of getting hit by a bus.”
“A bus doesn’t have teeth,” Veronica muttered. Big, white, serrated teeth. In her head, she knew he was right. It was the rest of her that wanted to pick another option.
“You can always sit this part out,” Simon offered. “I can go alone. Take pictures. Maybe even video. It’ll be like you were there.”
Veronica glared at him. She knew when she was being baited. Even without his lame attempt at reverse psychology, there was only one answer. “Thanks but no. It’s time I faced my fear. We go after the Stone. Together.”
Simon drove their rental boat while Veronica paced the small deck. Her nerves were still on edge despite her eight-hour nap.
She’d slept the afternoon away while Simon had contacted Rebecca. When she woke, everything was in place. As far as Michael and Deacon were concerned, she and Simon were on their way to Ephesus, and, even better, Rebecca had e-mailed her that Deacon and Michael had purchased airline tickets and were on their way there as well. At least that problem was solved.
Now she just had to get through the dive.
Veronica
passed Simon, and he reached out, pulling her to his side. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”
She shook her head. “I’ll be okay.” She’d just feel a lot better when this was over.
“Good. Because we’re here.”
The boat slowed to a stop, and Simon dropped anchor approximately thirty feet away from the cliff—far enough to keep the boat away from the rocks.
Veronica went to the edge of the boat to lean against the railing. Silently, she stared into the water, but there was nothing but blackness. Behind her, she heard the scrape of metal on wood as Simon brought their gear up from the hold.
Ten minutes later, they were ready.
Outfitted in a black, neoprene wetsuit, Simon adjusted his tank by moonlight. With the no-visitors-after-dusk ban on the island, they’d had to cut the lights to avoid alerting the authorities as to what they were doing.
Now it was past midnight and the tide was almost at its lowest point. At this distance from Delos, in the dark, she couldn’t see the cave, but she knew it was there. Maybe it was a metaphorical womb to whoever constructed this elaborate treasure hunt, but to her it was more like a giant maw waiting to eat her.
Veronica situated her single tank, settling it between her shoulder blades. Strapped to the tank and wrapped in plastic was Lily. One could never be too careful. “Okay, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.” She put on her mask, making sure the seal was firm.
She prayed that once they went through the cave, there would be some dry land. If she had to be in the water for the entire expedition, she’d be a nervous wreck by the time they recovered the Stone.
“Let’s do it,” Simon said, fins in hand.
She put a small jar of silver greasepaint in her oversize dive bag, between the Eye and the codex still in its waterproof Tupperware container. If there wasn’t dry land once they cleared the entrance—please, oh please—then it was possible there was a network of caves below the island. If so, they’d need to mark their path. “Weapon? Shark repellent?”
He flashed her a grin, his teeth brilliant in the moonlight and against his black suit, and flipped over the side of the boat, landing in the water with a small splash. A few seconds later, his head popped above the waves. With his dark hair, mask and wetsuit, she could barely make him out. “Coming in?”
“My kingdom for shark repellent,” Veronica muttered. Taking a deep breath, she dropped backward into the water.
The water was warmer than she thought it would be. Kicking to the surface, she fought the urge to reach for the ladder and climb to safety.
Just an excavation, she reminded herself. A dig. Putting in her own regulator, she breathed in the oxygen. It was cool on her throat. Simon tapped her on the shoulder and pointed toward the cave. She nodded and they dove deep and swam along the ocean floor. Once under the waves, Simon turned on their underwater light, giving her a view of the ocean that she’d never seen before.
As anxious as she was, its beauty captured her attention. Sea anemones dotted the rocks that littered the ocean floor. Closed for the night, a few responded to Simon’s light and opened. She brushed one with her gloved hand as she swam past, and it closed again. Gorgeous.
The ocean floor rose as they grew closer to the cave, and all too soon, Simon’s light found the entrance to Thalassa’s tomb. Perhaps three feet across and three feet high, it looked ready to swallow them. The urge to turn back grew stronger.
Knock it off, she told herself. It’s a hole in the wall. Nothing more.
Lighting the way, Simon entered first. Despite the regulator in her mouth, Veronica held her breath as she passed through the opening.
More a tunnel than a cave, the rock walls refracted the light from Simon’s underwater lantern, creating sharp shadows and making the dark waters feel more ominous.
The thought that something might grab her fins and pull her back out made her yank her knees to her chest before she could stop herself, scraping her shins along the tunnel’s bottom.
She winced, gritting her jaw to keep from shouting and losing the precious air. She would not let this stupid phobia take over her.
But neither would she be unprepared. She pulled out the bowie knife that was strapped to her thigh. It was long and wicked, but would it be enough to ward off an ocean predator?
Knock it off!
Keeping her focus on Simon’s fins and being careful not to cut herself on either the knife or the rough walls, she cleared her thoughts of anything but the Midas Stone. Ahead of her, the light spread outward. Simon must have cleared the mouth of the tunnel. She kicked her legs hard, anxious to be out of the passageway.
Simon was floating at the entrance, and she tried to push him out of the way so she could join him.
He waved her back and pointed, his light illuminating the water in front of them.
Something long and silvery swam in the water ahead of them. Circling. Its dorsal fin and black, lidless eyes told her all she needed to know.
Shark.
Veronica exhaled as instantaneous panic overwhelmed her. Her heart pounded in her ears, and her breathing was loud and hard.
Then Simon grabbed her hand and squeezed hard. She caught a glimpse of his eyes behind the mask. He was worried. Didn’t know what she would do.
Welcome to my world. She swallowed and tried to slow her breathing. The shark swam past them. She squeezed Simon’s hand as hard as she could but didn’t blow her air again. She would beat this if it killed her.
It might.
Shut up.
She could not depend on Simon to get her past this. She itched to pull out Lily, but shotguns were useless underwater. Besides, if she didn’t face this fear, alone, it would haunt her forever.
It’s a small shark, she told herself. Not even five feet. It’s more scared of me than I am of it. She forced her muscles to unclench, and one by one, her fingers pried free.
Grasping the rough edge of the tunnel, she entered the cave. It wasn’t very big—maybe twenty feet across—but what caught her attention was that the floor sloped upward until it was free of the water. Dry land.
Thank God, there was safety only twenty feet away.
Past a shark.
Simon touched her arm. She jumped. The shark caught the movement and widened its circle, swimming closer to them.
Both froze as it swam so close that its tail brushed against them on the sidestroke.
Veronica swallowed hard and took a deep, controlled breath, holding back panic with rigid control.
Simon touched her again, and this time she was ready. He pointed toward the wall and started creeping along the rock.
Veronica followed. Her shaking hands gripped the walls, pulling her along. They went five feet before the beast passed by again. Veronica held her breath.
Fearless, she told herself. Be fearless. Before she could think to stop herself, she reached out—oh God, oh God, oh God—and touched the tail, letting it glide over her palm as the shark slipped by.
She’d done it. Touched it. She wanted to throw up and shout success at the same time.
They started moving, again. Five more feet and the floor began its upward slope. The shark circled around, but this time stayed in the deeper water behind them.
Veronica’s head cleared the water, and she let the regulator fall from her mouth. Simon had taken off his fins and was halfway out of the water but kept his light pointed toward the water.
Keeping her eye on the shark, Veronica took off her fins, the feel of rock comforting and solid beneath her aqua socks. Two more feet and the water stopped at her waist. She’d touched the shark. It was real. Not a monster. An animal. And animals weren’t to be feared. Respected. But not feared.
Another glance told her the shark was on the opposite side of the cave, but it didn’t matter. Panic broke over her, and she ran out of the water and onto bare rock.
Chapter 16
Leaning over, hands on her knees, Veronica pulled off her mask and took a few second
s to catch her breath.
“You okay?” Simon asked, his hand on the small of her back.
Still a little shaky, she straightened and sheathed her knife. “Yeah. I’m good.” She wasn’t over her phobia, but she knew she could beat it if forced and that was enough for now. “I take it that it’s not shark repellent in the case?”
He held it up. “Not hardly, but I was wishing it were. When I saw the blue, I wasn’t sure you’d be able to go through with it.”
“And let you have all the fun?” she joked. “You wish.”
His returning snicker echoed off the walls.
“Enough chitchat,” she said. Let’s get to work.”
“Bossy,” Simon retorted, but he ran the light along the cave to reveal a smooth, squared stone that was as high as Simon and set flush within the rock walls.
A door.
“I’ll be damned,” Veronica whispered.
This was her grave. Thalassas. The woman who saved the Stone and killed herself so it would remain a secret from men who would misuse it.
In Thalassa’s hands, they would find it again.
Veronica ran a finger over the stone that made up the door. A thick covering of algae rubbed off on her finger. Beneath it, she caught a reflection of pale stone. “Marble?” she asked aloud.
“I didn’t think it was tough enough to withstand the erosion of the sea. Not for that long, at least,” Simon said. He wiped off more algae.
The door wasn’t white. Wasn’t marble. It was constructed from the same silver crystal that was set in the Eye, but so thick and marred by flaws it was impossible to see through.
“Impressive,” Veronica said. The door was a find in itself, and under any other circumstance, she’d take the time to study it. But with the tide as their timekeeper, they had to move forward as quickly as possible. “Now what do we do with the Eye?”
“Let’s find out,” Simon replied, setting his light on the ground like a lantern.
Quickly, they cleared away the algae. Writing etched the edges of the stone, catching Veronica’s attention. It wasn’t difficult to read, and she followed its path around the perimeter. Something about the Maidens of Artemis rescuing the body. Guardians of the Stone. The One Most Favored. Thalassa.
The Midas Trap Page 22