The bounty hunter shook his head. “Nope.”
Shay resisted a laugh. She must have been smirking because Smite-Williams shot her an angry glare. She shrugged but didn’t respond.
I can’t help it if your boy is all muscle and no brain.
“It’s a rather recent discovery. From what has been decoded, it was apparently written after the conquest of the Inca Empire by Pizzaro, by what may have been refugees who had resettled in a small surviving Mayan city.” The Professor took a sip of his beer.
I better interpret for Brownstone. He probably has no clue of some of the importance of what he’s being told.
“The Incas didn’t have a full writing system, you see. The Mayans did.”
Brownstone shrugged like he already knew that. Shay doubted it.
The Professor leaned forward, folding his hands in front of him. “The point is, lad, that unlike most other codices from the early periods, this one wasn’t destroyed. It was transported from its city of origin and eventually ended up hidden in what is now Cartagena, Colombia. And it tells an interesting story.”
“A very interesting story,” Shay added. She shifted in her seat. The bounty hunter didn’t care about history, but she did, and she could already kick ass.
I’m being too hard on the guy, but I’m gonna prove to him that I don’t need someone like him for a tomb raid. I’ve got all the team I need already with Peyton.
Brownstone glanced over at Shay, a slightly confused look on his face.
“A lot of what’s in that codex might not have been believed twenty years ago,” said Smite-Williams. “From what can be deciphered, it tells a story of Pizzaro gaining control of an ancient artifact, a rod that was supposed to be associated with the Inca god Supay, God of Death and the Underworld. His name is also associated with a race of demons, and the codex implies that Pizzaro actually made use of the artifact to summon dark creatures to aid him in fighting Inca forces.”
“Bet they left that out of the reports back to Spain,” Brownstone muttered.
Okay, that was funny. Captain Muscles has a little more going on upstairs than I thought. Time for the real test, though.
“You’ll love what they were called,” Shay added with a wink.
Brownstone shrugged. “All right, what were they called?”
“The closest translation would be ‘corpse-demons that walk again.’”
“Goddamn motherfucking zombies,” Brownstone spat. “Why does it have to be zombies?”
“Motherfucking zombies,” Shay echoed.
She was doing the job for the sweet pile of cash Smite-Williams was going to throw at her, but she could admit to herself that she liked the idea of keeping a zombie rod out of general circulation.
“Aye, lad, zombies.” The Professor grinned. “Now, when you have your ear to the ground like I do, you hear a lot of things, and you can begin to piece disparate things together. Long story short, I have good information on the location of the Rod of Supay.”
Does Brownstone understand how impressive it is that the Professor can zero in on the location of a long-lost artifact like that. Probably not. The thought disappointed her more than she expected.
Brownstone took a deep breath and nodded. He looked a little uncomfortable. Zombies freak him out.
The Professor nodded toward Shay. “This is where Miss Carson comes in. She’s a field archaeologist with good tactical skills. Considering the nature of this particular mission, that’s a good combination.”
“She’s a graverobber who can use a gun,” Brownstone joked.
The graverobber quip stung a bit, but she wasn’t going to whine about it. The best way to fight jokes was with other jokes.
“That or a kickass treasure hunter. I think the politically correct term is tomb raider.” Shay smirked. “It’s not always graves, you know. But I’m okay around weapons. Not like we live in a safe world, especially these days.”
“This time your skills will be particularly helpful, Miss Shay, and convenient.” The Professor turned toward Brownstone. “We have a strong lead on the Rod that suggests it’s buried in a tomb complex in northern Peru. It’s been explored before, but we have reasons—many reasons, actually—to believe the Rod was magically shielded from detection, and there are no active excavations going on due to issues at the site and local rebel activity. Shay will be taking lead on this, and you’ll be support.”
“Unless you have a problem following a woman?” There was defiance in Shay’s eyes.
This would be the main test. The Professor might have not left her much choice in Brownstone tagging along, but she wanted to make it clear that this was her job, and he was the tagalong.
“Fine by me.” Brownstone jotted down a few more notes and looked back up at Shay.
She tried to hide the residual irritation. She didn’t like working with anyone in the field, but he didn’t take any chance she offered to try and annoy her. She had to give him a little credit.
So, he’s not easy to spin up. That’s good to know. It means he won’t be a bitch when we’re traveling together.
Brownstone turned his attention to the Professor. “That I’m being invited to the party implies this isn’t just about digging up some moldy zombie rod. There’s a bounty involved.”
“Well, yes, James. Some others are interested in the Rod of Supay,” Smite-Williams said, his smile faltering for a moment.
“Who?”
“The Brujos Rojos.”
Brownstone leaned back and nodded, his face twitching slightly. “I thought they got taken out when they tried to assassinate that high-ranking Light Elf during her visit to Colombia last year.”
Shay didn’t hate magic, but she couldn’t ignore that it’s reentry into the world had led to assholes who would have been nothing before now being dangerous threats. Then again, magic also made her job very, very profitable.
Even if she didn’t like it, she could see the advantage that having an extra gun around might provide. Her recent fight with Snegurka the Ice Witch wasn’t the one-sided curb stomp Shay would
