Page 56 of The Geek and the Sheikh

“Well, Harlem isn’t here.”

“That we know of. He could be and we would never know,” she murmured, staring out of the window.

“You make him sound like some mythical being with superhuman powers,” he half-teased.

“He was— is. Think of Idella… and multiply her by a thousand. I tried looking him up. I knew he worked for governments around the world, but there wasn’t a single thing on him. I knew that he was collecting and training kids for a super-secret agency. Again… nothing. It was like he was a ghost, Jameel.”

“Yet… I know you. You wouldn’t give up,” he said, glancing at her.

She bowed her head and tapped her fingers against each other. Her lips were moving as if she were having a silent argument with someone. A sixth sense told him he needed to be patient.

Finally, she spoke.

“I didn’t give up. Midnight doesn’t know about some of the things I’ve done. I… I… There was a room, at the house. No one was supposed to know about it but Harlem. He was really careful, but I… it was like he didn’t notice that I was there. It was sort of like tolerating my presence had become a habit of... just... not seeing me there.” Her lips curved up into a wry smile. “He and mom were arguing one night during dinner. I think that was the only time I ever heard them angry with each other. Harlem had suggested sending me away to a boarding school. It was a clever way of kicking me outwithoutkicking me out, but he said it was because I needed more socialization. Mom wasn’t having any of it. Anyway, he made mom cry. Mom never cried. After mom left the room, Midnight picked up her dinner knife.”

Jameel silently cursed when Junebug’s voice faded. She was lost in the memory of what happened. He shifted as they rounded another turn. They were getting close to the exit that led to Gilbert’s chateau.

“What happened?” he finally asked.

“Midnight held the knife to Harlem’s throat and threatened to slit it if he ever made Mom cry again or tried to send me away. He disarmed her, of course. It happened so fast that neither Midnight nor I saw him move. After he took the knife away, he said ‘Okay’. That was it. Just okay… and he finished his meal.”

“What about the room?”

She blinked. “Oh, the room. It is in the basement. I followed him later that night. I had learned all the cool places to hide. I’m good at that. Hiding. That’s another one of my superpowers,” she mused with an impish grin. "Sometimes I forget that it's a superpower because Midnight does it better, but it was enough to fool Harlem that night."

He raised an eyebrow at her. It was impossible to think that she could be anywhere and not immediately seen.

“What was in the room?”

“A bunch of really old stuff. There were lots of old weapons from around the world. A lot of it was in cases. I don’t know if he just liked to collect the stuff or if he stole it from museums, or what. There were a few pieces in the house, but nothing like what he had in that room. One thing was clear, though, he didn’t want anyone to know about it.”

“Eccentric, but not exactly supernatural. Harlem’s basement sounds a lot like Gilbert’s chateau,” Jameel said. “Did you find anything else?”

“I… maybe,” she quietly responded.

“What?”

She pursed her lips together. He wanted to reach over and cup her hand, but they were on a dangerously curvy road. She clenched and unclenched her fingers.

“There was a symbol… in Harlem’s hidden room. I remember it because it was pretty. It was a series of circles, almost like a forever mirror clock,” she said in a rush.

“What’s a forever mirror clock?”

She turned slightly in her seat. “It’s like when you have a series of mirrors and you place an image in it and the image seems to go on forever and ever. This symbol was like that. There was a series of clocks, but each one was different, as if the clocks were from different time periods. Around the clock were the wordsVita non finitur in morte, sed renascentia.”

“Life does not end in death, but in rebirth?” he translated.

She frowned. “You know Latin?”

He released a dry chuckle. “I didn’t have much choice. You have to remember my twin was studying to be a doctor. He insisted I help him memorize all the things he needed to know. There is alotof Latin used in the medical field.”

“Oh.”

“So, what do you think it means?” he asked.

“I haven’t thought of the symbol in years. Then, I saw it again just a few days ago,” she said.

“Where did you see it?”

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