She untied the ribbon and began turning the pages, her brow furrowed in concentration.
“Interesting the amount of information that exists about Pagoria, and yet no one truly knows anything about it,” he said in amusement.
“Where did you get this?” she asked, looking up at him.
“I’ve collected information my entire life. Tidbits here and there. Mentions. Whispers. Legends. What you hold is the compilation of my life’s work.”
Realization slowly dawned. “And you’re giving it to me.”
He nodded. “I don’t want Pagoria to die,” he said quietly. “She is too important. The foundation of everything we are.” He paused, a weary expression creasing his brow. “I see you at the doorway, poised to enter the great city, and yet I do not know if you are successful. I do not know if youshouldbe successful. My academic mind is eager to discover the secrets she holds, and yet my heart wonders if some secrets are best left unknown. Surely there is a reason her existence has gone unnoticed for so long.”
India swallowed, the enormity of Artemis’ statement settling over her. If he saw her poised to go into the city, it must mean she would not just be traveling to Spain to rescue her father.
Unable to contain it, a curl of excitement blossomed and grew within her. Despite any misgivings over embarking on yet another expedition, her love for Pagoria sparked excitement. Would she really see the city? Would a decade of traipsing across the world see her fondest dream come true?
In the dark hole she had spent three months in, she had questioned everything in her life. Her sanity. She had sworn then and there to give up her life of uncertainties and endless travel and settle somewhere she could call home.
She was tired of chasing useless dreams. Going where the wind blew. Living in some of the worst conditions imaginable all because shemightuncover an artifact or clue to Pagoria’s whereabouts.
She wanted...a home. A family. Meals at a real table instead of around a fire on the ground.
Her mind screamed at her to forget Pagoria. To just go to Spain and hand over whatever it took to guarantee her father’s safety. But her heart echoed dreams forged in her childhood. Following her father around the globe, desperately wanting his approval, not wanting to let go of the only family she had. Along the way, she had developed a strong connection to the ancient city. She was convinced it had existed, and here she stood poised to prove it.
“You battle your heart,” Artemis spoke up. “Never a good thing. The heart always knows the right of things.”
“If that is true, then your heart tells you the city is best kept a secret,” she pointed out.
He nodded slowly. “I am not convinced that is incorrect.”
“Then why?” she trailed off.
“Why do I give you the means to find it?”
She nodded.
“You already have them. I am merely aiding your cause. In all likelihood you would find it without my help. I would rather you have the information I possess instead of it falling into the wrong hands.”
“I will guard it well,” she said.
He reached across and laid his hand on hers, his grip surprisingly frail. “You have a tough road ahead of you, India. Many choices to make. Some of them wrong. Some of them right. I trust you to know when the time comes what the right choice is. It will not be easy.”
She laughed. A nervous, shaky laugh. She hated it when Artemis became sage and mysterious. “Thank you, Artemis. I hope I will not let you down.”
“The only person you should worry about letting down is yourself,” he said pointedly. “Now, you should be on your way. It isn’t safe for you here.”
She nodded and rose from her seat. “I will look you up when I return.”
“I look forward to it,” he said as he directed her to the doorway.
They walked up the stairs to the upper level, and India walked through the darkened aisles of the bookshop toward the front entrance. As she stepped into the sunlight, she frowned. The hack hadn’t waited as she had instructed. And she had no more money to hail another.
With a deflated sigh, she turned back, resigned to having to go back in to Artemis’s shop. She would have to see if he could spare funds for the ride back to Ridge’s.
“Miss Ashton, a word if you please.”
She halted, the stilted accent rushing over her with eerie familiarity. She didn’t need to see the man to know he was the same person who had broken into her house.
Not giving him a chance to apprehend her, she broke into a run, clutching the sheaf of papers Artemis had given her to her chest. She felt frantically for the bracelet in her pocket, cursing her stupidity the entire time.
