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“I thought you were mad at me.”

“I don’t care enough to feel anything, one way or another,” he tossed back. “Now why don’t you tell me what you’re doing out here?”

Dios, he was such a liar. I saw the furious gleam in his eyes before he had stomped away, the sharp, tense line of his jaw as he clenched his teeth. He had felt something, even if he didn’t want to admit it.

“Does it look like I’m in mortal peril?”

He narrowed his gaze. “I’m still determining if you’re a danger to yourself.”

“That’s rude.”

“I repeat. What are you doing here?”

“I’m exploring this building without my uncle’s watchful eye.” I held up my sketch pad. “Haven’t you heard? My time here is extremely limited. I thought I might draw the interior.”

He bent forward, laughing.

“Sssshhh!You’ll wake them!”

Whit stifled his amusement and stepped inside. “Good Lord, you are such a terrible liar.”

I stiffened. “I’m not.”

His lips twitched. “You mean you don’t feel magic’s pull right now? You’re not trying to discover the link?”

I turned away in disgust. There was no point in lying. “Of course I am.”

I expected him to drag me away from Trajan’s Kiosk, hollering at me to go to bed, but he did none of those things. He merely went and sat in the corner, his long legs stretched out before him.

“You don’t have to stay here,” I said after a moment.

“Don’t I?”

I glared at him, and his expression softened. “I’m going to make sure no one bothers you.”

“You’re not going to make me go?”

“I’ve been trying to get you to leave since the moment I met you.” Whit shrugged. “I’ve learned that any attempt is futile.”

“Oh. Well, do you know what it is I’m supposed to be looking for?”

He smiled. “I said I would guard you, I didn’t say I’d help you, Olivera. Your uncle wouldn’t appreciate it. I have mymarching orders,after all.” A hint of anger punctuated his words. Enough for me to glance over. His face held all of its usual charm, the laughing lines bracketing his mouth, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners. The only thing that gave away his frustration was his clenched jaw.

“It was unfair of me to suggest—”

“That I don’t have a mind of my own?” he asked, and this time he let me see his anger. “That I can’t make decisions independently, irrespective of what I’ve been told to do?”

“Yes. Um, that. I’m sorry.” I paused. “So you were dishonorably discharged. Do you want to talk about it?”

He looked faintly outraged. “Absolutely not.”

I turned away and continued examining the walls. “So your plan is just to sit there and watch me—wait a minute.” The magic jumped, a sensationthat made my stomach lurch. I peered more closely at the wall, found nothing of note, but then my gaze dropped to the floor. Parts of the pavement were dusty and covered with smaller pebbles and packed sand. But there was something that called to the magic moving restlessly inside me. I dropped to my knees, the warmth coming from the lit candle and my nerves making my skin dampen with sweat, despite the cool night. Gingerly, I brushed my fingers against the stone, moving things around, feeling for something I knew to be there, even if I didn’t know what that something was.

My fingers glided over a bumpy stretch of stone. I moved away more sand and pebbles until a small cartouche that spelled outIsisstared up at me. A thrill of discovery fluttered to my limbs. It was intoxicating, a sensation I wanted to feel again and again. “Whit.”

He was next to me in an instant. “I knew you’d find it,” he said, grinning.

“You couldn’t have helped me?”