Chapter 27
Twenty-Seven
Lunch for Eve usually took the form of a panini from the staff canteen or a salad bowl from Vincenzo’s. Lucien, however, was a regular diner at The Wolsey on Piccadilly.
At least she wasn’t wearing the gross shop polo to work these days. Eve’s work wardrobe had taken a distinct turn for the smart since her trip to Paris. Aside from the embarrassment she’d endured at Christies, she’d decided it was time to dress for the job that she wanted, not the crappy one she’d actually got. Besides, a classy guy like Lucien wasn’t going to stay interested in her for long, if she didn’t up her game.
The Wolsey didn’t disappoint. It was a beautiful restaurant in the style of a Grand Café which sat on the corner of St James’s, opposite The Ritz. She and Lucien were shown to a private room with extravagant art nouveau windows that overlooked Piccadilly by deferential waiters. Life was becoming increasingly unrecognizable.
“Would you like some caviar?” Lucien asked. Of course he did. He ignored the offer of a menu from the waiter.
Eve shrugged. She’d never tried it. Lucien arched an eyebrow. “In that case,” he said to the waiter, “The Sturia Oscietra Prestige, and a bottle of Krug Grande Cuvée. Preferably before 2014, if you would.”
Their waiter smiled and melted away.
Lucien belonged here. He was an entitled billionaire who knew the menu better than the staff. Confidence oozed from him. Eve didn’t think she’d ever seen him wrong footed, until the moment he’d discovered her wearing the crown that was. Their reason for being here came into focus. Eve fidgeted in her seat.
Her whole world was upside down. Quite the opposite of Lucien, who was so sure of himself she couldn’t imagine him ever not knowing the right thing to do. She didn’t even know who she was anymore.
“So?” she said in a hiss. “Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?”
Lucien ran his hands through the dark waves of his hair and his deep eyes glistened with gold for a second. “I think you might have guessed by now that you are very special, Eve,” he said in that Mediterranean purr of his, “Especially to me. It would help me to know what you experienced when you put on the crown just now.” He narrowed his eyes, and Eve felt compelled to respond.
Words tumbled from her. “I saw my ancestors. Generation after generation, one becoming the next. Mum, Gran, her gran, people before I’ve never known. I mean, how did they get in my head if I’ve never met them? It was so clear. So certain. Like layers of the same person. Like they were me and I was them.” She let out a little laugh and shook her head as if that would make the pieces fall into place.
Lucien watched her intently. “And the power?”
She had said nothing about power. They eyed each other for a long moment, Lucien’s gaze flicking around her face, taking in every detail. Eve didn’t know if she should say what she was thinking.
“Go on,” he coaxed.
“You’re going to think this is crazy,” she began, “But it was different this time. When I put on the crown in your chateau, it gave me a buzz, like there was an energy in it.” She faltered, considering how to phrase her next thought. “It affected my vision. I saw… shadows. Extra shadows.”
“Double vision?”
“I suppose. In a way.” Eve chewed at her lip. “I think I was tired, over tired. It had been a big weekend.” She smiled at him and the memories of Paris seemed to flow between them.
Lucien sighed, clearly remembering it, too. “Yes.”
Yes. A flash of him bending her over the car erupted in her memory, both erotic and alarming. She liked the power he wielded over her, but wondered if she was biting off more than she could chew. Eve pressed her lips together, thinking.
“And today?”
“Today,” she searched for the right words, “It felt amplified. Today I imagined I could feel the power of the sun.” She looked at him, wide-eyed, and waited for him to scoff. He did not.
“And the star?” Lucien looked hungrily at the star-shaped bulge beneath Eve’s sweater and she brushed her fingers over it to reassure herself it was still there.
“My grandmother’s. And almost certainly made to be with the crown.”
“The star is an unexpected bonus, I must admit.” Lucien licked his lips. “More proof of who you truly are. Your lineage is at the heart of this. I think you have special powers, Eve.”
A month ago, she would have laughed herself silly at the suggestion of her having special powers , but everything had changed since she’d met Lucien. She was starting to feel like anything was possible. The crown of Ishtar had released something powerful inside her.
Lucien fixed her in his gaze. “I believe you to be the reincarnation of Ishtar, Eve.”
She raised her eyebrows at him and laughed. “You can’t be serious.”
Lucien did not smile.
“You’re actually saying I am a reincarnated goddess?”
He nodded. “Generation after generation, through the maternal line. The crown confirms it.”
Eve goggled at him. “That’s insane. You know that’s insane, right? And what exactly does that mean? Can I fly? Conjure up storms? Turn men to stone?” She laughed nervously at the idea.
The waiter returned with their caviar and champagne, then set about the precise procedure of laying the table. Delicate silver pots of caviar and sour cream, a salver of blinis, tall sparkling flutes, and the champagne itself. Lucien nodded his approval of the bottle and they waited, Eve rather impatiently, for two glasses to be poured, very carefully and very slowly.
Once the second the waiter had bowed himself out of the room, Eve snatched up her glass and glugged it down.
“Chin chin,” said Lucien. He looked amused.
Eve couldn’t help but be irritated. It was all very well for him to dish out these comments, all silky smooth and relaxed about it, but it was her that was having the out-of-body experience.
Thoughts of derision growled in her mind.
How the fuck would you like it? You’ve got no idea!
I know more than you think. Lucien’s voice interrupted her thoughts, and their eyes locked across the table.
Eve cocked her head. Say what now?
You’d be surprised by what I know. His lips weren’t moving.
“Now that’s good.” She wagged a finger at him. “How are you doing that?” She’d looked around the room looking for—what? A little speaker? A techno gadget that only deranged women could hear? A mind probe?
You’re getting hysterical.
Eve laughed a little manically and pointed to the empty glass. Lucien dutifully refilled it. She downed it and sat back in her chair to stare at him.
Alright. In for a penny. She thought. You can hear me?
He nodded. Oh yes.
Oh, my actual god! Right, well, yes, obviously! And how long have you been able to do that?
A wicked smile grew on his face . Longer than I should have kept quiet about, perhaps, but you have such a dirty mind. It was hard to resist.
She was lost for words.
“Your good health,” he said, raising his glass. She raised her empty one and they fell into silence.
“Try this,” he said. He scooped a button of caviar onto a blini and added a drop of sour cream. “It’s the closest thing to heaven you can eat.”
Eve was too shocked to speak, but she was hungry. He fed it to her like a child. It was delicious, the very essence of the sea itself, both salty and faintly creamy. He refilled her glass and with another sip of champagne; it was the taste of pure opulence.
She chewed and stared at him. “So, you can read my mind?”
He shrugged. “I have a few tricks of my own.”
“Are you descended from a god, too?”
Lucien shook his head. “Nothing so grand, but what I understand, I’ve suspected it for a long time. I’ve always felt disconnected from my true self. I told you the story of Ishtar and Elham for good reason. It feels so familiar to me, like it’s ingrained in my soul. I think it’s in yours too.”
It took a moment for that to sink in. Elham was Ishtar’s great love—the man she’d given up her powers for. Eve blinked at him. If Lucien was saying what she thought he was, it was fantastical in the extreme. Could it be possible? They had a connection beyond anything she’d ever experienced before. Had everything been leading to this?
“Ereshkigal is keeping us apart, my Eve.” He picked up the champagne flute and took an excited sip. “It’s taken me an age to put all the pieces together, but subconsciously I think I’ve always known my life was being interfered with. There’s been celestial intervention by the Akkadian council. I’ve been trying to escape it, to break their bonds. I’ve been collecting artefacts for years that I think might have the smallest chance of helping me. It’s what my collection is all about. I want to communicate with the gods, Eve. I want them to set me free. Now that I’ve found you, it’s more important than ever. Ishtar and Elham, reunited, at last. I need you to let me in.”
“Ishtar and Elham?” Could it be?
“Plenty of cultures believe in reincarnation and no-one really knows the truth of what’s out there, beyond what we can see. Is it so impossible to believe?”
Putting down the glass, Lucien took both Eve’s hands in his and the waves that rippled across her skin were visible to her now. Their presence was undeniable.
“Let you in? How?”
Lucien’s eyes crinkled in a smile. There’s so much to learn. So many artefacts to explore. Will you help me experiment? I think it’s the only way. He bent his head to kiss her hands. Waves of tingling radiated along her arms and across her chest, brushing over the tender skin of her breasts like a cool breeze and raising her nipples to hard buds. The effect his touch had on her was unprecedented. She wanted him like she’d never wanted anyone. Was it so difficult to believe they were destined to be together?
“Yes,” she said, “Alright. I’ll try.”
He built another caviar blini to hand it to her. “Eat. You’re going to need the calories.”
That she could do, and willingly. She was feeling light-headed. “Is it you doing the telepathy or me?”
He switched to speaking inside her mind.
It’s me, but you are capable. I’m not a god, Eve, but I believe they have touched me. You know my story. Elham was given some of Ishtar’s powers so that he could return home from the underworld. I’ve been searching for meaning in my life for a long time. I’ve always known there was more to me, and when I discovered the Ishtar and Elham story, I knew it had to be more than just a myth. I knew it in my heart and I searched.
He slapped at his own chest, laying a hand over his heart.
I’ve been hunting for artefacts my whole life, Eve. Searching for the way to break the curse of the gods. Searching for a way to be reunited with my love, to be free.
So much of what he was saying felt like it could be true. It would explain so much. Truth was, she wanted it to be true. “So, what else can I do?” she said.
“Let’s see.”
“Where are we going?” Eve asked as they walked down Piccadilly.
“A little shopping expedition,” Lucien whispered. He leaned in to kiss her cheek. “We’re going to try something.”
They turned a corner onto Old Bond Street.
“The power you have discovered has always been there. It’s just that now your eyes have been opened to it. It is universal.” He pinched the air in front of him. “It is linked to all things and is all things. It is the quintessence of life and matter. Understanding it allows you to interact, to contro l.” He gave her a wicked smile. “You will be amazed by what’s possible, Eve.”
He took hold of her hand, and the familiar buzz of energy rattled between them. Now she could identify the ripples that flowed around her as a result of Lucien’s touch and the separate energy that welled inside her to meet it.
They passed De Beers, Cartier and Gucci, a street full of shops that were well beyond the reach of her bank balance, and finally came to a stop outside Tiffany the ring clutched in her grip.