cup for her and handed it over. Once Yasmine had finished

  with the other one, Levi unlocked the secret room and turned

  the lights on.

  “Let’s just use the lamps. It’s too early for all this light.”

  Yasmine sat in the chair she preferred and as usual folded her

  legs under her. “Will you be cold?”

  Levi glanced down at her boxers and T-shirt, having

  forgotten to put on her robe. “I doubt that, but I’ll run and get

  dressed if you’re uncomfortable.”

  “Come sit and stop worrying about that. What I said

  before…I was nervous and didn’t know you well. Now that I

  do, I doubt you could make me uncomfortable.” Yasmine

  stood and picked up a copy of the third scroll. They’d

  numbered them; not that it would matter if all of them said the

  same thing.

  After working in silence for an hour, Yasmine asked if they

  could move to the study since the couch was more

  comfortable. They opted for soft lighting again and weren’t

  close together when they sat down, but when Levi woke up,

  Yasmine was in her arms and sleeping. She wasn’t moving, so

  Levi closed her eyes and enjoyed what little Yasmine was

  willing to give.

  She noticed the change in Yasmine’s breathing fifteen

  minutes later and waited for the retreat she knew was coming.

  Yasmine surprised her when she reached for her hands,

  threaded their fingers together, and didn’t move. They fell

  back asleep for another hour, and although they didn’t discuss

  it, Yasmine only moved so she wasn’t fully in her arms. She’d

  think Yasmine was teasing her, but she didn’t seem the type.

  “Do you mind if I go and get Zara?” Yasmine asked softly,

  her head still resting on Levi’s shoulder. “I left a note, but I’m

  sure she’ll be wondering by now.”

  “I don’t mind at all, but here.” She reached behind her to

  the drawer of the side table and took out a key. “I’ll run up and

  take a shower, but if you finish before I do, come back in.”

  “How do you know not to ask any questions about

  anything?” Yasmine still hadn’t moved away, and her question

  was vague, but Levi had a clue as to what it was about.

  “Because you’re not ready to answer them. If you think

  I’m an expert at all this, I’m not. You need to take your time

  and be sure, and I’m as confused as you are. I’m going to be

  your friend no matter what, and slow and steady will answer

  those questions we have better than if I put voice to them.”

  She ran her free hand down Yasmine’s back and tightened her

  hold before letting her go.

  “That doesn’t sound like your usual reaction.” Yasmine

  exhaled against her neck and shook her head slightly. “I’m

  sorry. I don’t know you well enough to make that assumption.”

  “Don’t apologize, you’re right.” She’d had so many great

  experiences with so many great women, and she’d never

  regretted any one of those, but she’d realized something in the

  last couple of years. There was something she and Pia had in

  common, and that was the belief that there was someone out

  there who’d been made just for her. Granted, actually meeting

  that someone wasn’t something she’d ever stopped and

  seriously thought about.

  It was the most ridiculous notion because the world was

  full of beautiful women. Deciding on just one was as foreign

  to her as a nine-to-five job, but it didn’t make it any less likely.

  All she had to do was look at her grandparents and her parents

  to see that forever was possible. Giving in to love didn’t mean

  the end of the excitement of what attracted you to the woman

  in the first place, but she’d never wanted to give in at all.

  There hadn’t been a woman who’d made her think otherwise,

  but now she glanced down at Yasmine and reconsidered. It

  might have been a stretch to say she completely understood,

  but seeing the truth was the first step.

  “What? Tell me.” Yasmine’s intoxicating voice interrupted

  her ruminations.

  “You’re right, but once I find—” She couldn’t say it out

  loud without sounding like a romance novel.

  Yasmine lifted her hand and pressed it to her cheek. The

  urge to kiss her was so strong Levi lowered her head a

  millimeter, but she wouldn’t go back on her word.

  “Tell me,” Yasmine said.

  “My grandfather told me a story of what it means to find

  and fall in love with the one person who is your match. Each

  generation has that one epic romance that continues the chain

  that was started so long ago.” She laughed at the memory of

  Cristobal telling her the story over and over. “My family

  doesn’t believe in divorce, so once the choice is made, you

  have to be sure it’s the right one. It’s a lesson that’s been

  passed from father to son, and it’s tradition to tell the story.”

  “But in this generation there was no son,” Yasmine said,

  moving her hand to her neck.

  “True, but I’m still looking for a woman to treasure,” she

  said and shrugged.

  “That’s beautiful.” Yasmine closed her eyes and put her

  head back down.

  Levi hesitated for a moment before letting Yasmine’s

  hands go. “It’s something I hope is true. It’s nice knowing I

  come from a long line of happy people. So, you’re right, this

  isn’t my usual reaction.”

  “Why is it different?” Yasmine laid her hand on Levi’s

  abdomen.

  “I don’t have a way to explain it, and I don’t have enough

  information to make sense of it. All I’m sure about is that I

  want to keep going.”

  Yasmine pulled a little away from her and looked down at

  her. “You are something else, Levi, and I’m glad you don’t

  scare easily.”

  “I offered to go to the grocery store twice in a week, so

  that’s true.” She touched the tip of Yasmine’s nose and

  laughed. “Let me throw on some pants and I’ll pick you and

  Zara up so we can go.”

  Yasmine nodded but didn’t move right away. From her

  expression Levi could tell she was trying to think of

  something, and she didn’t move when Yasmine lowered her

  head and kissed her cheek.

  “We’ll be waiting— I’ll be waiting.”

  Levi watched Yasmine as she crossed the street and

  entered the townhouse, and then she went up to get dressed.

  “Hey, Mom,” she called as she put her watch on and grabbed

  her wallet. “Call Gran and Papa and tell them you’re all

  invited to dinner tonight. I’ll call you with a time later.”

  “What’s the occasion?”

  “Yasmine would like to cook for everyone, but I have more

  room, so come over here. She finished the translation, so

  maybe we can go over it and come up with a plan.” She took

  the steps faster than usual, but she had places to be.

  “You have a woman cooking in your kitchen and you’re

  not freaking out?” It was useless to try and deny anything.

  Madelena Montbard was a detective and psychic rolled into

  one small woman.

  “It’s a dinner, Mom, and I don’t have time to talk about it

  right now. I’m on my way to the grocery store.”

  “Wait a minute,” her mom said, her voice getting higher.

  “You’re willing to go grocery shopping?”

  “Yes.” She pulled out of her parking space and double-

  parked in front of the townhouse.

  “Great. I can’t wait for dinner. Let us know the time.”

  Her mother hung up before Levi had a chance to say

  anything else, but she didn’t want to think about that right

  now. Yasmine and Zara were walking toward her, and she got

  out to open their doors. It took them three stops at different

  spots to get all the stuff Yasmine said she’d need for a

  traditional Moroccan meal. Once they were back home, the

  sisters spent an hour chopping and preparing before putting a

  large casserole dish in the oven.

  Yasmine assured them that it would be okay to leave the

  slow-cooking dish while they drove to Tulane so they could

  check the scrolls that were still drying. Zara walked ahead of

  them, and Levi was warmed when Yasmine placed her hand in

  the bend of her elbow. There weren’t many people around

  because of the early hour on a Sunday, but a few jogged along

  the empty sidewalks. Even so, if they were in Morocco she

  doubted Yasmine would’ve done the same thing.

  This had always been her favorite time of day when she

  was a student here. “Do you like the campus?”

  “It’s so different than home with all the old oaks and

  Southern architecture, but I could sit in Cristobal’s office

  forever and look out those windows. I’d miss my students, but

  the kids here are just as curious.” The lab was locked up and

  Levi handed Zara the key when she held her hand out. “I hope

  I get invited back.”

  “If I know my grandfather, he’s devising a plan to keep

  you permanently.” They got through the couple of doors

  necessary to get inside. “Wow.”

  The pan was half full of mercury, and the scrolls were

  beginning to look like the ones she had at home.

  “You think it’s safe to unroll them?” Zara asked.

  “Let’s finish the process and find out.” Levi followed the

  steps it would take to safely open a scroll without tearing or

  damaging it. They all gloved up and put on masks, and Levi

  picked up the special forceps that wouldn’t stick to the

  parchment. Yasmine held the corners, and they slowly started

  unrolling. Levi carefully put more clips at the bottom to keep

  them from curling up again. If there was anything left on the

  scroll after all this time it would be a miracle, but if there was

  it would also prove the method of mercury could actually

  work. It had seemed to work with some artifacts, and others it

  had turned to mush. They followed the same procedure for the

  other four scrolls.

  “That’s amazing,” Yasmine said.

  Levi stared in wonder, breathless at the neat writing that

  started an inch from the top and continued down to an inch

  from the bottom. It was written in French, but from the script

  and the few words she recognized, it could be as old as the

  scrolls she’d recently bought.

  “The language makes sense considering where they were

  found, but the process whoever hid these went through

  doesn’t. This is old school, way older than should exist for

  anything found in this country.” Her thoughts were coming at

  her so fast she was having trouble processing. Excitement and

  adrenaline prickled her skin like there was an electric charge

  running through her, and she had to concentrate to slow down

  and not damage anything. A find like this didn’t come often in

  the States, and she couldn’t wait to dive in. “This is a huge

  anomaly.”

  “It was written in the year of our Lord 1312 AD,” Yasmine

  said, pointing to the second line from the top.

  Levi glanced back at the stones. “So what are those for?”

  The stones appeared to be marble, were about a foot across

  and two feet long, and the edges were left raw.

  Yasmine walked over to where the stones sat and studied

  them. “Maybe they were a backup in case the scrolls didn’t

  make it. I don’t recognize the language, though.”

  “There’s a lot more writing on this than there is on there,”

  Zara said, pointing between the scroll and stones. “I’ve been

  working on the stones, but the symbols aren’t anything I’ve

  seen before, so it’s been slow on the research end. I don’t think

  they’re the same thing at all.”

  “We’ll need to find the answer because the stones might

  have something totally unrelated to the scrolls. If I’m right,

  that means they lead to somewhere else. I also have an idea on

  how to make a breakthrough.” She’d been enjoying her tour

  time with Yasmine and Zara, but the new information on the

  stones and parchment deserved all her attention now. “Let me

  scan all this and we’ll head back. Once you get to know my

  family better you’ll figure out they’re always early. Way

  early.” She set up to print copies of the first scrolls once the

  scans were done, wanting to give the others time to dry.

  The year surprised her, even more so since she’d been

  studying anything she could find in the same time period

  having to do with the Templars. That’s where she’d find André

  and Farah, but the odds that something found sixty miles from

  her home would have something to do with that would be

  infinitesimal. When she’d followed the clues she’d been

  expecting gold or silver that would lead to the pirates Bumpy

  had hoped for. Finding this was like finding a McDonald’s on

  the moon. She’d never dreamed that two different searches

  would come together this way. Coincidence or fate, she didn’t

  care. But it heightened the desire to put the puzzle together.

  “This is so amazing,” Levi said, holding up the folder with

  the copies.

  “We might have brought you luck,” Yasmine said.

  “There’s no doubt about it.”

  ✥ ✥ ✥

  Yasmine stood next to Renaud as he mixed drinks for

  everyone. They’d talked about the find Levi had made and the

  writing on the first scroll. Levi’s father didn’t seem like a man

  easily caught up in the excitement, given the calm way he

  appeared to go about things, but she could see how he felt

  about his child and all he’d done to make her the person she

  was. Levi had been lucky to grow up surrounded by wonderful

  people.

  “It’s French, but with enough variation from the language

  we know today that it’s going to take some time.” Renaud

  handed Yasmine a glass of wine and brought Levi a glass of

  whiskey. “The other translation you did on the ones she bought

  at auction was fascinating.”

  “I was shocked to find the name André in that scroll, but

  not as much as Levi, I’m thinking.” She left Renaud and went

  to check on dinner. “I need to buy you a tagine. It would make

  this much easier,” she said to Levi.

  “I’m sure Amazon carries those,” Levi said, winking. She

  was preparing a peanut butter and strawberry preserve

  sandwich for George, who was telling Zara about all the pirate

  books Levi had purchased for him through the years. He was

  clearly older than Levi, but Levi was his hero.

  “You know the only tagine I’m going to use is one made

  with Moroccan clay, so forget your Amazon.” She swatted

  Levi with her oven mitt and laughed. The cooking pots with

  their conical shaped tops used in Morocco made food much

  moister, and the one she had at home had belonged to her

  grandmother. “Everyone ready to eat?”

  Zara was dishing couscous into a serving platter, and Levi

  lifted out the lamb cooked in Moroccan spices for Yasmine.

  “This is delicious, sweetheart,” Madelena said, after taking

  a few bites. “New Orleans has every type of food, but nothing

  like this.”

  “Thank you, ma’am. My grandmother taught me some of

  what she knows through the years. She was glad one of us

  learned, since our mother is a dreadful cook.” She laughed

  along with Zara and gave thanks that her work gave her an

  excuse to miss her mother’s family dinners.

  “Maybe you could do this again and put some weight on

  my kid.”

  “Mom, I’m sure Yasmine didn’t travel all this way to cook

  for me. She’s got better things to do,” Levi said, appearing

  chagrined.

  “Don’t worry, Mrs. Montbard, I’ll work on her. Though

  she’s treated me and Zara to some wonderful meals, so I can

  promise you she’s been eating well.” She reached over and

  placed her hand on Levi’s thigh and smiled.

  “Please, Mrs. Montbard is my mother-in-law, a wonderful

  woman, but you’re aging me. Both of you call me Madelena.”

  She smiled at them. “Are you enjoying the city and everything

  Levi’s found to show you?”

  “Yes. You have a lovely city to call home, and Levi has

  been wonderful.” Yasmine glanced at Levi, whose cheeks

  were a little pink. “I can’t thank Cristobal enough for inviting

  me to teach here.”

  The dinner went on with Madelena and Diana mostly

  dominating the conversation and asking questions about her

  and Zara’s lives. Their curiosity seemed to bother Levi, but