After the Fall(74)
Shirtless and barefoot, he wore long, baggy shorts, sunglasses, and had a three-day growth of beard. Most of his scars would fade in time, thanks to skillful plastic surgery, but beneath his bandages, they were still red and painful looking, although he swore he felt fine.
Gigi flicked her cell phone shut and kissed him lightly, barely brushing her lips against his. “It’s getting dark, handsome,” she said in English. “You don’t need the shades any more.”
“I speaking not good English today,” Magnus said, smiling. He pushed the sunglasses onto his forehead and switched back to Latin. “And you told me I look good with them on. I was just aiming to please.”
“I’ve made a decision,” Gigi said in Latin, sitting next to him. “I want to sponsor music schools for kids in places where they’d have no access otherwise. Something to inspire them, give them dreams.”
Magnus nodded. “That sounds wonderful, but what made you think of this?”
“Teaching Athaulf’s children. I think about them all the time.”
“As do I, but we are here now and can do no more for them.” He kissed her hand. “So, your parents will arrive when?”
“Noon tomorrow — I can hardly wait! They’re in London right now, waiting for a flight to Athens. I’m glad we decided to get out of Ravenna and meet them here. Jack was sure the paparazzi were on our trail and would’ve mobbed us if we’d stayed. None of us could have taken that.”
Magnus pulled her close and Gigi rested her head on his chest, listening to the rumble of his voice as he said, “And they flew through the skies from the far side of the Earth, taking only a day?”
“Indeed, in a jet.”
Magnus groaned and shook his head. “It would be too unsettling, too unnatural to travel like that.”
Gigi kissed his chin. “I used to fly all the time, and so will you, soon.” She switched to English. “It’s no big deal.”
“No, it too big deal,” he countered, then switched to Latin again. “I’ll follow on horseback, if you don’t mind. What have you told them about me?”
Shrugging, Gigi gazed out over the water toward the small, quiet beach, the lush dark hills surrounding it, and the very few twinkling lights. “Jack really freaked when I disappeared. He was sure I’d been kidnapped. I told him the truth, but I told my parents it was love at first sight, we ran off and eloped, and now we’re back. I apologized about a million times, but I’m not sure my family will ever get over the shock … until they spend time with you, of course. Then they’ll understand.”
“You don’t plan to tell them the truth?” Magnus asked, surprised. “I believed you. Why wouldn’t they?”
Gigi thought about his question. “Because mysterious things, unbelievable things like that just don’t seem to happen any more. My parents are lawyers. They rely on empirical evidence and science and think just about everything is figured out. I mean, take earthquakes, for instance. You used to say it was the gods causing it, but now we know it’s plate tectonics — and … whatever.”
“Are you implying the gods have nothing to do with your plate tectonics?”
Gigi opened her mouth to respond, then closed it again and smiled. “Point taken, but still, something big like traveling through time — they’ll think I’ve completely lost my mind.”
“They may already think it based on what you’ve told them so far, and in that case what have you got to lose?” Magnus grinned.
She whacked him playfully on the thigh. “Fine, I’ll tell them. Maybe speaking fluent Latin will help convince them, otherwise I don’t know.”
He gently fingered a strand of her hair. “It was love at first sight, you know, for me. You cast a spell from the very first moment.”
Gigi snuggled closer. “I recall being a little too terrified to think along those lines at that moment, but I knew I could trust you the minute we looked at each other.”
Magnus kissed her deeply, and a delicious heat coursed through her body. Pulling away slightly, she studied his wonderful face, his beautiful, blue eyes, as deep as the sea, and so full of love — all for her.
“I have something for you,” she said. “I’d forgotten about it until I was packing for the ferry.”
His brow furrowed, and he looked slightly worried. “Something for me?”
Gigi smiled and fished in her pocket, pulling forth his locket of rock crystal and gold. “You left this for me to find. I want you to have it back,” she whispered.