The excavation had followed the original contours of the long-decayed walls that had once separated the low-ceilinged chambers.
The only noise as she rushed forward was her heavy breathing and the scratching of the bony feet behind her. She would have preferred a few groans or moans.
How do the bastards even sense me?
The skeletons hadn’t reacted to the noise of the rock or seeing her at first. She didn’t understand how they detected her. Maybe, like Alison, they could sense souls at close ranges or something similar. Magic tended to make sense in its own weird way.
Something clicked in her head. Shay spun toward the advancing skeletons, her mind afire with sudden understanding. Everything made perfect sense.
Airtight bag, huh?
She held her breath.
The skeletons stopped and turned back to the entrance.
The tomb raider grinned to herself as she hurried down the thin path between a few of the sub-chambers toward the main burial chamber lying at the end.
The stone lay in the center of the chamber, alone. She wasn’t sure if it’d been buried that way originally, or if other objects had been already removed. If the archaeologists had any inkling of what the stone did they might have been too afraid to move it.
Shay’s lungs started to burn. She sucked in a deep breath and waited, her blades raised. The skeletons didn’t invade the mound.
“Guess you guys are patient as long as I’m not close? I can deal with that.”
She removed a folded silver bag with a small plastic air valve on the side. She placed the stone inside and sealed the bag using its own adhesive strip before removing a small electric pump from her bag. The tomb raider connected the pump to the bag and evacuated all the air.
“Hope this vacuum-sealing shit works.”
Shay took another deep breath and held it before running toward the entrance.
No skeletons waited for her, none standing anyway. Instead, piles of bones lay around the entrance, their swords and shields gone.
Shay let out the breath and took several more. She let a huge smile spread on her face on her way to the minivan.
An easy job or two never hurts.
Chapter Nineteen
Peyton stifled a yawn as he watched his computer. A message popped up from Shay.
Not an easy job. Locals on the lookout for archaeological site vandal, but no description of me or my rental vehicle. Should have left last night instead of waiting. Too hot to extract from here. Gonna drive to Athens. Take care of my flight. Look after Lily.
“Easy for you to say,” Peyton muttered, yawning again.
Shay might be driving around Turkey in the middle of the afternoon, but the time-zone difference meant Peyton was dealing with a late night.
The researcher sighed and brought up the reservation website. Another yawn attack hit him. He needed to get to bed soon.
If he finished up in the next few minutes, it’d still take a long time to get home. It wasn’t a quick drive even as a straight shot, and the required circuitous safety route would only make it longer. Dying in a car accident after escaping a hit wasn’t his idea of a good ending.
A folded-up cot near the office caught his attention and called to him. He might have torn down most of the cubicle maze, but it wouldn’t hurt to spend a night in the warehouse even if the cot was uncomfortable.
See, Shay? You’re getting your wish.
Peyton smiled. He’d been working hard, and Shay would be fine once he made the reservations and she flew out of Athens.
Shay would probably hit Warehouse Five to drop off the artifact and worry about setting up the drop the next day. Between all the travel and logistics, Peyton could easily squeeze in a night off.
An apartment’s one thing and a pet’s another, but it’s time to really start living again. Not like Shay needs to know about everything I do. She doesn’t tell me everything she does. Lily can take care of herself and insists on doing so, anyway.
He smiled. Everything was going to turn out all right.
Thanks, Shay. Thanks a lot.
The next evening, Peyton adjusted his phone earpiece as he stepped into the crowded bar. Shay had made it to Athens without trouble, but her flight had been delayed and now the Greek authorities were also on the lookout for the “stolen important historical artifact.” Everyone in that region was suddenly getting along just in time to screw the tomb raider.
Peyton divided his time between scanning the crowd and glancing at his phone for updates. Shay’s poor timing had become his poor timing.
This is what I get for convincing myself I’d have an open night without any worries about Shay.
Lily was tucked into bed in the warehouse with an iPad and enough downloaded movies to keep her up till dawn and a freezer full of ice cream. The girl wasn’t going anywhere. Peyton congratulated himself on his ingenuity.
Still, Shay was the unknown factor.
Meeting a girl from the Hello Cupid dating site at a bar might be a bad idea, given his current life situation. He was sure Shay would say as much, but he didn’t care.
He was tired of living in the shadows. Shay and Peyton were both supposed to be dead, but she had a life. She had friends and jaunted around the country and world. For that matter, she got to hang out with a muscle-bound badass like Brownstone. Peyton didn’t know if they had anything going on, but he found it hard to believe a woman wouldn’t find a guy like that at least a little attractive. He was the Conan to her Red Sonja.
All Peyton had was a cat. A nice cat, but still just a cat and a pseudo little sister.
He could be just as careful as the tomb raider. If asking permission wouldn’t work he’d ask forgiveness later, or better yet, just not get caught.
Peyton looked up from his phone. A cute blonde in silver glasses and a black
