“Hello?” she asked cautiously.
“Oh Faye, thank goddess you picked up.” The voice on the other end was Griffin’s. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”
The old woman was taken aback by the question until she remembered that the scrivener was several time zones away in India. “No dear. It’s ten o’clock in the morning here. I’m just washing the breakfast dishes.”
“Can you speak freely?”
“Yes. Hannah’s gone off to school.” She shuffled over to a kitchen chair and sat down. “Now tell me what’s wrong. Your voice sounds tense.”
He gave a deep sigh. “I wanted to make you aware of recent developments. Ordinarily, I would ring Maddie, but she’s prone to excitability in the face of unexpected events.”
Faye felt a sense of uneasiness at his words. “Has Daniel caught up with you already? Our latest intelligence has him mired in research at the downtown library.”
“No, it’s nothing to do with the Nephilim.”
“Then what is it?” she urged.
There was a long pause on the other end of the line as if he couldn’t bring himself to deliver the news. Evasiveness wasn’t part of Griffin’s nature. She waited patiently, allowing him to gather his thoughts, even though she was growing more concerned by the second.
“It’s Erik,” he finally blurted out.
“Erik!” she exclaimed. “Has he been injured?”
“No, he’s left.”
Now it was Faye’s turn to pause, unable to process the message. “What do you mean he’s left?”
“Well, we had a bit of a row earlier this evening. Erik was of the opinion that his peculiar talents could be better utilized elsewhere.”
Each new attempt at an explanation only proliferated Faye’s confusion.
Griffin continued. “You see, I’ve discovered that the next artifact is most probably hidden at Mount Kailash.”
“Ahhh,” the old woman said. He didn’t need to explain to her the significance of the location. “It’s rather late in the year to start a trip to the Himalayas,” she observed.
“That’s what our paladin said too,” Griffin replied in exasperation. “Of course, we have to try. Can’t let the Nephilim reach the artifact first but Erik was terribly concerned about being snowbound. After announcing that he would arrange a security team to meet us in Nepal, he said he was leaving. He felt his time was too precious to sacrifice to the whims of the weather.” Sotto voce, the scrivener added, “Though not Cassie’s or mine, apparently.”
“I see,” Faye said, implying a world of comprehension in those two small words.
Griffin hesitated. “You do?”
“Yes. This has something to do with his relationship with Cassie, doesn’t it?”
She could feel him fretting on the other end of the line, weighing how much personal information to disclose to her. “I’m afraid it might. Cassie seems to think he has... umm... how shall I put it?”
“Intimacy issues?” Faye completed the thought. “I believe that’s the term you young people would use for it nowadays.”
“Erik’s intimacy issues are only of the emotional variety,” Griffin remarked acerbically. “He seems to have no difficulty whatsoever with physical proximity.”
Faye chuckled softly. “In my youth, we rarely delved into psychology. We referred to a person with intimacy issues as a cad and left it at that.”
“But how did you know?”
“My dear, I’m well aware of Erik’s reputation with the ladies. Don’t you remember our conversation before you left for Africa? You, yourself, alerted me to the possibility that he and Cassie might be on the verge of a romance.”
“Yes, and I’m sad to say it ended just as I feared it would. He’s moved on.”
“Oh, I think not,” the old woman retorted cryptically.
“What on earth do you mean? The evidence is incontrovertible. He has, quite literally, left.”
There was a long silence as Faye assessed the situation mentally. “Doesn’t it occur to you that he’s gone to great lengths to separate himself from Cassie at a critical juncture, possibly compromising the success of your entire mission?”
“Yes, of course, that’s true,” Griffin admitted. “But why should the timing matter?”
“It matters because the very urgency of his need to distance himself, at the point when you need him most, is an indication of the level of his fear. A young man wishing to terminate a casual liaison would be unlikely to go to such extreme lengths.”
“I hadn’t thought of that. So you believe he actually cares for her?”
“Oh yes, very much.”
“Then you must also believe they’ll reconcile and get back together eventually.”
“That outcome isn’t inevitable. It doesn’t matter that you or I or Cassie can see his true feelings if he, himself, is blind to them. Remember the old adage about leading a horse to water.”
“Or in this instance, a horse’s arse,” the scrivener muttered. Catching himself, he continued. “But surely he’ll see in time. Even Erik isn’t that great a dolt.”
“Perhaps,” she agreed. “He may realize the truth in time, but not necessarily in time.” She accented the last two words.
“Oh.” Griffin exhaled softly, comprehending her subtle meaning.
Faye could tell that a number of new possibilities were jostling for space at the back of his mind. She decided to nudge them to the fore. “And what about you and Cassie? Have you told her how you feel about her?”
“Certainly not!” His voice was filled with shock and outrage. He retreated a step. “I’m sorry, Faye. That came out a trifle stronger than I intended, but only a vile wretch would take advantage of Cassie’s present emotional vulnerability to further his own ends. It’s just bad form!”
She laughed gently at his vehement protest. “You’ll forgive me, my dear, if I observe that your impeccable sense of propriety can offer little more than cold comfort to a lonely heart.”
“Are you suggesting I tell her now?” His tone was disbelieving.
“Not this minute. Of course not. But an opportunity may present itself if you keep your wits about you.” She sighed. “Griffin, you
