Pierre closed his eyes and sighed before turning back to Dani and Theo.
“So, you were saying?” Theo asked once Pierre took a sip of his drink.
“I want you to find theeyeof the Minotaur. The ruby gemstone cut from its head.”
Theo scrunched his face. Dani had seen that face many times, usually whenever Eddie said something particularly ridiculous.
“You’ve got to be joking,” Theo said. “The eye of the Minotaur is a myth. A fable. In other words, it’s not real.”
“Then why did you write that piece five years ago with your theories on its whereabouts? ‘The Mind of the Minotaur’?”
Theo burst out laughing. “My theories?That’swhy I’m here, why you’ve commandeered a year of my life? Because…because of a story I had published in achildren’smagazine?”
Pierre glared at him. “Children’s magazine?”
Dani wondered the same thing. Theo had always been a great storyteller. She remembered finding a journal of his from when they were teens full of his own tales of Greek legends. His stories were always based in the original mythologies, but with his own spin. He’d been embarrassed when he’d caught her reading it back at the time, but she’d told him there wasn’tanything to be embarrassed about. His stories were good. By the time they were adults, he freely shared his stories with her. She’d always thought he could have done something with them someday.
But he’d never told her that he published one of them.
“I wrote that forArchaeology Kidsmagazine, not a scientific journal,” Theo said, “based on a story my grandfather used to tell me before bed.”
“You based it on fact. You said it yourself in the article—it was founded on the account of a real person.”
“Yeah, my grandfather. He told me a lot of things: rumors of cults, Minotaur worshippers, and treasure hunts. But I’ve never been able to confirm any of it. I’ve yet to see a single mention of the eye in any reference books. And that’s beside the point,” he said, waving his hands like they were getting off topic. “Thestorywas made up, and it wasn’t an article. It was something I wrote for fun.”
“I don’t understand this…this obsession with fiction and fairy tales,” Pierre said, scowling and twirling his hand dismissively in the air. The deep-seated anger in his voice was palpable. “Why do people with so much potential waste their time on made-up nonsense? There is so much truth to discover.”
Yikes.That seemed to be a personal problem.
“Sorry I didn’t check with you before I pursued my hobby. I’ll remember that next time,” Theo said.
“You’re quite impertinent.”
I’ll sure say.Typically, Dani was the one being snappy, not Theo. He usually followed orders. A GGB: Good Greek Boy. He didn’t talk back. Or disobey. Which was why it was always so fun whenever she was able to get him to break the rules.
“Well, you’re quite gullible,” Theo responded.
Pierre’s eyes narrowed on Theo with laser focus.
Uh-oh.
“You know, most people know better than to treat me with such disrespect,” Pierre said.
“Well, fortunately I haven’t had the pleasure of getting to know you better. So can we cut with the phony formalities and get to the point?”
Whowasthis Theo? It was sort of hot, the way he was being so…brazen.
“You’re going to find the eye for me,” Pierre said.
“No,” Theo said definitively without flinching.
“No?”
“You heard me.”
“Need I remind you of your current predicament? You don’t exactly have much negotiating power here.”
“Who said I’m negotiating?” Theo asked, glaring at Pierre. “I said no.”
