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Neither man bothered with a hello Val didn’t even look away from his computer "Where have you been?" He waved his hand "Never ypt You leave tonight"

"But I thought you wanted to finish research on the Philae project before ent"

"Actually," Val said with a sly s"

A thousand questions forether until only one slipped out in a tentative whisper "The Temple of Hathor?"

"Yes"

"And the other artifact? The coin?"

"Alexandria The catacombs of Kom El-Shuqafa--the Hall of Caracalla, specifically"

"Oh, ed her aold chain "Of course"

This was a were of historical importance, but more than that, Val was certain they would be critical in a battle between good and evil A battle The Aegis believed was brewing at this very moment

The artifacts, an ancient Gnostic tablet and a bronze coin, were, by theether they could strike a critical blow to deo in two hours?"

"No problem" She hball glass "I can’t wait I love Alexandria"

"Yes," Val said, reaching out to run his finger over the intricate designs etched into the bracelet she’d stolen froht before "I know But there’s no tiet out as fast as you can"

She froze as she tipped the bottle of bourbon toward her glass "Alone? You aren’t coil has called all Elders together David and I will leave for Berlin toht"

David, a handsome, thirty-four-year-old version of Val, with his dark hair and eyes, finally looked up fro "No one to hold your hand on this one"

He was teasing--he often gave her a hard tiht; this was highly unusual Val rarely let her go on trips longer than a night without him Her safety wasn’t an issue; he was more concerned about the possibility that soive in to her desire for a relationship that included all the nor to say about it God, her body was a powder keg ready to blow, and Val knew it

He was like an overprotective father with a shotgun

In rown up without a father, without a male influence at all

After her mother died, she’d been raised in a convent, educated by nuns who had hoped she’d become a nun as well But Serena had been too adventurous, had desired travel and exciteood sisters to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a female Indiana Jones

She s, all right, but not in the way she’d expected

Eighteen years old and hungry for life, she’d gone to college, her days filled with archaeology and anthropology courses Which were bo-ring with a capital B It had taken only a year of working part-ti asleep in class to realize that becoht career for her Toobullets

And that hen Val had stepped in

He’d been an assistant professor of anthropology at Yale University, and had, in fact, been the reason she’d chosen the college She’d remembered him as the Guardian who had watched over her mother until she died, and who had visited Serena occasionally as she was growing up

He’d encouraged her love of archaeology, from the moment she de anyone lost, and then later during college, when he took a few select students on a field trip to a historical Revolutionary War battlefield

A gut feeling had led her away froround There near the remnants of a stone fence and three feet under the soil, she’d discovered a shoebox-sized chest containing a few coins, a pipe, and a letter detailing a heinous betrayal by the leader of the Aone down in history as a hero, but if the letter could be authenticated, history would be turned on its ear

That very day, Val had offered her a position with his private archaeological contracting couest houses adjoining his mansion-slash-museum, and pretty much squat for pay Not that the pay truly , in part because Val paid for the essentials, and in part because he kept her so busy traveling that she didn’t have a lot of spare tiht after that--solely so he could keep an eye on her, which he still did with annoying frequency