Alison was at her house, spending the night chatting with some of her friends from school. Shay half-suspected she was talking to a boy, but she figured if she didn’t ask then she wouldn’t have to lie to the paranoid James about it.
His daughter is growing more beautiful by the day. He’s just gonna have to learn to deal with that. Plus, Alison knows magic. She can handle herself.
That left Shay alone in her home with no pressing tomb raid or research she needed to worry about. She was still curious about why the Demon Generals’ temporary leader might have been interested in the Anzick site, but the department head was still spooked by the whole experience. During their last phone call on the matter, he had been content to leave his old research alone for at least a few weeks.
Huh. It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to just sit and relax, unwind, and read. I should have brought some Anzick book to read. Maybe I would have stumbled onto something useful.
Shay smiled to herself as she lifted the book she’d brought instead from Warehouse Four. The New Odyssey: A Modern Revised History Look at the Classic Myths.
When was a god not a god? When they might have been an Oriceran. Sometimes Shay wondered how long it’d take for humanity to truly process what their false history had meant and how almost every major myth and legend at the heart of civilization had been influenced by Oricerans who had known exactly what they were doing.
Considering that the ancient beliefs were even baked into things like the days of the week, it was surprising how little resentment the average human felt toward Oricerans. Most people seemed more concerned about Oricerans coming to Earth and taking their jobs than what they might have done in the past.
We’re a petty species. I’m still sure that shit will cause some major trouble in the future, but for now, everyone’s too busy worrying about surviving.
Shay found herself detached from the whole idea. On a certain level, she could understand why it was annoying that the Oricerans had manipulated human history, but on the other hand, humans had also participated in the deception. If anything, it felt like she should be angrier at the humans in the know than the Oricerans.
In addition, she’d lived her life in solitude, with only a recent expansion into having people near and dear to her. It was hard to get too worked up about what someone might have done to her ancestors thousands of years ago. No one could change the past, not even the most powerful wizard.
I can’t change the world or the past. All I can do is find out the truth for myself and protect the people I care about. For now, that’s the new life plan, and that’s all I care about. I’m sure we’ll find out in a thousand years that all Oriceran history is a lie made up by some other strange planet. Maybe James’.
Shay snickered at the thought. After a moment, she opened her book and read the first passage aloud.
“Long, torturous thought and deliberation have gone into decoding the myths and legends that formed the basis of the Ancient Greek world. Long thought to be fanciful exaggerations or mere just-so stories, the existence of Oriceran has forced many classical scholars to go back and ask themselves, ‘What if everything the ancients said were true?’”
Shay smiled to herself.
What if?
Something wasn’t right.
Shay shot out of bed, alert. Her heart was racing. Whatever else might have changed, her decade-long career as a professional killer had left her permanently a light sleeper. The smallest irregularity at night led to her waking up. The big exception was when James was there. Sleeping in his arms, even the jaded Shay felt safe.
Of course, it was a double-edged sword.
Wish James didn’t snore so loudly.
She frowned and shook her head. James wasn’t there. He was in Las Vegas. So why had she woken up?
A couple more seconds passed before she realized her cell phone was ringing.
“Who the fuck is calling me at 4:30 in the morning?”
The tomb raider snatched the phone from the nightstand and frowned.
“Peyton? Why the hell is he calling?”
Her heart kicked into overdrive. Peyton wasn’t brave enough to piss her off with a pointless call, let alone a prank, which meant something very damned important was happening, such as a warehouse breach. His monitoring systems were supposed to send alerts to her phone as well as his, but the eager man was constantly tinkering with them so she couldn’t be sure they were even working.
Shay accepted the call. “What’s going on, and how much shooting or stabbing will it involve?”
Peyton let out a long yawn. “Not sure yet, but probably some shooting and a little stabbing.”
“Huh? What do you mean? Why the fuck did you call and wake my ass up?”
“Because the Professor contacted me and woke my ass up.” He sighed. “I liked it better when he contacted you directly and left me out of the loop. Now he calls me first half the time, and it’s weird talking to a guy who calls me ‘lad’ and says ‘aye.’”
“Well, you’re my assistant, and I might not have access to my phone, but I’m still confused.” Shay rubbed her tired eyes. “What did the professor have to say?”
“The Professor has a job for you. Expiration date of today. If you don’t call and arrange to meet with him within an hour, he’s moving on to someone else, and he’ll be, and I quote, ‘Very disappointed in Miz Carson.’”
Shay shot out of bed. “What the fuck? A job, and I have to meet with him in an hour?”
“That’s what he said. He also said don’t bother calling him, just show up at the Leanan Sídhe in an hour.”
“Okay, okay. I’m up. I’m up.” Shay shook her head. “This better damn well be important.”
Shay frowned as she approached the front door of
