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“I’m not surprised. I knew you must be on the trail of a grand prize. You’ve been obsessed with Cleopatra since girlhood. I remember you draping yourself in sheets and quoting from the Shakespeare play. You always took such a long, dramatic time to die.”
She raised her head. “Die where thou has hast lived. Quicken with kissing. Had my lips that power, thus would I wear them out.”
Raven kissed her lips. “I am dying, Egypt, dying. Give me some wine and let me speak a little.”
“Noblest of men, wouldst thou die? Hast thou no care of me? Shall I abide in this dull world, which in thy absence is no better than a sty?”
“That’s when you’d start staggering around, clutching your chest and moaning.” He chuckled. “I always thought if you didn’t become an archaeologist, you’d become a stage actress and truly scandalize London society.”
“All the world’s my stage,” she declared.
“And all the men merely players.”
“When did you start memorizing Shakespeare?” she asked. “You always refused to when we were children.”
He’d memorized Shakespeare’s plays during his assignments because it made him feel closer to Indy. “Perhaps you don’t know what’s up my alley.”
“Apparently not.” She shivered slightly.
“You’re cold. The fire’s gone out.”
“I think I should go to my bed now.” She shrugged into her shift.
He’d been hoping she might suggest warming herself in his bed. But it was better this way. They’d already gone too far.
Good God. The things they’d done tonight. The oaths he’d already broken.
He helped her rise and then found her gown and boots.
While she dressed, he donned a robed and rolled up the map of Paris she’d brought to his room, fastening it with a piece of twine.
“Here,” she said softly, holding out her hand. The Wish Diamond sparkled against her palm.
“Keep it,” he said. “Wear it tomorrow.”
“I’m confident that tomorrow evening our search will bear fruit.”
“And then you can start your quest for the tomb.”
She nodded, her eyes shadowed and unreadable. “Yes. One search leads to the other. Good night.”
She left.
He lay awake, waiting for her to fall asleep. He’d go out again as soon as he was sure she slept soundly.
He imagined what her breathing sounded like in sleep. The little noises she made.
He’d been denying himself any real and meaningful connection with another human being for so long. He’d been so wrong to think that this journey with her could be kept on a surface level.
She was his weakness. But she also gave him a new strength of purpose.
He’d been so busy resolving conflicts on the world stage that he’d created this war between them. Now all he wanted to do was lay down his weapons.
Being with her made him want to strive toward different goals. Selfish goals that had far more to do with making her happy than finding the damned stone.
When she’d looked up at him in the museum, her eyes shining and said, “We found it, Raven,” an overwhelming sense of rightness had flowed into his heart. He hadn’t been elated about the possibility of ending the search. He’d overflowed with joy because she was happy.
The foundations of his life had been shaken in that church in Athens. And the new footing he’d found, the only thing that seemed to make sense or feel right in any way, was to give her joy.
