“Bitch!” Cassandra yelled. She clawed at Sabine, holding her ankle and preventing her from getting any closer to the gun. Calliope jumped on Cassandra’s back and tried her best to choke her. Cassandra stood and grabbed Calliope’s arms. The older woman was no match for Cassandra’s strength as she flung her off and onto some shelves in the corner. Sabine had nearly wrapped her fingers around the gun when she heard Calliope’s cry.
She looked over to find Cassandra leaning over her beloved aunt with a small dagger pressed to her cheek. A drop of blood dripped down her aging face where the woman had cut her.
“Leave the gun alone, Sabine.” Cassandra’s cold voice filled the room.
Sabine stilled. It was too risky to attempt to snatch the gun, turn, and fire. She couldn’t be certain she’d hit her mark, because she’d never shot a gun before.
“Get the rope,” Cassandra said.
Sabine complied and stood with the rope.
“Now then, if you two can agree to not do anything stupid, I would prefer not to bloody my hands tonight. It’s not that I won’t do it.” She jerked Calliope to her feet and led her to a chair. “But I much prefer to have these sorts of tasks doneforme rather than doing them myself. If you comply with the rest of my wishes, I won’t send my man back here to finish the job. Do we have an agreement?”
Sabine met her aunt’s eyes and saw raw fear filling the blue depths. “Yes, you have our word,” she said firmly. She tried to smile reassuringly at Calliope, though doubted she managed it with any confidence.
With no more conversation, Cassandra tied them both to chairs, with the backs against each other.
“Where was I?” she asked once she was finished. She made her way back over to the bottles. “Ah, yes, the smells. I don’t want to trust you to tell me which bottle, considering you might try to poison me.”
“I might,” Sabine said honestly.
“I can still call out my dogs,” Cassandra said. But she said nothing more as she went about pulling the corks and smelling one bottle after another. “Lavender, thyme, lemon, rose.”
Sabine could see the bottle with the elixir. It was a small bottle made of blue glass, buried in the midst of the scented oils.
Cassandra picked it up, popped the cork off, then held the bottle to her nose.
Sabine held her breath.
She put the cork back in and moved to return the bottle.
Sabine relaxed.
Cassandra stopped. She pulled the bottle back to her nose and inhaled deeply. “This one has no scent.” Then she turned to face Sabine. “You can’t imagine what I’ve gone through searching for it. Countless hours and more money than I’d care to consider. This is it, isn’t it?”
Sabine said nothing.
“It is, I know it. I can feel it.” Cassandra’s smile had changed from one of glee to the wild-eyed grin of madness. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve searched for this? I won’t let you or anyone else steal this from me now.”
Again, Sabine didn’t answer. There was no need to engage in a conversation with the woman. It was best to keep quiet and maybe she’d leave them here, safe, as she’d said she would. Though Sabine doubted Cassandra’s word meant anything.
“Ever since Max told me about the fountain of youth that ran through the center of Atlantis, I’ve wanted to possess it. I knew he’d find it eventually. And he did. He led me straight to you.”
Sabine’s heart contracted. Had he told this woman about the elixir and where to find it? Were they working together, setting a trap for her that she’d willingly stepped right into? The thought sickened Sabine. She’d given Max her body, had nearly given him her heart.
Cassandra set the cork down on the countertop and brought the bottle to her lips.
“Don’t drink it!” Sabine said.
“Why wouldn’t I drink it?” Cassandra asked. “It will make me young and beautiful forever. Women everywhere will crave my secret.” She clicked her tongue. “Too bad I’m not interested in sharing.”
“Too much elixir will kill you.”
Cassandra smirked. “Nice try, but I’m not going to fall for that.” Then without another word, she tipped up the bottle and drank the entire contents.
Max had knocked three times at the back door of Sabine’s shop with no one answering, but he knew they were inside. He could hear their muffled voices through the heavy wooden door. If Sabine wasn’t answering, something was wrong. It took only one great kick for him to burst through the lock. The door to the shop swung open. Inside the storeroom, he saw Cassandra standing over by the cabinets, a bottle to her mouth.
He scanned the room searching for Sabine and finally saw her with Calliope tied back-to-back in two chairs.
