Sybil heard a thump, a groan, and she wriggled to get to Apollo, but something heavy and immobile on her mouth pinned her in place.
A golden statue of a man.
She tried to move it, but it was too heavy.
“Sybil.”Hands were on her.“Sybil, are you hurt?Fuck.”Apollo’s hands, and they moved from her body to the statue, to Stone, and shoved it backward.Before it hit the floor with a crash, she was flinging herself into Apollo’s arms.
So warm, so wonderful, she wanted to crawl into his chest and cry.
“You’re well?”he said.Then he said it over and over again, as if he could not convince himself it was true.They clung to each other as the clangs from the shaft grew more intense.“God, Sybil.”He dug his fingers into the hair at her nape and pulled back until their noses were only inches from one another.“God, Sybil.”
He didn’t have to say anything else.She felt the relief in those two words in her very bones.
The chambers clicked closer in the shaft.
“The apprentices,” she said.
“It’s about to be chaos.”
“What did you do?”she asked.
His gaze went far, over her shoulder and to the toppled golden man.“We’d better come up with a story, because they’re coming.And the more important question is… What didyoudo?”
26
GARDENING
The apprentices stared down at the gold statue like it was a puzzle that needed solving.One—Michael?—scratched his head, and another—John?—rubbed his jaw.Their cluelessness was reassuring.Apollo would rather them not figure out what had happened.
“Are you well here for a moment?”he asked Sybil.He’d sat her in Stone’s office and wrapped her in his greatcoat, and now he squatted before her, stroking her arms.She nodded, a distant look in her eyes that worried him.“I’m going to talk with the others.Make up something about Stone.Do you have any requests?”
Hiding her mouth behind the collar of the coat, she said, “Not me.It can’t be me.Lie, Apollo.”
“What else would I do, love?Do you want to come with me?”
She thought, then shook her head.“N-not because I’m scared or… or think it’s your place to do so or… or anything like that.I… I just can’t seem to stop shaking.Once I’m better, I’ll boss the apprentices about all day long.”
“I don’t doubt it.”He squeezed her arms with a gentle, confident smile.Another lie.Because as he stood and left the office, he felt nothing but grim determination.
The apprentices looked up as he reached their circle.
“What the hell happened?”one asked.
“Well, Michael?—”
“John.He’s Michael.”The apprentice shoved a thumb at the other man.
“Well, John, the master alchemist got what he wanted.He learned how to turn lead into gold.”
John nudged the statue with the toe of his boot.Stone’s face, yellow and shiny, was contorted somewhere between awe and horror.
“Whatreallyhappened?”Michael asked.
Apollo put his boot on Stone’s mouth, pushed.“He kidnapped Miss Grant.He was tormenting her, trying to force her to do something she couldn’t.”
“You said she’d figured it out,” John said.
“I lied.I’ve been working for Temple Grant, trying to drive Stone mad to ensure his sister’s safety.”
