“Have a look, A—Hesperus,” Sybil said.
He knelt beside her as the blacksmith stood.Sybil had a bit of mud on the tip of her nose, and little locks of hair were curling around her face where her rubber hood did little to protect her face from the downpour.“It’s a clever design.Metal expands when hot and contracts when cold.Do you see this?”She pointed to a little lever at the bottom of the gate.“This little foot is a stopper, a barrier.When the sun comes up, the metal bars of the gate warm and can overpower it, allowing the gate to swing open.When the sun goes down, the metal bar shrinks and can no longer conquer the barrier.The sheep must have gone in when it was sunny, but now they can’t get out.”
“So we must warm the metal,” Apollo said.
“Exactly.”Mrs.Paisley hovered above them.“I tried taking a brimstone stick to it, but it’s too wet to keep a flame out here.I brought a bucket of coals out here and set it next to the bar, but it wasn’t enough heat.”
Sybil stood.“Can you call your inner heat?”
“Never been able to.I’m a wonder at the forge, if I do say so myself, but I’ve always needed the fire.”
Sybil seemed to shrink into herself.“I’m not sure we can be of much help.Neither of us can?—”
“Let’s get to work.”Apollo leaned against the gate, and the sheep looked up at him.He winked.The sheep baaed.Now he wasn’t threatening to burn down the hedge, he and the sheep were a team.
“Pardon?”Sybil said.
“We don’t want to stand out here all day.I refuse.Let’s get this done with and go back where it’s dry and warm.”
“You can do it, then?”Mrs.Paisley asked.
“We’ll try,” Apollo grumbled.He knelt near the gate again, rubbing his palms together then breathing into his cupped hands, feeling the warmth of his breath, keeping it there.
“What are you doing?”Sybil whispered, kneeling next to him.
“Fixing the damned gate.”
“We can’t, that much is clear.We’ll need our inner heat.”
“I can do it.I’ve done it before.With you.Now, there are two levers.One at the top and one at the bottom.Which shall we do first?”
She closed her eyes, gave a sharp nod, and when she opened them again, her gaze was clear and determined.“Grasp the bar, then.Call your heat.”
He tried.But he couldn’t.“I need a… particular set of circumstances.”He flicked a glance at Mrs.Paisley.“And she is not conducive to them.”
“What?”
“You know… all that stuff about seduction and two bodies making heat together?”
“You really do that?That’s really what works?I thought that was talk to make me uncomfortable.”
He shrugged.“Two birds, one stone.”
“Oh.Well then.”Clearing her throat, she stood.“Erm, Mrs.Paisley, would you mind taking a step or two back?”
“Try one hundred,” Apollo hissed.“I’ve never been into voyeurism.”
“More please,” Sybil said as Miss Pasley moved backward.
When she was quite some distance away, Apollo said, “That’ll do.”
“Thank you!That’s fine!”Sybil had to cup her hands around her mouth for her words to travel far enough.Then she went to her knees before the gate, facing Apollo.
He let his gaze roam across the shape of her face, the slope of her neck, the sumptuous curves of breasts and hips.
“What should I do?”she asked.
“Just… be there.Where I can see you, and…” God, he couldn’t believe he was going to say it.“Believe in me.”What nonsense.He tried to shove the words away, pretend he hadn’t said them, but they echoed between his ears.
