A Mountain's Shadow (Necklace & Dagger Duology #2)
Prologue
THE COUPLE MOVED through the crowd without drawing attention to themselves.
They’d done this time and time again since their joining the British cause.
Though each mission became more and more dangerous, there was nothing that could ever stop them from continuing with their mission in searching for the truth.
The truth of the Lost Colony.
Their answers lay disguised deep within the Amazon rainforest, but a different kind of truth snaked its way through a crowd who knew nothing of anything at all.
Ben Reed followed behind Lillian, doing his best to keep her within arms reach while simultaneously seeming uninterested in her. He knew his woman was meant to seem unattached, and yet he found himself itching for his concealed weapon each time a man approached.
Ben’s disguise needed no dye, and no makeup to bring a lighter tone.
His camouflage came from his age alone. Not particularly a young man when all of this had begun, the years of espionage between now and then hadn’t been the most kind.
It was hard to feel so much for a woman in his care without being able to act upon it, let alone be the only one that stood between her safety and the world that thought her dead.
Ben knew one thing in all of this: if Lillian were to ever be rediscovered, the parties at play wouldn’t hesitate to put her down, again.
Ben’s eyes shifted to Lillian once again, as her laugh lit up the world around him.
Sometimes it was still hard for him to separate their relationship from what it had been when all of this truly began.
Quite a bit younger then, the pair had clung to each other for dear life but slowly turned to a clandestine friendship as the years churned.
The woman across from Ben, though disguised as his wife, would always be that woman that he sacrificed everything for, who he would continue to sacrifice everything for until his time came.
Lillian had never wept over her hair, it was only when she was asked to lighten her skin tone that she struggled.
Nevertheless, Ben had watched her transform from a naive young woman to a 32-year-old trained in the art of espionage.
Sometimes he still mourned the girl that was lost, but whenever she smiled, even if it were a forced one like for the man touching her now, he saw the young archaeologist he fell in love with years ago.
Moving closer, he grabbed a drink from a platter and sipped with his back turned to his partner. He tuned in quickly as the man linked at Lillian’s arm took a swig and continued his conversation with the men around him.
“…Hitler has already found many artifacts, the man is well educated and cannot be bothered by worthless historical trinkets.” The man puffed his chest and very sloppily fell headlong into the trap set before him by Lillian.
“Why, I’ve heard tell of an expedition into the savage wild of the Brazilian rainforest.”
Ben fought the urge to turn and get closer, despite the shot of a shiver that ran up his back. He fought harder when Lillian continued, “Surely, the Führer has no use for anything from the useless spot of land.”
Ben could practically hear the condescension in the man’s voice as he spoke again.
“Oh, my little naive vogel.” Ben finally turned, only to see the man wrap an arm around her tightly and with fingers that wandered.
“There have been multiple expeditions in the past. Many things that are of use to our Führer reside there. I would not expect a woman to understand such things.”
Ben heard Lillian’s breath of a laugh and stepped closer. He let his anger wash over him and out, believing that Lillian could handle the situation.
The man took yet another drink and laughed.
“I’ve heard from a cabinet member that Hitler’s patience on this matter runs slim.
” Another drink, followed by an ungentlemanly burp.
“He’s put together a team led by the great Ivo Sch?fer.
There's some older English bloke on the roster too.” For the first time in 10 years, Lillian glanced over her shoulder at Ben in the middle of an assignment, breaking the character she so meticulously created for herself.
“I’m sure whatever they are going to find will bring great glory to our cause. ”
When Lillian turned again, anger and something more crossed her shadowed features.
Ben desperately wanted to reach out and comfort her at this moment, but he knew that nothing could truly be done until they were out of the country and back to the safety of England.
He nodded discreetly before making his trek back through the crowd to the front of the ballroom.
He took a deep breath and then another, forcing himself further away from Lillian and the party.
Mr. Morgan and the rest of the team needed to be made aware immediately, lest the Germans get too big of a head start.
Ben clenched his fist, thinking of the years.
Ten years they had waited for the Germans to make their next move in the effort of finding the Lost Colony.
Ten years Ben and Lillian had pushed things between their relationship.
Ten years the two of them had dreamt of a life together only to have their work get in the way.
Ten years, and finally, there was an opportunity to move forward out of the doldrums they’d been floating in for a decade. Finally there was hope for their future, together.
Down on the party floor, Lillian’s mind wandered to similar things. Returning to the world that took her m?e from her frightened her frequently, but anything would be better to her than sitting in the relapse and the fear of it.
As she removed herself from the man attached to her hip under the guise of getting him another drink, she slipped away into the crowd and tossed her wavy red hair over her shoulder. No matter how many times she saw the glossiness under her fingers, she would never connect with it.
As she pushed out onto the glittering Berlin street, she felt lighter than she had in years. Perhaps a time was coming where she could wash the powder from her face and let her hair return to its cocoa color. Perhaps the time was coming where she could finally return to herself.