The Serpent in the Stone (The Gifted Series) by Nicki Greenwood Page B

memory of his vicious glare pierced her over and over. She had never told anyone but Faith about her gifts. Now she knew why.
    The sun threw long late-afternoon shadows by the time she got to the camp. She found her sister taking samples of earth to be shipped back to Eurocon. When Faith spotted her, she climbed out of the dig trench. “ How ’ d it go? ”
    Sara struggled to find enough anger to push aside the hurt. “ Next time you ask me to take Ian somewhere, you ’ d better recheck your gut feelings. ”
    Faith glanced toward the dig, where Dustin and Thomas still labored in the afternoon sun. When she looked back, her gaze fell on the bloody tear in Sara ’ s coat sleeve. Her sun-bronzed skin paled. “ What happened? ”
    “ We had some trouble, but the amulet ’ s fixed. I ’ m tired. I ’ m going to lie down for a while. We ’ ll talk later. ” Ignoring her sister ’ s concerned frown, she turned and hurried away to her tent.
    The minute she entered it and closed the tent door, hot tears spilled down her cheeks. The scars on his back flashed in her memory again. So many of them, and he was just a boy when they ’ d happened. Her stomach turned.
    He knew everything and he hated her for it. Just because of what she was.
    She almost hated herself.
    ****
    Digging advanced rapidly over the next few days. The find began to show signs of being more than just a field wall. Sara allowed the flurry of activity to consume her thoughts, trying to forget Ian. He’d be leaving, anyway, if he hadn’t already. She’d told her sister only that he knew of her abilities and wouldn’t speak of them to anyone else. Since that day, his name hadn’t crossed her lips. She couldn’t bring herself to speak it. Every time his image flashed in her memory, it was coupled with that look of distaste and distrust.
    She spent her waking hours with pick and shovel, laboring in spite of her injury. When it became too dark to see outside, she worked on her laptop, entering measurements, logging soil compositions, and keeping a precise record of their progress. Anxious for hard data, she logged onto her computer twice a day to check for lab results from Eurocon.
    The e-mail response came at last on the morning of the spring equinox. Without reading it, she rushed from her tent in search of her sister. She found Faith surveying the perimeter of the site. “ Hey. It came. Lamb responded. ”
    Faith shot upright, all attention. “ Well? What ’ d he say? ”
    “ I didn ’ t read it yet. Come on. ”
    They hurried back to Sara ’ s tent. She dropped into her chair, clicked on the e-mail, then read it aloud. “‘ Sara—The lab results from your dig samples suggest the find to be of Norse origin— ’” She let out a wild whoop. Everything their father had worked for might be right under their noses. At last.
    “ Come on, finish! ” Faith danced in place and waved her hand at the screen.
    Sara made herself sit still. “‘ Carbon dating placed the samples within the period of Viking occupation of Shetland. Should you find artifacts, please photograph them immediately and send them here to the lab. I will be coming to the site within the week with more crew to oversee— ’”
    “ Here it comes, ” Faith snapped. “ He ’ s going to send for Flintrop, I just know it. ”
    “ He can ’ t. Shetland was Dad ’ s baby. I ’ ll kill him if he tries it! ” Jittery, she started tapping her heel.
    “ Hello? ” came a male voice from outside the tent.
    Ian. Still here? Sara clapped a hand over her bouncing knee, but it did nothing to stop her jitters. She found Faith ’ s gaze. “ Why don ’ t you go tell Thomas and Dustin? I ’ ll catch up with you. ”
    Faith responded with a doubtful expression and crossed her arms. “ Why don ’ t you just tell me what ’ s going on between you two? ”
    “ Nothing I can ’ t deal with. ”
    With a last, unconvinced smirk, Faith ducked outside. Sara glanced around her tent as if