Page 56 of The Lost Guardian

As if she’d felt the weight of his gaze, Ali looked up.

Across a sea of whirling dancers, their eyes met.

When she caught him watching her, one dark brow arched. Her smile shifted then, settling into something softer, something more languid. He found himself drawn toward her, as if pulled by a force greater than him.

The music changed again into a slow and soothing tune. The old woman stopped, nudging him toward Ali, her hands stronger than he would have guessed. He kissed them both before following her obvious hint.

By the time he made it to Ali, the little girl was gone, swept away by the crowd. They didn’t speak as Santi gathered Ali into his arms once more.

He tucked his cheek against the side of her head, mostly to avoid meeting her eyes. He was a little afraid of what she might see in his gaze. But her fingers slipped behind his neck, brushing his hair. And as they moved together in time, all of his anxieties melted until his entire universe was made of honey and sugar.

It wasn’t until the final note rang out that Santiago noticed the night air had grown crisp and biting. A persistent wind had the sweat chilling on his flesh.

He watched as a small shiver worked its way through Ali’s frame.

“You’re cold,” he said, releasing her hands to peel off his long-sleeve flannel overshirt. The cool air hit him immediately, but he pretended he couldn’t feel it.

“I’m fine,” Ali said, but she didn’t protest as he draped the fabric over her shoulders.

Now that they had stopped dancing, a thin shroud of awareness settled over Santiago’s skin. They stood there together in the middle of a strange town, avoiding each other’s eyes.

“Do you want to—” Santiago started, unsure himself of where the sentence would end.

“We should probably call it a night,” Ali interrupted before he could find out. “We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

“Right, right, of course,” he answered, disappointed, but having no idea why.

Then Ali propped herself up on her tiptoes, giving him a quick and burning kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks for the dance, Rios,” she said before turning and making her way toward their rooms.

And suddenly, Santiago wasn’t cold anymore.

17

The festive mood of the night prior evaporated when Santiago woke the next morning and his grim reality crashed down on him once more.

He was the last member of a long line of Guardians whose mission it was to protect the lost tomb of the last Incan emperor. He needed to find the tomb and lay his grandfather to rest to honor his last wishes. He was being hunted by very bad men who wanted to find the tomb themselves for profit and gain—culture, history, human lives be damned. Oh, and he had to potentially stop a world-altering curse.

It was a lot.

And yet, Santiago was in Peru, the ancestral home of his people, which he had longed to visit since he was a child. He had gone to a party last night, drank a little too much—if his headache was any indication—and even danced with a pretty girl.

He smiled, remembering her catlike eyes meeting his on the dance floor. “Pretty” was an understatement.

Things could be worse. He shrugged, getting up to face whatever the new day had in store for him.

Santiago’s backpack was next to the bed, and he checked for the cylinder containing his grandfather’s ashes. Thankfully, it was safely tucked away in the main compartment. Santiago exhaled. Then he grabbed a fresh set of clothes and his toiletry bag and shuffled across the hall to find a bathroom.

An hour later, freshly showered, shaved, and changed, Santiago followed his nose downstairs. Ali sat in the kitchen, coffee mug in hand, while the same young woman from the night before set down a heaping plate of scrambled eggs on the table. She took one look at Santiago and said something to Ali in Quechua, too fast for him to understand. Then, with a grin and a wave, she was gone.

“What did she say?” Santiago asked, lowering himself to sitting.

“Good morning to you, too,” she answered. He shot her a sheepish smile.

“Sorry. Good morning,” he fumbled. “Um, hi.”

Ali laughed, sipping her coffee. “Breakfast?” She motioned to the food. “The people here are very accommodating.”