Page 84 of The Lost Guardian

“This is amazing!” he mumbled around his full mouth. “Thank you.”

“It’s just camp fare,” she said evenly, sipping her soup. “No big deal.”

“It’s delicious camp fare,” Santiago corrected, and watched her hide a smile behind her spoon. “Better than anything I’ve made.”

Santiago ladled another serving into Ali’s quickly diminishing bowl, then flipped the remaining piece of corn over to finish cooking. “Seriously, Ali.” He gestured around at their camp. “This is amazing. Thank you.”

Santiago thought he saw Ali blush but decided it must have been the flickering of firelight over her cheeks.

They sat in companionable silence for a while, the only noise the crackling of the firewood and their quiet chewing. After a while, they both placed their bowls and cutlery on the ground.

“So,” Ali started tentatively. “Any luck?”

The good mood brought on by their warm meal evaporated. Santiago sat forward with a sigh, resting his head on his hands.

“That bad, huh?”

“It’s just, I don’t—” He flailed, a lump forming in his throat. Just when he’d started to feel useful. “I don’t even know where to start. Without knowing who lived here, I can’t be sure what the symbols meant to them. What looks like a spider to me could be a wind god to them for all I know.”

Ali nodded. “Maybe if we talk it through?”

Santiago smiled softly, closing his eyes. “I guess I’m just beginning to doubt myself. Was this done by the Guardianes? Would they even know how to use a language so different from theirs? On the one hand, the Inca adopted a lot of practices. Every time they conquered a region, they incorporated pieces of the local culture into their own. Like the Ventanillas de Otuzco, not far from Cajamarca. Those are pre-Incan burial traditions, but when the Inca conquered the region, they allowed them to keep their funerary traditions. Even tribal members who traveled farther south were allowed to be laid to rest in whatever way they wanted.

“They realized it was easier to keep a hold of their regions if the people they conquered felt like the empire was assimilating to them, too. But this—”

He stopped, embarrassment heating his skin more than the campfire.

“I’m sorry,” he said, gathering up her bowl and his to rinse off outside the cave. “You were asking about the clue. I didn’t mean to bore you with the history.”

“Hey,” Ali said, but Santiago kept moving. “Rios,” she said more forcefully, following him. She placed a hand on his shoulder. He kept his gaze on the fingers resting on his jacket rather than meeting her eyes.

“None of that was boring to me,” she said.

It’s kind of her to lie, he thought. It must have shown on his face.

“I’m serious. The fact that you know all this is incredible. I like that I learn things just being around you.”

That made him look at her, his brows pulling together in confusion.

She liked it?

“I’m serious. I haven’t known you for long, Rios, but it’s clear to anyone that your confidence doesn’t match your capabilities. You’re smart, you’re knowledgeable, you hiked all the way up here despite the soroche. It’s awesome. I mean, look at where we are.”

She threw out her hands for emphasis. Santiago already missed her touch. “This is a full-on, one hundred percent badass adventure, and we’re on it because of you. Because you’ve been able to lead us here.”

Santiago wanted to disagree—they were here because of her. Because she had saved his life, forced him to step up when he wanted to cower. Ali was clever and capable and so full of courage, and Santiago admired her far more than he should. If he opened his mouth, he might say so.

So he stayed silent, savoring the tiny, effervescent bubbles of pleasure that her praise ignited over his skin.

“You’re not boring,” Ali said.

Oh no. A lump formed in the back of his throat, and he cleared it as discreetly as he could. He didn’t want her to know how much those words affected him.

He’d grown accustomed to the glazed-over look in people’s eyes when he talked for too long. The way they surreptitiously checked their phones and watches. Ali had never done that. She joined the conversation with him.

Then an uncomfortable awareness tingled across the back of his neck. She was probably only saying these things to keep him happy. Just like at the museum.

“The sun is setting fast.” He stood up straighter. “We’re going to lose the light.”