by Anna Hackett
She stepped onto the glass next to him, and peered down. “Doesn’t look friendly.”
He eyed her. “People say that about you.”
“I’m not friendly.”
He grabbed her and reeled her closer, his lips hovering over hers. “You are to me.”
“Not really, but you just seem to like my brand of unfriendliness.”
He couldn’t help his smile. Damn, he was besotted. “Maybe I do.”
She reached up, tracing his jawline. “I think you must have a hidden masochistic streak.”
“Only when it comes to you.”
She fiddled with his shirt. “So, Dr. Phoenix, what should we do to while away the hours before we reach Peru?”
“We could study up on the Larco.”
Her fingers toyed with the buttons over his chest. “Hmm. In your cabin? Naked?”
“If you’re naked, I could hardly concentrate on research.”
“That’s the entire point.” She turned, heading for the door. She looked back over her shoulder for a single, electric second, then she disappeared into the corridor.
Damn. Nik was hard as hell. He took a deep breath, then hurried to follow her.
***
Feeling very pleased with herself, Nera followed Niklas into the cargo bay several hours later. She found her gaze on the way his cargo trousers shaped his toned ass. That big, strong body of his…she felt a flash of heat and was amazed she could even feel desire after the way they’d spent the last few hours.
Her steps faltered and she stared at his broad back. She knew he physically wasn’t a danger to her, despite her being sore in a few intimate places. But he was still a risk. Even now, she felt the cracks in her internal defenses. Defenses she needed to survive.
She took a steadying breath. However much fun she had with Niklas, this had to end after this hunt. She wasn’t capable of more. Her fingers curled, her nails biting into her palm. He deserved more. He deserved to be loved and cherished, and the capacity to love had been beaten out of her. She touched her chest. All she had left was a dried husk of a heart.
“What the hell are those?” Niklas said.
Nera shook her head and focused. She spotted what he was talking about.
The vehicles were…brutish looking. Armored, low-slung, and a deep-green color, they looked like any standard armored vehicles. But these ones had giant chainsaws mounted on the front of them.
“These are the Institute’s newest additions.” Agent Ryant strode up to them. “Centurion armored vehicles. They’re particularly suited to heavy jungle conditions. The saws are laser-enhanced and can cut through even the densest vegetation in a fraction of time.”
Nera circled the nearest vehicle. The chainsaws were impressive. She touched the camouflage-patterned armor. It certainly seemed tough enough to withstand a pack of zombies, or whatever else they might face down there.
Solomon sauntered in and came to an abrupt halt. “Holy stars, those are beauties.”
Nera barely refrained from rolling her eyes. Young men were the same the galaxy over.
Seconds later, Gunn arrived. He, too, spotted the vehicles and whistled. “Nice.”
“Good. Everyone’s here.” Avril strode up. She was dressed in her light armor. “Gunn, Agent Ryant and I will be in the lead vehicle. Niklas, Darc and Solomon in the other. Agent Ryant, can you please split your security team between the two?” After his nod, she looked at the others. “Any questions? All right, let’s go.”
The rear doors of each Centurion were open. Nera climbed in and took a seat near the back. Nik and Solomon sat in front of her. The four members of their security team moved to the front of the vehicle, two settling in the driver’s and navigator’s seats.
“The Drake will land only long enough to offload the Centurions.” Avril’s voice came through the comm system in the vehicle. “We can’t get right on top of the Larco, the jungle is just too dense. We’ve located a clearing closest to the museum’s location, so we’ll have to make a short drive.”
“Exposure time?” Nera asked.
“Two and a half hours.”
Nera watched Solomon and Niklas peering forward like excited boys, peppering the driver with questions. She shook her head. Age or profession had no relevance, men were men and they loved anything with buttons and wheels.
She sank back in her seat and checked her personal gear.
She’d acquired some sonic grenades. She had a theory about noise affecting the zombies, and she wasn’t letting any of the nasty creatures get too close to her or Niklas on this trip.
“Everyone, please strap in,” their driver—a reptilian agent with brown-scaled skin and elongated eyes—called back.
She felt a jolt.
“The Drake has landed.” This from the female navigator. “Prepare to disembark.”
Through the narrow windshield, Nera saw the large cargo doors open and a ramp slide down to the ground. The first Centurion rolled out.
Moments later, the driver set their vehicle into gear and they followed.
When they drove off the ramp, she got her first good look at the jungle.
The dense, black vegetation they’d seen from above was even more intimidating up close. Vines as thick as her waist choked the trees. Some trees were narrow and twisted, others had huge trunks covered in misshapen knobs. All of them were covered in black foliage that looked almost oily.
“Activating the laser-saw now,” the driver intoned.
There was a deep rumble that made the vehicle vibrate. Through the front window, she saw the flare of orange laser along the chainsaw and the blades started spinning.
Then the Centurion moved forward. The black treeline reared up above them. As the chainsaw made contact, Nera watched black vegetation fly in all directions. The saw ripped into the vines and trees, nothing strong enough to withstand its attack. She leaned forward, studying the jungle vegetation with interest. She blinked. It looked like some of it was moving out of the path of the Centurion’s saw. Her breath caught. Vines were sliding away like giant snakes.
As the vehicle moved deeper under the canopy of the trees, it got darker. The vegetation blocked out most of the sunlight. This wasn’t good. If there were zombies here, it made it likely they could function down here in the daytime.
“Look,” someone called out.
“Ruins.” Niklas gripped the back of the chair in front of him.
The building they passed had been too destroyed by time and choked by vines for them to be able to discern its former purpose. Possibly an office building or apartments. They’d probably never know.
They kept moving, the saws chomping through the plant life. Finally, the lead vehicle pulled to a stop.
“We’re at the coordinates.” Avril’s voice again.
“Any sign of zombies or wildlife?” their driver asked.
“Negative,” Agent Ryant’s voice answered. “Nothing.”
Niklas moved to the back door. “Then I suggest we get in and get out before anything does come looking.”
Chapter Fifteen
The back door of the Centurion lowered. Nera hurried out to stand beside Niklas and took stock of their surroundings. Nothing was moving, but it was dim under the dense vegetation, and there were plenty of hiding spots.
It didn’t look like much of the Larco was left. A crumbling section of wall hinted at the pretty building it had once been, but behind that lay rubble, most of it reclaimed by the mutant jungle.
Avril hurried forward. “We’re going to head around the back and come in from the rear. Your team okay to handle going in the front?” She only looked at Niklas.
He nodded, then he looked at Nera and the others. “Let’s go.”
They walked through what she guessed would have been the main entrance. Not much was left of what had probably been an entryway and foyer. A mix of rubble covered the ground. As she followed behind Niklas, something caught her eye, and she paused. One square of tile sat on the ground, l
ooking strange and out of place, because it was almost pristine amongst the decay. She wondered at the humans who’d once stepped foot on it. Their hopes, their dreams, their fears.
“Not much left,” Solomon said.
“Come on,” Niklas said. “This way.”
They wandered deeper. While the main area had been reduced to rubble, ahead some partial walls still stood. Although they appeared badly damaged and unstable.
“Check under the rubble.” Niklas had his hands on his hips, studying the surroundings with an intense look. “There could be artifacts. Collect anything, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. And watch where you step. I don’t want any artifacts ruined under careless boots.”
The security agents nodded and they all fanned out.
Nera thought that the Institute was crazy to have lost him. He would have been an excellent leader. She was always amazed at people’s shortsightedness in the face of their own greed and hunger for power.
Something caught her gaze near the base of a wall. She wandered over and crouched. She brushed off the rubble and pulled out a ceramic pot. It was broken, but the large shard was still covered in colorful decoration.
“What’ve you got?” Niklas knelt behind her, so close his knees brushed her side.
A flare of desire washed over her. Her eyelids fluttered. The man had eroded her famous control to almost nothing. She held up her find.
“Nice.” He gripped her wrist, turning the fragment. “It looks like Huaco.”
“Huaco?”
“The Inca had two types of pottery. The practical stuff they would have used as part of everyday life. And then Huaco—ceremonial and ritual pottery.” His gaze was on her face. “This is nice, but I like the treasure hunter who found it more.” He lowered his voice, leaning in, crowding her space.
With any other person, she would have jabbed an elbow in their gut and one in their throat and told them to back off. With him, she wanted him closer, wanted skin-to-skin contact. It left her a little shaky. It brought back memories of what it was like to be addicted, to crave a substance so much it left you weak. Only now instead of a drug, she craved a man. “I wish we were back on the ship.” She shook her head. “No, I wish we were on our own ship, somewhere private, with no other people.”
His teeth flashed. “Soon as this hunt is over, we’ll make that happen.” He brushed a thumb over her lips. Across the room, one of the security team called him over. He stood, watched her for a second, then strode away.
Nera stayed crouched for a moment, before she carefully placed the Huaco shard in her backpack.
After this hunt… She had to stop herself thinking beyond having Niklas in her bed, and enjoying his body. But afterward, what would happen? This couldn’t be more than a moment’s pleasure for them both. They were too different, and she was incapable of more. She let herself imagine them playing “happy couple” back on the Phoenix moon, then snorted. Oh, his brothers would just love that. And Nera would feel hemmed in, and wind up going crazy.
She stood, pushing down the unfamiliar, spiky emotions pricking at her. She needed to have her head here, on this hunt—the very dangerous hunt—not on anything else.
They moved through several more rooms, not finding anything too valuable or interesting. There was too much damage, and too many vines and plants growing through the cracks, trying to take back every last inch of the place.
But the next room they walked into was partially intact. Nera spotted some shelves on a wall at the back. And they still had artifacts on them. “Niklas.”
She jogged over and was studying the pots as he joined her. Her eyes widened as her brain realized just what she was seeing. “Holy stars.”
Niklas laughed. “I told you the Larco was well-known for this stuff.”
Yes. But she hadn’t imagined the ancient pottery would be so…explicit.
He smiled at her. “You aren’t a prude, Nera.” His eyes glowed, and she knew he was thinking of some of the things they’d done to each other in his cabin.
She ran her tongue over her teeth. “No. But…” There were sculptures and pots showing men with…impressive and impossible appendages. And couples caught in various positions. She eyed one of a man taking a woman from behind. At least Nera thought it was a woman; it was hard to tell with the stylized images.
Niklas picked one up. A man with a woman on his knees in front of him. “It’s not damaged at all. The ancient Terrans of this region seemed very interested in celebrating acts of love.”
Nera picked up one of a woman on top of a man. “This is not love. This is lust.”
His face turned serious. “It can be both.”
She stared at him, but was interrupted when Solomon appeared. “Jesus, sex statues.” He whistled. “Points for creativity. These little beauties would grab a ripe little profit on the open market.” When Niklas speared the younger man with a look, the treasure hunter rolled his eyes. “Or be a fascinating, if slightly naughty, exhibit in some drafty Institute museum somewhere.”
“Get one of the agents to bring one of the anti-grav carriers in,” Niklas ordered. “We’ll load up everything we can take.”
Solomon nodded and soon was back with the others. The anti-grav carrier was brought in, floating off the ground, and they carefully began loading the artifacts.
“Nera, let’s check the next room,” Niklas said.
She nodded. They moved down a long corridor that for the most part, had no roof. When they entered the next room, Nera gasped. The space gleamed with gold and silver.
Niklas was smiling. “Damn. I was hoping some of this had survived.”
The room was chaotic. The gold and silver artifacts littered the floor amongst the rubble. Someone had pilfered the room’s contents, but they hadn’t had the time to take everything.
“Look at this.” He held up a damaged flat sheet of gold. It had what looked like a monster’s face carved into it. “This is a headdress.”
Nera picked up a tiny gold object and turned it over. She gasped. It was inlaid with brilliant turquoise, and had probably been some kind of jewelry. The pair of them grinned at each other.
“We’re going to need another anti-grav carrier.”
Not long after, they were packing the last of the artifacts onto the carrier. Nera watched Niklas cradling the magnificent remains of a gold-and-silver necklace. His face was reverent.
“Simply beautiful.” He glanced at her on the other side of the carrier. “If I’m correct, this is the necklace of the Lord of Sipán.”
She saw the necklace was made of strange-shaped beads. Each like a little textured wave.
“The Lord of Sipán was a mummy found in the north of Peru with several others in an elaborate burial. They were from some pre-Inca culture.” Niklas’ voice deepened into what she thought of as his teacher voice. “These beads are shaped like a nut that grew here and they represented the earth.” He fingered the gold half of the necklace. “The beads of gold represent masculinity and the sun god. And the silver.” He touched the other half of the necklace. “Femininity and the moon god. This necklace signified that man came from the earth and would return to it when they died.”
She loved hearing him tell her these little pieces of history. “Let’s not return to the earth today, okay? And who would want a necklace made of nuts?”
He smiled. “There was another necklace found in the tomb. No images survived, but it was called the golden spider necklace. Each medallion apparently featured a web with a spider and a human head. Would you have liked that one better?”
She sniffed. “I’m not very fond of spiders.
He laughed. “Funny how having you here has made this experience so much better.”
Her hands tightened on the beaten piece of silver in her hands. “Niklas—”
Suddenly Solomon burst into the room. “Zombies. A mob of them heading this way, out of the jungle.”
Niklas cursed and set the necklace on the carrier. “All right.
Get this back to the Centurion and get it loaded. Time for us to go.”
Nera was surprised they’d been uninterrupted this long.
Niklas touched his ear. “Avril? Galen? Zombies headed this way.”
No response.
He frowned and tried again. “Dammit.”
Nera looked at the security agents. “You know where they are?”
They shook their heads, but their faces seemed purposely blank.
Niklas’ jaw tightened. “Nera, let’s go find Avril and then get the hell out of here. The rest of you get back to the vehicle and get these artifacts loaded.” He pulled out his laser pistol and charged out the door.
Nera followed one step behind him. “They were coming in from the back of the site. You think they were after something specific?”
“Yeah.” His face was hard. “Yeah, I think they were.”
***
Nik and Nera jogged through empty rooms. He could hear the moans and grunts of the zombies now. They were close.
“Solomon?” Nik said into his earpiece.
“Everything loaded, Phoenix. We’re inside the Centurion and the zombies have us surrounded.”
Dammit. “The other vehicle?”
“They’re here, too. Gunn said that Dr. Luma-Smythe and Agent Ryant are still inside and not answering comms.”
“Could be dead.” Nera’s tone implied she wasn’t too concerned, if that were the case.
“We need to leave.” Gunn’s voice blasted across the line. “The doc and the agent can look after themselves.”
Typical Gunn. Looking out for himself. “No,” Nik said.
“No one died and made you boss, Phoenix. We’ll come back for them.”
But Nik never left anyone behind. He’d abandoned friends and colleagues at the Institute once. Galen might be rotten, but he’d once been a friend. He also didn’t believe that Avril was a part of the Institute’s darker dealings, and Nik respected her love of history.
“We’re going after them.” Nik checked his mini-Sync. The only other place to look was what had been the offices and staff areas. “Come on. This way.”
