Page 96 of Ulune's Daughter

“I’ve wanted to meet you both,” Rowan tells my parents. “And congratulate you on the prodigy you produced.”

“We know,” Dad says, his voice flat.

“Not even thirty and she’s made the find of a lifetime.” Rowan’s smile gains intensity, the way it always does whenever someone resists his charm. “You must be tremendously proud. We, at Madavar, certainly are, to have assisted Kellan in this magnificent discovery.”

My father frowns but before he says anything, I laugh gently. “I must have missed thatassistance. Good thing treasure hunting pays well, huh? Anyway, enjoy the exhibit, Rowan. Even you should be able to see thevalueof the Isla Cedros excavation now.”

“Kellan,” he says, his tone dropping to a patronizing purr he uses so effectively on his students. “I’ve done everything I could to support you, including keeping glory-seekers away from Isla Cedros when word began to leak out. You couldn’t stand for the island to be turned into another Stonehenge any more than I could. There’s serious scholarly work to be done, and you must know how valuable it would be to have the prestige of my name and Madavar’s attached to it. You don’t want things between us to become contentious, do you?”

That is a threat. And I don’t react well to threats. I cross my arms over my chest, remembering how much it stung to get that letter—Rowan didn’t even have the decency to tell me in person, even though we’d gone out to dinner the night before it arrived—denying my application for dig funding. I let the remembered hurt roll around on the back of my tongue before I unleash it on him.

As I open my mouth, my eyes track over Rowan’s shoulder. Jane and Carrie are standing ten feet away, watching me. Jane’s face is placid but Carrie’s frowning slightly. They’d never allow something like this to become contentious. They’re too smart. I need to learn to play academic politics the way they do.

I swallow back the hurt and smile instead.

“Of course not,” I tell Rowan. “There’s more than enough work to go around. I’ll have my TA send you an invite into the archive we’ve created. Lots of translating to do.”

His smile becomes so bright it must hurt his teeth. “I’ll look forward to it.”

I see a flash of green out of the corner of my eye and wave Luca over. “Here he is now.” I introduce Luca to my parents and Rowan. “Luca, Professor Wright is excited about the opportunity to assist with the rune translation work.”

Luca’s white eyes track up and down Rowan. He grins, showing incisors that are just a little too sharp. “Really? What do you know about Proto-Turkic letter forms?”

Rowan grimaces. One of the reasons he rejected my theory about the origin of the Magi of the Mists’ language, I’ve always believed, was because he has no expertise in that language group. “That seems an unlikely antecedent.”

I trade smiles with Luca. “It’s more than likely,” I say. “Luca’s traced three of the forms back conclusively, working through known derivations. Wait until you read his papers, they’re absolutely brilliant.”

Rowan’s eyes flick from me to Luca and back. His lips thin. “I’ll have my assistants look them over.”

“You don’t have anyone in your department who’s an expert in Oghur, Professor Wright?” Luca asks. His smile has turned sly. “Because I’ve reached out to some of Professor Wyndham’s contacts in Europe and Professor Cobham at Oxford and Professor Dybo at Sapienza are already on board. They’re experts in Oghur and Common Turkic.”

I stop myself from rubbing my hands together and cackling. I only gave Luca Teddy’s email and suggested he ask her to put out some feelers about Proto-Turkic a few days ago, since there are very few experts in the states. As usual, Teddy came through.

“I’m sure the resources in my department will be more than adequate,” Rowan says, but it sounds weak even to my parents, who trade amused glances.

“Your department hasn’t contributed anything to the translation of the Sulis Minerva runes either, have they?” Luca asks. “They’ve been up on the ARKANUS intranet for over a week. We’re nearly there with them.” He turns to my parents. “Kellan recovered an artifact from the first century that’s been missing for eighty years. Since the Nazis invaded Poland. It’s not only extremely powerful but some of the inscriptions have never been translated before. We’re learning so much.”

My mother rubs my arm, her eyes shining. “Kells.”

“You’re working with Kellan this year?” Dad asks Luca.

“I’ll work with Professor Wyndham as long as she’ll put up with me,” Luca says. “She’s amazing.”

My dad grins. Luca’s made a friend, despite the green hair and white contacts that would normally put my conservative father off. “You’re welcome to dinner any time, son. You’re a senior? What are you planning on doing after you graduate?”

Luca launches into a discussion with my parents about his Ph.D. plans. I brace myself for another salvo from Rowan when he opens his mouth, but we’re interrupted by the appearance of a masked, blue-haired man at my elbow.

“Professor Wyndham, can I steal you away for a minute?” Lawson asks. He doesn’t wait for my answer before he draws my arm through his and leads me away.

Despite my earlier upset, I’m glad to see him. “Thanks, I was ready for a rescue.”

“You’re welcome.” He leads me through the exhibit to a cluster of mounted stone statues. This end of the exhibit is practically empty. He turns to me. “I didn’t like the way we left things. What I said hurt you, but I’m not sure why. Was I mistaken in waiting until now to approach you? The things you’ve achieved.” He lifts his eyes to the exhibit behind me. “Would a mate, a family, have hindered you? Would you be here today if I’d approached you five years ago?”

“I don’t know. Maybe not,” I admit. “It just caught me wrong. That I could have had you, this—” I wave my hand between us. “Someone to support me when everyone else let me down ... it hurt. For a minute.”

Slowly, giving me time to pull away, Lawson places his hand over my heart. The warmth of him seeps through silk and skin.

“For any way I have injured you, Kellan. For any wrong I have done you, I am sorry.” He pauses and lets his words sink in. “Let me make it up to you?”

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