The Fortune Teller(31)

“Like I said”—Semele crossed her arms—“I’m stressed over work. I don’t want to fight.”

Bren shook his head, completely bewildered. “You seriously can’t go tonight?”

She nodded, avoiding his eyes, and made a big deal out of packing up her computer. She needed to go to the lab and check the manuscript. “I’m sorry. I know it’s lame.”

Bren let out a pained sigh of resignation. “I guess we’ll have to do it next time. I’ll tell them things are really crazy on your end.”

She wondered what he would say if she confessed that a two-thousand-year-old manuscript was talking to her. Crazy didn’t come close.





Queen of Swords

Semele got off the elevator on the eleventh floor, purposefully avoiding the twelfth, where she might run into Mikhail or Raina.

She found Cabe at the humidifier chamber again. “Still busy with Georgie?”

He muttered, “Our first president is high maintenance.” He glanced over to her and smiled. “You’re looking rad-trashed.”

She grimaced. “Thanks. I need to ask a favor. Has Fritz inventoried the Bossard Collection?”

“Yesterday. I got the short list this morning.”

The short list wasn’t really a list. It was more like a mini-collection, comprised of items that needed authentication, closer examination, or possibly restoration. Semele knew the manuscript would be one of the works singled out. She had logged the piece with several question marks about its origin and date.

“Back table.” Cabe motioned. “But I thought you weren’t on the Bossard Collection anymore.”

“I’m not. I just need to take a quick look at something.”

She headed toward the sink and was washing her hands when her cell rang—her mother, again. There was also a voice mail from Bren, no doubt fishing for the reason behind her emotional withdrawal this morning. She saw Theo had left her a message too and quickly played it.

“Semele, Mikhail’s insistent that Fritz handle the auction. It’s not ideal, but he feels it’s the best course. I’d still like to meet when I come to New York next month.” He hesitated. “I’ll be in touch soon.”

Semele’s pulse quickened and she listened to the message again. Theo wanted to see her. She had no idea what to make of that, and she would never find out—she would already be in Beijing when he came.

She put her phone back with a little sigh and washed her hands once more for good measure.

There were twelve pieces on the back table, including Ionna’s manuscript. She carefully opened the leather binding to examine the first leaf.

“I agree,” Cabe said when he saw what she was handling. “That one’s quite the stunner. I’m doing a DNA rundown.”

“Good. I was hoping you would.”

DNA testing had become one of the most precise methods of dating a work, though there were several handicapping factors. Usually the parchment was made of an amalgamation of animals’ skins from different time periods, which made pinpointing its exact origin and date difficult. Handwriting analysis would always remain a vital tool in the process; unlike DNA testing, it didn’t require samples.

“Call me when you have the results.”

“Sure. But why?”

“I’ve been reading it,” she confessed. He gave her a quizzical look.

“I made a digital so I could hone my translation skills.” She wanted to downplay her interest, and this wasn’t a lie. She hadn’t done a translation in years. “I think some of the leaves are missing.”

Cabe shrugged. “The translator will find out soon enough.”

Semele frowned. The idea that another translator would be reading Ionna’s story bothered her. But in less than a month a buyer would acquire the manuscript, and Semele would move on to another collection in another country. For the first time the thought made her weary.

She leaned down to study the binding where she had stopped reading this morning and saw the evidence.

Pages were missing.

They had been carefully cut out right at the spine, where the leaves were stitched. She leaned even closer and discovered that quite a few had been removed.

“What are you doing?”

Raina’s voice made Semele jerk upright. Raina was standing in the doorway, her hands on her hips.

“Hey, Renie,” Cabe interjected.

Semele looked at him. Did he just call her “Renie” and smooth out his stained T-shirt? Semele looked back to Raina and noticed the slight flush on her face. She would have laughed if she wasn’t so irritated.

Semele stepped away from the table. “Leaves are missing from one of the Bossard manuscripts. It’s an important piece.” She tried not to sound like a thief caught in the act. Why should she feel guilty for looking at a manuscript she had authorized to be transported here in the first place?

“Mikhail gave you the rest of the week off,” Raina said, crossing her arms in that disapproving way of hers.

Semele stared at her without blinking and forced herself not to mimic her gesture, though she desperately wanted to. She didn’t say a word, her spine stiff with anger.

“Fritz has already noted that some pages are missing and informed Mikhail and his client. He’s very thorough,” Raina said in a clipped voice.