Nero's Fiddle (6 page)

“Happy birthday,” he said, placing the breakfast tray on the side table and sitting on the edge of the bed.

A black velvet box with a silver bow lay nestled between bacon and coffee and seized her attention. She pushed herself to an upright position, dragging the blankets up to cover her naked chest. She picked up the long rectangle and stroked a finger along the plush exterior, enjoying the speculation of what might lay within.

“Open it,” Nate said.

She didn’t need to be told twice and slid off the ribbon and cracked the lid. Her breath left her in a gasp. Her eyes widened as she stared at the contents shimmering on black silk.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, lifting out a diamond collar. The gems caught the morning sun that escaped through the drapes. Sparks of red and gold flashed around the room and threw flames against the walls. “I’m holding fire.” Never had she seen diamonds respond to the light like these.

Nate placed a hand over hers and turned the necklace over. “Your little friend is shedding and contributed something special. Look closely at the setting.”

She peered at the gems. Each diamond had an unusual backing, roughly circular in shape and the source of the brilliant colour.
A dragon scale.

“The light refracts through the diamond and bounces off the scale, making them blaze with living fire.”

She let out a breath. “You’ve given me dragon diamonds for my birthday.” She held up her hand and stared at them in wonder, mesmerised by the play of colour.

He strode to the large window and pulled the curtain open. Watery sunlight rushed into the room and turned the necklace into molten lava in her hands.

Cara laid the gems back on their silken bed and watched Nate’s shoulders bunch under his jacket as he tied back the curtain. The movement of muscle under skin was something else she could never tire of admiring.

“As much as I love my present, I thought I ordered a pirate wake up call for my birthday. Over the knee boots, sword, open shirt.” She gave him a slow smile as she mentally divested him of clothing and then redressed him more appropriately for her birthday. “Maybe a pirate with a spot of ravishment on his mind?”

His gaze darkened; with great care, he removed his jacket and draped it over the chaise. He stalked back to the bed as his fingers undid the buttons on his shirt. “Just so you know, it’s not the clothes that make a pirate, it’s the exploits.”

His shirt hit the floor by the time he reached the bed. Cara’s breath caught in her throat with the intensity of his stare and the emotion surging along their common bond. He heated her from within and without simultaneously.

Mentally, she traced patterns over the smooth flesh of his torso; she itched to follow them with her fingers.

Kneeling on the end of the mattress, he grabbed the blanket. She gave a yelp as he pulled the bedding from her grasp and left her naked to his hungry stare and grateful for the warm heat emitted through the newly installed steam ducts.

“If it’s ravishment my lady wants,” he said as he curled his fingers around her ankles. He pulled her down the bed, sliding one slim leg on either side of his waist.

Cara cast a glance to the tray by the bed and a thought flitted through her mind as warm breath tickled over the inside of her thighs.

Nate growled. “Don’t even think of making a grab for the bacon.”

Cara stood on the threshold of the dining room and could scarce believe the transformation Amy wrought in just over a week. Her friend arrived in desperate need of a distraction and she fell upon the challenge presented by the gloomy old house. The first room attacked was the impromptu breakfast room. She painted the dark panelling a soft cream and complemented the shade with cream wallpaper scattered all over with bronze dragonflies flitting amongst lotus blossoms. Even the large dining table seemed a pale gold under its fresh linen cloth. The silk drapes reminded Cara of buttercups scattered over a field and framed the French doors out to the patio and garden. Or what would be the garden, once spring arrived and Cara managed to chase the sheep and several goats out from the overgrown maze and weed-ridden beds.

“It’s lovely, Amy,” she said to her beaming friend. “So light and cheerful, and I do believe you have vanquished every spider in the room.”

“Lachlan and Mr Jackson removed the spiders, when they weren’t shoving them down each other’s shirts like a couple of school boys.” She gave Cara a hug. “Consider this my present to you, since I have nothing else to give.” A slight frown crossed her face at her newly cut-off status.

Cara squeezed her friend’s arm. “I’m sure you’ll work magic on the house. You seem to have brought a treasure trove with you in those chests from Liberty’s.”

A shy smile crept over Amy’s face. “I have a delicious chintz I am thinking would look perfect in the evening lounge.”

A rumble vibrated through Cara’s body, setting sensitive nerves alight. Nate shot her an accompanying look. “We may have to negotiate on the chintz,” she murmured.

“I’ll show you the samples later. But whatever took you so long to get dressed? We have all been waiting for you, breakfast is practically over.” She gestured to the assembled family, all in the throes of finishing their breakfast.

“Nate was giving me my present,” she said.

Nessy and Loki both gave a snort of laughter from the back of the room. Nessy stared at Cara’s tousled hair and flushed skin and then she elbowed Nan. “I’d be late too if he were giving me something first thing in the morning.”

“Do tell,” Amy said, oblivious to the swirling innuendo. “What did he give you?”

“Diamonds.” Cara shot a look to Nessy, willing her to hold her tongue in front of the less worldly Amy. She knew Loki was a lost cause, but she did chuckle to see the pirate preoccupied with reaching the sideboard for seconds while keeping Nessy in his line of sight. He had the look of a man confronted with a python who would draw him into a fatal embrace if he dropped his guard. Which Nessy no doubt would; she made no secret of her desire to wrap herself around the much younger man.

Nan rose from her place at the table and gave Cara a hug before kissing her cheek. “Happy birthday, my darling girl.”

“Quite.” Amy gave a shake, brushing off her thoughts. “Twenty two years old today and a married woman. Who would have thought it?”

“I would never have imagined such a scene a year ago.” Cara took a seat on the brightly covered chaise by the large glass doors. The view outside revealed a grey day with clouds threatening to drop their burden of snow.

“Where were you a year ago?” Amy asked as she sat next to Cara.

A smile lit her eyes. “Pouring drinks at a saloon in Texas.”

Loki perked up, having successfully fended off Nessy and heaped more sausage onto his plate. “You were a saloon girl? Why have I not heard this story before?”

“Another time,” Cara laughed. “I think it’s more of an evening story.”

Nate carried a stack of gaily wrapped parcels from the sideboard, and laid them next to her. He picked up the top one, wrapped in stark black and white tissue. “From Helene.”

She took the small package in her hands and gave a squeeze. Hard, with a familiar indent on one side. She pulled the black ribbon and slipped the paper off, revealing a squat, thick book.

“
Suetonius’ Secrets.
” She ran a hand over the gold work on the cover. “It’s said to contain the myths and stories surrounding unnatural objects that he learned about in the ancient world. From what I read in father’s journal, many scholars doubted the book even existed. Yet somehow, some medieval monk found his scrolls and made a copy.”

“Or a forgery,” Loki said, seating himself with his back to the wall and keeping his eyes on the marauding python. “If the book’s existence is doubted, how do you know what you’re holding is real?”

She met his gaze. “Simple, because it comes from Helene’s collection. I swear that woman has the ability to conjure books from thin air.”

“She has gypsy blood, so very possibly does exactly that.” Nate rearranged the pile of presents.

“Gypsy, really? I can see her reading fortunes.” Cara filed away the titbit about Helene. “This book will be a fascinating read, and will aid our work for Victoria.” She cracked the book open toward the middle and scanned the ornate calligraphy and embellished drawings. Her mind turned the assorted letters to words and her heart plummeted. “Oh, that’s not fair.”

“What?” Nate leaned over her shoulder his breath feathered over her neck and reignited embers.

Cara regarded the little volume. “It’s all in Latin. I hate Latin, I can only make out every fifth word.” She glanced sideways at Nate, hoping he would jump to her rescue.

“Don’t look at me. My Latin is rusty, my skills are in oral languages, not long dead ones.” He kissed her neck, before straightening to take his coffee from the butler.

Amy burst into laughter. “Bet you wished you didn’t skive off from so many lessons now.”

Cara resorted to the only witty reply that came to hand: she stuck her tongue out at her friend. “Why do I feel like I have been given extra school work?”

Loki’s black eyes danced with humour. “You obviously need to practice your linguistic skills.”

Amy blinked. “But Cara only needs to understand written Latin, not spoken.”

Loki’s eyes widened before he laughed. “Oh kitten, you are so innocent.”

A frown settled on Amy’s brow and she turned, a question written over her open face.

Cara bit back her laughter. “I’ll explain it to you in private, Amy,” she said, before returning her attention to the pile of presents and bright ribbons.

Cara treasured each gift, lifting ribbons and paper with care to ensure the experience lasted as long as possible. When no more boxes remained, she looked around the room with a soaring heart. She never dreamed to have such friends and family. Even the gruff Jackson earned his place in her affections. Although he absented himself, among the pile she discovered a gift from him, a small brooch of a mechanical unicorn head. The eyes whirled when the tiny horn was pressed.

She closed her eyes, afraid to ruin the moment with the tears that threatened. She took a deep breath and Nate gave her an internal caress, as intimate as a thumb grazing across the pulse in her wrist.

She opened her eyes to meet his pale blue ones. “Thank you, for everything.”

“I would do anything for you,
cara mia
.” He raised her hand and brushed a kiss over her knuckles.

After breakfast, everyone vanished in separate directions, leaving Cara and Nate alone. Bundled up in wool and fur, they trod overgrown paths through the forest to one side of the estate. Cara thought she walked a nightmare world full of bare and twisted trees reaching out to grab her and suck her down to hell. A raven cawed and flapped large black wings, casting a shadow that made her soul shiver.

“This winter is so unnatural, like the sun has abandoned us.”

London suffered far worse. Although the city normally saw a few inches of snow in February it came harder and faster this year. The city was buried in an uncommon abundance of snow and despair.

Nate’s fingers tightened on her gloved hand. “It came with the discharge from Hatshepsut’s Collar. Let’s hope the effect fades with the arrival of spring, now the thing is buried deep in the earth.”

They had a growing collection down in the cavern. Piece by piece, Cara gathered the remains of her father’s artifacts and moved them to the new location.

“I need to do more research. In many ways, we are walking blind with these artifacts. Who knows what they can do? I gather what information I can from ancient texts but little of it is practical.” She touched a hand to her chest. “Like how Nefertiti’s Heart works.”

“That one lets you breathe underwater.” He flashed Cara a wide smile. “You need to write this down in plain English, to warn those who come after us.”

There was something she never contemplated. Who would inherit all those triple-lined boxes after them? “There’s a cheery thought; I had hoped we were immortal.”

The smile stayed on his face and melted the ice forming inside her due to the frigid conditions. “Mine for eternity,
cara mia
.”

Twigs snapped under foot and birds circled in a grey sky. A sheep broke from under a shrub, bleated at them and pelted off in the opposite direction. Finally, the path opened out and the view drew the eye down to the lake. Naked weeping willows surrounded the banks, bare arms dangled in the water. Their slight motion stopped the edges from freezing over. Toward the middle, small ripples touched the mirrored surface where fish played and fed below.

“There’s good fishing here during summer.” Nate broke the silence, his words visible on the chilly air as each exhalation curled from his lips. “And we used to swim here.” He pointed to a narrow jetty stretching out over the water.

Cara tried to drape the scene in vibrant green and sunshine, but failed. “I’ll have to take your word for it.” She wondered if she needed coins to pay the resident ferryman.

Another path stretched from the water’s edge back to the place Helene called home for twenty years, while syphilis became a squatter in her body and mind.