The Serpent in the Stone - By Nicki Greenwood Page 0,77

his belly, he gave a throaty rumble and trapped them with his own. “Unless you plan on spending the night on this beach, I don’t recommend you do that.”

She sat up, tugging him with her into another kiss. His jacket slithered off them to drop on the sand. He made out her curving silhouette against the moonlight flashing on the water, and contemplated spending the night on the beach anyway. In spite of everything going on around them, all he wanted was to pull her back down and repeat what they’d just done.

The breeze picked up, fluttering in her hair. She broke the kiss with a violent shiver. “When did it get so cold out?”

“What cold?” he deadpanned, reaching for his pants.

Kneeling, she clapped a hand over her own pile of clothing, then dressed hastily. She turned back to him as he shrugged into his shirt, and stopped to raise a hand to his cheek. A troubled look crossed her features. “I don’t want to go.”

His gut clenched. He snaked his arms around her and pulled her close against him. “I don’t want you to, either. I’ll come back tomorrow. If you can get away from the dig—”

“As soon as I can,” she said between kisses.

Ian helped her to her feet. He let go of her, trying not to dwell on the reluctant expression in her eyes that made him want to pull her back. A few seconds more of that, and he might be spending the night with her on the beach—and damn Flintrop and the dig and everybody else sticking their noses into other people’s business. Sara held his hand until they were too far apart to do so, then jogged away.

When she had gone, he looked up at the moon again to find it bloodred.

Startled, he blinked and looked once more, but the moment had passed. The moon hung silent and white as a ghost.

****

When dawn broke over the camp, Sara was already bent in concentration over the large mesh box beside the dig, sieving earth. Stones rattled as she shifted the box back and forth, searching. She picked chunks of peat, stone, and grass from the box and tossed it into a wheelbarrow, hardly acknowledging it before moving back to sieving again.

The task was perfunctory, something to put down on paper when—and if—they wrapped up the excavation. It also occupied her mind just enough to keep her from racing to Ian’s camp the way she wanted. Lying naked at the inlet with him in the middle of the night, she’d felt safer than if she’d been at home, locked in her house. Even now, she ached to be with him.

But she couldn’t leave Faith alone here. They needed to watch each other’s backs until this was ended, however it ended. Her sister hadn’t been able to reach Hakon since that last time when she’d tapped herself. If Thomas Callander was plotting something involving the serpent ceremony, he’d decided to bide his time. How could Lamb not know the man he’d hired, the man he’d known for a good ten years, was capable of murder?

And he wasn’t alone. Couldn’t be alone, if he were bent on doing this. No one had the kind of power it would take to open and control the ley lines himself. Stone, stone, grass, stone...

“Good morning.”

Sara spun on her heel, fists raised to swing.

Thomas hopped backward. “Whoa! A little edgy today, aren’t you?”

Forcing a smile, she lowered her fists. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

“How should I sneak up on you, then?” He laughed.

She tried not to stare. She’d never seen his eyes change, even once. Did they change, or was it not the same for everyone? Could he lift as much as she could with her gift? Did he feel that shiver when he used his power?

Cameron’s terror-stricken face sprang into her mind. She gripped the edge of the sieve box, and fought back the bile rising in her throat.

“You all right? It sounded like you were pretty bad off, yesterday.”

“I’m fine,” she murmured, no longer able to meet his gaze. “Just working. Preoccupied.”

She felt his gaze on her for a moment, and implored her body not to tremble. She scanned the dig, looking for something he might use against her. What would happen if he suspected she knew about his gift? Would she be strong enough to stop him?

“You’re up early,” came Flintrop’s voice.

She couldn’t keep the relief from edging her tone when she saw Flintrop and Luis coming