Scattered laughter filled the room.
Shay grinned. “I hope you live long enough for something else big to shock you and make you question everything like it did me. It’s uncomfortable at times to stare into the truth when it goes against what you think you know, but in the end, you’ll feel more satisfied.”
The gathered students nodded, many with eager looks on their faces. Even the students who’d looked bored at the beginning of the lecture now looked interested.
Do what I could never do. Go find the truth without a dark detour first.
Chapter Six
Shay glanced at Lily as the rental SUV barreled down the dirt road leading toward the coordinates. Her thoughts flashed back to their encounter with Yulia in Antarctica. Even though they’d both survived, Lily had managed to get her arm broken.
A few regrets crept in about bringing the girl along on the tomb raid.
She’s a newbie. She might be street smart, but that’s different from surviving on a tomb raid, especially if bullets or serious magic starts flying.
The girl had done well helping Shay take down the thugs in New York, but a tomb raid was a much more dangerous scenario. Lily had probably run into more than her share of criminals in her time on the streets, just as Shay had in her previous career, but the strange monsters and magical beings that flocked around artifacts made even the most vicious mobsters seem weak and ineffectual in comparison.
Shay barely stopped herself from sighing. The last thing she needed to do was inject doubt into Lily’s mind.
Don’t want to see the kid dead, but she’s never going to reach her full potential if she’s never put to the test. With a little training, those twitch reflexes could make her unstoppable against traps and people. I don’t have any magic, so she could end up even better than me.
Lily smiled a little as she looked out the window at the tall pines filling the area. “It’s very pretty here. I’m so used to just dirt, concrete, metal, and glass.”
“Yeah, that pretty much defines LA. They stick a few trees in to convince us we still have nature, but it’s millions of people crammed together breathing in smog.” Shay snorted. Not that NYC was any better.
“Thanks for bringing me. I know you’re not crazy about me splitting my time between the tunnels and your warehouse.”
Shay shrugged. “We still have a lot we can offer each other. I’m not gonna throw away a good resource just because she’s mildly inconvenient at times.”
Lily chuckled. “That’s one way to put it, but I figured out after what happened the other day that you care a lot more than you want to admit.”
“Not saying I don’t give a shit, but I’m different than you. You’re used to depending on your friends, and I’m used to using people and depending only on myself. A lot of things are new to me and I’m still getting used to them, including training people. This isn’t always the safest job, so I need to be careful for both our sakes.”
“Living in tunnels and having to scavenge…having to steal to survive isn’t safe either.” Lily stared out the window defiantly. “I need something better…a future. One farther out than fifteen minutes. This is a way to do that. A way to do something useful with my powers.” She shrugged. “So I’m grateful for the chance and the training.”
Shay glanced at the display on the front console. They were closing in on the coordinates Peyton had sent them. She pulled the SUV off the dirt road, and into the trees. After a few minutes of slow maneuvering, the trees grew too thick, and Shay stopped the car and shifted into Park.
“Okay, let’s grab our gear. Should be pretty close to here. I’m hoping this won’t take a huge amount of digging, but if we can’t find it quickly, we’ll see what you can come up with.”
Lily blinked a few times. “O-okay.”
“What’s up?” Shay frowned. “You have a vision? Spill it.”
Lily shrugged. “It was mostly just you cursing a lot, shaking your fist at the sky, and yelling at Peyton. I don’t know what that means.”
Shay smirked. “That’s most mornings, afternoons, and nights for me. Guess you can see into the past after all.” She winked.
She got out, headed to the back of the vehicle, and popped the back hatch to grab her tactical harness and backpack. She strapped a collapsible shovel to the backpack. She finished by grabbing a metal detector, slipping on her AR goggles, and linking them to her phone.
Lily picked up her equipment and a shovel. “Oh, the glamorous life of a tomb raider. I get to dig in a forest. Yay, me.”
“Don’t forget you also get to see me yell and curse at Peyton. Don’t discount how awesome that shit is.”
“Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about that.”
Shay reached for her ear and tapped the earpiece. “Speaking of Peyton, might as well let him listen now.”
Lily mirrored Shay.
“It’s about time,” whined Peyton over the comm. The line was filled with static. “Pull out the drone so I can get you a bird’s eye view and make sure no one is sneaking up on you.”
Shay nodded to Lily. The teen pulled out one of the drones and did a quick check of its rotors and power level. She set it on the ground.
“It’s ready, Peyton,” Lily reported.
A second later, the rotors whirred to life, and the small black machine rose from the ground and climbed to the treetops.
“Well…crap,” Peyton offered. “Not an auspicious beginning, one might say.” He said the last in
