Running Back

I moved a little closer to Jeremy, feeling protective under the stone-cold glares of the flame-headed siblings. “This is Dr. Jeremy Anderson, and Dr. Grace Ahearn and Dr. Duncan Grady. Dr. Anderson is the one who inspired me to work on Irish archaeology in the first place.”

Mike’s brows rose almost imperceptibly, but I had become a master of Michael deciphering, and that did not look favorable. I swallowed. “And these are the O’Co

Lauren reached out, business like, and shook hands, while A

They were about the same height, though Mike was broader, and his muscles came from throwing people around, not dirt. Jeremy had a thi

Mike’s hand fell away. His shoulders relaxed, his eyes lidded and that false, charming grin came out. “Yeah, that’s me.”

“Too bad you guys lost so quickly this season. I rooted for you.”

Mike’s smile didn’t change, but I recognized the tension in the set of his eyes. “Hey, I’m always rooting for me.”

Jeremy waved a hand around. “You excited for the excavation?”

Mike smile widened. “Something like that.”

I cleared my throat. “Have you guys checked in at the i

Jeremy smiled. “Maybe a tour first before di

I spent the next few hours pointing out the pla

And it was fine that mine were at the bottom of the pile. Really. I was twenty-four and they were in their fifties. Well. Jeremy was only thirty-seven.

But we were the money and they were the artists.

Which kind of sucked.

But I got it. I had to pay my dues. Besides, if this became a big deal, then I could just stay here. And if they liked me, they probably had a ton of co

I took the professors to O’Malley’s restaurant for di

Kilkarten was the main topic, of course. Jeremy took center stage as he recalled how the quest for Ivernis had begun. “It started when I was excavating a site in southern Italy. It was a second century site, and everything we found was exciting but expected—except for the toggles.”

Lauren and Mike both kicked me. “Beads without holes,” I said quickly. Jeremy was still talking.

“They had similar patterns and colorants to ones found in Ireland, so much that I was convinced they were co

“When nothing showed up right away, people lost faith—though not Natalie.” He paused and smiled warmly at me. “She kept doing research back home, while I headed over to Ireland to see what I could find on this side. It took years, but I finally tracked down references in the scribblings of illuminated manuscripts. You see, Ireland has several great oral poems, such as The Tain, but while that one was actually preserved, many more were lost. However, when the monks started transcribing the Greek and Arabic works, they often used young boys to write who’d grow bored and doodle in the margins.”

He gestured at Dr. Grady. “Aware of this, I gained permission from the university to study the off-drawings in their extensive hold of manuscripts. And I was able to put together the narrative about the Iverni people, also called the Erai

I sighed happily. Jeremy’s perseverance always made me warm and fuzzy and delighted.

Mike turned to me. “So you knew Ivernis was supposed to be somewhere nearby, and used all your geophysical whatever to figure out the most likely place for a city back then.”

I nodded.

“Isn’t that sort of like figuring out what you want your evidence to prove before actually gathering it?”

Look who suddenly had opinions about something he’d spent weeks shunting aside. “Of course not. I mean, the evidence that a site was located here is strong enough even without Jeremy’s research. It’s not like I made anything up.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, so, your research holds up that maybe there’s a site. But why assume it’s Ivernis? Isn’t that like the same as Schliema

I went hot and cold and wished I’d never told him anything. “Mike.”

Jeremy and the others regarded him with some disdain.

Mike relaxed back into his chair. “Just saying.”

“Don’t.” I kicked him again. Hard.

A

Mike excused himself first. “Nice to meet all of you,” he said as he stood, and the professors all looked up at him. “Welcome to Kilkarten. Be sure to let me know if you need anything.” He strode off.

Across the table, Lauren’s brows shot up. I quickly tucked my legs out of reach in case she wanted to kick me, just to make sure I’d noticed Mike’s somewhat aloof ma

Which I definitely had. I smiled at the table and excused myself, and then ran out after Mike.

It was drizzling again, so light it almost just felt like a heavy mist, and gray blurred out everything two feet beyond me. Mike’s hair, like always, carried an extra gleam, like a copper pe

He stared stubbornly ahead as we continued on the path back to the i

“We are all well aware of that, Mr. O’Co

“‘Our’? You’re an ‘our’ with that group?”

“Mike! What is going on with you? There’s no reason to get so worked up.”

His lips pressed together into a narrow, thin line. “How can you like a guy who takes credit for your work?”

“What?” I shook my head. “What are you talking about? Jeremy is a genius. He’s not taking any undue credit.”

“Yeah, he is. So he found some stupid beads—and don’t even get me started on the fact that this entire thing is based on ‘non-beads.’”

“You’re already started.”

He glared at me. “So he found them and decided that meant Ivernis existed. Great. You’re the one that found this location. You figured out where the river used to be and the likeliest place for a settlement. Why the hell aren’t you getting the credit?”

“Because. Jeremy’s my professor. Anyways, he’s been studying manuscripts and finding other sources that mentioned Ivernis.”