Jail Bait Read Free Page A

his clothes and the rings on his fingers suggested he was the son of a senator, or possibly a legate or a judge or a general. His education would have taken place in Athens, he’d have attended university in Alexandria, no doubt he’d have a year’s experience in a public department under his belt, say the Mint or the roads or temple rebuilding. In all likelihood, he’d have wed at sixteen and could well be the father of two with a third on the way.
    ‘No.’ He laughed. ‘I was about to say, I feel you misjudge me! You think I’m too young to know what’s what around here, but I have to warn you, there’s nothing I don’t know about Atlantis.’
    Claudia studied the crinkling green eyes and spade-shaped jaw and thought, I’ll bet there isn’t. ‘Like, for instance?’
    ‘Like, for instance, your name is Claudia Seferius, you’re a widow, you’ve recently arrived with your cat. The same cat, incidentally, that has already caused chaos in the kitchens, terror in the tackroom and absolute pandemonium in the parrot house.’
    Claudia stiffened. How could he possibly know so much?
    ‘Easy.’ He grinned, suggesting he read minds as a means of acquiring his knowledge. ‘While Pylades was greeting you in the hall, I nipped into his office to look up your registration.’
    Simple as that? Well, why not…?
    Cal, she noticed, had remained beside his couch as she headed towards the sun porch, therefore it came as something of a surprise to see a blur of blue linen flash by.
    ‘Most people,’ she pointed out, ‘walk or even run to catch up.’ She’d never met one before who cartwheeled through life.
    Cal jumped upright to block her way. ‘You don’t listen,’ he said, and his corn-coloured hair flopped back into place. ‘It’s too hot on the veranda this time of day, you’ll make yourself sick. Walk with me, instead. Everyone enjoys a walk round the museum—’
    Claudia pushed her face close to his. ‘Do I look like you could shear me for wool?’
    ‘I beg your pardon?’
    ‘Or cut me into lamb chops?’
    ‘I’m afraid you’ve still lost me,’ Cal said.
    ‘Neither,’ she added, ‘do I go “baaa”, is that sinking in? Good. Because, now we’ve established I’m not a sheep, perhaps you’d allow me to do my exploring on my own.’
    ‘Nonsense.’ He slipped his arm into hers. She slipped it away. He slipped it back again. ‘Everyone needs company and Atlantis,’ he whispered, steering her towards a hidden alcove, ‘is stuffed to the gunwales with secrets.’ Gently he ushered her behind a gilded statue of Bacchus. ‘For the price of a kiss, I’ll reveal the trick Pylades uses to keep the hall so cool.’
    Claudia caught the sharp tang of the alecost on his tunic. ‘I’m prepared to live in ignorance.’
    ‘One little kiss,’ he cajoled, ‘on the lips.’
    Claudia freed her arm with a jerk. ‘I know that routine, Cal. A kiss on the lips—and then it’s all over.’
    And yet, caught in the smoky intensity of dark beech-leaf eyes, had she not been tempted? Just a fraction? Had hot blood not surged through her veins when his hand brushed her cheek, stirring up feelings she’d long ago believed buried?
    Acknowledging defeat with a click of his tongue, Cal leaned across her, pushed against the side wall and suddenly Claudia found herself outdoors, in the middle of the grove of young walnut trees which surrounded the Temple of Carya.
    ‘There!’ He laughed. ‘Wasn’t that worth a—?’
    ‘No.’
    Dear Diana, this boy wouldn’t know a refusal if it clocked him round the ear with a haddock. So why was that curiously pleasing?
    In the grove, silent and secluded, offerings to the nymph dangled among the flaccid leaves—gaily coloured ribbons, terracotta plaques, wooden figurines, as well as an array of silver votive bells waiting for a breeze to set them dancing. By the gods, shade or no shade, it was hot! Sensing her discomfort, Cal whisked the fan from her hand and flapped the