‘There you are, excellent. I’ve come for the weekend. You remember Gwen, don’t you? I found her in the village. Where’s Mémé?’
CHAPTERSEVEN
The last thing Ari wanted to do was go to dinner with Jason and Nico at the Manoir of Sainte Sirène. She wanted to examine the mask, call the university and talk to the experts. But once they had taken photographs and sent them in, and then phoned their contact in Brest to confirm they had received everything, they had little else to do besides look at it. They couldn’t clean it. That would need to be the work of a professional conservator.
Oh, but she wanted to look at it. A fine white mask with swirls carved into the cheeks and forehead, traces of some kind of glittering glaze still clinging to it beneath the dirt. Discoloured and worn at the edges, slightly chipped. The whole lower half from the nose down was missing, if it had originally been there at all, but still…it was incredible. She wanted to examine every millimetre of it. She could see colours beneath the patina of ages. It had been painted once, perhaps decorated with gold. She could make out swirls of a turquoise-like colour on the edges as well. A deeper blue than turquoise, she realised. Lapis lazuli? The stone could be ground into powder and used to create the pigment ultramarine. It had been treasured by the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians, and the Mycenaeans. During the Middle Ages, it was more expensive than gold.
So what was she seeing here? A fine porcelain-like ceramic decorated with priceless minerals, wealth from all over the world.
A treasure. An impossible treasure.
And yet, there it was, still in its bath of sea water, and she couldn’t take her eyes off it. It was a wonder, but there was something else as well. It sent a chill through her blood. She had a dreadful feeling it was watching her, studying her the way she studied it.
‘We’re going in half an hour,’ said Jason. ‘You should at least put on a dress or something.’
She was still in shorts and a T-shirt. She was comfortable like that. She twisted her fingers through the thong at her neck, and then rubbed the pad of her thumb against the horse pendant.
She’d never expected to wear it herself. She still didn’t know why Simon sent it back to her. It wasn’t until after he died that she felt compelled to put it on. Because it was all she had left then.
‘I’m just trying to work out what it is.’
‘We will. But not right now. We need to go, Ari. Finding this is the perfect time to press them. It proves we’re on the right track. We need to keep the funding. Madame du Lac is generous, but the rest of her family… We need to convince Rafael to support us. Please.’
He held out his hand and, when she reluctantly hooked her fingers with his, he pulled her to her feet.
‘I’m not sure what you think I can do.’
‘Yeah…I saw the way he was looking at you. Put on a little black number and some heels.’
‘Jason!’
‘What? It’s not like I’m offering you up for a herd of cows or something.’
She glared at him, knowing her brother too well. ‘I’m not so bloody sure.’
He looked her up and down and then grinned. His most wicked, teasing grin. ‘You’re probably worth five. Max.’
He ran before she could punch him, laughing all the way.
The only dress Ari had packed was black and she wished it wasn’t, just to spite her brother. But it was easy to pack, appropriate to most situations and relatively wrinkle-free. Good for an emergency. By the time she was ready, Jason and Nico were already standing by the front door. Thierry was back, with a heavily bandaged arm and a ton of pain medication. Madalen and another girl Ari hadn’t met before called Lina – a slender blonde with a huge smile – had offered to look after him and he didn’t seem to be complaining too much.
Other members of Jason’s little tribe wandered in and out, making food, sharing beers and wine, settling in for the night.
‘He’s meant to be getting some rest and he probably shouldn’t drink with the…’ Jason’s voice tailed off as she appeared down the stairs. Slowly he whistled. ‘OK, I said dress up, but I didn’t mean give his great-aunt a heart attack.’
‘Oh be quiet, Jase,’ Nico murmured softly. He took Ari’s hand and kissed it elegantly. ‘You look beautiful, Ari. He is such a tease.’
They had made an effort too. Best shirts and that sort of thing. It was like seeing Jason in a three-piece suit, even though it was just cotton and chinos. Nico was breathtaking all in black, but then he always was a stunning man. His outfit almost looked as if he had dressed to complement her.
But Ari knew in her heart of hearts that Nico hadn’t dressed up for her. She knew she was not his type. And his type, lounging there against the wall like he had nowhere else to be, was entirely oblivious.
‘Why don’t you just tell him?’ she had asked him once.
‘And destroy what we do have?’ Nico had laughed bitterly. ‘I don’t think I’m that brave. Let it lie, Ari. It’s better this way.’
She still didn’t think he was right. But she’d promised and tried to forget it, tried to ignore the glances he cast at her idiot brother and the pain in his eyes every single time Jason flirted with someone else.
And Jason flirted all the time. It was what he did.
