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“Should I be jealous?” Ali asked from across the table. Her voice was teasing, and she looked at him with nothing but warmth.
“Maybe,” Santiago said in between bites. He already saw a future with his second plate. “I think I’m in love.”
“Told you. Best ceviche in Lima.” Ali puffed her chest, eating some of her own.
They had made it back to the capital city after a few much-needed days of rest in Cajamarca. Santiago visited the Baños del Inca, though he would always prefer the natural hot springs he and Ali had found during their travels, and had been able to call his work, his mother, and finally Brooke. She was not happy with him in the slightest.
After an abbreviated explanation, she had only huffed and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like “booty blind.”
Santiago chose to ignore it.
Because he knew she was happy for him.
José was fascinated by the riddles Santiago had had to decipher in the temple, and he and Santiago spent a lot of time writing out and better illustrating parts of the journey, using Santiago’s trusty notebook as the foundation.
The professor had already invited Santiago to accompany him on an expedition the following year, promising that his university would reach out directly to Santiago’s museum to propose the collaboration. Santiago was sure that Dr. Silva wouldn’t turn down the venture—especially not tied to Professor José Fernandez. She had been quick in agreeing to extend Santiago’s leave of absence when he told her that he had been working with the professor in Peru.
José had not only been helpful in elevating Santiago’s professional reputation. The last act of the Espadas de los Guardianes had been to make sure that Ali’s sister, Naya, was safe from Torres’s men. It turned out not to be as difficult as they imagined—when his people stopped hearing from Torres, they disbanded fairly quickly. It seemed that their loyalty to the man ended when their paychecks did.
He wasn’t sure of the Huáscaros proper. But it wasn’t any of his business, either.
They had met Naya earlier that day.
“So…I was bait?”
Ali winced. “More like…blackmail?”
Naya considered for a moment, then shrugged. “Well, I’m fine, so I guess it worked out.”
Ali gaped at her sister, who seemed utterly unbothered by the revelation. But Naya’s eyes had already drifted past her to land squarely on Santiago. A slow, mischievous smile spread across her face.
“Who’s this?”
Ali opened her mouth.
“Santiago,” he supplied, offering a hand.
Naya ignored it for a moment, studying him instead. “You’re the archaeologist Ali talked about when she called me.”
“Guilty.”
“The one who can turn any conversation into a history lesson?”
Santiago glanced sideways at Ali, whose eyes widened in horror. He wasn’t bothered. He knew now that she enjoyed that about him.
“I didn’t say that…exactly,” Ali argued.
“Well?” Naya prodded.
“Guilty again, I’m afraid,” Santiago admitted, but he was smiling. “What else did she say about me?”
“Don’t you dare!” She glared at her sister.
“That you talk a lot.”
“Frequently.”
“And you befriend wild animals.”
