Circe continued to stare at the map. 揌e wouldn抰。 He抎 most likely be in the waters of the Mediterranean or the Aegean.?
揟he Aegean is a better candidate, but there is still the question of why,?Alec said. 揥hat is the foundation of that school of thought??
He glanced at me, and I put my hands up in front of me. 揇on抰 ask me. I just found out Hercules killed his entire family, and I been singing his little songs from the movie my whole life.?
揊air enough,?Alec said. He turned to Circe. 揥ould you like to elaborate??
Circe bit back a smile. 揥e believe Aeaea was in that specific area because of Heinrich Schliemann抯 discovery of Troy. Once he found the precise location, we had a starting point for where to look for the island.?
揜ight,?Alec said. 揝chliemann抯 dig site was located in the western part of what is now Turkey, but just because he, an untrained amateur archaeologist, declared it to be the Troy of legend doesn抰 make it true. It is a known fact that the treasure he claimed belonged to the fabled King Priam actually came from an unknown culture that had flourished over a thousand years before Troy even existed.?
揧ou mad??Marie asked. 揃ecause you sound mad.?
Alec waved her off. 揟here is, however, real archaeological, fact-based evidence to suggest the Troy of Homer抯 work was much farther northeast.?He stood and pointed to an area of the map just south of the Black Sea, its coastline jutting out like four long fingers. 揝omewhere around here.?
Circe shook her head. 揑抳e heard this theory before, but I found so little evidence to support it, I just let it go.?
揧ou haven抰 seen corruption until you抳e seen the underbelly of the archaeology world. Disinformation is rampant.?He sounded genuinely upset about it. 揑抳e seen it with my own eyes.?
I went to the map to get a better look. 揝o, the island could have been in the Black Sea? How many islands are there in that area??
揂lmost none,?Alec said. 揥hich is probably why it抯 so easy to dismiss it as a possibility.?
Marie was suddenly at my side, staring at the map like she was seeing it for the first time. She reached out and traced the coastline south of the Black Sea with her fingertips.
揥hat is it??I asked.
She held her breath, running her hand over her mouth and tilting her head as she surveyed the map. 揑 just桰 had something here.?She glanced toward the door. 揂 piece of pottery. It was older than most of the other stuff. It had something on it that looked kind of like that.?She pointed to the fingerlike protrusions of land. 揂nd there were other things on it, but I can抰 remember exactly.?
揥hat??Circe asked. 揥here? Do you still have it??
Marie shook her head. 揘o. I gave it to a contact I have up in Albany. He was making a trip and said he would return it for me.?
揇id he??I asked. 揇id he take it back??
揑 don抰 know,?Marie said.
揧ou know how long I抳e been looking for something梐nything梩o point me in the right direction??Circe stared at Marie. 揂nd you had something here this whole time??
揑 didn抰 know what it was,?Marie said stiffly. 揂nd it抯 not like you抳e always been the most approachable person, Circe. After棓
揇on抰。？Circe shoved her hands in her pockets. 揓ust don抰。？She sighed and tilted her head back. 揑抦 gonna need you to find out if this person still has the pottery and how soon we can get a look at it.?
Marie nodded. 揋imme a minute.?She took out her phone and excused herself, disappearing into the next room.
揇on抰 get your hopes up,?Alec said as he settled back into his chair. 揌er contacts aren抰 always the most reputable people. They like to stay under the radar for a reason.?
Circe patted him on the shoulder, then let her hand linger there. She leaned down, studying his face. He avoided her gaze.
揥hat happened to your neck??she asked.
It had only been a few weeks since Alec got himself hemmed up by the vines surrounding the Poison Garden. The deep brown skin of his neck was crisscrossed by lines of pale pink梟ewly healed flesh.
揑 got into something that didn抰 agree with me,?he said.
I watched as Circe studied him closely. 揧ou抮e lucky they didn抰 kill you.?
Alec抯 eyes grew wide. 揗arie told you, didn抰 she??
Circe pushed her glasses up and smirked. 揙f course she did. You抮e so smart, Alec. I don抰 know why you抎 ever risk it. You know how much Marie depends on you even if the two of you live on each other抯 last nerve. She抯 bad at letting people know how she feels.?
揘o she抯 not,?Alec said. 揝he tells me all the time how much I annoy her.?
揘ot those kinds of feelings,?Circe said, shaking her head. 揝he keeps a wall up, Alec. You know what she抯 been through. She loves you, though. I know she does.?