Page 106 of Marked By the Pack
“Here,” he said and pulled out one of the drawers. “These are from the early 1900s. They’re black opal. One of the rarest gemstones in the world.” He held out one of the earrings for me to see.
I would have thought black opal would be black. But each gemstone was an array of beautiful colors all cascading together. The earrings were beautiful. And not just the black opals, but also the long gold chain that connected each gem.
I usually wore studs. I reached up and touched the cubic zirconia earrings I was currently wearing.
“How about you try them on.” Callum grabbed the other opal earring.
“No, that’s okay. I’m looking for something older than that. Really, really old. Definitely older than you.”
He smiled. “I just want to see how they look on you.”
I couldn’t wear one of the rarest gemstones in the world. It wasn’t just the expense of them. It was the fact that I didn’t think I could pull them off. They looked otherworldly. Someone with all the confidence in the world could pull them off.Kebe.The colorful opals would really pop against her tan skin. She was effortlessly cool. These were made for someone like her.
“Maybe later. After I look around.” I turned back toward the shelves. The first one was filled with ornate, hand painted vases. Or…urns? I shook away the thought as I moved to the next. I was pretty sure this one had real silk in it. I wasn’t sure I’d ever touched real silk before.
I felt Callum staring at me as I moved to the next display case. It seemed like only large items were displayed on the shelves. I crouched down and pulled out adrawer. It was filled with neatly assorted pens. I moved to the next. I didn’t see a single coin, let alone anything Egyptian.
“Aren’t you interested in the history of any of these items?” Callum asked.
I hadn’t realized how weird I was being. He was expecting me to ask questions. I cleared my throat and turned back to him. “Zoey has a sudden interest in Anubis.”
“The Egyptian god of the dead?”
“Mhm. Do you have anything depicting him?”
“Like his jackal head?”
I nodded.
“No, I don’t have many Egyptian items. The pocket watch was of Egyptian origin though.”
“The pocket watch you let the guys keep?”
“The pocket watch youmademe let them keep,” he clarified. “You never asked me why they saidIwas a thief. When they’re actually the thieves.”
I stared at him. “Why did they say it?”
“Bennett and his friends are searching for a cure. They got cursed in Egypt. I think at first they believed that their cure was connected to ancient Egypt. So they started collecting artifacts. But now it seems like they believe that everything Egyptian belongs to them. Or more accurately…belongs to whoever cursed them. I suspect they think that if they return all the Egyptian relics from around the world to the original source…their cure may be lifted.”
“They told you that?”
“It’s just a theory,” Callum said. “I bought the pocket watch at an auction years ago. I didn’t steal it. But to them it was stolen, because it belongs to whoevercursed them. Possibly Sekhmet, goddess of lions. Or Baset, goddess of cats. It makes sense that Zoey has a sudden interest in Egyptian artifacts given who she’s dating. But Anubis? I don’t see how the god of the dead relates to their stealing.”
He had a good point. I didn’t know much about Egyptian gods, but those other two sounded more related to werecats. I bit my lip and stared back at the display cases. I couldn’t believe that I actually believed any of this. Egyptian gods were real? I guess this was my life now. Why should I believe in vampires and not Egyptian mythology?
Callum stepped toward the next display case. “I mostly have Slavic relics. In all my research, it seems like that’s where most of the stories of vampires come from. Dracula was a myth. A depiction of Vlad the Impaler that glorified his lust for violent executions. A dead end for me.” He pulled out one of the drawers. It was filled with wooden stakes.
Callum lifted one up. “He used them to impale people.”
I stared at it in horror. “Did he use…thatone?”
“No. Blood doesn’t preserve wood well. But it’s from one of the trees in Romania. I got very interested in wooden stakes in general. Because of the rumors that they can kill me.” He closed the drawer.
“Can they?”
“No one’s ever tried. But I believe it has to be a certain kind of wood. That wood. From beech trees.” He tapped the drawer and moved to the next display case.
“Are there any beech trees around here?”
