The Serpent in the Stone (The Gifted Series)

by Nicki Greenwood

She sighed. “Alan Flintrop. I’m going to be working with him for the rest of the summer. I know he’s a pain in the—”

  “No, he’s great. Must have tons of friends.”

  “Sure, if they’re wealthy enough to be in his little club of worshippers.” She waved her hand in the air. “That’s not the point. We need his help on this project if we’re going to get done on time and within budget...and why am I explaining this to you? You don’t care.”

  He stepped closer to her, causing her to back up in surprise against the wall of her tent. His eyes bored into hers, as focused as a hunting raptor. “Oh, I care...just not about him.”

  Her heart thudded in her ears. Could he hear it? He bent his head. His breath warmed her face, and she leaned forward to close the distance, because for the love of God, it wasn’t happening fast enough...

  “Sara, may I have a word with you?”

  Ian jerked back with his face completely blank. Lambertson stood nearby. Sara felt her face burn, and passed Ian a guilty look. “I—”

  He smiled. “Don’t sweat it. I have some birding notes to catch up on. I’ll see you later.” He turned and headed up the slope of the island. She watched him until he disappeared into the darkness, even now wishing him back. A charge of desire coursed through her and left her shivering with aftershock. How? How, when he hadn’t even kissed her?

  Lambertson approached her with an expression that made her feel like a wayward teenager. “I would venture to say he’s distinctly interested in what’s going on down here.”

  She gawked. “Are you being parental with me?”

  “I am telling you to the point. I don’t trust that young man, and I don’t want him here. This project is confidential. His presence is a liability.”

  “Come on, Lamb—”

  His frown cut her off. “I am the project supervisor, Sara. Don’t make me employ that authority.”

  He’d never used that tone on her before, even during her undergrad years. Hurt, she zipped open her tent flap and stepped inside, shutting it before he could say anything further.

  ****

  Several days after Lamb’s reinforcements arrived, the peat and earth gave way to the first layer of stone marking the enclosure of their suspected Viking-era house. Sara couldn’t feel more than a distant pleasure at the milestone. She hadn’t seen Ian in almost a week. Whenever she found the time, Lamb managed to concoct a task that kept her at the dig. Moody and restless, she worked beside Faith at one of the plots.

  “Now all we need from this mudpit is an artifact, and we’re in business,” said Faith.

  Her sister seemed to have enough good spirits for both of them lately. Sara offered a smile and went back to scooping earth. Seconds passed.

  At length, Faith hissed, “Quit moping and go see him. You’re a grown woman.”

  Needled, Sara redoubled her efforts at removing soil from the house wall. “Lamb’s already made it abundantly clear what he thinks of Ian. We can’t afford to lose this project.”

  Flintrop approached. “We’re having a bonfire tonight to celebrate,” he announced. “I’m heading to Unst this afternoon for some aqua vitae, if you’d like to come.” He spoke to both of them, but his attention hovered on Sara.

  Faith leveled him with a revolted look and moved away. He ignored it.

  Sara stood and stretched her back. “Why don’t you take one of your own crew?”

  “Because,” he said, moving closer and lowering his tone, “I’d really like you to come with me. Please? What’s it going to take for you to accept my apology?”

  Lamb’s voice rose from the other side of the dig, hailing them all to midday break. Members of the crew shuffled off in the direction of the summons, leaving them alone.

  Sara walked away and climbed onto the stone wall, preparing to jump down and follow the crew to lunch. “I don’t think—”

  The earth roared under her feet. With a shriek, she lost her balance and toppled headfirst down the other side of the wall. A fissure tore open and yawned beneath her.

  A hand seized her ankle. She jerked to a stop above the crack in the earth. The amulet slithered from under her shirt and dangled from her neck over the crevasse. Sara gasped and clapped it to her chest. Open space gaped below her. The land thundered again. Flintrop’s grip slipped on her ankle, and she screamed.

  “Pull yourself up!” Flintrop shouted.

  One-handed, she clawed at the ragged walls of the trench, refusing to let go of the amulet. Panic stabbed her.

  And then she saw it.

  At the bottom of the fissure lay a human skull, half-buried in the dark soil. She froze. I’ll be damned.

  Flintrop’s grasp slipped again. “Sara! Give me your hand!”

  Another tremor issued from the earth.

  Sara jackknifed her body and flung her free hand toward him. He seized her and jerked her out of the fissure just as part of the wall collapsed into it.

  They ran for the edge of the dig and dove over the wall on the other side to a last, teeth-chattering quake.

  The land settled.

  Sara stuffed the amulet back inside her shirt, praying no one had seen it. She got to her feet, then hunched over with her hands on her knees, panting.

  “Are you all right?” he asked. He glanced from her to the yawning tear in the earth.

  She nodded. “Thanks.”

  Lamb came running toward them with Luis in tow. “Is anyone hurt?”

  “No,” she answered.

  “Someone had better go check on Ian,” suggested Luis.

  “I will,” she said before anyone else could reply.

  Lamb shook his head. “Luis and Alan will go.”

  She opened her mouth on a burst of indignation. Lamb had never countermanded her in front of a team before. In front of Flintrop, it was a slap in the face. “Lamb, I know him.”

  “As does Luis, which is why I’m sending him. They will see to Mister Waverly. I want you here.”

  Her blood boiled. Humiliated and worried, she stalked away toward the rest of the crew.

  She heard Lamb order Luis and Flintrop away, and then Lamb’s hurried footsteps as he caught up with her. He settled a hand on her shoulder.

  She rounded on him. “How could you do that to me? Ian is my friend. Ever since you got here, you’ve been acting like—”

  “Exactly as your father would have acted, had he known your house had been burglarized. What were they looking for?”

  She stilled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t be obstinate. You and I both know it wasn’t a chance occurrence. Your mother contacted me and said your father’s stored research was decimated, a fact which I find curious when you and your sister are out of the country in Shetland itself. How well do you know this ‘friend,’ Sara?”

  She struggled to maintain her calm. “It wasn’t him. How could it be, when he’s been here?”

  “I don’t take coincidence lightly. That young man followed you here. He knows something, and I want to know what it is.”

  With an effort, she kept her features neutral. Ian knew something, all right. Something she’d been hiding for twenty years, and God forbid the secret got any further.

  She and Faith couldn’t afford to trust anyone. Even Lamb, who’d been like a father. She stifled a queasy sensation in her gut. “Ian has nothing to do with this dig.”

  “I very much doubt that,” said Lamb.

  She forced her temper past the guilt. “Believe it, or don’t—I don’t care. But if you think upstaging me in front of Flintrop is going to bring me to heel, you’re sorely mistaken.”

  Lambertson looked stunned. “I had no intention of doing any such thing. I’m trying to protect—”

  “I do not need protection.” She spun on her heel and stormed away.

  Chapter Nine

  The tremor happened while Ian hung halfway down the cliffside. The shake rattled a few pebbles loose from the rock face above and below him. Startled,
he flattened himself against the cliff. Horus shrieked and launched into the air. Ian swung in his harness, wondering if the cliff would come down on top of him. Not how he hoped to end his career.

  As soon as the tremor ceased, he started carefully back up the cliff. When he reached the top, Flintrop and Luis were waiting.

  Luis gave him a hand up onto solid ground. “You all right? We just had a shakeup at the dig.”

  At once, he thought of Sara. A magnetic pull washed over him. He strove to ignore it. “I’m fine. Is everyone okay down there?”

  “Another fissure opened,” Flintrop reported. “Sara and I had a close call, but no one’s hurt. We may need to shut the project down. The site’s not safe like this.”

  Ian gave an inner growl at Flintrop’s use of the words Sara and I. That reaction was harder to ignore.

  Flintrop shrugged. “You might consider leaving as well, Waverly. It could get dangerous around here.”

  Ian snapped his gaze to Flintrop’s. They held each other’s stare. “I’ll take my chances.”

  “I heard you were a bit on the stubborn side. Got a dislocated shoulder, and still stuck around. Tough stuff.”

  Ian unhooked his climbing belt and started coiling the ropes. “Some things are just worth it, I guess.”

  Flintrop’s gaze never faltered. “I daresay you’re right.”

  ****

  Sara glanced around at the assembled crew. They ate a restless lunch while Lambertson and two of his assistants took stock of the dig site. While they finished their meal, she leaned over to her sister and spoke in a hushed tone. “I saw a skull. In the fissure, when it opened.”

  Faith’s eyes went wide. She glanced toward the trench and her mouth opened, but Lambertson’s return interrupted her before she could reply.

  The group shot to attention. Lamb held up his hand to silence the last of the conversation. “The structure of what we’ve unearthed so far is mainly intact. However, there’s a new crevice, and I believe that for the safety of all, we’re going to have to—”

  “Can we brace it?” interrupted Sara as Flintrop and Luis returned to the camp.

  “I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the crew for us to remain here,” said Lamb. “We have no way of knowing if we’ll get another earthquake.”

  “I found a skull, Lamb.”

  Everyone began murmuring. Sara stood up and spoke above the din. “It was in the crevice. If we can get it out, at least we’ll have something to show for all this work.”

  Lamb frowned. “It might be possible to shore up the fault and continue working, but I can’t guarantee our safety under those circumstances.”

  Sara glanced at her sister. Faith nodded, and Sara turned back to Lambertson. “Gemini will stay and finish the excavation.”

  “Are you telling me you’re going to endanger yourself and your sister for the sake of this project?”

  A mutter passed throughout the crew. Sara looked from face to face and found undisguised doubt. “Shetland was my father’s labor of love. I’m not leaving the island until this dig is done, if I have to scrape away every bit of soil with my bare hands.”

  The mutter elevated.

  “Are you kidding?” called a voice.

  “This is insane,” came another. “You heard Lambertson. The dig is dangerous.”

  “Who knows if there’ll be another quake?” demanded a third.

  And then, “I’ll stay.”

  Sara blinked. Flintrop. Flintrop was backing her up? She stared at him across the group. The mutter became a collective argument until Lambertson shouted for quiet.

  The crew settled. No one ever out-shouted Lambertson.

  Flintrop tilted his head at Sara. “I think she’s right. Any of my crew who wants to leave can do so, but if there are remains, it’s possible there will be artifacts. I’m staying put.”

  Faith got to her feet and whispered, “Of all the people I thought would be an ally, he’s the last.”

  “Me, too,” Sara murmured. If Flintrop stayed, the money stayed. If the money stayed, that made things a lot less difficult. She almost found herself wanting to thank him.

  Lambertson threw a hand in the air. “All right. You’re all bloody well out of your minds. Those of you who plan to stay on will need to sign release forms. If anyone intends to leave, gather your gear, and then see me to make the arrangements.” The group began to disperse.

  Flintrop crossed the camp toward Lamb’s tent. As he passed Sara, he said, “Some things are just worth it, I guess.”

  Sara watched him leave, struggling to stuff what she knew of Flintrop back into its neat little box. She met her sister’s gaze, and even Faith looked shocked.

  Faith shook out of it. “Leopard. Spots. I’m not convinced.”

  Sara grinned.

  In the end, none of the crew wanted to leave the project in light of the found skull. That meant the project could continue at its present speed. Over the remainder of lunch, Sara decided she owed Flintrop a long-overdue apology. On the heels of that revelation came a good excuse for seeing Ian. Relieved that she’d found a point even Lamb couldn’t argue, she packed up her mess kit, then marched to Flintrop’s tent.

  The door hung open. She ventured a look inside. He stood over his cot, stuffing a few articles into a duffel bag. She cleared her throat.

  He turned. “Sara?”

  “Yeah. I, er... Well, first, I wanted to thank you. Not just for staying with the project. For, you know, grabbing me before I fell into the...” She trailed off, wishing she’d thought more on how to apologize before coming to apologize.

  A grin creased his handsome face. “You’re welcome.”

  Awkward moments passed. She hovered in the doorway, trying to decide how to proceed.

  “Did you need something?” he added.

  She flushed. “I just figured that since you were going to Unst this afternoon... If you still are—” She ground to a halt, toying with the cord that tied back the tent door. “I think maybe you were right when you said we got off on the wrong foot somewhere, and I’m sorry. I’ll go with you, if you want.”

  There. Apology out. The fact that they’d have to go right by Ian’s camp had nothing to do with her offer, of course.

  “Yes, absolutely,” said Flintrop. “I was just about to go. I’m glad you caught me.”

  She nodded. “I’ll wait outside.” She retreated as quickly as possible and heaved a sigh. After that, facing earthquakes ought to be no problem.

  Flintrop joined her a short while later, and they started the hike up to the boat dock. They walked in silence for fifteen minutes before he spoke. “So, I’m glad you decided to come along for the ride.”

  She smiled briefly back and adjusted the backpack on her shoulder. He was going to drag this out of her, wasn’t he? Blushing, she admitted, “I guess I have been competing with you a little. Ever since I started my undergrad work, I’ve been coming up against the Flintrop legacy. It’s a little daunting.”

  “Try being part of the family sometime.”

  “Oh, right. Being the son and grandson of two of the field’s most notable must have been terrible, growing up.”

  “I’m serious,” he said. “There was a time, if you can believe it, that I hated archaeology. I wanted to be a lawyer.”

  “Really?”

  “My father almost disinherited me over it. God forbid the son of Nicholas Flintrop became anything but an archaeologist. Not after my grandfather Elliott had scratched out such a powerful legacy from nothing.” His voice rang with sarcasm. “He finally agreed that I could study law for a year, and then we’d discuss it further.”

  “Obviously, law didn’t make the cut, because here you are.”

  He shrugged. “My father offered me a job as vice president of his firm, and said eventually, he’d hand over the entire family business. I couldn’t refuse. I didn’t want it, but now I have it, and I’m good at it, so there was no point in stopping.”

  She thought
about that. “I’d never have taken you for wanting anything but this life. I would have given anything to have what you have. I never got to learn from my father.”

  “Be glad you didn’t learn from mine. He’s good, but he’s a hardass from a long line of hardasses.”

  There was a sharp, bitter undertone to his voice. Sara glanced up, but Flintrop’s expression had gone blank.

  They had reached Ian’s tent.

  As if he’d been summoned, Ian emerged with a camera tripod balanced on his shoulder. He stopped when he saw her, and smiled. “Hey.”

  She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed his voice. Her whole body responded to the sound. She had to force herself not to move toward him. “Hi.”

  The corner of Ian’s mouth curled upward. “Making another coffee run?”

  She laughed. “No, just the usual supplies. Do you need anything? I could pick it up.”

  “No, I’m good here.” He glanced at Flintrop. His eyes narrowed a fraction. “Flintrop.”

  “Waverly,” Flintrop responded dryly. “Sara, we’re losing good daylight. Shall we go?”

  She saw Ian’s jaw clench and she frowned, wanting more than anything to stay. “Yeah, I’ll be right there.”

  Flintrop started away, clearly unwilling to do so. For a few seconds, Sara looked at Ian, expecting him to say something, but he didn’t. With an inward sigh, she made to follow Flintrop.

  Ian grabbed her hand. Surprised, she turned back.

  The inlet, he mouthed.

  Her heart thudded. She lingered on his lips, remembering the way they had burned against her skin. She glanced around to see if Flintrop was watching—he wasn’t, thank God—then nodded and jogged away. The whole time, she felt Ian’s gaze on her, and her body pulsed like a sonar signal in response.

  She stayed silent during the ride to Unst. To her relief, Flintrop followed suit for almost the whole trip. When they moored the boat at their destination, he asked, “So what’s with this biologist, anyway? How’d he wind up on Hvitmar?”

  She bit the inside of her cheek. She’d been waiting for that. “Why does everyone have such an abiding interest in him? He’s here to study birds.”

  “Don’t you think it’s a little well-timed that he’s here when we are?”