No sooner had his fingers brushed the metal than a searing pain shot through his wrist. He would have dropped the scales, but his hand wouldn’t release them. In fact, his entire body seemed frozen in place for what felt like an eternity. The bowls on either side of the rod rocked from side to side, wildly at first, then more slowly, before they finally settled. Perfectly balanced.
And just as suddenly as it all started, it stopped. The drumbeat of his heart faded away and the normal sounds of the world around him came rushing back, as if someone had flipped a switch on a stereo.
“What thefuckwas that?”
“That, my friend, was the proof you’ve been looking for.” Smiling like the smug bastard Cyrus was beginning to realize he was, Harrison gestured towards Cyrus’s wrist. “Notice anything different?”
Still gripping the scales, Cyrus turned his arm so his wrist was facing up. The sleeve of his dress shirt had ridden up just enough for him to see it. There, plain as day, was a tattoo he hadn’t had when he’d walked through the door. A symbol he’d seen a million times before in his life. A symbol of balance, of harmony.
The sign of the Libra.
Fuck.
* * *
Pacingthe small confines of the District Attorney’s office, Mina checked her phone notifications yet again. Not that she really needed to since she hadn’t put her phone away since the verdict had been read at the courthouse.
“I don’t understand where he could be if he’s not at home and he’s not here. Does he even go anywhere else?”
From her spot behind her desk, Maggie raised an eyebrow. “Would I be correct in assuming you can account for his whereabouts last night, Ms. Ouranos?”
Another time, she might have been annoyed by the question, but just then she was too consumed with worry to feel anything else. “Yes. I left around five this morning to go home and get ready for my day. I haven’t heard from him since.” She sent Maggie a self-deprecating smile. “I would assume he was avoiding me, if it wasn’t for the verdict reading.”
“Your instincts are correct, in my opinion. Cyrus might be a bit of a…Casanova, but he wouldn’t have missed that reading for anything other than a life or death emergency.”
“Then whereishe?”
“Mina? What are you doing here?”
Spinning towards the sound of his voice, Mina launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck. “You’re alive!” The worry she’d been carrying all morning evaporated the moment his arms closed around her, leaving her trembling with relief.
“Of course, I’m alive, Ace. Why wouldn’t I be?”
Now that the worry had fled, fury quickly filled the vacuum it had left behind. Jerking out of his hold, she lifted her arm and swung, her hand connecting with his cheek with an audiblecrack. A red blush darkened his skin as he lifted a hand to brush his fingers across the spot she’d struck, his expression shifting from stunned to furious.
“Little girl, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but you had better do some fast talking.” Although his voice had dropped so low only she could hear it, the tone was no less deadly.
“Seriously?” In direct contrast, her voice had risen to a shriek, but she didn’t care. “You had us all worried sick, Cyrus! Nobody has heard a damn word from you all morning, you missed the verdict in the Compton case, which you won on all fucking counts, in case you’re interested. You haven’t answered a single call or text from anyone. And you have the fucking gall to stand here and lecture me?”
His expression softening, he reached for her, but she stepped back, avoiding his touch. “I’m sorry, Mina. I had some things I had to deal with this morning, and I wasn’t able to check my phone.”
“Things?Things? You know what?” Snatching her purse off the visitor’s chair where she’d dropped it over an hour ago, she yanked the strap up over her shoulder. “I don’t even want to know. Have a good fucking life, counselor.”
“Mina, wait.”
Pausing at the doorway, she struggled to wrangle her wild emotions into some semblance of calm. Only the fact that his words had been more of a plea than an order kept her from storming out as she’d intended.
“What?” she snapped without bothering to turn around.
“Could you sit, please? And I’ll tell you both everything.”
That damned curiosity of hers once again overrode her good sense. Turning on her heel, she stomped back to the chair and dropped onto the uncomfortable seat, her eyes forward so she didn’t have to look at him. “You have five minutes, and then I’m gone. For good.”
“Fair enough.”
From behind the desk, Maggie cleared her throat, and the embarrassment Mina had managed to keep at bay until that moment flooded her face. With an eyebrow raised, Maggie pinned Cyrus with a look that had Mina wanting to crawl under the desk—and it wasn’t even aimed at her.
“This had better be a damned good explanation, Cyrus.”