Wolf Queen Ruin (Shadow Fang #1)

Chapter 1

Chapter one

Luna

While I dangled upside down thirty feet above an ancient stone floor, suspended by a reinforced cable that felt entirely too flimsy for my peace of mind, I realized that I really should have peed first.

Below me, an intricate mosaic depicted some ancient goddess with way too many arms and not enough mercy in her expression. As I slowly lowered farther, the gems embedded in the pattern winked at me in the beam of my headlamp.

“Oh no,” I muttered. “I think my bladder’s going to explode.”

Jade snorted in my earpiece. “You didn’t go before? Rookie mistake.”

I adjusted my harness, feeling the blood rushing to my head. “I’m just saying, you’d think I’d learn to stop tempting fate with a full bladder. But here I am, dangling like a pinata in a death temple about to explode. Some life choices might need revisiting.”

Jade hissed. “At least you’re not squeezing through a tunnel with needle-sharp rocks sloughing off all your skin.”

“Yikes. You okay?” As I continued to make my descent, I unclipped the specialized tools from my belt.

“Sure,” Jade groaned. “Who really needs skin anyway?”

“Just think of it as a nice sugar scrub you got at a fancy spa.”

“Do sugar scrubs normally have bird shit all over them?”

“Touche. Okay, I’m going in to get the thing. Wish me luck?”

“Like you need it, Ghost. If you see any extra skin down there, get it for me.”

“Gross. No way.”

She laughed in that slightly whistly way of hers that always made me smile.

I concentrated on the artifact below me. The Temple of Sakhatra held many treasures, but only one would fetch the price I needed: the Blood Ruby. Smaller than my fist, it sat nestled in the stone goddess’s palm like a drop of crystallized sunset.

According to my research, touching the floor would trigger a series of nasty surprises involving poisoned darts, collapsing ceilings, and if the legends weren’t exaggerating, some kind of ancient fire trap that would turn the oxygen in the chamber into a brief but spectacular fireball.

Hence, the dangling. The Ghost didn’t trip alarms.

Usually.

I sucked in a breath, trying to ignore the musty scent of decay and the faint metallic tang that always lingered in places with old magic.

“Just between us, I’m thinking of charging Theo extra for this one,” I said. “Upside-down extraction definitely deserves a danger bonus. So does a skinless Jade.”

“Agreed. Hey, I’m turning myself off for a second to conserve my earpiece battery. Stay alive, okay?”

“Yeah. You too.”

I lowered myself two more feet, checking the tension on my line. Just as I extended my specialized extraction tool toward the ruby, my earpiece crackled with a gruff voice.

“Ghost, status update?”

Theo. My boss.

I nearly dropped my tool, my heart rattling against my ribs. “Sweet merciful goddess, Theo! A little warning next time? I’m in the middle of something delicate here.”

“You’ve been in there forty-three minutes. Extraction window’s closing.”

“I’m looking at the prize right now. Two minutes. Maybe three if I decide to admire the view.”

“Make it one. And Ghost? Your new partner’s waiting at the extraction point.”

The cable swayed as I jerked in surprise. “My what now?”

But Theo had already disconnected, leaving me swinging in the temple’s still air, cursing under my breath in three languages.

New partner? Since when did I need a partner? The whole point of being “The Ghost” was working alone. No team, no liabilities, no one else to worry about.

Except Jade, on the other side of the world.

I clenched my jaw. This conversation with Theo wasn’t over by a long shot.

Focus, Luna. Argue later. Steal shiny treasure now.

I refocused on the ruby, pushing away the irritation bubbling in my chest. The extraction tool extended to its full length, allowing me to slide a specially designed silicon cup over the gem.

The cup conformed to the ruby’s shape, creating an airtight seal before deploying a network of hair-thin needles that slid between the gem and its current location.

“Easy does it,” I whispered, activating the tool’s vibration function.

The ruby loosened almost imperceptibly.

That’s when I noticed the hairline cracks spreading across the goddess’s palm.

“Oh, come on. Seriously?” I groaned.

I had approximately three seconds before the entire hand crumbled and triggered whatever unpleasantness awaited. Abandoning finesse, I gave the tool a sharp twist and yanked.

The ruby came free just as the stone hand disintegrated. A low rumble echoed through the chamber as ancient gears ground against each other somewhere in the walls. The temple was waking up, and it wasn’t happy about my jewelry-shopping spree.

“Time to go, time to go, time to go,” I chanted, securing the ruby in my padded pouch and hitting the retraction button on my harness.

The cable zipped upward, yanking me toward the narrow opening in the temple ceiling. Below me, the first wave of darts hissed through the air, embedding themselves in the opposite wall with alarming force.

And how could I forget the boulders hailing down from above?

I twisted mid-ascent, narrowly avoiding a falling stone block that would have turned me into purée.

“Not today, ancient death trap,” I muttered, contorting my body to avoid another volley of projectiles and falling missiles.

Thirty seconds later, I hauled myself onto the temple’s exterior roof, breathing hard but grinning despite myself. The ruby’s weight against my hip felt like victory. No fire had erupted from the temple, at least not yet, but if it did, I didn’t want to be anywhere near it.

I clambered down the outside of the temple, and my earpiece crackled.

“Did you pee yet?” Jade asked.

“No, but I did get in and out with minimal property damage.” When I hit solid ground, I disconnected my cable and tucked it away, then I patted the pouch containing the ruby. “This little beauty should buy us some more time.”

“Thanks, Luna.”

I could hear the smile in her voice, which warmed my heart.

“Of course. Hey, do you know anything about a new partner? Theo said I have one.”

“Ew.”

“I know. I’ll talk to you in a bit when I figure out what kind of nonsense is going on.”

“Just tell Theo you’re allergic.”

My stomach clenched because she wasn’t wrong. “Yeah… Talk later.”

I hit the off button on my earpiece and surveyed the view.

The Japanese forest spread out around the temple, a sea of vibrant green under the midday sun.

Birds called to each other overhead, and the sweet-rot smell of vegetation hung heavily in the humid air.

My extraction point was northeast, about a quarter-mile trek.

And apparently, I had company waiting there.

My bladder would have to wait. My curiosity was sufficiently piqued.

I secured my gear and headed toward the rendezvous, moving with the silent efficiency that had earned me my nickname.

As I traveled, my mind cycled through possibilities, each less appealing than the last. Theo knew I worked alone, had respected that boundary since I’d made it clear that group expeditions were off the table.

So who was this “partner,” and why now? More importantly, would they get in my way? I didn’t have time for hand-holding or, worse, managing some thrill-seeking amateur with money and connections.

By the time I reached the small clearing where the helicopter was meant to meet me, my irritation had crystallized into a hard knot beneath my ribs.

The clearing appeared empty at first glance, but as I approached, I noticed a figure—a man—kneeling beside a small flowering plant at the edge, examining it with an intensity that seemed almost reverent.

Even from behind, everything about him screamed money and privilege. The tailored expedition gear that had clearly never seen an actual expedition. The too-perfect posture. The air of someone accustomed to being in charge rather than scraping by on wits and skill and bull-headedness.

Great. A trust-fund tomb raider. Just what my day needed.

How did he get here anyway? We were in the middle of a forest.

I stepped on a twig as I approached, not wanting to sneak up on and startle someone who might be jumpy and might be armed. “You my new babysitting assignment?”

“Nilgiri kurinji,“ he said without turning. “It blooms once every twelve years. This particular specimen shouldn’t be here. Its native range is over three thousand miles away in Southern India.”

He turned, rising to his full height with a grace that set off warning bells in the primal part of my brain that recognized predators.

The man was gorgeous in that infuriating, symmetrical way that usually indicated someone was about to make your life difficult. Raven-black curls that fell to his shoulders, sharp cheekbones, and eyes so intensely blue they seemed almost luminous against his unnaturally pale skin.

But it was the cold assessment in those eyes that really registered, like I was a specimen under glass rather than an actual person.

“Yet here it grows,” he continued, gesturing to the plant, “thriving where it has no business being, having adapted to survive against impossible odds. Rather like yourself, Ms. Rookwood.”

I kept my expression neutral. “Uh-huh…”

“Damien Cross.” He inclined his head before his gaze dropped to the pouch at my hip. “You were successful, I take it?”

“Always am.” I patted the pouch containing the ruby protectively. “Welp, Mr. Cross, I don’t know what Theo told you, but I work alone. It’s kind of my whole brand. The Ghost, not The Ghost and the Indiana Jones wannabe.”

The corner of his mouth quirked. “I’ve made arrangements with your employer that I believe will interest you.”

“I doubt that.” I crossed my arms. “I’m not really in the market for a partner, especially one who looks like he stepped out of GQ instead of actual fieldwork.”

The distant sound of helicopter blades thudded through the air.

“Right on time.” Cross consulted his watch and gestured to the ruby pouch. “Perhaps you could verify that artifact’s condition while we wait?”

The casual command in his tone grated against my already frayed nerves. Who did this guy think he was?

My guard instantly went up. “I’m not showing you shit. Explain why you’re here and who you are. Or we can stand here exchanging thinly veiled hostilities until the helicopter arrives. I’m flexible.”

This time, the twitch of his lips might have been a genuine smile, though it vanished so quickly I couldn’t be sure.

“Fair enough.” He stepped closer so I’d hear him over the approaching helicopter. “I’m interested in acquiring a certain specialized artifact. An item with properties beyond the ordinary. Your reputation as an extractor of difficult-to-obtain items preceded you.”

“So you’re a middleman.”

“I prefer ‘specialist.’”

“And I prefer rocky road ice cream to mint chocolate chip, but that doesn’t make it relevant to this conversation, so get to the point.” I narrowed my eyes. “What kind of ‘specialized’ artifact are we talking about?”

His gaze softened slightly. “The kind that might help with conditions modern medicine can’t address. Magical ailments, for instance.”

My heart stuttered, but I kept my face blank. He was fishing, and I wasn’t about to bite without knowing where the hook led.

The growing thrum of helicopter blades saved me from having to respond. As the sound grew louder, Cross stepped closer, his expression shifting to something more serious.

“Ms. Rookwood, I’m prepared to offer you an exclusive contract for a job that would pay more than your current assignment. Enough to cover your expenses for at least a year, possibly more.”

“What makes you think I have expenses?”

Not my most thought-out question ever. Everyone who’d ever lived had expenses, but mine were high. Extraordinarily high.

His gaze was steady, those too-blue eyes seeming to look straight through my practiced nonchalance. “I think you know which expenses I’m talking about.”

Ice slid down my spine, settling in a cold knot at the base. How did he know? That wasn’t information I shared with anyone, and Theo knew better than to open his big fat mouth.

The helicopter appeared above the tree line, drowning out any response I might have made. As it descended, whipping the clearing into a frenzy of dust and leaves, Cross leaned close enough that I could smell the subtle, expensive scent of his spicy cologne and cold mountain air.

“Think about it, Ms. Rookwood. One job. The resources you need. No more scrambling for whatever scraps Theo throws your way.”

The helicopter touched down, its side door sliding open to reveal Theo’s assistant, a nervous dude who probably should have chosen a less stressful career path.

I should tell Cross to go to hell. Should hand over the ruby to Theo, collect my payment, and never see Cross again. That would be the smart play. Every instinct honed by years of navigating deadly traps told me to run, not walk, in the opposite direction.

But then I thought about the latest update back home—that we might be running out of time.

As we walked to the helicopter, I made a decision I hoped wouldn’t be my latest in a long series of mistakes.

“One hour,” I said, loud enough to be heard over the rotors. “You get one hour to make your pitch. If I’m not impressed, I walk.”

Cross nodded once and gestured for me to board first.

I shook my head. “First, I pee.”

He grimaced. “Thanks for the info.”

I turned my back on him to look for privacy sans poison ivy or a wild animal who might bite my ass.

Whatever game he was playing, I was about to find out the rules. And if there was one thing that my years of tomb raiding had taught me, it was that games with mysterious, too-handsome strangers rarely ended well for anyone involved.

Especially when they knew more about you than they should.

And especially when they might be your only hope.