Page 64
“I’ll never travel without it again. ”
Kane took off his scarf and coat and draped them over a bar stool. He ordered scotch. Axel brought it, then wandered to the other end of the bar to snag a section of the newspaper.
Kane rummaged in his coat pocket and pulled out a square box, wrapped in shiny blue paper with a silver bow. He presented it to me with a flourish.
“For you. ”
“A present?” Uh-oh, had I forgotten some anniversary? At Kane’s urging, I untied the silver ribbon and opened the box. Inside was a watch, the exact same model as the one Difethwr had destroyed.
I threw my arms around him. “It’s perfect! I can’t wait to try it out at work. ” I’d scheduled a couple of Drude exterminations for next week. I tried to put the watch on, but the strap slid off my wrist. “Um, what’s the occasion?” I asked, still nervous I’d forgotten some important date.
“There has to be an occasion?” He caught the strap and fastened the buckle, his fingers brushing the sensitive skin over my pulse. I shivered with the deliciousness of it. “It’s not your birthday. ” His gray eyes looked deep into mine as his fingertips stroked my wrist. “It’s not an anniversary. ” He leaned in close, his lips grazing my ear. “Let’s call it a beginning. ”
THE NEXT DAY, ANOTHER POSTCARD FROM JULIET ARRIVED. This one showed an ancient-looking brick house with a stone balcony jutting from a second-story window. “Juliet’s balcony, Verona, Italia,” the postcard claimed. I smiled, remembering the real Juliet’s indignation when she told me she hadn’t even lived on the street where her supposed house was now a popular tourist site. The postcard had been mailed from Melbourne, Australia.
At first, I didn’t see the message. But tiny characters at the bottom of the card spelled out WT II ii 65-66. Right away, I knew what to do.
I took down The Complete Works of William Shakespeare and scanned its table of contents. There it was: The Winter’s Tale. WT. I paged through the book until I found Act II, Scene 2, lines 65 and 66:Do not you fear: upon mine honour,
I will stand betwixt you and danger.
“Oh, Juliet,” I said to the empty apartment. “What have you gotten yourself into?”
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