His doubt gave Ava a feeling akin to an attack of heartburn. “I’ve been wondering if it’s a foundation stone for one of your houses.”
Harper’s mouth fell open. “Of all the…”
Ron snorted.
Ava tried to calm her disappointment at their reaction. They didn’t know her yet. She was a stranger who had just swooped in. Why would they believe me?
“So, what are we to do—rip up the foundations two houses?” Ron demanded.
“Under other circumstances, I would have said that we should look for it when the moon is full. That might help us find it,” she said.
“Not going to be much of that available for a while with this weather,” Ron said.
“You mean ‘Goddess light’ might help identify it?” Harper asked.
“Yes, I think you could use that term,” Ava replied.
Harper said, “Actually, one of the things we—Eight Lights—discovered in our examination of psychic powers and uncovering ancient power artifacts is that moonlight enhances the effects. To that end, we created a lamp that casts light at exactly the frequency of a Midsummer moon—called back in Merlin’s time the Rose Moon—as measured at the top of St. Michael’s tower on Glastonbury Tor.”
“That’s brilliant!” Ava was surprised. That certainly wasn’t in the files of his accomplishments, although it was remarked upon that Harper had a penchant for inventing—or “imaginatively engineering,” as the record put it. He had thirty-seven patents on devices ranging from everyday items to exotica the writer couldn’t even parse.
Harper grinned. “I have my days. Ron, do you still have the prototype?”
Ron pondered a few moments. “I believe it’s in the top drawer of my credenza.”
Harper got up. “Good. I’ll get it, then we can go stone hunting.”
Ava hoped they could find the Oathstone swiftly. She needed to give them a reason to trust her and see her value.
Ron frowned. “I’ll have Hofhurst hunt up some rain gear for the two of you. We’ll be some time mucking about outside, I expect.”
“Not necessarily. We’ll just be looking at the part of the foundation that dates back to the old hall,” Ava said.
Ron looked totally affronted at this casual mention of the little-known history of his home.
“Oh, honestly!” Ava was tired of dancing around their ancestral pride and secrecy. She just wanted to get that Oathstone. “Yes, we know all your history. The current Steadbye Place was constructed in 1689 by Alec Steadbye, after the old hall burnt down. But he left one wall up, which forms a portion of the north side. I think it may be where we’ll find the Oathstone.”
“I’m still not comfortable with the number of things you know about our families, Ava,” Ron said.
Ava’s stomach sank.
Harper said over his shoulder, “Looking for it all this time and it was right under our noses!”
“Haven’t found it yet,” grumbled Ron. Despite his sour words, he stood and gracefully indicated that Ava should follow Harper.
They went into a handsome office of beautiful chestnut paneling and floor-to-ceiling bookcases filled with hundreds of leather-bound books on law. On a shelf was an antique barrister’s wig displayed under a glass dome.
Ron opened up the drawer of the credenza and took out an object.
“It’s a magic wand!” Ava laughed out loud at the absurdity of it. She thought at the mental journal: Sisters, look into Eight Lights. I’d surmise many of Drunemeton’s inventions are with that organization that we don’t know about. A “moonlight generator” could be very useful to us!
“I think it’s ridiculously theatrical,” Ron said, handing it to Harper.
Harper looked at the shiny black wand, the thickness of a finger and about a foot long. “Samuels in tech development having a laugh at my expense,” he said. “But it works a treat.” He touched the button on the base, and a line of bluish light came out of the side. A click of the button again and light came directly out of the end.
“Don’t lie. You know you love to look the part of a wizard,” Ron said, chuckling.
Ava thought he really looked every bit a modern mage. And for some reason, she found that very attractive about him.
“Care to go rock hunting?” Harper asked, wearing a broad grin.
It was the first time he’d looked even remotely happy since Ava had met him, and she was amazed at how much more she liked Harper without his near-constant frown.
“Let me get a torch first.” Ron took out a good-sized one from his desk. He led the way through the house to the back stairs, and they descended to the cellar. He was right to bring a strong light. The pitch-dark room smelled of damp and mold. The rock foundation shone wetly when the beam hit the wall.
“Nothing like a flood to show you where your foundation leaks,” he muttered, as they went through the vast space, around boxes and trunks and heaps of material.
Walking beside Ron, Ava noted he was somewhat taller than she was, and it pleased her inordinately. She was so used to being taller than most people. Harper was half-a-head shorter.
They had to duck down under the rafters as they made their way to the old foundation. There was hardly any water penetrating the seams of the hand-laid rocks in that section. For the most part, the stones looked like the stacked shale lining the manor’s sheepfold. Nothing white or oblong showed in the light of the flashlight.
Ron went over to the corner where the seventeenth century brick wall abutted the fifth century rock one. There was a built-up section on the floor that looked a little like a capped-off chimney. “That’s the cask where the Jerusalem Jewel is,” Ron said.
“The what?” Ava asked.
Ron looked entirely pleased. “There’s something you don’t know?”
Ava held her hands up in surrender. He was so obviously happy he had information she didn’t. Ron was even more competitive than the file said he was. “Please tell me about it.”
He said, “Here’s the short version: Stephen, son of King Arthur, went off to fight for the Brotherhood of the Sepulchre in Jerusalem with his foster brother, Malcolm, the second-born son of Sir Dagonet of the Round Table. They were there for two years. During the battle in which Jerusalem was overrun by the Persians, they were hidden by an Arabic judge named Hakin Amin. Eventually, Amin smuggled them out of the city in giant clay jugs that had held olive oil. Stephen couldn’t understand why a ‘heathen’ would work so hard to save him. Amin said, ‘You are chosen of the Goddess, and she commanded me.’ Then he took off a great necklace with a strange jewel on it and gave it to Stephen. Stephen made his way back to Britain—losing Malcolm in a skirmish in Turkey—then Anatolia—but acquiring a wife. Once home, he showed the necklace to Anya in private and told her the story. She said it was an object of great power but had to be guarded separately from the relics in the Grotto. Anya had him bury it here after he bought Steadbye Place with the gold King Arthur left him.”
“How curious.” Ava addressed her mental-journal: Sisters, study all information about this Jerusalem Jewel. What was it, and why don’t we know about it if the Goddess—via her servant, this Arabic judge—placed it in Stephen’s hand?
Ron reached out to lift the heavy rock that topped the Jewel cairn.
Immediately, Ava got a mental picture of two giant oak doors chained shut. “Don’t open that!”
Harper shouted, “Don’t!” at the same moment.
“What?” Ron turned and glared at them.
“It’s not for this moment,” Harper said.
“That’s for another time.” Ava was astonished at the immediate power of the Jerusalem Jewel. Sisters, find out what the importance is of this particular artifact! The Goddess is very clearly protecting it for something in the future. But what?
“Fine, fine,” Ron said, nettled. “What now, oh mystics?”
“Now we try the moonlight generator,” Harper said.
“Magic wand,” Ron corrected.
Ava laughed, both because
it was amusing, and because she was really, really nervous they wouldn’t find the Oathstone. Ron drew closer to Ava, both physically and emotionally. She was pleased, and that helped settle her down.
Harper turned the wand on to the sideways beam. Starting to the left of the jewel cairn—there was only about a few feet of the old wall there—he held the moonlight generator sideways near the rocks and swept the beam over them, about six feet from the floor at the top, to bottom.
“Why aren’t you going any higher?” Ron asked.
Harper looked over his shoulder. “Anya was likely a short woman. I don’t think she could reach much higher and stick it into the wall.”
“And if we don’t find it in this pass, then we’ll assume she used a ladder,” Ava said.
Ron laughed. She felt her heart nearly leap out of her chest with delight.
Harper, back turned, shook his head. Ava could tell he was grinning, though. Methodically, he ran the beam along the wall until he was about ten feet to the right of the cairn. There, in the simulated moonlight, about two feet off the dirt floor, an oval rock about ten inches wide and four inches high glowed a mottled blue-white through a coating of dirt.
Ron leaned next to Harper and peered at it. “That’s it?” he whispered, as if talking in a normal voice would make it disappear.
Harper said with quiet wonder in his voice, “I think so.”
“How do we get it out?” Ron asked.
Ava hated dithering around. She stepped between the men and pushed lightly on the left end. Dirt crumbled through her fingers. Gently, she pulled the rock out. She felt a tingling in her hand and an itch at the edge of her soul. It was a thing of great latent power, and she had awoken it. “Like that.”
A sardonic smile teased Ron’s lips. “Maybe you should put it back in. We’ll see if it works like Excalibur.”
For a moment, Ava’s sense of humor tempted her to do just that. Instead, she simply handed him the stone. “It wasn’t in there very tightly.”
Harper examined the Oathstone in the wand’s light. It shimmered with small crystals of blue and white. The rock looked like a swirl of water solidified. “Is it heavy?”
Ron handed it to him.
Ron said to Ava, “We’ve been driving ourselves mad trying to find this, and you have the answer in an afternoon.”
“Along with Harper’s wand.” Good work, Sisters! Without the Sisterhood’s research, Ava would have had no idea where to start looking for the Oathstone.
“I think he’s trying to say something,” Harper said, chuckling.
Ron sighed and muttered something about mind-readers. “Ava, thank you. We would never have found this without you.”
“You’re welcome.” Once again, Ava was amazed at the attraction she felt for him, and he seemed to have for her.
But she could also feel Harper’s jealousy rise again. This was going to be a problem, and she was not sure how to resolve it.
They started back upstairs, but stopped so Ron could hunt up a small wooden box in which to put the stone. Then they went back up to his office.
Ron shut the door and placed the Oathstone box on his desk. “So, what’s next?”
“Take me to the Grotto.” It took everything Ava could do not to whoop with joy. The first step to completing the Goddess’ Plan has been achieved. We might be able to accomplish this after all …if I don’t have a panic attack or alienate either of these men!
Chapter Six
Ron picked Ava up at her aunt’s house in a British-racing-green 1963 Jaguar XKE. It was a fabulous antique auto. If it weren’t pouring rain, Ava would have walked all around the beautiful old machine just for the pleasure of admiring the long-nosed car.
Earlier that afternoon, when Harper and Ava were leaving Steadbye Place, Ron asked Ava if she’d like to go out to dinner. Harper gave Ron a sharp, angry look, but said nothing. Ava agreed to the date, even though she knew it would upset Harper. The ride back to Drunemeton House was cold and silent.
Ava still intended on following through with the Sisterhood Leadership’s mating plan with Harper. But she felt so pulled to Ron in such an inexplicable way. She had to explore what this strange attraction was between them, if only for a night. Besides, it felt kind of good to do something “off-plan.” Wasn’t she the High Priestess? Shouldn’t her wants take precedence?
As the old car went down the dark, semi-flooded street, Ava said, “My aunt was trying to imagine what restaurant still had enough supplies to be open.”
Ron grinned, his eyes on the road. “There’s a little place I know. I ran over after you left; they are indeed open to a few clients. I admit I’m looking forward to this. I haven’t been out of the house in over a month!”
Ava was used to tight budgets that didn’t allow for much extravagance, so she couldn’t help but worry he would be charged some exorbitant fee. Then she recalled it wasn’t her money and not her concern. “Well, won’t this be lovely outing then?”
“Yes,” he said. “But if you don’t mind, we’re a little early. I wanted to show you my favorite spot in all Britain.”
“Oh, I’d love to see it.” Ava had expected to feel uncomfortable in the car—her agoraphobia seemed particularly acute in vehicles. But she felt quite cozy and safe. As the elegant car growled over the rainswept, willow-lined narrow road, she asked, “Do you do this often? Take the car out and zoom around?”
“I do,” he admitted. “Usually late at night so I don’t scare someone’s geese.”
Ava chuckled. She liked just being with him. By his grin and the quick looks he snuck of her, she could tell he felt the same way.
They reached the top of a hill, and the Jag crunched into a gravel drive. He parked so that they could overlook the valley. But the rain and lowering black clouds made the view all one gray vista. He grumbled in disappointment. “I didn’t think that through very well. Of course, you can’t see a thing!”
“What would I have seen? Describe it.” Ava couldn’t believe she wasn’t feeling sick or woozy. She could sit there with him all night.
“Right over there is a magnificent stand of copper beech trees—one of the largest forests of them left in Britain. When the light hits them just right, they glow this astonishing reddish brown, sort of like the color of your hair.” He paused, and she couldn’t help smiling at him. “The dell here is filled with little croft farms. Sheep are usually grazing, and it’s this amazing green all the time.” He unhooked his seatbelt and put an arm on Ava’s headrest, pointing to her left.
The warmth of him, that presence, was intoxicating. He smelled as if he’d just stepped out of the shower; his bodywash was something spicy, like sandalwood.
“Over there is a very craggy rock-face that looks like a big grumpy man. ’Course in this gloom, it doesn’t resemble anything so much as a pile of rocks,” he said.
She turned and looked into those deep blue eyes. It felt as if the inside of the car was filled with magic.
Ron started to say something, then simply leaned forward and kissed her.
His lips on hers created an intense tingling. His tongue slipped into her mouth, and shivering bolts of electricity charged down her throat and rippled throughout her body. She slid her tongue along his, and the feeling became more intense.
Ron leaned back, surprise on his face. “Did you…did you just feel that?”
Ava’s heart was pounding wildly. She could see the racing pulse in his temple. “Yes,” she whispered.
Ron drew her to him and kissed her deeper. He ran his hand through her hair, cradling her head. She grasped the back of his neck as if she were drowning. Each thrust of his tongue sent shivers down her body until even her toes felt electrified. She had never felt this kind of desire before, this mad craving. It was as if every cell in her body demanded she be with him.
Ava felt his other hand slide up her breast and cup it, gently stroking her nipple with his thumb. Her desire intensified, and she wanted him to take her breasts and possess
them. She wanted his hands everywhere on and in her body. She wanted to touch him everywhere with her fingers and mouth. She wanted to own him and be owned.
And she could feel his mind, so close to hers. He was excited by her response. She glimpsed the idea forming in his head that they could make love right there. They could push his seat back. She could mount him, the walnut steering wheel pressing against her back. It would be so good, with him deep inside her and his hands everywhere. The slight danger of being discovered, having sex with a man she had just met, in an old car on a country road in a rainstorm adding to the excitement. Yes, why not? I want him that way. I want him in all ways. She felt her blood humming in her veins.
A voice in Ava’s head said: Slow down. Slow down. Slow Down.
Oh, no, I don’t want to. Let me have him. Let me have him right now. I have to have him.
His hands were stroking both her breasts, and her nipples were so hard she imagined she could pound nails with them. She could feel his rod, so stiff, reaching for her.
The voice repeated: Slow down. Slow down. Slow Down.
Lust didn’t trump a command from the Goddess. Ava forced herself from the white-hot desire she wanted to unleash. I’m being ridiculous. I’m not some teenager, humping a pimply-faced boy in the back of the Motherhouse’s toolshed. “Stop,” she whispered.
Ron withdrew a bit.
She put her hand on his chest. “Stop.”
“I’m...sorry. Sorry. That was a bit much,” he said, taking his hand from her breast.
Ava laughed almost soundlessly. How do you explain that the Goddess says you’re not supposed to make love to a man you just met? She stroked the hair at his temple. “I do want you, exactly the way you want me. But not here. Not like this. Not our first time.”
He kissed her lightly. Still, there was that tingling. “You’re…not offended?”
It was ridiculous how much Ava wanted him in that moment and how his apology just made it worse. She traced the shape of his lips with her thumb. She wanted to feel them all over her body. “‘Offended’ wasn’t one of the words I was thinking just now.”
The Midsummer Wife (The Heirs to Camelot Book 1) Page 5
