The Portal 00 - Legacy of the Witch

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back, away from me. “How did you know what it looks like, Amarrah?”
    I drew a deep breath, then lowered my head and blew the air out
of my lungs all at once. “I’ve never been any good at deception. That’s how I
lost the thing to begin with.”
    “Lost…?”
    I forced myself to meet his eyes. “I should have told you the
truth to begin with. I—” My knees buckled, and I clasped his shoulders
instinctively to keep from falling down.
    He swore softly, then scooped me up off my feet and carried me
back through the house, down the stairs. He settled me onto the big cushy sofa
and went to the kitchen. I heard water running, pans clattering. When he
returned two minutes later he had a steaming mug in each hand and the scent of
chocolate surrounding him.
    He handed me one. I sat up straighter, and he took the other
end of the sofa, leaning back against the arm and facing me.
    “Okay,” he said. “Start talking.”
    I nodded. “I grew up in Iraq. My parents…they disappeared. A
lot of people did in those days. So my grandmother raised me. On her deathbed
she gave me the box and made me swear to keep it safe for my entire life.”
    “ My box? Are you sure it’s the same
one?”
    I nodded. I was dying to ask him how he had gotten it himself
and where it was now, but I owed him an explanation first. “Then she died, and I
was sent to relatives here in the States. I was thirteen. At the airport, before
I left my country for the last time, a customs agent confiscated it. I never saw
it again until the other day on one of those antique shows on TV, and I assume
that’s where those burglars saw it, too.”
    “So you’re not here to help me with my book.”
    I met his eyes. “No. And I cancelled the temp who was supposed
to come, when the agency phoned earlier to explain why the original person
hadn’t shown up, because I thought I would need to remain here long enough to
find the box.”
    He tipped his head back—in frustration, I thought. “It’s not
here.”
    “I know. I searched the entire house.” I lowered my head,
ashamed, blushing hot. “I’m very sorry.”
    He shrugged as if it didn’t matter all that much. His face was
pensive, and so very handsome in the firelight. “What’s the big deal with this
box, anyway?”
    “I don’t know. I only know it’s very important, and that my
grandmother said I would have to keep it safe, that evil forces wanted it, and
that I must never let them have it.”
    “What are you supposed to do with it when you get it?”
    “Grandmother said I would know when the time came.”
    “And you know nothing about why these guys broke in and tried
to steal it?”
    I shook my head. “No, I don’t.” I sighed, and let a moment of
silence tick awkwardly past. Then I asked, “Where is it, Harrison?”
    “Last I knew, it was at my former fiancée’s place.”
    “You gave it to her?” I asked, mortified. And then,
“Former?”
    “Yes, former. And no, I didn’t give it to her, just took it by
to show her. She was interested in antiques, and frankly, it’s something I’m
proud of because of where it came from. She was supposed to return it to me when
we broke things off, but she hasn’t followed through. You say you saw it on
TV?”
    “Yeah. A blonde woman was having it appraised. You know, on
that show where people bring in stuff they’ve found lying around their attic to
have it appraised? They told her it wasn’t worth anything, though.”
    He nodded. “It’s priceless to me. And apparently to you,
too.”
    I nodded. “How did…how did you end up with it?”
    “I…helped a woman and her kids get out of a burning house near
the Kuwaiti border. Her husband had been an Iraqi official, but he was accused
of spying for Kuwait and taken away. His wife left behind a mansion, a fortune,
but she took that little box with her as she tried to find a way to get herself
and her kids across the border. She said she never knew how he got the chest,
but she always felt there was something special about it. In fact, I almost lost
her because she wouldn’t leave the house without it. It was kind of an obsession
with her.”
    “Somehow, she knew,” I whispered.
    “I was stunned when she gave it to me. To thank me for saving
her children.” He lowered his head.
    “Did they make it—into Kuwait?” I asked softly.
    He nodded. “I made sure of it, though if you ever tell a soul,
I’ll swear you’re making it up.”
    I blinked at him. “You’re a