The Ruins (An Avernus Island Tale) (11 page)
Read The Ruins (An Avernus Island Tale) Online
Authors: Jennifer Kohout
Julia found the path out of the labyrinth. Was it only yesterday she had stood here with Asterion, prepared to leave without ever knowing him? It seemed so long ago.
She hesitated at the entrance that would lead her home, turned back for one last look. She’d lingered, hoping Asterion would return to say good-bye, but eventually the day grew old, and it was time to go.
The walk out of the labyrinth was uneventful. She’d been gone for over twenty-four hours, and everything and nothing had changed. The world continued to spin on, but Julia wasn’t the same woman she had been.
Lost in thought, wondering what she would come back to, it took her a few feet to realize she no longer needed her flashlight to see. The air was fresh, and a cool breeze stirred the hair around her face.
Julia exited the labyrinth and stepped into the forest. Looking around, she realized that the true path in and out was far from the city of ruins. She couldn’t see anything of the ruins she stumbled into yesterday, but she could hear the waves breaking on the beach, felt the breeze coming off the water, and headed in that direction.
Sometime later, she stepped from the tree line and into the harsh light of the afternoon sun.
People were scattered up and down the beach, but it was Brad that spotted her first. Yelling to the others, he started jogging toward her.
Mel reached her first. “Ms. Davenport, you have no idea how happy I am to see you. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I just…got a little lost,” Julia admitted. Mel searched her face, and Julia had the unpleasant sensation her hostess saw more than Julia wished to reveal.
“I see.” Mel looked Julia up and down, taking in her dirty clothes and clean face. “You’re hurt.”
Julia glanced down at her knee. The entire kneecap was covered in an ugly bruise, and the skin was still swollen. “I fell.”
“We have a physician on staff,” Mel said. “I’ll have him look at it for you.”
“Thank you,” Julia said.
They were quickly joined by other employees, including Suri, all wanting to know what happened. Julia kept as close to the truth as possible, explaining that she had wandered into the forest in search of more ruins and had gotten lost.
“Did you find anything?” Mel asked.
Julia forced herself to look Mel in the eyes, and lied. “No. There’s nothing there.”
EPILOGUE
There was a box on her desk.
It was Monday morning, and Julia was back at her workstation. On her way to the museum, she had stopped at her favorite espresso stand and treated herself to a grande mocha–with whipped cream.
Ted wasn’t in yet–no surprise there–and she had the place to herself.
Ignoring the box for now, Julia cleared away the last of the cataloging she had been assigned before her trip and carefully packed up her supplies. She had just tossed her empty cup in the recycle bin when Robert Prestwood walked in, Ted dogging his heels.
“Welcome back, Julia,” Prestwood said. “I trust you enjoyed your sudden vacation?”
Julia ignored the subtle reprimand. Sliding the box toward her, she opened the lid and started placing her things inside. “As a matter-of-fact, I did. It was quite an adventure.”
Julia left Avernus Island without seeing the doctor and without telling Mel about the ruins. Something inside warned Julia that even if she were to retrace her steps, she wouldn’t find the city of ruins. That everything, including the labyrinth, would have disappeared.
“I’m happy to hear that,” Prestwood said. “Of course, your timing was unfortunate.”
“Oh?” Julia glanced from Prestwood to Ted–her coworker’s cheshire-cat smile was in full force today and there was an ugly glean in his eyes.
“While you were gone, I was forced to decide about the assistant curator’s position. Without you here to speak for yourself…well, you understand. I had no choice but to offer the position to Ted.”
Not exactly a glowing recommendation
, Julia thought, but she offered Ted a smile. “Congratulations, Ted. I’m sure you’ll make a marvelous addition to the museum’s administration,” she lied.
Ted blinked at the unexpected comment, and his smiled dimmed.
“Actually, this works out well.” Julia handed Prestwood the paper she drafted that morning.
“What’s this?”
“My resignation,” Julia said. “Effective immediately.”
“You can’t be serious?” Prestwood sputtered. “I understand you’re disappointed, Julia, but perhaps you haven’t got your priorities in order. Now was certainly not a good time to take a vacation.”
“You’re being petty,” Ted said.
Julia ignored Ted. “My resignation has nothing to do with the promotion. I’ve had a better offer.”
“What? Where?” Prestwood’s hound-dog face started to turn pink. He wasn’t completely blind to Ted’s faults, and Julia was an excellent employee. He did not want to lose her to a competing museum.
“Apparently, Nakano was impressed with my knowledge when I negotiated for the loan of the Cyprus piece,” Julia said and had the satisfaction of seeing Ted flush. “He’s offered me a job as administrator of his entire collection.”
Julia finished packing up the last of her belongs and closed the lid of the box. “You have my contact information,” she said and walked toward the door. “Any additional pieces will have to be negotiated through me.”
Julia kicked the door closed behind her and dropped the box on the floor. There was very little inside that she would need in her new position, but she hadn’t wanted to leave anything of herself behind at the museum.
Dodging boxes as she crossed the living room, Julia brushed her fingers over the statue that sat as a centerpiece on her way to the kitchen.
Jeffery would still be sleeping, though he had promised to get up and help her finish packing.
Nakano had given her free rein to search the world over for new pieces to add to his collection. Her first stop was Japan where Julia would review Nakano’s collection, taking inventory of what he had and putting together a list of areas that might be lacking.
Nervous and excited at the prospect, Julia made herself another cup of coffee and thought about the surprising path her life had taken.
Her father was still deteriorating, but Nakano’s generous travel allowance and private jet meant that she would never be more than a plane ride away. Her employer had also set aside an apartment for her use in Japan, and Jeffery had promised to look after her grandmother’s house in exchange for living rent free.
Realizing that there was no reason for her to stay, Julia had accepted the career making job offer.
So why did she feel empty inside?
Julia took her coffee to the back door and stood staring outside. The yard was thankfully small, but it still needed to be mowed and the flowers that were her grandmother’s past time tended.
As they almost always did, Julia found her thoughts turning to Avernus Island and to the man who remained trapped at the center of the labyrinth. Had she been wrong to lie to Melisandra Black? If she had told the truth, would she be back there now excavating a site that some say never existed?
And what would she find?
A labyrinth?
A myth?
Or a man?
In the first few days after her return, Julia was convinced it all had happened, but as time went by, the memory started to fade and grow hazy, until she found herself second guessing…everything.
The statue was real. She’d dated each piece–Jeffery was still beside himself at having a four-thousand-year-old artifact sitting on their coffee table–and she’d become something of an expert on the story of Cretan’s Labyrinth.
Her statue appeared to be the only one in existence in which Asterion appeared completely human.
Now that she knew what to look for, Julia had uncovered clues to the truth of the story. A few accounts suggested that Asterion was always a man and that a jealous Theseus had entered the labyrinth and tried to kill him. Failing, Theseus made up the story of a beast who guarded the center of the labyrinth.
One account suggested that the beast was Asterion made crazy by centuries spent alone. Whatever the story, Julia was driven to learn more. She needed to know what had become of the man that had stolen her heart.
A sound in the other room drew Julia back into the house. If Jeffery was up, then it was time to finish packing. She was due to arrive in Japan in less than a week.
“Jeffrey?”
Julia stepped into the living room and stared. The mug slipped from her hand and shattered on the floor, spilling hot coffee across her shoes.
The man standing in her living room wasn’t her roommate.
“
Kardia mou?
” Asterion stood in a strange place staring at the woman he had thought never to see again.
“Asterion?” Julia took a tentative step forward. “What…How?”
“I don’t know.” The last thing he remembered was watching her fall asleep, her face the image he took with him as he closed his eyes. As much as he wanted to ask Julia to stay, he’d been prepared to let her go. He couldn’t condemn her to his fate, and had known that when she left, she would take his heart with her.
Find Cretan’s Heart,
his mother said, but it wasn’t Cretan’s Heart he found. It was his own.
Julia found herself swept up into Asterion’s arms, his embrace as warm and real as she remembered. “
Asterion
.”
He kissed her. It was a claiming that left them both breathless.
“You freed me,
kardia mou
,” Asterion said and buried his face against Julia’s throat, crushing her to him. “You are my heart.”
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading
The Ruins
, the first Avernus Island tale. If you enjoyed the story, please consider leaving a review with your favorite retailer.
Addition Titles
By Jennifer Kohout
Queen of Souls (Coming in March, 2014)
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