Chapter Thirteen #2
“Bullshit, Juicy,” he said, not giving a shit about calling her Daniela anymore. “You mean to tell me that you saw me at Knossos and weren’t going to do anything about it? You never let anything go. You know you would have gone looking for me. Admit it.”
“I…I…”
For once, she was speechless.
It shouldn’t have been as satisfying as it was. He smiled. He’d finally gotten to her.
But given the scowl starting to form on her face, it didn’t seem like she liked it very much.
“Of course I was going to look for you! I thought you were dead! But the only reason I wanted to find you was so I could tell you off, you pendejo! Did you really expect me to see you at Knossos and be like, ‘Oh, there he is. Alive and well. Mystery solved. Time to move on,’ ” she said, brushing her hands in a done motion, “you selfish asshole?!”
Her voice started to quiver. Shit. Things were going off the rails now.
“Dani, I’m sor—” he said, bringing his hand up to comfort her, but she backed away.
“I swear, being around you…if I’m going to be stuck with a brother, I’d rather be with Eddie. At least Eddie knows better than to meddle in my dating life,” she said before retreating from the room.
If she only knew.
* * *
Once Theo took a few deep breaths, he finally left the room to join the others in the living room.
There were about half a dozen other people who’d come over.
Theo’s hackles went up until Christos explained that they were trustworthy—other cousins and his girlfriend Phoebe’s friends from work.
Theo searched the room for Dani. There she was with Phoebe in the kitchen helping pour drinks. She was laughing and having fun.
It reminded him of being at one of their families’ gatherings.
So often during those parties, his mother would humblebrag about her cooking, while her mother would overtly boast. Theo and Dani would always find each other from across the room and roll their eyes at their mothers’ ridiculousness.
He loved how Dani always seemed to be thinking of him at the exact same time that he was thinking about her.
It was like their little secret when their gazes would connect.
Sometimes it felt like there was no one else in the room as they spoke only through their eyes. God, he missed those parties.
Now, when she caught him looking over and glared back, the only thing her eyes said was Fuck. Off.
Theo walked over to the patio doors, staring out at the spectacular view of Athens with the Acropolis far in the distance.
The sight of it towering above the city always gave him a rush of adrenaline, picturing the gods looking down on the ancient Greeks, delivering their commands and wielding their powers over the lands.
He was lost in a daydream when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to find Andreas.
“I’d like to show you something,” he said, motioning for Theo to join him as he walked down the hall, away from the buzz of the party.
Theo glanced over his shoulder, checking on Dani one more time, and then he followed Andreas.
They entered a room, an office with various paintings and pictures depicting Greek life hanging on the wall. And on a desk in the center of the room was a box full of books, maps, and drawings.
“What’s this?” Theo asked, looking into the box.
“I brought this from home—my life’s work on the eye of the Minotaur.”
Theo shot a curious glance at him.
“I think we got off on the wrong foot earlier. Maybe showing you this will show that you can trust me. I have absolutely nothing to gain by helping you.”
Fuck. Now Theo felt like an asshole.
“Look, I’m sorry about earlier—” he started, but Andreas put his hand up to stop him.
“You don’t have to explain. Daniela helped me to understand,” Andreas said with a dreaminess to his eyes.
Hearing her name on his tongue sent a swirl of jealousy and protectiveness roiling through his stomach.
“We’re engaged!” Theo blurted out.
Why? Why did he just do that?
Andreas looked taken aback, startling at Theo’s words. “Oh, I didn’t realize.”
“Yeah, we’ve known each other almost our whole lives,” Theo continued. “She’s my best friend’s sister.”
Andreas chuckled. “I assume he had thoughts on the two of you dating.”
Oh, Eddie would have more than just thoughts, all right.
But Theo only muttered in agreement.
“Anyway,” Theo said, “I just didn’t want you to get the wrong idea, is all.”
“Of course. I’m sorry if I came across too strongly earlier. Natural habit when there’s a pretty woman around, you know, being painfully single and all at this age,” he joked, putting his hands up to show no offense.
“Your yayá is like my mom. Always hounding me to settled down with a Good Greek Girl,” Theo said with a slight chuckle.
“Yet Daniela is not Greek.”
He always wondered what would happen if he told his mother that he wanted to date Dani. It was a toss-up as to whom he’d need to tell first: Eddie or his mom.
“No, she’s not. But if you want to come to America, I’m sure my mom would happily set you up with one of her friends’ daughters.”
Theo and Andreas laughed, clearly sharing similar experiences even though they lived thousands of miles apart.
“So what all is in here?” Theo said, taking a large book out of the box.
Theo flipped a few pages, stopping on a picture of a clay vessel, one he hadn’t seen before.
Painted on the surface was a man holding up the head of the Minotaur outside a cave.
He wore a tunic with a medallion hanging from his neck: the eye with a μ.
“Do you know what this is supposed to be a painting of?” Theo asked, pointing at the page in the book.
Andreas craned his neck to see what Theo was looking at. “Ah,” he said, relaxing back in place. “Τα Παιδι? του Μιν?ταυρου.”
Theo furrowed his brow. “The Minotaur’s Children? What is that?”
Andreas reached into the box and pulled out a leather-bound notebook with various papers and clippings sticking out of it. He thumbed through it before stopping on a page and handing it over to Theo.
It was a sketch of the same symbol that was on the medallion and the same symbol on their family’s olive oil bottles and Theo’s pendant. He stared at it for a few moments, trying to make sense of what he was looking at, debating whether to show Andreas the medallion around his neck.
“It’s a secret society,” Andreas said. “A cult that worships the Minotaur. Allegedly, they know the whereabouts of the eye. According to my yayá, they’re the ones responsible for the erasure of our family’s history.”
Theo listened on as he flipped through the book, discovering Andreas’s handwritten theories, maps, and drawings about the Minotaur and the eye.
“You can take that with you, if you’d like, so you can read through my notes this evening,” Andreas said.
“Are you sure?” Theo asked.
Andreas simply nodded.
“I honestly didn’t think people were out there looking for it,” Theo said, tucking the book under his arm and then walking around the room, inspecting the various paintings and books lining the shelves. “I always thought it was just a story my papou told me.”
“Oh, there will always be people looking for it. Like Atlantis and El Dorado. Explorers will search until they have confirmation. Like that lost Moon City in the .”
“And if there is no confirmation? If those places, those artifacts don’t exist?” Theo asked. He was beginning to sound like his parents.
Andreas laughed. “But that’s not why we become archaeologists, is it? Because we think the unbelievable might not exist? It’s more fun to believe, to wonder, don’t you think?”
Of course it was. Hence why Theo took up writing so he could make up his own stories.
“Do you believe in the Minotaur?” Andreas asked.
Believing in the Minotaur went against everything his parents wanted for him.
They favored facts, structure, and proven methodologies.
While they supported his career, they preferred the stability and prestige that came from working in the museum rather than toiling in the dirt and sun.
They also often struggled with his love of mythologies and fantasies.
Things they thought of as nothing more than entertainment.
“I didn’t before, but now I’m starting to,” Theo said.
“You said your papou told you about the eye? How does he know about it?” Andreas asked.
“I’m not sure, exactly,” Theo said, recalling one of the many discussions he’d had about it with his grandpa. “He said a friend told him about it when he was visiting Crete as a young man. But he passed away years ago.”
“Where was he from?”
“A small fishing village. Perdika.”
Andreas stared at him like he’d seen a ghost.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” Theo asked, glancing around the room. Had he missed something?
“My yayá…she always talks about her first true love from Perdika. I always thought it was just something she said to irritate my papou whenever he made her angry. But maybe…”
Andreas let his voice trail off as Theo thought back to what Lydia had said to him. How she’d thought he’d looked familiar.
Something about Andreas seemed familiar, too.
“What? Now why are you looking at me like that?” Andreas asked.
“Lydia. She said I reminded her of someone. And my papou…this was his,” Theo said, reaching under his collar and pulling out the medallion. Andreas looked at the symbol etched on the pendant and then back at Theo.
“What was your grandfather’s name?”
“Zeno.”
Now Andreas eyes went wide. “My father, my yayá’s firstborn…his name is Zeno.”
They paused. Did this mean…?
“Wait,” Andreas said, walking across the room and pulling Theo from his thoughts.
He scanned the pictures hanging on the wall before settling on one of a large group and then taking it down.
He brought the photo over to Theo and pointed at a man.
“This is from our latest family reunion. And here’s my dad. ”
Theo gazed into the photo—it was like seeing his papou’s ghost. He then looked up and Theo and Andreas stared at each other, both clearly coming to the same conclusion: his papou was Lydia’s first love.
And they might be cousins.
That must have been how his papou had come across the medallion. And it explained why their family always celebrated with raki—a Cretan drink—despite his papou growing up on the mainland.
“Do you think…do you think maybe your papou wanted you to find us?” Andreas asked. “Maybe that’s why he told you the story of the eye and why you have that necklace?”
Every conversation Theo had ever had with his papou whirled through his brain. He racked his mind, trying to remember bits and pieces of his grandfather’s life. Where he was from. When he’d visited Crete. Whether he’d ever mentioned anyone named Lydia or another lover before his grandma.
“What if we were to find it together?” Andreas continued.
The book with the photo of the clay pot caught his eye again. What if…?
No, they needed to leave.
“What about your friend at the embassy?” Theo said. “We’re supposed to go home.”
“I told her that I had American friends in trouble, but I did not say who you were. She said when you are ready, I’m to call and she will arrange an escort to the embassy. The minute your name is out there, however, there is no going back.”
Theo didn’t need Andreas to spell it out for him. Anyone knowing his whereabouts could put him—and Dani—back in danger.
But leaving would mean putting any further exploration of his ancestry on hold.
“And what if I’m not ready to go?” Theo asked.
Andreas smiled. “Then, ξ?δερφε, tomorrow I can show you Demetrios’s journal in the museum archives.”
Cousin. He liked the sound of that.
“Think about it,” Andreas said, placing his hand on Theo’s shoulder. “And take your time with this.” He tapped the top of the box, and then left Theo in the room.
He took another look at the photo of the clay pot with the man holding the Minotaur’s head.
The vessel called to him, though he didn’t know why. And without another thought, Theo ripped out the page from the book, folded the paper, and tucked it in his pocket.