Sacrifice (The Venus Chronicles #1)

Chapter 17

Seventeen

Enthusiasm could be a curse. Or was it libido? One of the two. Whichever it was, Eve had trouble holding back the grin when Lucien returned. He met her gaze and crossed the room with a kind of predatory determination that made her mouth dry. He scooped an arm around her waist and pulled her in. She melted a little at the knee as he kissed her fully on the lips. Goosebumps ran across her skin.

“Good morning to you too,” she gasped when he finally released her. Heat radiated from Lucien as if he were on fire. “Everything OK?”

He smoldered down. “Everything is perfect,” he growled.

“DI Michaels–”

“Has gone.” He cut her off and released his grip. “And, regrettably, I cannot stay either.” He rubbed at his neck and frowned. “But I wanted to give you this.” He handed her an envelope. “And also, this.” He reached inside his jacket to produce something fist-sized and heavy, wrapped in a silken cloth. “It’s the sun stone that belongs with our daggers. The Eye of Shamash .” A flash of a smile played at the corner of his mouth. “I don’t want to carry it around. Can you get it to Rupert for me? Ask him to keep it safe for me?”

“Oh right. OK” Eve took the silk wrapped orb with both hands. It was as warm as Lucien.

A crinkle formed between his eyes. “I have to go.” He stalked away.

She could hear his footsteps on the stairs before it occurred to her to move. She shook her head to clear the fuzz.

Wow!

Lucien made her head spin. She wobbled to her lonely desk and sat down, cradling the orb in her lap. Her coffee was cold, but she drank it anyway and tried to focus.

The envelope.

She opened it up to find it held details of the delivery schedule, written in Lucien’s copperplate handwriting. She’d never known anyone to write like this. It was like he was from another time.

The scent of him drifted up from the paper and she breathed it in. Old leather and spice. A tingle washed across her back as she remembered the feel of him. She sighed.

Several items on his list were being supplied by the British Museum itself. The Aztec Stone of Tizoc was currently in storage, according to the list. There were many treasures stored deep below the museum in the labyrinthine vaults. It was the domain of the Curator and his army of porters. Eve knew where it was but had never had cause to visit. Perhaps now she had justification.

According to Lucien’s notes, the Stone of Tizoc was to take center stage in the main room. She checked the description and found it was a twelve-foot-long Aztec stone altar that weighed four tons. That was going to be a challenge. Eve wondered how many of Rupert’s team it would take to get something like that moved to the fourth floor.

According to the list, other items were currently on display in museums around the globe. The Louvre, the Smithsonian and the Pergamon were all contributing, and a few were coming from private collections, the owner's details difficult to decipher from Lucien’s short codes.

These things would need to arrive really soon if she was to have any hope of getting the exhibition organized in time. In a snap of resolution, she decided that there was no point hanging about in the exhibition space, waiting for news. She’d deliver the stone to Rupert and check on the other exhibits progress while she was there. If anyone was going to know when these things were likely to arrive, it would be him.

She made her way downstairs.