Page 20 of Knight of the Sword

“It was. The whole building of the Money Pit was a ruse. There were enough hints of treasure—coded to be sure, but easy enough to decipher—to lead men astray. More importantly, such a ruse would divert Balor, as well.”

“He seems to be hot on the right trail now.”

“True. Which makes it crucial for us to find the Sword before he does. Fate protected the spear. Let’s hope she does the same for us.”

Sophie gave him a skeptical look. “I’m sure your friend used some kind of logic to know where to look next.”

“Yes, but only because circumstances were aligned to do so.”

“Huh?”

Michael smiled. “Sara and Lucus were at the historical center at Roanoke when a lady from Maine overheard them discussing the symbolism of rose windows perched as near to heaven as could be had in European cathedrals, and this lady asked if they’d like to see one here in the United States.” Michael paused. “Fate or Destiny, but I believe that woman was there for a reason. To get them to the cathedral in Maine.”

Sophie wondered again at Michael’s mental stability. This all sounded way too metaphysical and mystical to her. Could she really be so physically attracted to Michael if he were insane? Right now, she wanted nothing more than to slither—slither!—up against him in that small compact space and hush his words by kissing him senseless. That wide, full mouth of his would be so good for something other than talking. God, maybe she was the one not playing with a full deck anymore—Tarot or otherwise. She had sworn off men, yet here she was practically oozing estrogen out of every pore.

“Then what happened?” she managed to ask.

“They arrived in the midst of a late nor’easter. Lightning cracked an ancient oak—the druid’s tree—and the spear was buried inside the trunk. Sara sounded so happy when she called with the news.” He shrugged. “Fate or Destiny? They were meant to find that spear before Adam Baylor did.”

Well, Michael certainly believed his tale. That much Sophie could tell. And the manuscript was real. She had seen and read it. And even if she wasn’t sure she believed this Adam Baylor had supernatural powers, if he was supporting terrorism it was reason enough to look for this Sword, especially if it did have some sort of polarizing energy force.

“So how do you know the Sword is in the South? Which, I might add, is a fairly large expanse of land.”

“Such a skeptic. The logical place to look for the Sword is in the south.”

Maddeningly he stopped talking, and she wanted to rail at him to tell her straight and simple. Then he grinned at her. She was fairly sure the air was sparkling with invisible pheromones again. What was so irresistible about his grin anyhow? This was the wicked one—a little lopsided, the left corner of his mouth tilting up a bit more than the right. His eyes smoldered slightly, as if inviting her into some lush, dark, secret world that her traitorous body seemed to want to go to. Maybe her self-imposed celibacy since the divorce was getting the best of her. Maybe she should invest in one of those vibrating “Rabbits.” She resisted smiling back.

“Why the South?” she asked again, hoping her voice wasn’t quivering like some parts of her body were.

“Forces of nature,” he said, an amused expression crossing his face. “The concept of the Tarot is a guideline for the laws of nature. Logical. The suit of Swords symbolizes the element of fire. The cycle of life flows clockwise. As the east is symbolic of dawn and beginnings, the south is symbolic of summer and achievement. So it would be logical to seek the Sword in the south, wouldn’t it?” Michael tilted his head, waiting for her answer.

Sophie mulled it over. “Perhaps,” she finally said, “but where in the world would you start?”

“I’ve given it some thought. If the theory of a general like Lee or another military leader being a member of the Priory is true, we need to check Civil War sites that are near lakes probably no farther north than the Chesapeake.”

“That’s not exactly a lake.”

“No, but Charleston has a good harbor that’s been used for centuries and has seen its share of battles. I’ll be through with adjuncting in a couple of weeks. We can leave the first part of June.”

Sophie raised her brows. “You really think my involvement is crucial to your finding the Sword?”

“Yes. The Pendragon would not have made his presence known to you otherwise. I don’t know what your role is, but you have one.” Michael smiled, the dimple appearing. “You will help me, right?”

She hesitated and then nodded. “I guess I could. I have some vacation time coming. But this will be strictly business. No expectations of making it personal. Separate rooms. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Michael said solemnly. “I really need your help.” He leaned across her to open the door, taking care not to brush against her. “I would never force you to do anything you didn’t want to do.” Then he grinned.

The dimple wasn’t there. As Sophie stepped out of his car, she had the distinct impression that he had never forced any woman to do what she didn’t want to do because the thought to refuse him probably never entered any woman’s head.

Blast him. Well, he would find out that she was different. He would.

****

The Landon boy had ceased yelling a good twenty minutes ago and, more recently, had quit fighting the ropes that tethered him to the bedposts of the elaborately decorated master bedroom in Baylor’s suite. Alan and Toby sat in armchairs near the window, trying to appear nonchalant about what had just taken place, even as Morgan smiled at all of them.

Baylor particularly had enjoyed humiliating Carl. The man was good-looking, with his long brown hair and green eyes. He worked out religiously at a gym whenever he wasn’t gambling and was extremely proud of his virility. He also had a real aversion to any male touching him, and Baylor certainly had. It served as a good example to Alan and Toby that Baylor exacted his due when he was not obeyed. He smiled at them now.

“That little demonstration was because Mr. Landon chose to be in a poker game rather than tailing Sophie Cameron the second time the dragon appeared. If I had known of his absence, I’d have been there myself.” Baylor looked around. “Any questions?”