Page 48 of The Eagle's Vault

“Isaac, be quiet,” Leigh snapped. “I want to hear this.”

His head jerked back, his lip curling. I’d only known them for a week, but Isaac’s stunned expression confirmed my guess—she never talked to him like that.

The guide paused, shining his flashlight down a narrow side tunnel, the light vanishing into the distance. “They say the markings are reminiscent of Leonardo da Vinci’s engineering sketches, including a series of three-dimensional shapes.”

At that, Leigh froze. The information jolted through me, so strong I lost track of my movements and bumped into her. I instinctively reached out, gripping her shoulders. A soft scent wafted up from her, a mix of pears from her hidden hair and something spicier, making my pulse quicken. Her body stiffened under my touch.

Had Isaac’s words or my unexpected contact unsettled her? I should have let go, but my focus drifted down the corridor, and she was an anchor for my curiosity. The tour group wandered on ahead, their chatter buzzing through the ancient tunnels.

Leigh pivoted so swiftly she remained nestled within my grip. “That sounds like… doesn’t it sound like one of the sketches from the notebook?”

Isaac nodded, staring down the corridor with us. “You’re right. It does.”

“Yeah.” I released her and took a step backward.

Leigh stepped forward, maintaining the gap between us. She ignored Isaac’s agreement, her attention solely on me. “Do you have the photos you took?”

“I’ve got a copy.” Jayce pulled out her phone and started scrolling through an array of pictures. She handed it to Leigh, who accepted it and held it so I could see.

Leigh swiftly navigated through the images, stopping at one in particular. She zoomed in on the screen, enlarging it before passing the phone to me. As she moved closer, she gripped my forearm. My brain was a mess, sizzling with the energy from her touch and the mystery in front of me.

The image was clear, the sketch detailed. It was the two-page spread from the back of the notebook. I’d barely registered it at four this morning, but now? It depicted a series of concentric screws, several intricate drawings of twelve-sided shapes, and a rectangle that had to be the vault door. We studied it, her breath warming my cheek.

“Could it be the door he was talking about?” Leigh’s eyes lit up, excitement washing over her. “The photo of that guy Scarlett and Rav knew—the fresco expert—looked like it could have been taken inside the catacombs.”

“Daniel Weber,” I said. “We should call him. See if he knows anything about this.”

Isaac weaseled his way in, flicking through photos on Jayce’s phone before I pulled it away. Undeterred, he pointed at the phone, which showed a sketch of an eagle. “I didn’t get to study the notebook last night, but I remember seeing a map? Maybe it leads to the door?”

I scrolled through the pictures, passing by several shots of Jayce’s extravagant meals, and found an image displaying a jumble of lines. “Here, look at this,” I murmured, holding the image beside the tour brochure that Isaac clutched.

Isaac squinted, studying both images. “They’re similar.”

“We’ve fallen behind the group.” Jayce huffed out a breath, signaling she was about to make a ridiculous request. “Why don’t we go find that door now?”

My eyes fell to Leigh, her own ablaze with sheer wonder. Part of me ached to chase this new lead with her, to dive headfirst into this mystery. But Jayce was the daredevil of our lot, and Scarlett tasked me with keeping Leigh safe.

Isaac was supposed to be on my radar too, but Leigh was my priority.

I shook my head, painting on my casual smile. “We could easily get lost down here without someone monitoring our progress. And who knows if this map is even accurate?”

Jayce didn’t buy it. No matter how hard I tried to mask the flutter in my chest, she knew it was there. She knew I was struggling. The thrill of an unsolved puzzle was a siren call. A vault concealed within the catacombs, undisturbed for centuries? What could she be guarding? Was she made fully of stone? Or was there metal at her core? Wood?

As my heart throbbed with unspent curiosity, I handed the phone back to Jayce. “We better catch up with the group. We don’t want to miss out on the rest of the tour.”

But in my mind, the gears were already turning. As soon as we surfaced, we’d reach out to Daniel Weber and find out what he knew. There was more to this than the blackmail and the notebook, and I was going to uncover exactly what it was.

Chapter 19

Declan

Ileanedagainstasun-drenched wall, a swirl of tart lemon gelato on my tongue. Around me, Rome hummed, a symphony of chatter and street musicians. The excitement of the city held little sway.

My brain was still far below.

The catacombs, with their dark, hidden vault, nagged at me. This wasn’t just any vault. Inscriptions like da Vinci’s? Da Vinci himself? What would he have been hiding that he’d have to go all the way down there for?

We only had one photo of the vault, which was more about the men in front of her than on her quiet beauty. This wasn’t about the thrill of cracking her open, it was about understanding her, appreciating her complexities. And the artistry of Leonardo da Vinci.

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