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“Aggravating.”
Aggravating was much better than indifferent. But then, I wasn’t supposed to care because of his marital status and all. “What did you want to show me?”
He pointed to the single column in the small room, three feet thick and reaching up to the ceiling.
I nodded, immediately understanding his thoughts. It had stood out to me, too. “It’s the only room in the temple that has one like it.”
“Exactly.” He lightly tapped his finger against the column. “This is the hieroglyph forsun,and right next to it is the hieroglyph formoon.”
“Hardly unusual. Those symbols must be all over various walls across Egypt.”
“True,” he conceded. “But taken with the knowledge that Cleopatra named her twins—by Marcus Antonius—Helios and Selene, Greek forsunandmoon,I think the finding is interesting. Especially inside a temple of Isis, a known identifier for Cleopatra.”
“You don’t need to convince me further. I know the column is important. Ifeelit,” I said quietly. “You search the upper half of the column and I’ll take the bottom.”
“Do you enjoy ordering me around?” he asked, faintly amused.
“Does it look like I do?” I tossed back. Question for question, just how he liked it.
His response only proved my point. “You don’t think it actually works, do you?”
Without missing a beat I said, “You’re here, aren’t you?”
“How is it that a moment ago, I wanted to strangle you, but now I feel like laughing?”
“It’s part of my charm.”
“We aren’t done with our earlier conversation.”
“I can hardly wait. I love it when you interrogate me,” I said sarcastically.
Whit chuckled through his teeth as he began his careful examination of the column. My portion consisted of dozens of bas-reliefs, a variety of letters in the ancient Egyptian alphabet carved forever into the stone. While I studied each one, I couldn’t help hoping that I would paint something that might be worth saving, something that would outlive me. My fingers brushed along the lower half, searching for any unusual creases or divots, while I also paid close attention to the sudden flare of the magic swimming in my veins.
“Whit,” I whispered.
He knelt beside me. “I see it.”
Together we pushed down on a small section of the bottom lip of the column. The front of it scraped forward, a thick door that followed the curve of the column. The stone had moved forward only an inch, but it was enough purchase to pull from. We stood. His rapid breathing filled the small space. I was in the same state. As if I’d run for miles.
Excitement propelled me forward and I reached for the door. The magic rose within me like a strong current, and I could do nothing but ride it. I was helpless against its strength. “Together, Whit.”
As one, we pulled at the door and the scraping noise reverberated in the plain room. It wouldn’t budge easily, and it took our combined efforts towiden the entry enough for us to pass through. Within the column, narrow steps appeared, descending downward in a curve. I stepped forward, but Whit caught hold of my shoulder.
“Absolutely not,” Whit said. “I go first.”
The magic in me roared in protest. “But—”
“Go get your candle, and a canteen of water.”
“Don’t you dare take another step without me,” I said. “You won’t be happy if you do, I promise you.”
“I haven’t been happy for quite some time, Olivera.”
I whirled around to face him. “Can we talk about that?”
“No.” Whit rolled his eyes. “Now go and retrieve your things.”
The items were by the rest of my art supplies, abandoned next to the sketch I’d done earlier that day. When I returned to the back room, I found Whit exactly where he said he’d be. A part of me had really believed he would have gone on without me, especially after his flippant remark about his happiness. Or unhappiness, rather. He hadn’t sounded desolated, exactly, but wearily resigned.
