Dogs and Goddesses Read online

  “It might. Do you mind if I borrow it? I’d like to make a few calculations.”

  “I’m not letting it out of my sight.”

  His half smile was devastating. Way too hot in the room. “Did you think I was going to run off with it?”

  “It belonged to Granny B. I don’t want to risk losing anything of hers now that I’m learning about her.”

  “Then you can come with me.”

  “Come where?” She didn’t bother to keep the suspicious tone out of her voice.

  “Apparently this is a diagram of the center of the ancient history building. It appears to be in the auditorium.”

  “That’s what it looked like to me, too,” Abby said, resigned.

  “And you were there … why?”

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  “Try me.”

  “I already did.” The moment the words were spoken she clapped her hands over her mouth.

  “I wasn’t talking about that—”

  She interrupted him. “Neither was I. I meant I tried to tell you—”

  “Not that I’m unwilling to talk about it.”

  “Well, I am,” she said.

  “Are you sure you don’t have measles? You’re looking flushed.”

  “I don’t have measles,” she said in a tight voice. “And yes, the auditorium in the history building is a temple, and we’ve been going to dog-training classes there, which actually aren’t dog-training classes but goddess-training classes. But you don’t believe in goddesses from ancient Mesopotamia.” She was running on and on and she couldn’t help it.

  “You’d be surprised what I believe in,” he said in a steady voice. “Let’s go.”

  “You think I’m going with you?”

  “I’m thinking you don’t have any choice. Gen and Bun can finish the baking, and you may have fewer customers because of the measles.”

  “It would take more than a few spots to keep the hordes away from my cookies,” Abby said in a lofty tone.

  “Understandable,” he said gravely, and there was no hidden meaning as far as she could tell. “You want to drive or should we walk?”

  She stared at him. There was really no way out of this, was there? She wasn’t going to let him go off with Granny B’s notebook, and they needed to find out anything they could about Kammani’s haunt. And even if she was secretly pining for him, he seemed to have taken his dismissal in stride.

  The thought of being in a car with him was just a little too distracting. “It’s a nice day,” she said. “We’ll walk.”

  Which kept her in his company even longer, but for some reason, with the bright June sun beating down and the soft breeze blowing and the smell of summer in the air, she couldn’t quite object. He said nothing as he followed her into the building and she stopped before the doors to the auditorium.

  “I’m pretty sure Kammani’s not here,” she said, suddenly nervous. “There was an article in the paper about her filming the Goddess Way for cable, so I’m assuming she’s doing that, but there’s no telling when she’ll be back. We should hurry.”

  “And exactly who is Kammani?”

  She stared at him, surprised. Kammani had become such an overarching shadow in their lives that she assumed everyone knew who she was. “She’s the goddess,” she said flatly. “The one our ancestors, including yours, worshiped. She’s the one who’s brought us together to make us goddesses again. And I think she’s batshit insane.”

  “Good to know,” he said evenly. “Lead the way.”

  The auditorium was pitch-dark, and Abby froze. Christopher bumped into her, and she jumped away so she wouldn’t be tempted to lean back against him, and an electric flashlight speared the darkness.

  “Oh.” Her voice was shaky. “You brought a flashlight. I didn’t think of that.”

  “I always carry it.”

  “You have a habit of walking into dark places?”

  “I like to be prepared.” He flashed the light over the walls, and she could see his face in the reflected glow of the powerful little beam. He had that math look in his eyes, as if he were mentally calculating equations.

  “I think there are some electric lights somewhere,” she said nervously.

  “We don’t need them. Just light the torches.”

  “Electricity would work better.”

  “Torches will give us a more accurate estimate of the area. Are you going to argue with a mathematician?”

  “I wouldn’t think of it. Does the mathematician come with matches?”

  “Always prepared,” he said, tossing the small box to her.

  He was damned lucky she caught them, she thought, cranky, as she crossed the darkened room to light the torches. Slowly the light filled the room, and by the time she finished with the last one and turned, he was off in some kind of numerical trance, stalking around the room, muttering beneath his breath, his forehead knotted in concentration.

  “Don’t you want to make notes?” she said.

  The look he gave her was one of withering disdain. “I don’t need notes. I have the kind of brain that holds on to these things. Your grandmother’s notes are good enough.” He still had Granny B’s marbled notebook in his hand, his eyes sweeping down to check it, then darting up to the high ceiling. “There are power points in this room. The building wasn’t just dumped here—the placement is critical, at the juncture of the ley lines, with power surges going from east to west and north to south.”

  “Great,” Abby said, half-mesmerized by the sound of his voice, half-irritated that he seemed to have forgotten all about her. “And what do these power points do?”

  “Beats me,” he said, switching off the flashlight and taking out something white. “But we’re going to mark them so we can find them again. They’re here for a reason; I just don’t know what that reason is yet.”

  “How are we going to see the marks?”

  “Chalk.” He took a few steps and drew a mark on the floor.

  “You come equipped with that, too.”

  “I’m a teacher. Of course I have chalk. Though in fact, you’d be surprised what I’m capable of, spur-of-the-moment.”

  She could feel the color rise in her face again and she turned away from him, surveying the torches. If he noticed, he’d probably ask her if she had measles again, and insist on doing a proper inspection, and if he put his hands on her she’d have a hard time remembering that she was completely over him, and…

  “I’m done,” he said. “While you’ve been standing there daydreaming I’ve finished marking the power spots, and I’ve got the dimensions in my head. Sacred geometry is really quite fascinating, you know.”

  “I’m sure it is,” she said hastily. “But I think we need to get out of here before Kammani comes back. You can explain it to me some other time.”

  “Can I? You run away whenever I walk in a room.”

  “Your imagination,” she said stiffly.

  He didn’t argue. “I’ll douse the torches on the right side, you do the ones on the left, and we’ll head back to the coffeehouse.”

  “You’re coming back?”

  “Unless you’ve changed your mind and decided to let me take the notebook home.”

  “I’ll get the torches.”

  One by one the torches went out, and the cavernous room grew darker, and darker still. The torches were placed at various intervals, various levels, and the final one was too high for Abby to reach. She considered jumping up like Bailey in a futile attempt to reach it, but she couldn’t bring herself to be that ridiculous in front of Christopher.

  And then he was there, directly behind her, his body almost touching hers. He was taller, he could reach, and she would have moved out of the way except that he put his hands on her arms, gently.

  “I’ll get it,” he said, his voice low in the velvety darkness.

  And then there was no light at all except for the faint pool coming from the faculty room, and he turned her in his arms and ki