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Her gaze strayed to his stomach again, and her palms burned. She had never been this attracted to a man in her life. Why in hell did it have to be him?
“My mother was brilliant,” he continued.
“Like you.”
He actually blushed. It should have made him appear feminine; instead it only made her chest ache. He was such an appealing combination of confidence and self-doubt.
“She was eons more brilliant than me,” he said. “And she was beautiful.”
Like you, her mind whispered, but thankfully her mouth did not.
“She was funny and articulate and brave.”
Hmm, Gina thought. One word just kept coming up over and over in this recitation of Mama Mecate’s attributes.
“Was,” Gina murmured, and he glanced up, eyes suddenly wary. “What happened?”
He remained silent for so long, she didn’t think he was going to answer, and that was probably for the best. Hearing about his mother, that he had a mother, made him too human, too real, too easy to like. Seeing the shadows in his eyes that reminded her far too much of her own was going to make it really hard to keep hating him.
And she needed to hate him. Hating Teo Mecate was the only way she was going to be able to survive Teo Mecate.
“My mother had some odd beliefs about the Aztecs.”
“What kind of beliefs?”
He hesitated, making her think that he was hiding something. But why would he hide anything about his mother’s academic theories? Maybe he just didn’t want to talk about her. Gina, of all people, could understand that.
“She believed the Aztecs marched into the Southwest and attempted to conquer one of the tribes there.”
“From what I remember of the Aztecs,” Gina said, “they tried to conquer tribes ev
erywhere.”
“True. Their main occupation was war. Everything in their lives supported that. Food was raised to feed the soldiers. Priests prayed to the gods to smile favorably on the soldiers. Boys were raised to be soldiers. Girls were raised to give birth to soldiers.”
“Why?” At his confused expression she elaborated: “Because they were easily bored? Or because they were a society of psychopaths who really liked killing?”
“Ah.” He nodded. “The Aztecs believed that the only way to make the sun rise was to appease it with a sacrifice.”
“A soldier’s death appeased the sun?”
“No. Dying in war assured them of Tonatiuichan. The sun heaven reserved for those who died in battle. A true sacrifice had to be done by the priests in a certain way. They usually cut open the chest and tore out the heart with their bare hands.”
“Not a common priestly activity.”
“It was for them.”
“Let me guess,” Gina said. “Instead of sacrificing Aztecs, which would have eventually made them damn short on Aztecs, they went out and nabbed some captives.”
“Hence their constant state of war.”
“Which led them to venture farther and farther afield to round up more captives.”
Teo cast her a quick glance. “Correct.”
Gina’s chest got a little tight and warm, like someone she admired had just patted her on the head. Because that happened a lot.
Maybe she would have done all right in college. Not that she cared. Not that she needed college. She was doing fine without it.
