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Rumy waved, shifted to altered flight, and left.
Despite the fact that she had a decision looming over her head, Shayna savored every bite of the excellent meal and each sip of wine.
When she finally finished eating, she knew the time had com
e to figure things out. But before she did anything else, she went to her jeans and pulled out her iPhone. She wanted to take some pictures of the familiar carvings.
CHAPTER 6
Shayna followed Marius to an arched stone opening past the kitchen. The hall sloped downward, but again her vision caught the same, familiar carvings that involved repeated straight lines. The more she saw the patterns repeating, the more she felt certain she was looking at something similar to cuneiform, a type of written language used by the cultures of ancient Mesopotamia. She wasn’t an expert by any means since her field was cultural anthropology and not linguistics, but her curiosity was aroused anyway.
She might have been headed to Malaysia for her fieldwork, but seeing Marius’s undiscovered world was like being in a candy store.
An expansive opening to the left revealed a room she would call a study, with a broad, uncluttered desk. In the center sat a laptop. He moved toward it and the chain around her wrist vibrated softly.
He ran a finger through a line of dust. “I haven’t been here in over a year.” His voice was quiet, reflective.
She recalled now that Daniel had imprisoned three of his sons for supposed acts of treason and that he’d tortured each of them.
How quickly her reason for being in his home came flying back at her. She knew she should choose helping him and saving the human women she’d seen being treated like animals. She wasn’t even sure what held her back.
Except, of course, the obvious: that she risked her life and all her plans by remaining in this cave. She’d worked hard toward all that she’d planned for her life—to study, to become an expert in her chosen field of study, to teach. How could she throw all of that away for a culture completely unknown to her?
She hardly knew Marius.
She’d turned over control of her life to a man once before, and the results had been disastrous for her. The affair she’d had with Michelson had begun as a thrilling experience because he’d been like Marius, very passionate. But their relationship, even in the bedroom, had been about her sacrificing for what Michelson needed at any given moment.
Michelson had been her role model, living the life she wanted. He was dedicated to his work as an anthropologist and spent hours on his research every day. By the time she’d recognized his “passion” for the selfishness that it truly was, he’d shattered her self-esteem with his demands and constant criticisms.
She’d needed months, including several intense weeks of therapy, to get herself back on track and to reestablish her self-esteem. She’d also made an important promise to herself to be wiser in the future.
How wise would it be to jump in and join Marius? How was that choosing for herself?
Yet somehow she knew life was more complex than simply analyzing the pros and cons of the situation. She could feel how in tune she already was with Marius’s world. For one thing, she’d just had sex with him, as shocking that still seemed to her rational mind.
An oil painting of a hawk soaring through a massive cavern above a river hung on the wall behind the desk. Tall filing cabinets in what looked like mahogany flanked a table bearing a decanter and cut-crystal tumblers.
“You like whiskey?”
He nodded. “A fine single-malt.”
He moved in front of her, crossing to the right. Another smaller tunnel opened into a tall cavern that clearly served as a library, with more of the unique carvings. Hundreds of books, most of them bound in leather, lined several tall bookshelves, each sunk into the stone walls. Comfortable leather club chairs and a matching couch sat in the center, while off to one side a large table and tall, ladder-back chair invited the stacking of books and papers and lots of research.
She drew a deep breath. “I could live in this room.” She’d spoken the words aloud without thinking.
She moved toward the grouping of furniture where a globe of the earth sat on a tall wood stand. She examined the names and realized she wasn’t looking at human earth, but at the location of every cavern system on the planet. Most of the names were familiar earth-based names but usually followed up with the word system. She glanced at him. “I see a name in Egypt—the Pharaoh system. So this globe reflects your world.”
He nodded.
She stopped the globe at New Zealand. Several systems were labeled, one of them the Hawk system.
“Does the hawk have meaning in your world?”
“It’s a symbol sometimes of courage, sometimes of dominance and strength.”
She met his gaze. He personified these qualities but she had the feeling that he didn’t think of himself in that way.
He was close to scowling again and she could feel his impatience, even his disapproval.
