Chapter Twenty-Six #3
“Oof, that is a pickle.” His brows pinched.
“I mean, Daisy is fun and good at finding things, plus she knows the history of the Maya well. And your mom, well, her knowledge and help will be great, and she can work at proving her theories now so you can start focusing on advancing your own career. But Marianne being inside of Fernel for however long this lasts makes things even messier than when she was a ghost who could channel through Daisy to be near your dad.”
Angélica groaned at the even more bizarre love triangle they now had.
“We need to get used to calling Marianne ‘Fernel’ around Juan,” Quint said.
“Right, and be careful of our pronouns. I don’t know if Dad knowing about all of this would be good or bad.”
He rubbed his jaw. “There might come a time in the future that we should let Juan decide if it’s good or bad. If I were him and I had lost you, but I had a chance to sort of have you back, I’d take it in a heartbeat.”
She chewed on her lower lip. “Let’s see how things go for a bit.
Dad believed me when I told him we were closing the dig site for the time being due to a lack of finding enough to keep spending time and money on it, which was partly true.
Someday, maybe I’ll tell him the rest of the story behind us hightailing it out of there. ”
“What about Pedro?” he asked. “Are you going to tell him the truth about Marianne?”
“I don’t know. He’s still pretty flabbergasted about the huge bats, same as Bronko, but both of them agreed to keep that part of the tale of finding Fernel under wraps.”
“You told Pedro the screeching he heard back in the tunnel was just another bat, right?”
She nodded. “But I’m not sure he believed it, especially after I explained to him why Daisy called you ‘Kimi’ that day at the wall, and you had asked if it was Mom channeling through her.
Plus, I caught him staring at Mom—I mean Fernel—several times while we were packing up camp.
Once, when I asked him what he was thinking, he said that Fernel reminded him of ‘someone’ because of a few traits that were new since the night at the bat-house. ”
“Like what?”
“Like the way Fernel started sitting with one leg bent under him while at supper and spun his spoon on the table after finishing. Both were things my mom did repeatedly.”
“Did Pedro say who Fernel reminded him of?”
She shook her head. “And I didn’t press him.
” She finished her coffee, chewing on a small ice cube.
“Teodoro figured it out, though, before I had a chance to corner him and explain anything. I assumed he knew due to being a shaman and the ancient spirits whispering in his ear, or something along those lines. But he said he knew for sure as soon as Mom asked if María would make some xocolatl with extra cinnamon.”
“The chocolate drink she’d made for us before?”
“Yep. That was one of Mom’s favorite desserts, specifically with the extra cinnamon. Plus, Mom screwed up and said, ‘Que suenes con los angelitos, Teo,’ before she went to bed her first night at the camp as Fernel.”
“Which means ‘Sleep with the angels’?”
“Close. It’s ‘Dream with the angels.’ That was something my mom would say to him each night while on a dig.”
Quint shook his head. “Your mom is going to have to be careful.”
“Especially in public restrooms.” Angélica cringed. “She gave me a thorough explanation one night at camp of how nice it is to pee standing up, and then she went on about how it feels to have the sensation of male genitalia at her fingertips.”
Quint started laughing.
“But when she started talking about already being very familiar with the male anatomy thanks to her time fiddling with my father’s bits during their marriage, I literally ran away.”
Quint laughed harder, covering his face.
“It’s not funny, Parker.”
“It very much is.”
She shook her head, staring at his ring as he wiped a tear of laughter from his eye. “You really think that ring your aunt sent is a lucky charm?”
He stared down at it. “Your mom swears it’s what saved my ass when I fell through the floor in the bat-house, and that it kept me from getting scratched or cut before KuTu sliced me with the dagger.
She believes that had I bled before then, Camazotz would have showed up and things might not have gone so well for me and you and the others. ”
Angélica didn’t know what to think about the ring, but maybe her mom was right. It was odd that Quint kept managing not to get hurt, especially going through the floor like that. “How did your aunt know you’d need it?”
He shrugged. “Like I told you before, Aunt Zoe has always had me and my sister wearing charms for protection or luck. She often seems to know what we need to keep safe before push comes to shove. That’s why I gave you that protection charm she made to wear along with your mom’s locket.”
Did the charm she’d been wearing have anything to do with why Camazotz hadn’t bothered with her in the bat-house that night? She had no doubt the death-bat could have taken her life as easily as Fernel’s.
She set down her empty glass. “I’d like to meet your aunt and the rest of your family, especially your sister who also wears these protection charms.”
“You will, along with Violet’s twins. Layne and Addy are hilarious. They keep my sister hopping. Have I mentioned they have a pet chicken named ‘Elvis’?”
Angélica grinned. “Elvis the chicken? You’re kidding.”
“Says the woman with a pet javelina she calls ‘Rover.’ ”
“Touché. You think they’ll hate me for keeping you down here in Mexico because of my job?”
“You aren’t keeping me here, Angélica. I’m staying because I want to be wherever you are. They’ll understand that. And with time, we’ll figure out how to meet in the middle on the career front or whatever else this damned jungle throws at us.”
She smiled clear from her heart, falling more in love with him by the minute.
Quint stared back at her for several seconds, then he held out his hand. “Come here.”
She took his hand, letting him tug her over onto his lounge chair. He fit her between his legs, settling her back against his chest, and pushed her coverup off one shoulder.
“What are we doing?” She ran her fingers over his thighs.
“Watching the sunrise together.”
She lifted his arms and wrapped them around her, sighing contentedly as the sun started to crest the horizon. “So, where are we going next, demon?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that, boss lady?”
“It’s your turn to choose.”
He brushed his lips over her bare shoulder, lighting a fire under her skin. “Well, if that’s how it is, then I choose we go back to bed. I have some big plans in mind to show you how crazy I am for you.”
She chuckled. “And sleep until noon?”
“Who said anything about sleeping? That single cot got pretty lonely on those hot, miserable nights. The way I see it, you have a lot of making up to do to me since you chose that place over a nice, relaxing vacation.”
“I’m on it. What are we doing after we leave our bed?”
“The shower always makes for a good encore.”
She giggled. “I mean where to after you’re done having your wicked way with me?”
“But I’ll never be done doing that.”
She turned in his arms, no longer interested in the sunrise. She’d catch the next one tomorrow. For now, Quint was what she wanted to stare at dreamily. “Will we go to another Maya site? Or should we take a trip somewhere far away from here, just the two of us?”
He leaned down and kissed her instead of answering, tasting sweet on her tongue, like the coffee and so much more. He took his time, making a fine mess of her ability to focus on anything but him and his lips.
“Say it again,” he whispered between kisses.
She rubbed against him, her body tingling in all the right places. She was more than ready to go along with his plan to return to bed where they could lock out the world. “Say what?”
“What you said in the bat-house.” His mouth slid along her cheek, his hot breath tickling her ear. “That you think you’re in love with me.”
She closed her eyes as one of his hands slid southward, sneaking under her coverup. “There is no ‘thinking’ about it, Parker. I know I’m in love with you.”
He growled happily in his chest and kissed his way down the side of her neck. “How about we see where the wind blows us next?”
“Mmmm. Sounds good to me.” She shifted, pulling him even closer. “As long as we’re together.”
El Fin … for now