by Anna Hackett
“But the Snake Kings were good fighters?”
“Yes, but that’s only one piece of the puzzle. They were statesmen, as well. We know that they also used diplomacy, and made alliances with neighboring city states. They wanted allies. And they increased agriculture to feed their people. They came out of nowhere and flourished.”
Seth’s gaze moved to the backpack and what it carried. “You think they flourished because they had tech that helped them do that?”
She shrugged a shoulder. “Possibly. Although good times do encourage scholarship and research. Maybe they invented the tech. Two more ambitious kings ruled after Sky Witness: Scroll Serpent, and then, arguably their most successful king, Shaker of Cities. He consolidated the Snake King rule of the cities of the lowlands, and did it for more than fifty years.”
“So why’d they disappear?”
“Too much of a good thing. After Shaker of Cities came his son, Claw of Fire. He didn’t quite live up to his badass name. By then, the kings and ruling elite lived too well. They became overweight and had diabetes. After Claw of Fire, their dominance deteriorated, and they lost Tikal.”
It certainly sounded like there could be more to the power of the Snake Kings. “You think the jade spheres are dangerous?”
She shrugged a shoulder. “I just don’t know.”
“Ty will work it out.” Ty could solve any problem. But first, Seth and January needed to get out of the jungle alive.
They trekked along in companionable silence for a while, when he saw January start to get slower and slower.
“We need to rest,” he said.
“No.” She shook her head. “I can keep going.”
Until she crashed. “Take a break, James.”
“No.” Her chin got that stubborn tilt he was starting to recognize.
“So damn stubborn.”
“And you’re an asshole.”
“I’m trying to take care of you.”
“I take care of me. Always have. I know my limits.” She pushed her hair back. “Besides, if I rest now, I might not get back up.”
He took a deep breath. “You’ve survived a plane crash, days in the jungle, attacks by several bad guys before?”
She lifted that chin another inch. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to deck the stubborn line of it, or kiss it.
Shit. He and January were like oil and water. Or maybe explosive chemicals and fire.
“Give yourself a break,” he said.
“Fine.” She pulled out her water bottle, wrenched off the lid, and took a bad-tempered sip. “There. Can we go now?” She set the bottle back in her pack.
“Sure.”
“Good.” She stomped off through the trees. “I want a shower. Even a cold camp one. I have mud…in places I don’t want to think about.”
Seth fought a smile. Damned if he didn’t admire her. “Thought you liked mud.”
She glared at him.
Suddenly, a howler monkey leaped out of the vines with a screech. January cried out and fell backward. Seth lunged and caught her under the arms before she hit the ground.
She closed her eyes, dragging in a deep breath.
“You’ve got this, January,” he murmured.
“Oh, my God. A pep talk from Seth Lynch. Hell has frozen over.” She pulled away from him.
He found himself sorry to let the curvy feel of her go.
“I’m not going to wilt,” she bit out, before striding onward.
He shook his head. Even covered in mud, she was pretty damn cute.
Chapter Five
Every muscle in January’s body was aching and her legs felt like jelly.
When they paused for a moment, she stared through a gap in the trees, and spotted a familiar hill ahead. Relief flooded her.
“See that?” She pointed.
“The hill?”
“That’s the top of the pyramid.”
Seth frowned. “It doesn’t look like a pyramid.”
“It’s crumbling and overgrown, but it’s a pyramid.”
They continued on, and finally pushed out of the trees. The sun was setting, coating the jungle in shades of gold. As night approached, the sounds of insects were increasing in volume.
“Who the hell are you?”
The sharp, male voice made her spin. Dr. Josh Andelman approached, with two of his team behind him. Josh was tall, with wide shoulders, and trimmed, blond hair. He was dressed in flawless khaki, with a dark-leather belt. Even on a dig, Josh styled himself, pressed his clothes, and accessorized.
“Josh.”
“January?” The man’s eyes widened in shock.
A young female graduate student, and an older, male archeologist flanked Josh, staring at her and Seth.
“What the hell happened to you?” Dr. Andelman demanded, turning to eye Seth. “And who are you?”
January felt Seth step closer to her. He had a closed look on his face as he took in the archeologists. She knew he was cataloging everything about them. She noted that Seth was several inches taller than Josh, and even splattered with mud, looked way more impressive.
“He’s with me. Seth, this is Dr. Josh Andelman.”
Andelman nodded, a disgruntled look on his face. Seth just lifted his chin. They gave January the faint impression of two dogs squaring off over a bone.
“Thought you flew out to Guatemala City,” Josh said.
“I did.” She dragged in a deep breath. “The plane crashed.”
There were gasps all around.
Josh took a step forward and grabbed both her arms. “Are you okay?”
Seth moved closer, his chest pressing to her back. When she looked up, she saw an unhappy scowl on his face. She turned back and caught the pinched look on the grad student’s face. January barely stopped her eye roll. Looked like someone had a crush on her dig leader.
January moved her gaze to Josh’s square jaw. Or, it was Josh up to his old tricks.
“I’m fine.” She stepped back, which pressed her harder into Seth’s body. “We need to use your satellite phone.”
Josh nodded. “The artifacts?”
“Fine.” She tugged on the strap of her backpack.
“Good. Good. Let me introduce you to everyone. You know Eric.”
Eric Martinez nodded. He was a few inches shorter than January, with a stocky body, and dark hair threaded with gray.
“And this is Victoria Jenner.”
The young woman nodded, fiddling with the end of her blonde braid. “Most people call me Vickie.”
“And Rachelle is out on the other side of the pyramid,” Josh added. “You’ll see her later.”
January had worked with Dr. Rachelle Spencer on numerous occasions. The archeologist was several years older than January, and never bothered to hide her disdain for Josh and his grandstanding. January just bet the pair were getting along like chalk and cheese.
“We have a spare tent.” Vickie glanced at Seth, her gaze settling on his scars with a look of mingled horror and curiosity. “Uh, but we only have one.”
January was too tired to let the thought of sharing a sleeping space with Seth Lynch worry her. “Lead the way.”
Soon, they were standing at the cluster of tents and camp chairs near the base of the pyramid.
Seth reached out, helping January slide her backpack off. “You going to take that shower now?”
She swallowed a moan. “Oh yeah.”
“I’m going to use Dr. Wonder Boy’s sat phone to call my team.”
She choked on the nickname he’d given Josh. “Dr. Wonder Boy?”
“He clearly thinks he’s above the rest of us mere mortals.”
“Definitely.”
They went their separate ways, the shadows deepening beneath the trees. January grabbed a set of clean clothes from her backpack. She wanted a long, hot shower, but a short, lukewarm one was also pretty good after a plane crash and a day in the jungle.
Dressed and feeling much more human, she joined the archeol
ogists around the campfire. She gave the short-haired Rachelle a hug. She accepted a plate of food, aware that there was no sign of Seth. The others talked about how their work had gone for the day, laughing quietly.
Then Seth prowled out of the darkness, and Rachelle gasped from beside January, before speaking in a loud, high-pitched whisper.
“Sweet Mother Mary.”
Seth grabbed a plate and dropped down beside January, either ignoring the comment, or unaware of it. January assumed it was the former.
“Rachelle, this is Seth.”
“Hey,” Seth said.
Rachelle stared at him. “I bet Andelman just loved seeing you.”
Seth’s brows drew together, and January forked more food into her mouth, fighting back a laugh.
Across the fire, she watched Vickie edging her chair closer and closer to Josh. January fought the urge to roll her eyes again.
Seth glanced at January. “So, mud-free, huh?”
“No mud jokes, Lynch.”
“My people will pick us up in the morning.”
“And who are your people?” Josh demanded, not bothering to hide his eavesdropping.
Seth lifted his bottle of water, took a sip, and stayed silent.
“Seth works in…security.” January decided they needed a distraction. “How’s the dig going?”
“Great.” Josh straightened, baring his dentist-whitened teeth. He launched into a blow-by-blow discourse of his work and finds. He made it sound like he was the only person working at the site.
January immediately tuned him out. Josh had always loved the sound of his own voice. And he was less about the work, and more about talking about himself. He also loved hogging all the credit for everything his team did.
The minutes passed, and January suddenly yawned.
Seth took her plate. “January’s had a rough day. She needs some sleep.”
“Or Josh’s voice has put her to sleep,” Rachelle muttered quietly.
January choked on a laugh.
“Right.” Josh was frowning. “Of course.”
Seth helped January up. “I’m going to take a walk around camp. I’ll meet you at the tent.”
January knew that meant he was checking things out. She nodded at him, and watched him disappear into the shadows.
“Girl, that is one fine specimen of man,” Rachelle said.
“He drives me insane.”
“Even better.”
With murmured goodnights, January headed for the tent.
“January?” Josh appeared.
She turned.
“You sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“And this guy—”
“He’s none of your concern.”
Josh gripped her arm. Annoyance flared and she knocked his hand away.
“There was a time you enjoyed me touching you,” he said.
Not really. She’d made a bad decision years ago, before she knew Josh well, and let him talk her into bed. He was as self-absorbed in bed as he was out of it.
“That was a long time ago. I’m exhausted, Josh. Thanks for dinner.” January slipped into the tent. It was lit with a small, portable, battery-powered lantern.
She had stripped off her boots when the tent flap opened and Seth appeared.
“You and Dr. Wonder Boy, really?”
He’d obviously been skulking in the shadows. “Oh, you’ve never made a bad decision?”
He sat down on one of the sleeping bags. “I’ve made loads of them. I’ve gotten pretty good at never believing what a person says.”
She lay down on the sleeping bag, folding her arms beneath her head. “God, that’s cynical.”
“But realistic.”
It was far too hot and humid to need to get into the sleeping bags. Seth shifted next to her, and she scented clean, damp skin. He’d clearly found time for a quick shower, too.
An uncomfortable flutter flitted in her belly. Oh, no. She needed an attraction to Seth Lynch like she needed a hole drilled into her head. Her life was already crazy, and the man knew just what to do to drive her even crazier.
“So you don’t trust anyone?” she asked.
“Only my team. Majority of people will stab you in the back if they get the chance.”
His words were so clinical and she wondered who’d done a number on him. It made her sad.
“The artifacts okay?” he asked, quietly, shucking his boots, gloves, weapons, and vest.
She nodded at her backpack, safely stored in the tent. He reached over and unzipped it. He tugged out one of the spheres, pushing the wrapping off it. She watched him lift the sphere, careful not to touch the smooth, jade surface.
The man had nice, long fingers. The belly flutter returned and she bit her lip.
Then he tucked the ball back into the backpack. He lay down beside her, and flicked off the lantern. For a long moment, they were both silent, each staring up at the tent roof.
“Hell of a day,” she finally muttered.
“You did good out there, James.” His voice was deep and quiet. “After everything you went through, a lot of people would have fallen apart.”
His quiet praise warmed her insides. “You being nice to me again?”
He laughed. It was a sexy sound. “You’re a pain in the ass.”
Outside, the sound of others heading toward their tents echoed in the night, and then silence fell over the camp. She was still excruciatingly aware of Seth, so close by.
“We first met on a night like this one,” he said.
She snorted. “Where you snuck into my dig camp, scared the bejesus out of all of us, and stole my artifact?”
“Where my team infiltrated to secure a dangerous piece of ancient technology and stop anyone from being hurt, or worse. For my troubles, I got smacked in the head with a metal pipe.”
“It was a pole. A fence stake.” She still remembered the chaos in the camp and the big, solid shadow looming over her. He’d subdued her pretty quickly, and after a short tussle, Lachlan had appeared to talk with her.
Seth laughed again. “You going to apologize?”
“Hell, no. If you’d just approached me and talked—”
“We don’t usually have that luxury.”
No, she guessed they didn’t. She’d hated seeing her student hurt by the crystal sphere, so she better understood the job Team 52 did.
“I guess I’m a bit sorry that I gave you a black eye.”
His sleeping bag rustled. “A bit?”
“That’s all you’re getting, Lynch. Be thankful.”
He made a choked sound, and she couldn’t tell if he was pissed or amused. Probably both.
Exhaustion finally started to drag her eyelids down.
“Oh. Oh! Yes! More.”
January tensed. The sound of moaning came from the neighboring tent. It was followed by loud masculine grunts.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Seth muttered.
Yep, Josh was up to his usual tricks again. “He could never keep it in his pants. And he likes young grad students.”
“He cheated on you?”
There was disbelief in Seth’s voice, and that made warmth bloom in her belly. “I made a mistake once, and was done with him the next day. A few hours later, I saw him kissing another woman by his car.”
“He’s a bigger idiot than I thought.”
She glanced Seth’s way, but it was too dark to see him.
“Get some sleep, James,” Seth murmured.
“I will. You, too.” Her eyelids were heavier now. She hadn’t been able to get any rest in the jungle. She’d been too wired and too scared. But knowing the power and strength of Seth Lynch was only inches away…
January smiled and fell asleep.
Seth clapped his hand over January’s mouth and yanked her up against his body.
She sprang awake and started struggling wildly. His palm muffled her screams.
He pressed his mouth to her ear. “Shh. It’s m
e. Camp’s under attack.”
She stilled, her body quivering.
He lifted his hand.
She swiveled. “Who’s attacking?”
“I don’t know, but we need to move. Get your boots and gear.”
Rustling noises told him she was pulling her boots on. Seth threw on his own pack, and paused to listen. He could make out the faint sound of hushed voices not too far from the tents. Then, a woman’s scream pierced the night.
Shit. Seth pulled his knife off his belt, and sliced the back of the tent open. There was just enough moonlight to see. “Go.” He gripped January’s waist and pushed.
“What about the others?” She paused, half in, half out of the tent.
“No time.” His priorities were the artifacts and January.
He nudged her, grabbed his CXM, and then followed her out of the tent.
And smack into a tangled mess of vines that were half covering their tent.
Seth froze. He’d done several rounds of the camp earlier…this vegetation had not been there before they’d gone to sleep.
Confused, frowning, he pushed them away. “Go.”
January shoved through the vines, then paused to wait for him. Together, they jogged toward the trees. The grass had also grown longer and thicker, brushing their knees.
“The others—”
“Keep moving,” Seth said.
All of a sudden, a light shone on them.
“There!” a voice shouted.
Gunshots broke the silence of the night.
Seth dived, hitting January, and taking her down to the ground. “Crawl. We need to find cover.”
She nodded and rose on all fours, crawling into the trees. Seth followed, and behind them, heard the sounds of pursuit.
As soon as they reached the trees, he yanked her up.
“We can’t leave the others,” January cried.
“These people are after the artifacts, not your colleagues. We have to safeguard the spheres.”
She looked conflicted.
The next second, a red dot appeared on her chest. Fuck. Seth didn’t stop to think, he just moved, stepping in front of her.
The bullets slammed into his back, and he heard January cry out.
Pain exploded, as though he were getting hammered by a giant’s fist. He gritted his teeth, lifted his CXM, and spun.
