Read The Ruins (An Avernus Island Tale) for Free Online

beach.  
    Mel was there answering questions about the services available on the island. Julia recognized several famous faces in the crowd, but otherwise, it was your standard meet and greet.  
    “Here.” Suri handed Julia a cocktail glass filled with golden liquid and finished off with a pink umbrella. “That’s K.C. Lynch.”
    Julia followed Suri’s gaze to where a handsome man stood nursing a diet coke. “He plays basketball?”
    “Football,” Suri corrected. “And that’s Mavis Bell.”
    Julia recognized the singer but not the man leading her away from the party. “Who is that with her?”
    “Her manager.”
    Surprised at the hostility in Suri’s voice, Julia turned to find Mel’s assistant glaring at the retreating couple. “You don’t like him.”
    “The man’s a glorified criminal,” Suri said and finished off her drink.
    “How does that make him any different from the rest of us?”
    Julia turned toward the voice that sounded like warm honey. The face that went with it was model beautiful with sharp cheek bones and a square jaw. Dark, slashing brows hovered over gun-metal gray eyes that could never be mistaken for blue and his mouth was made for sin.
    “Lincoln Steele,” Suri said, making the introductions. “This is Julia Davenport.”
    “Ms. Davenport.”
    Julia accepted the hand that was offered, aware that she was being sized up with cool efficiency.
    “Mr. Steele is the founder of Steele Industries,” Suri added helpfully. “He’s a mega tycoon.”
    Lincoln didn’t disagree with her. “What brings you to Avernus, Ms. Davenport?” he asked. On an island full of celebrities, Julia Davenport was the only face Lincoln didn’t recognize and that made her unique.  
    “I’m doing some work for Ms. Black.”
    “Julia is about to set off on an adventure,” Suri said and grabbed another drink from a passing waiter. Julia marveled at the young woman’s ability to hold her alcohol. Julia was already enjoying a pleasant buzz, and she hadn’t finished her first.
    “Oh?”  
    Lincoln Steele raised one perfectly arched brow, and Julia wondered how many women had succumbed to that look.  
    “She makes it sound more glamorous than it is.”
    Lincoln Steele listened with polite curiosity while Julia explained her purpose for being on Avernus.
    “No offense, Ms. Davenport, but what qualifies you to make such a determination?”  
    His voice pleasant enough but with a hint of steel Julia suspected quelled many a businessmen in their expensive suits. “”
    Julia didn’t take offense. After seeing some of the other guests, she had more than a passing thought that she was out of her league on Avernus. “Five years working at the Museum of World History,” Julia said, for once grateful for the museum’s grandiose name. “And a degree in art history. Not to mention my father—”
    Steele’s eyes narrowed a second before his face cleared. “Henry Davenport is your father?”
    “You know my father?” Julia asked, surprised. Her father was a well-known archeologist in the world of antiquities, but Steele seemed as removed from that world as Julia was from the world of business.
    “I’ve read a few of his articles,” Lincoln said. “I was sorry to hear he’d be forced to retire.”
    “Thank you,” Julia said softly. Being here about to embark on the kind of exploration her father had lived for, she couldn’t help but think about the man that had helped shape her. “What about you, Mr. Steele, what brings you to Avernus?”
    Lincoln thought about the box he had received and wondered how to answer. After a moment, he settled on the truth. “If I knew that, Ms. Davenport, I just might tell you.”

    That night Julia dreamt of the minotaur.  
    His breath was hot against the back of her neck, his hands urgent and eager as they traced the shape of her breasts, the slope of her hips. He cupped her; twin points of contact as the fingers of one hand plucked at her turgid nipple while