Chapter 7 #2
“I see.”
She stared at the empty case, noting one faint sparkle in the center of the lush blue velvet where the diviner had sat.
Theo looked in the empty case, too. “You still haven’t answered me,” he said softly.
Calliope stared at the empty space, noticing that once again, Theo was looking at her with that undeniable air of hope.
“You didn’t ask me a question, Theodore,” she said carefully. “You stated a fact.”
He smirked at her. “You going to get all technical on me now, Callie?”
His soft smile was as endearing as it was attractive. Seductive, even.
Callie knew she was waffling. Prolonging the inevitable, but perhaps she liked taunting Theo. More than she wanted to admit to herself, anyway.
“If you want an answer, you have to ask a question. Or did they not cover that in your college orientation?” she rebuked.
Theo laughed. The sound was just as smooth and warm as it had been before, but this time she could enjoy it fully.
“Ouch,” he clutched his chest with his hand. “That hurts.”
She shook her head, licking her lips, and let out a giggle of her own.
“Let me take you to dinner,” he said, his voice void of the laughter. It was serious, but still carried that air of hope Calliope felt so enticed by.
“Still not a question, Theo,” she said with a sigh.
He turned to look at her, and she could not escape the heat of his gaze. She turned to face him.
“You’re right, it’s not a question,” he said solidly. “I think you want to go, but if I ask you, you’ll tell me no.”
“Theodore...” She groaned, turning away from him once more, her stomach protesting loudly.
“And I don’t want you to say no.” He walked after her.
“Is that why you came here?” she bit. “To try and get me to go out with you? So you could have a repeat of last night and—”
“No!” he said defensively. “I mean, last night was—”
“A mistake,” she said, feeling her throat tighten at the words. All at once, regret flooded her as she heard the sigh escape Theo.
There was a heavy pause, a silence between them, thick with tension until he spoke.
“Then let me make it up to you,” he said.
She let out a sigh of her own, turning to look at him once more.
She could see the determination in his eyes, and it reminded her of how he’d been last night. Hopeful, wanting. Wishing.
And she’d guided him into his desire, into his fulfillment, hadn’t she?
Something inside of her ached, yearned for Theo’s determination. For it was not her spark he was asking for.
It was her.
Her attention, her permission. Her consent.
“Theo...”
“Just one dinner. I think we’ve both had a rough day, and if you really feel like what happened between us... was... a mistake, then let it be my apology.”
She twisted her lips as he took two steps closer to her.
“And after tonight, we can start fresh. Forget... forget last night. If that’s what you want.”
Calliope felt conflicted. She wasn’t certain what it was she wanted. So, for the moment, she focused on what she needed. And Theo was right... she did need to eat.
“Fine,” she said matter of factly. “But I am picking the restaurant.”
Theo smiled. “Of course. Anything you want, Princess.”
The words soothed Callie once more. No four words had ever made her feel so... so...
Theo slid his hands in his pockets. “Promise I’ll have you home before bedtime, this time. I mean, it is a school night, right?”
Calliope rolled her eyes as she headed for the office.
“Mhmm. Let me grab my purse first, please.”
Theo nodded as she headed for the office, shutting the door briefly.
She turned off the tape footage, if only because she felt as if it was truly going nowhere.
The only lead she had was that whoever had stolen the a diviner was a supernatural shifter, and she was uncertain what sort of motive one supernatural shifter would have to break into a gallery and steal a diviner.
It didn’t make sense. The diviner itself had been buried for years, and the only others in existence were in Heaven or Hell.
No one used them anymore. Well, no one she knew, anyway, aside from Mars and that had been out of dire circumstance.
Mars...
She stopped for a moment as she thought about the God of War and his recent predicament. His appearance in the presence of the diviner—with Lorelai in tow—had shown him his fate in the midst of losing his power, and as such had shown him the way to redemption.
Could the assailant be in some sort of trouble? Perhaps losing their divine powers?
Chuck may have been an option as far as supernatural shifters went, but Mars was also a valid source of intel.
For starters, he was close with Chuck, and may be able to tell her something useful in terms of the shifters themselves, perhaps even help her narrow down the type of shifter.
But Mars had firsthand experience with a loss of power and needing a diviner, so perhaps he could shed some light on the situation as well.
And he was a rather astute god. His attention to detail was better than most gave him credit for.
And so Calliope rationalized she would call Mars. In the morning, of course. She was rather hungry and did not want to keep Theo or her stomach waiting. So she grabbed her purse and hurried out to find Theo staring at the empty space.
“What color was it?” he asked faintly.
“The diviner? It has no color, truly. Its color appears differently for different... beings.”
“What color do most people see?” he asked. The faintest shimmer of violet strobed across the glass, a trick of the light most likely.
“Humans won’t see anything more than a crystal, unless they are divined to be fated to a god or goddess or being of divine nature.”
“So, this—” He pointed to the empty space, the specs of debris collected in the velvet.
Calliope moved closer to see what he was pointing at. She got close, looking into the glass. Beneath the light was the faintest collection of dust. Glittering and iridescent. Divine crystals, left in haste, most likely.
“Should be crystal to me, right?” he asked.
Calliope looked up at him in shock. “You see a color?”
Theodore nodded. “Yeah, I do.”
His gaze held hers for a moment and she realized how close they actually were.
Her gaze drifted to his mouth. His perfect, pouty lips. Lips she knew just what they felt like against her own, grazing her skin. Bringing her to release.
Her heartbeat quickened and her pulse raced.
The faint rock dust glittered violet and lilac in the light, standing out to her like stars in the night sky, set against the deep blue velvet fabric.
“And what color do you see, Theodore?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“Purple,” he said. “Does that... does that mean something?”
It had to be coincidence, and nothing more.
There were no lines or energetic sparks.
There was no diviner to truly divine a match made by fate.
The dust of the diviner left behind was likely just a stain, a remnant of magic, or perhaps even a remnant of the thief’s magic who stole it.
Perhaps she’d look into that as well in the morning.
She’d have to question Mars about his experience, ask him again what color he saw, perhaps if Lorelai had seen it, too.
“It means that perhaps fate is calling you to its aid,” she said softly.
Theo’s gaze drifted to her lips and he let out a sigh. “I don’t believe in fate. Or magic. Or gods and goddesses from another realm.”
The admission saddened her. He did not believe in fate or magic or beings of divinity. He did not believe in her and therefore it was impossible to ascertain that he could believe in her.
In a muse.
But belief or not, the diviner had called him. Just as it called everyone it touched. His vision was proof of that.
The spark Calliope felt, the energy boiling between them was proof of that.
Deep down, Calliope knew the truth. She just didn’t want to admit it. She feared giving her heart to anyone, least of all a man like Theo.
A non-believer. A young student. Her employee. The reasons were stacking up for Calliope, despite the pull she felt toward him. Her heart beat so loud in her chest she thought he could hear it as he leaned in closer, his lips inches away from hers.
She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to feel his silken lips leading her into that perfect kiss once more. So why could she not bring herself to close the space between them?
His stomach growled and the moment dissipated. It fled into the air as if it had been a figment of her imagination, a trick of the light. Like the diviner dust that shimmered violet, but had diminished as well.
“We should get going,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.
“Right.” Theo nodded, his voice raspy, tinged with something familiar but yet unfamiliar all the same.
And as he held the door for her, as Calliope locked up the gallery, she couldn’t help but feel like something had changed.
Inside her, outside in the world.
She looked through the window of the door, expecting to see the shimmer of the diviner dust catching the low light again, but it was gone.
And so as Theodore led her to his car, as they headed to La Pear, Calliope’s favorite restaurant, she told herself this would be it.
A fresh start, a new leaf. She would leave her moment of passion and perfection with Theodore in the past. She needed to focus on the task at hand—finding the diviner and getting back to her canvas.
* * *
When they’d arrived at the restaurant, neither of them ordered an alcoholic beverage, as if they both had been thinking the same thing. Instead, Calliope had opted for a virgin pina colada and Theo had opted for a Shirley Temple, complete with five cherries.
“So... not big on French cuisine over here, so what do you suggest?” he asked.
Calliope smiled as she leaned back in her seat. The ambiance and glow of the restaurant added to the small, intimate feel, but it was also open enough and casual enough it didn’t feel quite romantic.