Solin shrugged. "We're Greek. Family is family no matter what, and we always take care of our own.
Right, Arik?"
"Yes... in more ways than one."
At that point, Geary gave up. There was something very odd about both men. Maybe she was crazy for even being here with them.
A tremor of fear went through her at that thought. Was she crazy? She'd jumped into the car so fast...
Oh God.
She really didn't know anything about these guys. She'd been so excited she hadn't even paused to be her usual suspicious self.
"Are you all right?" Solin asked.
"Fine," she said, trying to calm herself. But it was hard as her imagination took off with images of them raping and murdering her.
Solin removed his sunglasses. "You're looking a bit pale. You're not thinking that we've kidnapped you so that we can have our way with you, are you, Doctor?"
"No." she said, hating the slight tremor in her voice. Her only consolation was that Brian knew Solin and the crew had seen his car. And all of them knew they were heading to the permits' office. "Why would I ever think such a thing? I mean, I've known you both what? All of fifteen minutes. Maybe Arik makes it a habit of diving into the sea to catch unsuspecting women so he can lure them into your limo."
Solin passed an amused look to Arik. "Is that how you work, Brother?"
"No. Unlike some people I know, I don't like to frighten women. I find it tiresome." Arik turned in the seat to give her a sincere look. "I'm not here to rape you, Megeara. I told you, you were safe, and you are."
She didn't know why, but she believed him. "I'm sorry. It's just been a really bad week for me.
Everything has literally turned against me and I've had one disappointment too many."
Solin arched a brow.
Arik glanced at his brother as he heard Solin's voice in his head. " Disappointed her, have you? And you call yourself an Erotikos Skotos."
He narrowed his eyes. " Not me, Solin. She's been harassed by your officials who won't allow her to excavate."
"Um-hmmm...funny, whenever I'm preoccupied with a human, she's too busy trying to get back to me in her dreams to bother with such innocuous quests."
"Megeara is different."
By Solin's face Arik could tell his brother found that hard to believe. " So tell me, how do you find the human world? Have you ever been here before?"
"No."
Solin arched a surprised brow. " Are you overwhelmed by it?"
"Hardly. But I find parts of it confusing. It's very different from being in dreams."
Solin grinned. " You've no idea."
Megeara turned to Arik. "So why is Atlantis so important to you? I mean, if you could get permits this easily, why haven't you?"
Arik hated having to lie to her, but if he didn't give her some plausible answers, as skittish as she was, she'd flee and never let him near her again. "I didn't know where to dig for it. All of my research turned up nothing. It wasn't until I was speaking with Spiro the other day and he mentioned you that I had a clue."
"Spiro?"
"Gavrilopoulos. He turned you down two weeks ago." And luckily she'd mentioned the event and the man's name to Arik in her dreams. "I've been looking for you ever since to ask you about your findings.
He said you were most emphatic about the site you wanted to excavate."
She sat back in the seat with a peeved expression. "So you know the little weasel."
"Weasel?" Solin asked curiously.
"Hmm... he laughed so hard over my request I thought he was going to choke and die from it."
Arik tried to placate her. "He can be a little callous."
"Callous, nothing. He was downright rude."
"Well," Solin drawled, "your luck is about to change."
Geary wanted to believe that. She could use a bit of good luck in her life. And if not good, then at least mediocre.
Needing to distract herself from that line of thought, she looked at Arik. He didn't seem like the kind of guy who would be interested in anthropology. Both he and Solin seemed too self-absorbed to think
about the past or the future. They appeared more the "me, me, me, now, now, now" kind.
"So what got you so interested in Atlantis?" she asked Arik. "How did you know what my necklace was?"
His eyes gleamed with amusement. "Do you ever ask a single question?"
"Sorry. It's the professor in me. One question invariably leads to another, and so as not to waste time, I generally ask both and then seek the answer. And speaking of, you still haven't answered my last two."
"Yes, Arik," Solin said with a hint of laughter in his voice. "Why are you so fascinated by Atlantis?"
Arik cut a nasty glare at his brother that she couldn't even begin to fathom. Why would that question upset him?
"I'm always intrigued by the unknown," Arik said, glancing back at her. "They say Atlantis is a myth, but I know better. I believe in it." He met Solin's gaze. "In fact, I think the gods still walk among us, even here and now."
Solin made a rude noise at Arik's conjecture.
Geary frowned at him. After the way her father had been treated while being right, she wasn't about to laugh at anyone else's beliefs. It pained her to see Solin so cruel. "You still haven't explained how you knew what my necklace was."
"I know a man who wears a similar medallion. He was the one who first told me stories of Atlantis."
Her jaw went slack at Arik's revelation. Someone else had found one? "Really?"
He nodded.
She was intrigued by the possibility. "Is he Greek? How did you meet? Could I meet him? I'd love to know where he got his necklace."
Arik shook his head. "Again with the multiple questions."
"Time is fleeting and I need answers."
He took pity on her. "Yes, he's Greek, and I met him back when I was very young. Sadly, he no longer mentions Atlantis. I think there's something about it that grieves him."