by Laura Wylde
Tyler was taken aback, I could see that. He looked like he couldn’t understand why a woman was talking to him in such a way. I had to remember that I wasn't in America. The culture here was very different, and I was certainly going way out of the norm when I talked to him in such a way.
Even though I was surrounded by four men who were much larger than me, I still wasn't afraid. It wasn't like me at all, I didn't yell at people, but I was afraid that they were going to destroy something more. We had already done enough damage here and now I just wanted answers.
The man who I knew as Damien stepped forward, and he tried to calm the situation. He and Javier seemed to be far easier to deal with than the other two. Tyler had been quiet every time that I had seen him, but he certainly wasn't quiet now. He looked at me like to he hated me, and I couldn't understand why.
I wasn't trying to destroy anything, I was trying to help. They had made it clear, all of them in their own way, that I wasn’t supposed to be here. I didn't know if it was because of the place itself or if it was because we were outsiders. I had been waiting for five long years, working under nothing short of dictatorship while I've waited for this chance. I wasn't going to let it slip away, there was just no way that I could.
“I can't have this here. You either want to be here to help, keep an eye on me so I don't mess something up, or you leave. I can't have all of this tension here. We have a lot to do, we're going to be out here for a while, and we need to get along. Soon there's going to be more of us here, and it will be even more vital to get along. People get sick of each other when they are around each other all the time. Maybe somebody just needs a break?”
I looked from one to the other, kind of feeling like I was scolding them in a way. It was a strange thing to do, considering that they all stood at least a good foot above me. They were the type of men who would block out the sun when they stood in front of me, but they were acting like children. I had never seen such grown men fight so much in my life. It had started with an argument that had been going back and forth in a language that I didn't really recognize. And now this.
Javier move forward and told me that he was sorry.
“We will keep it together. It was just a misunderstanding, that's all.”
He was the calmer one out of the bunch, so I wasn’t the only one who was taking notice. The other three seemed to refer to him like he was the leader of their little crew. Although they seemed to pick on each other, it was clear that they were still very close.
The four of them broke up and went their separate ways. The men who had been fighting went in separate directions with the third man trailing behind one of them. I don't know what they were going on about, but I hoped that Javier was right and it was over.
The only man who seemed to have a problem with the situation was the one who had been fighting. He was the one who yelled at me, the man named Tyler. He was very hot headed or I just pissed him off in some way. I had never had somebody look at me so angrily before. Especially somebody who I didn't even know, so I had no way of doing anything to them. I don't know what it was about the way he looked at me, but it made me shiver inside.
Javier tried to smooth it over, taking me by the shoulder and walking me away from the scene. He apologized for his friend and said that he was just going to walk it off for a little bit and get himself under control.
“I just don't understand why he would be upset with me. I have never done anything to him.”
“Let's just say that he is very attached to the land here and the old ways. Anything new comes around, and he gets a little anxious.”
“It was more than a little anxiety. And I don't understand why he would be mad at me. I have found a beautiful temple in your backyard. The town will get lots of visitors, and everyone around will profit.”
“Maybe that is the problem. The town doesn’t need any more visitors. We want to stay small and hidden. This will open it up wide, and there will be no closing this box.”
It was then that I realized how close he was to me, and I backed off a bit because he was making me nervous as hell. I didn’t know what to say to him, not really. He was very passionate and too close. His body was expelling heat towards me, and I leaned in before I stepped back. What was wrong with me?
“I have to get back to it. Can you try to keep yourselves together, please? I really need get back to work.”
“Come here, Javier. I want to show you something. You said you have lived here all of your life. I want to know what you think of this.”
“You found something?”
“Yes, I know this is going to sound strange, but I think that this is some kind of puzzle or something. It is arranged so that the hieroglyphs can be compressed multiples at a time. I think I am supposed to put a code in.”
“And then what?”
That was the question that I couldn’t answer yet. I liked to think that this was some kind of lock and that would mean that it was a door. The stories of the city here in the middle of the Amazon was still fresh on my mind. What if this was the way to more?
“I don’t know. I have to figure it out though. I know it is going to lead me to the real answers.”
“It looks like they are just moving rocks. It doesn’t look like a puzzle to me. Just some stones that have gotten loose over the years. I would be careful. I don’t want the ceiling overhead to fall on you and for you to get hurt.”
I was touched that he cared, but again, he was too close, and I went back to the glyphs on the ground, sure that I was going to get it. I wouldn’t be here, pulled here by destiny to see this, if not to find out the truth. I felt like sometimes the universe wanted all of the secrets to be known and someone would be pulled in the right direction. Then it became my duty to make sure that I did what I was here to do. This place made me believe that such moments of magic were able to actually happen. It was a good feeling, considering that sometimes it felt like we were pushed off into the world to bumble around for no reason.
Something clicked underneath me, and I was sure that I had finally gotten it. Or I was close. It sounded crazy, but I knew that I was on the verge of finding something great. I didn’t know what it was, granted, but I knew that something was going to happen if I just pushed the right button. There were only a few more choices to make. I was almost there.
I was on the last choice that was possible when Javier moved over to me. He said my name and he had this look on his face that I didn’t understand. When I felt his hard body against mine, I melted to form an air-tight link with him.
His lips moved down to mine, and I was completely surrounded by him. His lips were soft, but insistent as he pulled me tighter. I had never felt so overwhelmed in all of my life.
The feeling that I had gotten when our hands had touched was multiplied by a thousand. He was touching every inch of me, from head to toe, and his arms wrapped further around my body. I couldn’t help the way he made me feel, and before long, I was deepening the kiss, my arms encircling his neck as I went to my tip toes. I knew that he was bending down for me, but he was still a mountain of a man.
I felt my feet coming off the stone ground, and I had to hold onto him to ensure that I didn’t fall. He was taking over my senses and only when I heard someone say his name did I realize that we weren’t alone. I had forgotten where I was for a moment, and it was impossible for me to not push back.
“What the hell are you doing with her, Javier?”
My feet hit the ground, and I was still reeling from his kiss. What in the world was I doing? Something had come over me. Something that wasn’t me had taken over, it was just that simple.
Chapter 8
Javier
I put the woman down and stood there for a moment, not even worried about the three men who had seen me lose myself for a moment. Something had come over me, and though I had never done such a thing before, it felt far better than I could have imagined.
I turned towards Eben before he could say anything more. I had
to explain to them that it wasn’t what it looked like, even though I was starting to see that it was the only way to go.
“It’s not what you think, guys. She was by the door, and I was trying to keep her from getting it open. She is far more curious than we gave her credit for. She wants to find the lost city. Someone in town told her all about Panthera, and I don’t think that she is going to stop until she figures this out. I don’t know how this is going to go down.”
Tyler was quick to mention that we should get rid of them.
“We can’t always go to violence. There has to be another way. You know that the past is not filled with killing humans. It is how we stay hidden.”
“I have written and read everything about our past, don’t lecture me on it. Humans kill us. It’s that simple and it has always been that simple. She needs to go. They all do.”
“Too many people know.”
“Not too many.”
He had this look of revenge in his eyes that I had seen for the last fifty years. I didn’t think it was ever going to go away. Not really. He was filled with hate and I don’t think that was going to change any time soon.
“We all just need to chill out.”
“She’s back to the glyphs. You need to watch her and get her away from there, without fornicating with the human.”
Tyler had such venom that it was impossible not to be stung by it. I had slipped, and they had all seen it. It wasn’t my greatest moment, to say the least. I was the one who was in control. But when I was around Kayla, I didn’t feel like I was in control at all. The little redhead was getting to me like no one else ever had before. What was I supposed to do with that?
“Just find something to do that isn’t starting more drama, Tyler. We don’t need this right now.”
We all heard the lock click, and we all knew what it was. The freckled-face human had found out our secret, and it hadn’t taken her time at all to get the door to open. The floor broke out and started to shift. The staircase was visible, and I cursed under my breath.
“I will stop her, you three take care of the rest. Don’t kill them, just put them to sleep.”
I looked to Kayla and just shook my head. She was going to be more trouble than I ever would have imagined. She was already descending the stairs as I got over to her. She moved fast.
“You have to stop.”
She whipped around, and I could see that she was shaking inside. I don’t know what was going to happen next. I hadn’t thought that this was going to happen, but I knew that it was going to have to. I was about to break a cardinal rule.
“Do you see this?! Do you see this, Javier? I told you that this was not just the temple. There is something more down here, I think there's a whole city down here.”
I put my hand on her arm and told her to stop. She didn't quite get what kind of situation she was in yet, but her eyes adjusted quickly. She looked behind me, and I hoped that she didn't see Tyler or Eben putting someone to the ground.
“What are your friends doing?! Why are all of the expedition team on the ground? What is going on here?”
“You need to calm down, Kayla. There is nothing that I can do if you keep freaking out.”
“What is going on here, Javier?”
“What if I told you that you were right? That everything that you have heard, about the city and the panthers shifters, is all correct?”
She pulled her arm away from my grip and backed herself up against the wall. I could tell that she was not afraid, and that was the last thing that I wanted her to feel. It was the last way that I wanted her to look at me. She was looking at me as if I would hurt her, even though I knew that it wasn't the case. I would never hurt her. I was trying to protect her from this.
“What are you talking about, Javier? This is not funny.”
“No, it isn't. What you say is true and what you have heard is the truth. But no one else can know about it.”
“What have you done to my team?”
I told her to calm down because I hadn't hurt her or anyone else. I wasn't here to kill anyone, but I had to make sure that they didn't see this. Nobody could ever know about this, and now that she knew, I didn't know what to do. We had never had a situation like this before because it would have been easier to just take care of the situation. I just didn’t want to take care of Kayla in that way.
“They have just gone to sleep for little while. They will only be out for a few minutes, so we need to figure this out fast. I'm going to close the door, and you are going to tell your team that they need to get out of here. You can use whatever excuse you want, but it would be easier to say that you heard about looters being seen in the area and it isn't safe at the moment. Tell them whatever you have to, just make sure that they go back to town.”
“And what am I supposed to do?”
“You're going to stay here with us, we will keep you safe. And when they have all left, I will take you down the stairs, and I will show you my world. After working with you for some time, I realize now that you have a pure heart and I want to share this with you. I don't know if you will be able to share it with the world, but I don't think that is what you were here for. You are not here for notoriety, Kayla, you are here because of curiosity and seeking answers. I can give you both of those things.”
She bit her lower lip, and I could tell that she wasn't sure about it. There was a part of me that wasn't sure as well, afraid that I was making a mistake that was going to bite us in the ass later. Eben, Tyler, and Damien were all back, and they obliged her. She was looking from one to the other, and I could tell that she was intimidated. I had to show her with my eyes that she was safe, and she finally looked away.
“You promise that you are showing me this city?”
I nodded my head.
“I will take you to Panthera. You will be the first human who has ever walked the earth to go there. Just so you know how important this is.”
She took a deep breath, and I could feel the woman’s nerves a little bit. It was true, but I still wanted her to know the gravity of the situation. She was special, I didn't know how, I just knew that she was. And now I was taking her underground, and I didn't know what was going to happen next.
I could hear the inhalation of Tyler as well. He was against it the most, but he was just going to have to understand that this was the only way. After talking to Rudolph in town, something just hit me. I don't know why we hadn’t tried it before. Kayla would be the first of many.
Chapter 9
Kayla
Everything changed when that door opened. I thought I was going down into the ruins of an old civilization that no one had ever heard of, but that wasn’t to be the case at all. It was actually going to be a real civilization that no one had ever heard of that was alive and kicking apparently. I would have never guessed such a thing, and I was a little lost at what to think about all of it. I told myself that there was no way that this was really happening, but it was.
I watched the rest of the expedition going back into the town, and I was ignoring the phone that was ringing in my pocket. The bosses weren’t going to be too excited for this at all. I was going to have some explaining to do at the end of the day, but I wasn’t going to worry about that right now. Right now, I was going to worry about the fact that I was finally going to get some answers. It was all that I wanted. I wanted to know the truth of the mystery that I found myself in, no matter how hard it was to figure out. I knew that I was going to have to figure something out or I was going to drive myself crazy.
Javier asked me if I was ready to go. The three men who had been with him the whole time still were there, and I could tell that there were mixed reactions. Tyler was still looking at me as if I had done something wrong to him, but the other two just had curiosity and something else in their eyes. I couldn’t allow my mind to go there, not right now. I couldn’t think about it. I really couldn’t.
Javier was a lot quicker about opening the door. He pressed down several ti
les, and the door started to slide open almost immediately. I asked him what the code was, and he grinned.
“Panthera, of course.”
Of course. I should have known that it would be something like that, but it would also have helped if I would have known what each of the glyphs meant. I told myself that that I was going to make sure that he at least showed me how to write their language. If I knew what all the letters were, then I would be able to decipher the walls. I was still looking at it from an archaeologist's point of view, but that was all about to change. As soon as I started to descend the stairs behind Javier, I knew that this was more than I ever could have imagined.
There were lights a few steps in that came on as we moved downwards. It was something that would never be seen until a person was on the stairs themselves. They were also modern, not ancient at all.
“I can't believe that you have LED lights down here.”
“Well, of course. We can't be burning fires down here. It is a lot easier now that technology has come about. I hated being down here before we had proper lighting.”
I just smiled at him as he turned around and kept walking forward. I had no idea what that meant, and it made me wonder how old he was. He acted like he was ancient, as old as the temple that he lived underneath. What if these were just a couple of guys who lived down here? How could I know if the rest of it was true? Could they really be panther shifters?
As we got a little bit deeper, everything expanded and that tight stairwell opened up into a very large room. Several other people were down here, talking and sitting around a table. I could never have imagined seeing this in a million years. It wasn’t just an old civilization ruin site, but it was a new one as well. It was thriving as well, from what I could see. I counted over eleven people before we got to one of the offset rooms that we had passed.
“Welcome to Panthera, Kayla. You found your lost civilization. I would have liked to have met you a couple hundred years ago. There was a lot more of us then. As the rainforest is cut down, humans get closer and we are being pushed out of existence. One day soon, we might be extinct, and this might just be a set of rooms for the next person to find.”
