edge. And that was where she would stay, she decided. She would wait for the sun to rise, when they would all—most of them, anyway—finally, fall silent and asleep….
Like the dead.
God, it was all just too much.
She sat in the sand, drew her knees up to her chest, lowered her head and let the tears flow. She heard James open and close the car door, and then his footsteps crossing the large wooden deck, the door opening, then shutting behind him. Finally, she thought. Solitude.
And so she sat there, weeping and wondering how the hell it was that she had been dragged into a war that was not her own. And how it was that she had let herself begin to care what some half-breed demon angel thought of her.
Because she did care. He thought she was a coward. And it probably wouldn’t hurt so much if it wasn’t quite so true.
She was still weeping when, a few minutes later, a large hand landed on her shoulder from behind. She lifted her head, dashed away her tears and tried to pretend she hadn’t been crying. “Sorry. I’m just so…stupid.”
“That’s not quite the way I’ve heard it.”
It wasn’t James’s voice.
She turned at last and found herself face-to-face with an imposingly handsome man, large, broad, with raven hair and eyes and skin that seemed dark for a vampire. And yet she had no doubt that was what he was. And, in fact, an old one. He exuded power. The glow in his eyes was almost constant, and his skin was even more flawless than the others’ were.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Professor. I actually…I came out to thank you. And to introduce myself.”
She blinked, staring up at him, not moving. He should have seemed ordinary. He wore jeans and a forest-green knit pullover sweater with the collar of a white T-shirt showing at the neck. But he wasn’t ordinary at all. She got chills, he was so far from ordinary.
“We share some interests, I understand.”
“D-do we?”
“Ancient Sumer. You study it…and I lived in it. Ruled it, actually.” He extended his large, powerful hand. “I’m Damien Namtar, but you’d be more familiar with my earlier name. Gilgamesh.”
Her eyes widened, and her heart tried to pound a hole straight through her chest.
“You…can’t be…”
He smiled gently. “Idib balazu nam hé-ébtarre.”
“‘When you cross the threshold, it is a blessing,’” she translated, blushing at the compliment. “Thank you.” Then she shook her head in awe and quickly scrambled to her feet, brushing the sand from the front of her khaki cargo pants and pressing her palms together in front of her body, then bowing slightly to him. “It’s…it’s an amazing honor, great king, to meet you. And a bit of a miracle. And I feel like I might faint, so I’ll apologize in advance if—”
“I should be the one bowing to you, Lucy. I understand that you’re the translator of the prophecy. And that now you’ve located Ziasudra’s remains?”
She shook her head. “It won’t do any good, your high—”
“Damien. Really, I’m just a man. I make my living as a magician, entertaining the masses in Vegas when I’m not on tour. Though I imagine my onstage vampire persona will be seen through now. They’ll know it’s for real, and I’ll be hunted, like the rest of us.”
She lifted her head, met his eyes. “You never found him again, did you? Your beloved friend, Enkidu?”
His eyes shifted toward the sea, maybe to hide the reaction she’d glimpsed at the mention of his friend’s name. “I like to think he’s in a better place.”
“All of this, all of it, this entire race began, because of your search to restore life to your best friend. And now James is going to try the same thing. He’s going to try to bring life back to a pile of ash. Don’t you see how futile that is?”
He met her eyes and stared deeply into them. “You’re very wise for a mortal possessed of only a few decades. And I said much the same thing, only an hour ago, to James. He’s hearing none of it.”
“But surely you have the authority to tell him to let this go?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I might. But I’m not convinced that, futile or not, it isn’t worth a try.” He sighed and glanced out toward the sea again. “Sunrise approaches, and I must go inside. But I had to meet you. If we both survive this, I would love to spend some time