Page 30 of Witches of Dubious Origin
“Are you ready to radiocarbon-date your book?” Tariq asked me.
I blinked in surprise. “Just like that?”
Tariq shrugged. “It might help you sort out where to begin with the translating.”
“Good point.”
“Jasper, we need to discuss your current project,” Miles said. There was a slight hesitation before he saidproject, and I wondered if he was choosing his words more carefully since Eloise and I were present.
“Right. Lots to report.” Jasper’s gaze lingered on me, and I would have thought he was referring to me, but that would be ridiculous. Miles had said he was a field operative in charge of containment. Other than the arrival of Eloise on my doorstep, which I felt I had managed just fine all things considered, there wasn’t much to contain.
“That leaves you with me,” Olive said to Eloise. I saw Eloise shift on her feet and found it oddly comforting that even a woman who’d been dead for more than thirty years found Olive intimidating. “This way.”
Eloise shot us a nervous glance and Tariq said, “Don’t worry. She doesn’t bite unless you give her a reason to.”
Eloise’s eyes went wide and Olive snapped over her shoulder, “I can hear you, Silver.”
“I know,” Tariq chirped, looking unrepentant.
As Eloise followed Olive, I turned to Tariq, keeping myvoice low. “Baiting Olive? Do you also play with matches and run with scissors?”
“I can hear you, too, Ziakas,” Olive cried.
I jumped and Tariq chuckled. “You’ll get used to her.”
He turned and led the way to the lab, sparing me from having to correct him. I was positive that even if I came back from the dead like Eloise, I would never not be afraid of Olive.
The lab was empty when Tariq and I entered. I took the book out of my bag. It felt solid in my hands. I had no idea what Tariq would have to do to it and I felt a pang of protectiveness toward the grimoire. I frowned. No, no, no. I wasn’t concerned with this particular book. I was a librarian by trade. I would have felt this mindful about any book in my charge.
“What do you have to do to date it?” I tried to sound professional, but my voice slid up in pitch, revealing my concern.
Tariq smiled and reached over to pat my shoulder. “Don’t worry. I only need a tiny sample, about five millimeters in size. When you open it, we can look for a dried-out fragment that’s loose. I promise I will not harm your family’s grimoire.”
“It’s not—” I began, but Tariq interrupted me.
“Zoe.” His voice was gently chiding. “Whatever we discover, it’s going to be all right, yes?”
“Okay.” I put the book on the steel table, feeling as if I were offering up my child for circumcision.
“Everything getting sorted in here?” Jasper strode into the room, pausing beside me at the steel table. I didn’t think I imagined that the cold room was suddenly warmer and smaller than it had been just moments before.
“Yes. In fact, you’re just in time,” Tariq said. “Zoe is about to open the book.”
Jasper’s eyes glinted with interest. “Brilliant. Miles told me it was rather dramatic.”
“Speaking of Miles, I thought you were in a meeting with him.” It wasn’t that I didn’t want Jasper there…Well, truthfully, it was exactly that I didn’t want him there.
“I was,” Jasper said. “But he received a call that required privacy, so here I am.”
I nodded. Of course. Because I wasn’t already nervous enough, now I had to open the book with him watching me with those startlingly pale eyes from beneath those perfectly arched brows. Fabulous.
“Go ahead, Zoe. I’ll prepare my equipment.” Tariq handed me a first aid kit before crossing the room to his mass spectrometer.
The small metal box had a surgical needle in it. It was packaged, which I assumed meant it was sterilized. This was actually welcome, as the nick on my finger had just started to heal and I didn’t want to pick the scab to draw blood.
I blew out a breath, thinking how appropriate it was that an inherited artifact was making me bleed. It was the cherry on top of the three-scoop sundae of neglect, family secrets, and emotional distance that had made up my familial relations over the last two decades.
Overly aware of Jasper watching me, I used my thumb to press my middle finger until it was red, then I stabbed it. I felt him wince in sympathy, but I didn’t look away from my purpose. The blood beaded up immediately and I moved my finger over the hexagonal lock. I let three drops land inthe center before I moved my thumb over the pinprick, pressing on it to stop the bleeding.
