abilities as you?” She looked concerned, and she sat staring off for a moment before abruptly turning to me. “Come with me.”
She pulled me up off the couch and I followed her down the hall. She led me to a set of double doors at the end of a narrow hallway. She knocked, but didn’t wait for whoever was on the other side to answer before she turned the handle and went in.
“We talked about you walking in on me,” a man’s voice said.
I peered around Marie. Alec sat behind a wide mahogany desk with ornately carved legs strewn with books and several computer monitors. He looked much better than the last time I’d seen him.
“I have something you need to look at,” Marie said.
Alec caught sight of me and stood. “Miss Briseis. Good to see you again.”
“Is it?” Marie asked. “You pulled a machete on her last time.”
“I brought the machete to cut through the brush and I pulled it on the vines that were trying to kill me,” he corrected. “I’d never hurt you.”
“Not if you know what’s good for you,” Marie said.
Alec looked queasy.
“Anyhoo,” said Marie nonchalantly, like she hadn’t just threatened his life. “Look at this.” She handed him the document encased in plastic. “Bri was going to use the library to look into this but maybe you can save her some time.”
His face contorted—first in confusion, then in shock as he studied the parchment. He straightened. “Where in the world did you get this?”
“You know what it is?” I asked. “Can you tell me what it says?”
He sat down, his hands trembling as he held the document in front of him. “This is ancient. It’s in Proto-Greek, similar to Classical Greek, but with a few distinct markers. It was common in the Early Helladic period.”
“Which was when, exactly?” Marie asked.
“Fourth millennium BCE,” Alec said. He threw on a pair of thick wire-rimmed glasses and cleared a spot on his desk to lay the document down. He pulled something up on his computer and clicked on a folder labeled Reconstructed Proto-Greek Phonemes.
“I’m fluent in several languages. Greek is one of them.”
“We get it, you’re smart,” Marie said. “Nobody asked how many languages you know.”
“Jealous?” Alec asked.
Marie rolled her eyes.
“I’ll read it aloud,” said Alec. “But I’ll need a minute to translate accurately. Bear with me.”
Marie perched herself on the edge of his desk and I moved around to look at the papyrus as he translated.
“ ‘Medea was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, beloved niece of the sorceress Circe, and most importantly, the—’ ” Alec paused. “The word is illegible here. We know from other ancient texts that Medea was a devotee of Hecate and those words might fit, but so would a hundred others.” He jotted down a few notes and continued. “ ‘Medea was gifted with the power of immunity to any and all poisons.’ ”
I dropped my phone. Marie was at my side, handing it back to me before I could blink.
“Are you all right?” Alec asked.
I nodded, but no, I wasn’t all right.
He continued, looking between the computer screen and the document. “ ‘Medea became the most powerful sorceress in the land. Her brother, Absyrtus, was her ever-present protector.’ ” He stopped, double-checking his work. “Here, the word ‘δηλητήριο’ is in conjunction with the word ‘μάγισσα.’ ‘Poison’ and ‘witch,’ but I don’t recognize the way it’s being used here.” He made another note, then continued reading while I tried not to hyperventilate.
“ ‘Medea was known throughout the land, so it was only natural that powerful men seeking money and power came to her, hoping she would lend her talents to their quests. She could not be bought. She could not be convinced.’ ”
I’d been gripping my phone so hard my palm had become sweaty, and pieces of the already-fractured screen flaked off on my palm. Medea wasn’t just a woman in an old portrait. She wasn’t just a character in a bunch of old stories. She was a person who came from a place called Colchis, who was immune to poison, who had a brother named Absyrtus.
“ ‘Jason, commander of the Argo, sought Medea out and devised a plan to deceive her. Jason told her Absyrtus and her father plotted against her, intending to marry her off to a man of their choosing. Medea was devastated. Jason professed his undying love for Medea and told her that he would protect her from Absyrtus and her father, but that in order to