Descent (Black Heart Romance presents Heaven & Hell)

look at me, hiking an eyebrow in question.
It’s a rude question, I don’t even mean to ask it, but the words tumble out before I can stop them.
“How rich are you?”
His lips quirk. “Rich enough.”
Then he gestures for me to come with him.
I want to know what it’s like to have a whole world-class museum to myself, so I do.
Moments later we’re approaching the tomb of Perneb and the beginning of the Egyptian art
exhibit. I’ve been to the tomb before, but I didn’t stay long. The doorways are narrow and there are
always a bunch of people to squeeze past. It made me feel claustrophobic, so I left before I even
made it through the whole thing.
Tonight it’s just us, but Calvin takes up more space than he has a right to.
He takes the lead, too. As if we’re exploring some unknown, potentially dangerous area, he
keeps me behind him as we walk through the tight spaces.
“Making sure the coast is clear?” I joke.
He glances back at me, his dark hair and dark clothes a striking contrast from the sand-colored
walls and brighter images painted on the stone surface. “What? You don’t trust me to keep you safe?”
I roll my eyes. He’s the last person in the world I should trust to keep me safe, but the intimacy of
the moment, the two of us alone in this ancient structure… something about it strikes a chord. Reminds
me of that odd sensation I get sometimes that he would protect me from danger, he just can’t be
bothered to stop damaging me himself.
“The chapel,” he says, looking around as we enter the room.
“Are you allowed in those?” I murmur, looking around instead of at him, but I can still see out of
the corner of my eyes when his lips tug up with amusement.
“If the structure collapses, I guess we’ll have our answer,” he says lightly.
I move forward, gazing at the Egyptians painted all around. I reach out a hand to follow the
pictures, to look at the record of all the offerings that were brought here for Perneb’s spirit.
“When I was a little girl, I found Egyptology very interesting,” I tell him. I don’t know why I tell
him, but once I do, I keep going. “I had a vivid dream once that I was a boy living in an ancient
Egyptian city and helping build the pyramids. After that, I always felt connected to that part of history.
In my 7 th grade history class we had this project, we had to remake a relic from one of the ancient
civilizations. I chose Egypt and made a replica sculpture with hieroglyphs that was so detailed and
accurate, the principal asked if they could display it in a trophy cabinet in the library. I think it’s still
on display there today.”
“You must be very artistic,” he remarks.