Eternal Nights (16 page)

Kendall leaned back against the wall, and stared at the viewer on her digicam, scrolling through the images of gem mosaics. The patterns of the stones reminded her of crop circles with their geometric complexity. Had the people of the Old City experienced the phenomena too, or was it simply a mathematical fluke?

She stopped at one shot that showed a hub of hallways. There were spokes going off in ten different directions with the mosaic covering the only large section of blank wall. The selenite was always arranged in a sort of line when it appeared, and in this image, it was at the seven o’clock position.

Its presence continued to nag at her. It was such a soft stone. All it took was a fingernail across the surface to cause splinters to come off the rock. Why use it?

Okay so this wasn’t the most important thing to think about, but who cared? It beat wondering whether they’d get out of this pyramid alive. And it sure was better than trying to figure out who Zolianna was and what Wyatt felt for her. The more she thought about him with some exotic, beautiful woman, the angrier she became. Was it her fault she’d ended up looking so ordinary? Of course not. Since she didn’t resemble her mother, the blame clearly belonged to her father—whoever he was.

And wasn’t that a laugh? Her mom was a serial monogamist, but she couldn’t remember who had fathered Kendall. Her mother couldn’t even recall the names of the men she’d been involved with in that time frame. There were days it ate at Kendall, moments when she longed to know who he was. She had so many questions. Did she really resemble her dad? Would he like her if they met? Did she have brothers and sisters?

Wyatt knew her parents hadn’t been married, but she had never told him her father was unknown. He came from an all-American family. Parents who’d gotten married before having children, and who were still together after more than thirty years; two older sisters who had also married before producing nieces and nephews for Wyatt to spoil; a real house near Fort Worth, Texas; he’d even grown up with a dog, for God’s sake.

She bet Zolianna knew who her father was. Exotic or not, she’d probably been raised in a family as normal as Wyatt’s. The kind of family Kendall herself had always longed for.

“You okay?” Wyatt asked.

With a sigh, she slipped the digicam in her pocket and turned her head toward him. “Yeah,” she said slowly. “I was just thinking about my mom.” And a few other things she wasn’t going to mention.

“It’s gonna be okay,” he told her, sliding his arm around her shoulders and briefly hugging her. “I’ll do everything in my power to get you out of this alive, I swear.”

“Not just me,” Kendall growled. “You better get yourself out of this alive too, or I’ll hold a seance and kick your butt.”

When he laughed, she dug her knuckles into his side and twisted. “Not funny, Wy. Whatever happens, we’re together. That means either we both make it out, or I fight by your side until it’s over. I won’t run.”

That sobered him. “If I order you to leave, you’ll get yourself out of here, understand me?”

“No.”

A flush tinged his cheeks. “You’ll obey my orders, or I’ll have you up on charges.”

She smiled sweetly. “Nice try, but it won’t work. First, we’d both have to get out alive for you to file paperwork against me. Second, you’d never press charges; I know that as sure as I know my name. Third, this isn’t an assignment where you were designated mission leader, and I outrank you, so you can’t accuse me of disobeying a lawful order.”

For a moment, Wyatt stared at her, obviously stunned. Then, as the shock cleared, she saw anger take its place. “What the hell do you mean you outrank me? That’s bullsh—” He swallowed the end of the word, but not quite fast enough.

“Nope, it’s true. I made captain almost a full month ahead of you; that means I have rank. Seniority rules,” Kendall told him gleefully, her grin widening. “I’m letting you lead because you have the experience and it’s the smart thing to do, but don’t try to pull rank again. It won’t fly.”

“Letting me?” he snarled. Wyatt went nose-to-nose with her. “I don’t give a fu—damn if you do outrank me, you’ll listen and you’ll follow my orders. Both our lives might depend on it.”

Kendall found herself staring at his lips, remembering how they felt against hers. She wanted to taste him again, to slide her tongue in his mouth and explore. And she wanted him to know he was kissing her, not that Zolianna woman. She began to close the space between them, but as her actions registered, Kendall jerked back, banging her head hard into the stone wall. The curse slipped out before she could stop it.

“Dang it, Bug! What did you do to yourself?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.”

“Lean forward.”

She started to argue, but at the look on his face, she decided it wasn’t worth the fight. Kendall bent forward.

Wyatt unclipped her barrette and slid his hand into her hair to test the back of her head. She knew he was checking for bumps, but the feel of his fingers against her scalp sent shivers through her body. What was happening to her? He was her friend; she shouldn’t be imagining his hands caressing other places, but still Kendall nearly protested when he lowered his arm.

“No lumps,” he reported, “but if you become dizzy or nauseated or anything let me know.”

“I will, but it’s not that big a deal.” Kendall knew she sounded subdued, but she was scared over her reactions to him. “How much longer are we going to stay here?”

Handing her the barrette, he sat back, and replied, “I want to take a full fifteen-minute rest.”

Kendall sighed. They’d maybe been here five minutes, so she had a while longer to keep her thoughts controlled. She clipped her hair at her nape again and returned to studying the crystals.

Each chamber they’d passed in this section of the temple had a sameness to it that seemed wrong. Maybe because the rooms in the outer area were all different. Or maybe because the people of the Old City had demonstrated architectural creativity in every facet of the city. Even the houses, while similar in style, had something that set each apart.

But every room in this part of the temple had been the exact same size and shape—a squat rectangle. Every door was placed in the same spot; every room had gemstones inlaid in the same location. Even the walls were the same sandy-colored marble with darker flecks—although, thankfully, they hadn’t danced again. She barely stopped herself from glancing down at her hand. There was definitely a pattern there that hadn’t been present before her weird hallucination. Since she didn’t want to think about what that meant, Kendall returned her thoughts to the room.

Each chamber held a few statuettes, a couple of tapestries and some locked cabinets. Well, at least the ones she’d been allowed near had been secured. Even the furnishings were identical, right down to the color of the upholstery covering the settees. The only differing feature in each room was the pattern of the crystals, which reinforced Kendall’s belief that the gems were hugely important to the aliens.

Getting to her feet, she walked to the far wall. She felt Wyatt’s eyes on her, and knew he was watching out for her. His protectiveness elicited contradictory emotions inside her. Part of Kendall was irritated that he thought her incapable of crossing the floor, while another part of her felt warmed by his concern. People only worried that much about those they cared for, she realized that. But even that raised conflicting feelings. Kendall shook them off.

Hesitantly, she skimmed the fingers of her right hand over the crystals. She felt the surge of energy through her entire body, and it took all her self-command not to yank away. If she did, Wyatt would be at her side in a heartbeat and he’d be asking questions. She didn’t want to try to explain things to him that she didn’t understand herself.

Tucking her hands in the front pockets of her fatigue pants, she leaned forward to study the gems. The overwhelming color here was green—peridot, tourmaline, moldavite, and others she couldn’t identify off the top of her head.

What were the properties associated with these specific crystals? She could only remember bits and pieces about a few stones, notably the ones she’d looked up over and over the past eleven months, but nothing on these.

There were other colors besides the green, of course—a touch of blue, a scattering of pink kunzite and a bit of orange—but some instinct told her those weren’t the key to this pattern.

As she stared, the throbbing began in her hand again, but this time, it seemed to be matched by a pulse in the stones. There was a rhythm that caught her attention, but it was so quick, Kendall was unable to read every shift. After a pause, it repeated and she tried to memorize it. Again and again, it ran through a cycle, until the sequence almost started to make sense.

“Bug, we need to go.”

Kendall groaned, but didn’t argue. She peered over her shoulder, but he didn’t seem to have noticed anything about the gems. No way could she tell him what had happened; it would only concern him.

Pulling her hands out of her pockets, she rubbed her tingly palm over the hip of her pants. The soft abrasion of fabric against skin calmed her. The pulsing gems weren’t a trick of her mind; she had to trust that. Besides, there was plenty of oxygen now and no reason to believe she’d suffered any brain damage earlier.

Before she turned to rejoin Wyatt, Kendall took one last glance at the mosaic, but the stones were quiet. When she reached him, she stopped to stare—and wondered if she knew him as well as she thought. Maybe it was nothing more than the stubble on his chin, but Wyatt appeared dangerous.

He didn’t move; neither did she. Kendall was aware of the way his T-shirt pulled taut across his shoulders, the intensity in his navy eyes, and the fall of dark hair over his forehead. Another pulse went through her, but this one had nothing to do with gemstones and everything to do with desire. Before she could stop herself, she reached up and pushed his hair off his face. Something flared in his gaze, and she hurriedly withdrew. Kendall grabbed her bag, wanting to get out of here before Wyatt started asking questions, or she did something else stupid.

“I can carry that,” he offered. “It’s probably getting heavy for you after all this time.”

“No, I’m okay. Besides, if we run into the other stooges, you need the freedom to fight them. I know who’s got the better chance to win.” With an overly bright smile, Kendall started to pivot, but Wyatt caught her arm.

“I’ve told you not to underestimate them.” She opened her mouth to insist she wasn’t doing that, but he cut her off. “No, I don’t want to hear it. I don’t care how big an idiot you think George is, this group has been successful for a while, and every time I hear you call them stooges with that derisive note in your voice, you scare the heck out of me. Maybe George is a fool—you know him better than I do—but if so, he’s surrounded himself with people intelligent enough to get the job done.”

The heat in his voice stopped her for a minute. “I’m sorry,” Kendall said at last. “I do know how serious our situation is, and honestly, I’m not taking any of this lightly. If you’re hearing derision when I talk about them, it’s because they’re thieves and I loathe that they’re looting the Old City.”

Wyatt’s jaw went tight, and Kendall realized he still didn’t quite believe her. She shrugged and changed the subject. “Do you think they came back and got the body of the thief or did they leave him there?”

Kendall had never seen anything like that impaled body, and she never wanted to see anything like it again. Although she’d been doing her best to repress her memories, they continually flooded back.

“I think they left him,” he said after a brief pause. Some of the tension had eased out of Wyatt, and he sounded resigned.

“But he was one of them.”

He put his hands on her shoulders and leaned forward. Kendall found herself mesmerized. Wyatt had the sexiest eyes; why hadn’t she noticed that before?

“You’re too tenderhearted, and that’s a good thing,” he added, as if he expected her to be insulted by the remark. Then, before she was ready, he released her and stepped away. Nodding toward the doorway, he said, “Let’s go.”

As they headed cautiously down the passageway, Kendall did some thinking.
Was
she taking this lightly because Dr. George was running the show?

Wyatt slowed as they hit a fork in the hallway—the temple was riddled with them—and this one branched out in four different directions. “Well, darlin’,” he asked with a subtle drawl, “which do you favor?”

“Since we don’t know where we are and have no idea how to get out of here, one corridor is as good another.”

He settled his hand on her nape and lightly squeezed. “You pick. Close your eyes and tell me which way feels right to you.”

“What?” While she’d mentioned certain New Age ideas, she’d never let Wyatt know the depth of her belief. His suggestion led her to think, though, that she’d revealed more than she realized. “You heard me.” He changed position until her back was against his chest and his hands rested on her hips. “Close your eyes,” he said soothingly. “Come on, Kendall.”

She decided to just do it. Obviously, it was too late to hide her unconventional life philosophy. After shutting her eyes she took a few deep breaths, but it didn’t calm her, not with Wyatt’s muscular chest and arms surrounding her.

“Think of water,” he murmured softly against her left ear. The gentle puff of warm air as he spoke sent a shiver through her, but it was his voice that made the muscles of her inner thighs clench. “Which way would you go to find water?”

Kendall was too steeped in Wyatt to even have a clue which direction to choose. But she didn’t want him to know that. The left side just seemed better, so she raised her arm to point, shifting it until she felt comfortable.

Now that she’d picked, she should open her eyes, and step away from him—but she didn’t want to. Involuntarily, Kendall leaned into him and deepened their embrace. He shifted, fitting her more snugly against him. His groin pressed into her bottom, and she felt Wyatt start to get hard. And still Kendall didn’t break free.

She knew this was stupid, that she was jeopardizing their friendship. She didn’t care. Not right now. Later, she’d torment herself about the repercussions.