Page 78 of The Lost Guardian

Santiago jerked back. He hadn’t meant to say that part out loud. And thinking about Trish always made him feel inadequate somehow.

“My ex,” he answered quickly, looking away.

“So, what happened?” Ali asked.

Oh God, were they going there?

“She thought that I was too boring,” he said in a rush, as if saying the words faster would make them sting less. “That I talk too much, which I know I do.”

Santi’s cheeks burned as he went on. “I mean, I can ramble, I’m not unaware. Especially when I’m excited about an artifact or piece of history. She got bored with it. She got bored with me. So, she finally left me for someone who was more exciting.”

“I meant what happened with the hiking…” Ali clarified. “You said you really liked it at first.”

Peru was known for its earthquakes, right? Maybe they would have one right now and the ground would swallow him up.

“Oh,” he said, avoiding Ali’s eyes. “Well, um, Trish liked stopping for pictures in scenic spots more than the hiking itself. She spent most of the trail time complaining about the routes or music or snacks I chose. So it wasn’t that fun in the end.”

“I guess hiking through the Peruvian Andes with your grandfather’s ashes in order to stop an ancient curse from killing a bunch of people isn’t exactly what you’d call fun, either.” Ali patted his knee.

Santiago looked at her fingers resting on his skin, then up to the wild strands of hair tickling her freckles.

“It’s not so bad,” he admitted softly, and found he meant it.

“Well, you’re doing great,” she assured him. “We’re doing great. Better than that! You’ve figured out the clue. That’s amazing. You’re amazing.”

Santiago glanced at her, her words knocking the wind out of him. Before he could even think of coming up with a response, Ali looked away, clearing her throat.

“Come on,” she said, standing and gathering her gear. “We should keep moving.”

The break must have really worked, because for some reason, it was a lot easier for Santiago to keep up after that.

24

Santiago half dangled over a cluster of five fat cacti.

Moments earlier, Ali had grabbed the top loop of his pack and yanked him backward, saving Santi from an impromptu acupuncture session.

His eyes scanned the succulents’ crescent formation, too excited to dwell on his near-impalement. Then he found his footing and pointed toward the ground. “It’s the formation we saw on the sacrificial stone!”

“Yeah, you were about to show it to me with your face.” Ali threw her arms out wide.

“Oh.” He turned, sheepish. “Thanks for pulling me back.”

Ali only shook her head.

“And for all the other times you’ve saved me.”

She tsked at him but smiled. “Cacti. Why didn’t we think of that?”

“The moon guess was good,” he said. “The Inca were all about astronomy.”

“I’m just glad we recognized it,” Ali said. “It means we’re headed in the right direction, and we know where to go next.”

“I know I saw it, that we both saw it with our own eyes,” Santiago said. “But it’s still hard to believe that I bled on a sacrificial stone and that it somehow drew us a map forward.”

“And yet here’s the proof of it,” Ali answered, motioning to the cactus formation. “It’s what was carved into the stone, and we were led right to it.”

“People went to a lot of trouble to create this, but also to keep it hidden.”