Savage Saints (Monsters of Saint Mark's)

“Exactly.” I smile at him. “Now. I’ve got to go to work. You have a great day in the smithy shop.” I pat his chest, lean up and kiss him on the lips, then turn and walk into the tombs.

Tomas says, “Bye, Pie.” Then I catch him saying, “Divvy up what problems?” as I walk away. But I don’t catch Pell’s answer. Because my doorway appears and I walk through.

This time, things are different when I arrive. The great hall that is normally super busy and filled with people is absolutely quiet and empty.

Except for Luciano. Who is standing just a few feet away, like he was waiting for me.

“Hi,” I say, looking around.

“Good morning, Miss Vita.”

I look at him funny. Mostly because he’s looking at me funny. “What’s up?”

He pans his hands wide. “What do you mean?”

“Why is everything so quiet and empty this morning? And why are you looking at me that way?”

“What way?”

“OK. Whatever. Can you point me in the direction of my lab? I have no idea where to go.”

“I’m going to walk you today,” Luciano says. “In fact, I’m going to walk you every day. But we need to decide on a starting time so I know when to expect you.”

“What time is it now?”

Luciano glances at his expensive wristwatch. “Seven fifty-two.”

“OK. So eight o’clock every day?”

He holds up his wrist. “Does your clock at home look like this?”

I study his watch and quickly realize it does not. “You only have ten hours on your watch.”

“How many do you have?”

“Twelve.”

Luciano makes a face. “Twelve? Nothing is divisible by twelve.”

“It’s an even number, Luciano. Lots of things are divisible by twelve.”

“Well, we run on a ten-hour clock and a twenty-hour day. Which means your time… and our time… well, I’m not smart enough to do that math.”

“Me either,” I chuckle.

“You should buy a watch today. Then you’ll have our time, as well as yours, when you are at home. And we’ll meet every morning at eight.”

“Sounds good.” But then I reconsider. “Wait. Not every morning. I get weekends off, right?”

“I don’t think that was in your contract.”

“What contract? I didn’t sign a contract. This entire thing was forced upon me.”

“I’m sure Tarq will explain.”

“Can’t you explain?”

Luciano just smiles at me, waving his hand towards a hallway. “Shall we?”