Countdown - Iris Johansen [94]
“I wouldn’t dare.” He smiled. “Cira’s spirit might strike me down with a bolt of lightning.” His smile faded. “Or you might decide to leave me. Either way I face disaster.”
“Now you are joking,” she said uncertainly. Trevor’s expression was odd, taut, and without humor.
“Am I? Perhaps I am.” He pulled her down again and his lips were pressed in the hair at her temple. “You’d say it was too soon. You’re probably right. But I know damn well I want the chance to find out.” His arms tightened around her as he felt her stiffen against him. “Okay, I’ll stop making you uneasy. God knows, I’m unsettled enough myself. I was expecting a hell of a good roll in the hay with a woman I’ve wanted for years. I didn’t expect—” He broke off. “I believe a change of subject is in order. Would you care to tell me about your latest Cira dream?”
She hesitated. She’d avoided telling anyone details of those dreams, with the exception of Eve. Eve was not only like her other self, but she had her own secrets that she had not divulged even to Joe. Jane could understand that instinctive avoidance. She was as private a person as Eve, and it was difficult to trust anyone with these dreams that seemed not like dreams at all.
“I’ll understand if you don’t want to talk about it,” Trevor said quietly. “But I want you to know that whatever you believe, I’ll believe. I trust your instincts and your judgment. Screw everything else.”
She was silent a moment. “I don’t know what to believe,” she said haltingly. “Cira’s out of the tunnel. Antonio’s with her. So is Dominic. They’re heading toward a ship moored down the coast. Cira paid Demonidas to take her away from Herculaneum.”
“Demonidas?”
“He’s greedy. She believes he’ll wait for her, even though—” She shook her head. “Even though their world’s ending. Antonio’s not so sure.” She stared into the darkness. “There’s fire all around them. The cypress trees bordering the road are all burning. One fell across the road in front of Cira. She slipped from the horse. She called out for Antonio. . . .” She closed her eyes. “It sounds like something from The Perils of Pauline, doesn’t it? Thank heaven there were no railroad tracks back then. I’d probably have Cira tied to them with an engine roaring toward her.”
“Cira seems to be doing fine in that department herself.” Trevor said. “Demonidas . . .”
She opened her eyes to look at him. “What are you thinking?”
“Well, you haven’t been able to find any reference to Cira that you could have come across before you started dreaming about her. Demonidas is a new player in the mix. Maybe he’s a well-known merchant and trader. Perhaps we can track Cira through him.”
We. She felt a surge of warmth at the word. “If he existed.”
“Don’t be a pessimist. He exists until proven otherwise. I’ll see what I can do about finding a reference to him tomorrow.”
“That’s my job.”
“Then we’ll both do it. Lord knows, there are enough alleys to explore for the two of us.”
“Too many. And we don’t have time to do this now. Not with Reilly and Grozak—”
“We have a little time now. And it might prove important. If Cira was running away from Julius, is it likely she’d go without the gold?”
She stiffened. “No.”
“Then wouldn’t it be logical that the gold was on that ship?”
“Yes.” She added, “You’re talking as if there really was a Demonidas.”
“You said you half believed. I’ll work on that assumption. Could you have run across the name Demonidas sometime in the past and woven it into fantasy? Possibly. But why not check it out? It can’t hurt.”
“It might be a waste of time we don’t have.”
“I told you I’d believe what you believe. I have a hunch you believe in Cira and Antonio and Demonidas more than you’ll admit. You don’t trust me enough yet.”
“I . . . trust you.”
He laughed. “That was a pretty lame response.” He moved over her. “But that’s okay. You respond very enthusiastically in other areas. I’ll just have to work on making a major breakthrough.” He parted her thighs and whispered, “But there are