Eternal Nights Page 8

  Damn. If he didn’t do more damage control—fast—she’d pull back on him, and that was the last thing he wanted. “I’m going to need your help to get us out of here. Can I rely on you?”

  Kendall’s attention was immediately redirected, and as her mouth firmed, she gave an emphatic nod. “You know you can.”

  “Good,” he repeated, shifting till he could use the wall as support. His shoulder brushed hers. “Okay, here’s the situation as I see it. We’re completely on our own. If the archeologists aren’t aware of this section of the pyramid, that means the MPs won’t find us even if they do check the temple.” Bug nodded and he continued, “We have to assume, though, that the smugglers do know about this corridor. It would be stupid not to since they’ve had an indefinite period of time to find it.”

  “Why would they look for a secret passageway?”

  “Did you know about the room they locked us in?” He countered with a question of his own.

  After a short pause, she said, “I get what you’re saying. If they could find that chamber with no reason to search for it, odds are good they found this section too.” Kendall sighed. “When they find us gone, we’re going to be hunted.”

  He risked sliding an arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. She stiffened, but didn’t pull away. “Yeah, we are.”

  “We can’t go out the way we came in.”

  It wasn’t a question, but Wyatt answered as if it were. “No. Easiest thing in the world is to put someone at the entrance to the pyramid and let him pick us off as soon as we step outside. We have to find another exit, and this is where I need intel from you. Is there a different way out?”

  She leaned her head back and closed her eyes before she said, “Logically, a structure this size should have multiple entrances, but we’ve yet to find them. After what we’ve seen so far, I tend to believe they’re here but well disguised.”

  If things were different, he’d mention that it made him hot when she went all intellectual on him, but he couldn’t. It was too damn bad Kendall didn’t have any recollection of their other life. She could lead them right out of here without a problem if she did.

  Wyatt checked his wrist before he remembered he wasn’t wearing his watch. “Let’s go. Now that I can probably stand up, darlin’, we need to move.”

  Cautiously, he pushed to his feet. The slowness didn’t help, though, and he staggered. Almost before he could catch his balance, she had her arm around his waist, supporting him. “Are you all right?” she demanded.

  “Just lightheaded. I’ll be fine in a minute.” But he slung his own arm over her shoulders, and as much as he hated to burden her, he let Bug take some of his weight. If he were steadier, Wyatt would have grinned about the way they fussed over each other—Kendall had asked after him almost as many times as he’d checked on her—and he’d been conscious a matter of minutes. Flare would be laughing his ass off if he were here to listen to this, but the hell with it. Nothing in the universe was more important to Wyatt than the woman he leaned against.

  When his eyesight cleared, he looked around. “Where’s your bag? Grab it and let’s go.”

  “I must have left it in the room. I was more concerned with getting you some air than anything else.”

  The defensive tone made his lips twitch, but he managed to suppress the smile. Bug hated to be less than perfect at anything, and no doubt, she viewed this as a failure. “You don’t need to persuade me. I’m glad I was your first priority.”

  “Sorry,” she mumbled. Then she lifted her gaze to his and said more clearly, “I’m sorry about getting prickly.”

  “Don’t worry on it. After the day you’ve had, you’re entitled. Did the room close up after we left?”

  “No, it was open the last time I saw it.”

  Wyatt thought about that, then made a decision. “We need to go back, get your bag, and shut that room again. I don’t want to point the smugglers in our direction. With no indication which way we’ve gone, they’ll have to cover every possibility, and this might spread them thin enough to give us a small advantage.”

  “Will the room be safe? It hasn’t been that long since we escaped and I don’t know about the oxygen levels.”

  “I’m going in and out, that’s all.”

  “I should go. You can still barely walk.” He scowled and watched Kendall smother a smile. “I’m concerned about you,” she added, squeezing his waist.

  His expression immediately softened. “I’m okay, I promise, but let’s get moving. I want us to finish what we need to do and get far away from here before they come check on us.”

  As they walked down the hall, Wyatt became more surefooted and he leaned less on Kendall. They had to go farther, though, than he had expected. He cast her a sideways glance. This was a hell of a distance for her to have pulled him. Must have been adrenaline.

  When they reached the room, Wyatt left Kendall in the hall and went in. As soon as he snagged her bag, he started to leave but stopped short when he spotted her discarded hair pins. He didn’t want to leave anything behind. He bent to grab them and jammed them into his front pocket as he exited.

  When he was back beside Bug, Wyatt put his hands on his hips and eyed the opening. He didn’t immediately see another method to close it.

  He was betting this room acted as some kind of buffer zone between sections of the pyramid. That meant finding a trigger to shut the door on this side of the wall should be easier. He just had to figure out where to look.

  *** *** ***

  Kendall watched Wyatt walk away, and tucked her hands in her pockets as she waited. She could guess what he was doing.

  She turned her head and stared at the wall herself, letting her eyes roam freely over the blocks of perfectly set stone. There were little inclusions in the highly polished marble. Pretty. Leaning against the opposite wall, she eyed the pattern and thought she saw the flecks start moving, and then they began streaming in a formation. Kendall found herself mesmerized.

  The specks of color did a jig, seeming to leap out of the rock and perform for her in midair. A group of forest green motes chased the azure bits and Kendall smiled faintly at the antics. She heard Wyatt make a sound of satisfaction, but she kept her eyes on the flecks. They’d stopped playing tag and formed a kaleidoscope, segueing from one image to the next until they blended themselves into an arrow, and Kendall would swear the dots were looking at her. Before she could examine that thought, they rocketed from the hall into the secret room.

  Straightening away from the wall, she waited for the specks to return. They didn’t come back, and Kendall followed them.

  As she stood in the opening to the chamber, they reappeared. They swarmed on the stone doorjamb, putting on an extra-energetic show and her smile broadened. The particles almost looked like men and women—partners in a dance.

  Then, before she was ready for the waltz to end, they dove inside the stone and formed the outline of a hand. Bemused, she studied it. The inclusions pulsed, calling her forward. Slowly, Kendall raised her arm and pressed her palm inside the pattern.

  There was a moment of relief, a moment when she could feel something inside her find peace. Before she could think about that, the stone started to vibrate, as if the temple itself were coming to life after a long sleep. The buzz traveled up her arm and filled her body. Kendall’s eyes closed. It felt good.

  As the sensation continued, the energy of the temple seemed to shift, although Kendall couldn’t explain how, and there was a welcoming feeling that she’d never experienced before. In the past, she’d had a sense of possessiveness about the pyramid, but now, it seemed as if that claim were returned.

  Wyatt glanced over at Kendall to share his success with her, but what he saw wiped the satisfaction off his face. Her back was toward the encroaching stone and she was standing directly in its path, her hand pressed against the side of the jamb.

  “Bug, you need to move,” he told her.

  She didn’t seem to hear him. He c
alled her name a second time, but she remained oblivious. Wyatt eyed the distance between her and that enormously heavy rock; he started to run. If she didn’t get out of the way, that thing would crush her.

  The slab began to move faster.

  Wyatt flat-out sprinted for her.

  The instant he reached Bug, he grabbed her arm. She shook him off. That rock was almost on top of her.

  He got himself a tighter hold and jerked her. Hard.

  And with a dull thud, the rock shuddered closed.

  Chapter Six

  “For God’s sake, Bug! What the fuck were you thinking? ”

  Kendall stared at him. Wyatt rarely cursed in front of her, so hearing him use that particular word shocked her. And shook her out of her fog. She looked at him, but couldn’t make sense of anything. “What?”

  “What do you mean, what? You were standing right in the path of that fu—fricking wall.” The thickness of his drawl, and the fact that he’d nearly slipped a second time, told her how upset he was. “It was closing fast and it would have crushed you if I hadn’t pulled you out of the way.”

  A muscle began to tic in his jaw, and with a sound she couldn’t quite name, he hauled her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her. Fine tremors went through him and it left Kendall stunned. Wyatt was shaking?

  After the kiss they’d shared, she knew it was the last thing she should do, but Kendall returned his hug anyway. She hadn’t realized what was happening. Though she’d seen the wall moving, she hadn’t felt any danger. A shiver went through her. That had been too close for comfort.

  Kendall held him tighter as the knowledge sank in. The lower levels of oxygen must have caused her to hallucinate. She started to tell Wyatt what she’d thought she’d seen, but stopped before saying a word. He tended to be protective anyway, but if he believed she’d been out of it, he’d be watching her like a hawk. And he’d worry needlessly.

  She turned her head on his shoulder and looked at the wall. The flecks seemed to wink at her, and that unnerved her enough to want to get out of here. Kendall pushed free of Wyatt’s arms. “I think we need to get moving.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” he agreed. While he looked around, Kendall glanced down at her still-pulsing hand. Although it was hard to be sure, she thought a slight pattern had been imprinted on the pad of each finger—it swirled like a paisley—but the exact style was lost amid her fingerprints. She blinked a couple of times, but when she looked again, the whorls remained. She curled her fingers, tucking the pattern against her palm.

  “Let’s head this way,” Wyatt said, pointing to the right.

  It was the opposite direction from the place where she’d dragged him, but Kendall didn’t ask any questions. She simply walked with him.

  Besides, she had plenty to think about. She ran her thumb across the tips of her fingers. Hallucinations didn’t leave marks behind, so what had happened? Letting herself fall a few steps behind Wyatt, Kendall held her palms side by side. There were definitely new swirls on the pads of her right hand, not only the tips. Now she saw them on every swell of flesh.

  “Bug, do you need me to slow down?”

  Kendall stuck her hands behind her back before she realized that made her look guilty. “No, I’m okay,” she assured him, moving her arms to her sides.

  “Is something wrong with your hands?” Without waiting for a reply, Wyatt took her wrists and examined her palms. “I don’t see any blood, cuts or punctures. Do they hurt?”

  “No,” she repeated. “Everything’s fine.”

  He looked dubious, but Wyatt let go of her. “If you can’t hold the pace I set, let me know. Until the smugglers are arrested, I don’t want you even five feet away from me, got it?”

  Soberly, Kendall nodded, but Wyatt wasn’t done yet.

  “If you injure yourself, I want to know. I don’t care how small or insignificant you think the problem is. I can’t make good decisions if you’re hiding information from me.”

  In other circumstances, she might have teased him about the way he’d assumed command, but not now. Wyatt was Western Alliance Army Special Operations with plenty of field experience. She sat behind a desk and entered data on a computer. As far as she was concerned, he was in charge.

  “Nothing’s wrong,” she reported. “I had a tingling sensation in my right hand, but it’s dissipating. My biggest physical discomforts are hunger and thirst.”

  Wyatt reached for her right arm, and Kendall held it out for him, resigned. “Tell me if something hurts,” he ordered, and then proceeded to press places on her hand and forearm. She stayed impassive as his fingers tested, but his touch affected her when she wanted to remain indifferent.

  Finally, he released her. “I didn’t feel anything out of place. Nothing bothered you when I pushed on it?” Kendall shook her head. “If anything changes, you let me know.”

  “I will.”

  Appearing satisfied with that, Wyatt nodded. “About your other complaints,” he grinned, “we can’t take time to eat now, but we can have water.”

  Without a word, Kendall opened the flap on her bag and pulled out the bottle. It was two-thirds full, and though he hadn’t said anything while they’d been trapped in the room, she knew the small amount had him worried. The food situation wasn’t any better. She had one sandwich, a kahloo fruit, and an oatmeal cookie—nothing else.

  The grim look that settled on his face made her want to apologize for not grabbing more food and another bottle of water, but she’d never expected to need supplies beyond lunch. Wyatt gazed down at the water she held, then back at her. “We’re going to ration everything to make it last as long as we can. It’s critical since we’re in a section of the pyramid that we’re unfamiliar with. Take a small sip, no more.”

  Kendall nodded, and did just that. She passed it to him and watched him do the same, before he tightly screwed the cap back on. Carefully, she stowed it in her bag.

  “Let’s go,” he said. “I want as much distance as possible between us and that room before your smugglers come back.”

  With a nod, she fell into step beside him. As they walked, Kendall found herself dwelling on the way she’d kissed Wyatt.

  He’d surprised her when he tugged her down to him, but when she’d recovered, what did she do? Pull away? No, not her. She gave in to temptation and opened her mouth, let him explore as thoroughly as he wanted. The kiss had been so intense, they’d nearly been devouring each other. Maybe she’d been wondering for a while what Wyatt’s lips would feel like against hers, but that didn’t mean she wanted to jeopardize their friendship to find out. Thank God he didn’t seem to remember what had happened.

  They passed through an archway. There was a branch off the main corridor to the left, but Wyatt continued straight ahead. While he’d been unconscious, he must have been dreaming about some woman. Kendall fought the need to scowl, but lost.

  Zolianna. The name sounded exotic, and mysterious—two things she wasn’t. How could she compete with this woman?

  Compete? What the hell was she thinking? Wyatt was her best friend, not her lover, and she didn’t want it any other way.

  But what did this Zolianna look like?

  It wasn’t as if she wanted to scope out a rival; she was merely curious about what type of woman Wyatt found attractive, that’s all. There wasn’t any Zolianna on J Nine—it was an unusual enough name that she’d remember it—so it had to be someone back on Earth.

  “Darlin’, you’re frowning something fierce,” Wyatt said. “What’s on your mind?”

  Kendall ignored the thrill that shot through her at the endearment; he didn’t mean anything by it. Then the question sank in and she felt the blood leave her face. She couldn’t tell him the truth—he might think she was jealous. Her brain raced until one thought settled. “The thieves. They’ve been looting the Old City—the temple—with impunity. We’ll probably never recover most of treasures they’ve stolen.”

  “That’s true.” He slipped a ca
llused hand under her fall of hair and massaged her neck. “But there’s nothing we can do right now. When we get out of here, you can raise cain.” Wyatt dropped his arm and chuckled. “Heck, we both know you’re going to give Sullivan an earful the instant you get him in your sights. I just hope I’m there when you tear a strip off him.”

  “He’s a superior officer and he’s...intimidating.”

  Wyatt grinned. “Yeah, he is, but that’s not going to stop you, and neither will his rank. You’ll be subtle enough that he won’t be able to threaten you with charges, but you’ll get your point across. And he should have anticipated smuggling, right? ”

  “Of course he should have!” she said heatedly, before she noticed Wyatt’s shoulders were shaking. Kendall glowered at him. “Bait me again, and I’ll unload with a whole lecture about protecting the antiquities in this city.”

  “That’s not much of a deterrent. I like it when you get all passionate on me.” Wyatt winked at her.

  Kendall jerked her attention forward. She knew her cheeks had scalded—she could feel their heat—but she couldn’t help but wonder if he alluded to their kiss. Just what did he remember?

  *** *** ***

  Kendall looked at Wyatt when he stopped short, and waited for him to explain why. They’d been traversing the corridors for hours. This inner section of the temple was a maze, and over and over, they’d run into dead ends or places where the halls forked into more branches. It had surprised her at first that he consulted her on which direction they should take, but she decided she liked it. This was what teamwork was about. But she didn’t have a clue as to where they were and was trusting Wyatt to lead.

  “What?” she prodded when he didn’t say anything.

  With a grimace, he said, “I think we made a circle.”

  She glanced around, but this marble passageway looked pretty much like all the others. “Why do you believe that?” No response. Kendall moved in front of him. “Wyatt?”