His eyes glazed over and he pretended to shuffle some papers around on his desk. 揑 love her, too. Might be good if she said it out loud sometime.?
I made a note to myself梡ull Marie aside and make her tell Alec she cared about him, because I was not gonna allow her to keep hurting this sweet old man抯 feelings.
揥e can talk about that later,?Circe said. 揃ut for now, I抎 really like to know what was going through your mind when you decided to try and sneak out to the garden.?
He shook his head. 揟he ulcers.?
Circe raised an eyebrow, then gave him the once-over like a concerned parent. 揑抣l bring you a window box. I抣l start a dozen comfrey plants. Can you look after them??
揌e needs the Symphytum uplandicum variety,?I said. 揥e only have Symphytum officinale at the house.?
The corner of Circe抯 mouth crept up. 揂nd the other one is better because??
I could tell by her tone that this wasn抰 a question she actually needed an answer to, but she wanted to hear me say it.
揟he alkaloid content is higher. It抯 just better.?
Circe nodded in approval and then turned back to Alec. 揝he抯 right, but I抦 not going to bring you a single thing unless you promise not to come up to the house without telling somebody first.?
揑n my defense, I thought you were dead, and I didn抰 know Miss Briseis and her family had moved in.?
揋ive me your word,?Circe said. 揑 trust that.?
He raised his right hand the same way he had when I抎 visited him in the hospital. 揧ou have my word.?
Marie came back into the room. 揗y contact says he doesn抰 have it anymore.?
My heart sank into the pit of my stomach.
揃ut he also won抰 tell me how or when he returned it to its country of origin.?She crossed her arms hard over her chest. 揥hich means he probably sold it to a private collector.?
揌ow very unfortunate for him,?Alec said.
I looked back and forth between him and Marie. 揥hat? Why does that matter??
揑t抯 against my rules,?Marie said. 揗y contact knows that.?
I turned to Circe and expected to find her as confused as I was, but instead, I found her grinning.
揥hat抯 funny??I asked. 揥hat did I miss??
Circe drummed her fingers on Alec抯 desk, then looked at Marie. 揌e wronged you? Reneged on the terms of your deal??
Marie took in Circe抯 expression and cracked a smile herself.
揝omebody gonna tell me what抯 going on or what??I asked.
Circe patted me on the shoulder. 揗arie is a stickler for rules, especially when it comes to her treasures.?
揟hey抮e not treasure. They are looted history, and if I asked this mother棓
揕anguage!?Alec said, his eyes wide.
He sounded like Mo and it made me smile.
Marie pursed her lips and dramatically folded her hands together in front of her. 揑f I made a deal with this梛erk梩o return something and he sold it, well 厰 She took a long deep breath and her brown eyes seemed to swim with little tendrils of black. 揟hat抯 going to be a problem. For him.?
Alec cleared his throat and shook his head before raising his gaze to meet Marie抯。 揥hy are you like this??
揃ecause I need to be,?Marie said. She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door. 揅ome on. We can get on the road and be there in an hour.?
I didn抰 want to waste any more time than we needed to. I shot Mo a text letting her know what we were doing, leaving out the part about Marie possibly wanting to murder this contact on sight. As we walked to the car, Nyx was nowhere around and Marie reached for the driver抯 side handle. Circe slid into the seat as Marie opened the door.
揑 can drive,?Marie said.
Circe took the keys from the visor and started the car. 揑 know everybody thinks I抦 dead, but I don抰 actually want to be dead.?
揂re you ever gonna let that go??Marie asked.
揘ever.?
揥hat??I asked. 揧ou crashed the car or something??
揟ell her,?Circe said. 揕et her know who she抯 dealing with.?
Marie huffed and lowered her gaze to the ground. 揗aybe I ran over Circe抯 foot one time.?
I looked at Circe, who was smiling smugly. 揗y toes ain抰 never gon?be right again,?she said. 揑 love that for me.?
Marie shrugged. 揑抣l ride in the back.?
I nudged her shoulder, and she opened the rear door so I could get in.
CHAPTER 4
An hour later we pulled onto a darkened street just outside downtown Albany. The narrow street butted up to a park dotted with hearty maples and towering oaks. As I climbed out of the car, a familiar groan emanated from the green space. The trees twisted toward me, their boughs searching for me in the dark. I took a deep breath and let the air hiss out between my teeth. The trees swayed in the windless night air.