“Hey, my operation is legal.” Primarily because I stayed away from human artifacts and put back the magical ones that I found. “You really want to go on a date with me? I figured you’d want to stay away from slumming with the likes of me.”
“You’re interesting,” he said. “I’d heard of you before. Anyone in the security business keeps up with the people who’re experts at breaking and entering. But it wasn’t until I met you that I realized there’s something different about you. So, you’re a Mirror Mage.”
“Yep.” I tried to keep my face expressionless. He didn’t need to know the extent of my power. Or what I was.
“So that’s how you get past the enchantments that protect the tombs.”
“Exactly.” Being a Mirror Mage allowed me to easily break the enchantments that protect temples and tombs. Because I could reflect back any kind of magic I came into contact with, I was perfectly suited to understanding and breaking enchantments. Fighting fire with fire.
Except the reality was that I used my wits and strength most of the time because my magic was so damned uncontrollable.
“Except I didn’t sense any magic when I went down to the tomb after you broke in,” he said.
“I’m not a very powerful mage, so I don’t leave a lot of trace. And I don’t use it often. It’s more fun to go all Lara Croft on a place.”
“Lara Croft?”
“Tomb Raider? Badass chick who’s strong and smart and gets by on her wits?”
He grinned. “Yeah, I see it.”
I relaxed a bit, hoping I’d thrown him off the scent. “What kind of Magica are you? Weather witch? Transport mage?” I asked to distract him. And I wanted to know.
He shot me a suspicious look, as if he knew I was trying to change the subject. Okay, so I wasn’t going to get off that easy with him. Distraction was my chosen method of keeping people from asking questions, but Aidan struck me as the still-waters-run-deep kind of guy. Which was a good thing if you were looking for a date—but not if you were trying to keep a secret. He might act like nothing was up and he wasn’t suspicious, but the look in his eyes made goosebumps pop up on my skin. I couldn’t identify it.
Finally, he answered my question. “A variety.”
My lips parted in surprise. “More than one?”
That was rare. Most Magica were born with one root gift. He was the Origin and a multi-gift Magica? That was off the charts.
“Yes,” he said. “Go on a real date with me, and I’ll tell you what they are.”
I leaned back. “I can figure them out for myself, thanks. I’ll just let you take on the baddies in whatever temple or tomb this scroll is hidden in. Then I’ll see what you’ve got.”
“Maybe it’ll work. Don’t count on it though.” He grinned and it made those damned butterflies start flapping around in my stomach again.
Being around him was getting to be too much. He was too much. Too hot, too powerful, too wealthy. Worse, he was too much in the ways that mattered. He was nice, smart, and funny.
And he seemed to actually like me.
Nope, I could not handle this. It was way outside my pay grade.
I shoved the last bite of pasta into my mouth and pushed away from the table. “I’ve got to hit the hay. I’m exhausted. We’ll leave early tomorrow?”
He nodded. “6 a.m.”
“Great.”
I headed back to the room I was borrowing and collapsed into bed. As I fell asleep, I realized that the expression I hadn’t at first recognized on his face was one that should have made me nervous.
It was patience. As if he knew I had a secret and would wait to figure it out. Or, like he wanted to get to know me.
There was no way I could let that happen.
The helicopter hovered over the glittering water of the fjord, its rotors beating in the wind. The noise roared in my ears as the bright sun shone through the glass windows.
We’d flown to Bergen, on Norway’s west coast, this morning and picked up a helicopter at the same airport. I had to admit, my job was a lot easier when the way was paved by Aidan’s influence and money.
Norway’s green mountains and glittering fjords spread out beneath us. I’d used my dragon sense to lead us here, following the pull of treasure at the other end of the line. Our pilot, Neilson, had followed my ambiguous directions to a T. She was in her sixties and had chin-length brown hair, cool sunglasses, and nothing fazed her. In short, she was the perfect helicopter pilot.
Aidan and I were strapped into the back. I squinted down at the forest below. It sat in the middle of a valley that ran perpendicular to the fjord. A river poured from it, feeding the massive body of water between the cliffs. The familiar strong tug of recognition pulled at my middle, directing me toward the valley.
“There!” I pointed below. “We need to land there.”
“There’s nothing down there!” shouted Neilson over the rotors.
“Just put us down,” Aidan said.
“You’ll have to use the ropes,” Neilson said. “Nowhere decent to land.”