Chapter 9 #3
He nodded, and started pushing at the rubble to make an opening wide enough for them to fit through. She helped.
But after they’d moved several chunks of debris, they found a solid-metal door blocking their way. “Damn,” he muttered. “Security door.”
“Maybe it kept looters out.”
“But now it’s keeping us out. We’ll have to ask Avril for that laser cutter.”
Nera raised a brow. “Hardly.” She opened her backpack and pulled out what she wanted.
Niklas frowned at the small metal ball. “Ah…what is that? Not explosive, right? Because I don’t want to bring the entire place down on us…and living with Lala’s made me a bit twitchy.”
Nera shook her head. “Don’t worry, Phoenix. I’ll protect you.” She hit the button on the side of the ball. “This is called a shredder.” She pressed it to the door.
For a second, nothing happened. Then it started moving in a large circle, leaving a line behind in the metal.
He crouched to look at it. “It’s not a laser cutter. There’s no heat.”
“Nope. It’s Rendarian tech. It’s filled with a corrosive chemical that’s delivered to cut into metal. You can use it when a laser cutter or explosive is too dangerous to use.”
“Nice.”
The shredder finished with a beep. She pulled it off and packed it away. Then she gave the circle it had cut a kick. The piece of metal fell through to the other side with a dull clang.
She eyed his broad shoulders. “Will you be able to squeeze through there?”
“It’ll be tight, but I think I’ll make it.”
“I’ll go first.” She knelt and wiggled through the hole. Rough edges scraped against her light armor.
“Nice view from here,” he said.
“That’s sexual harassment, Phoenix,” she called back.
He laughed.
Boy, she loved the sound of that. She made it through the hole and stood. She froze. “Holy hell, Niklas. Get in here.”
She stood there, dumbfounded, while he grunted and cursed as he squeezed through the gap. Finally, he stood beside her. “Oh, my God.”
The room was intact.
The floor was wooden—no longer glossy, but still quite beautiful. Faint light filtered in through the barred windows. It looked like the windows were reinforced with something incredibly strong, because none of them were broken.
And ahead, lights still illuminating it, was the Sun Stone.
“Incredible,” Nera murmured.
“Mind-blowingly amazing.” He walked up to it and with his gloved hand, ran a finger over the deep carvings with a reverence that made her throat tighten.
She wanted that. She wanted him to look at her the same way he looked at that damn artifact. She pushed the dangerous thought away.
The engraving was fascinating, consisting of concentric rings of very intricate design. In the center was a face, no doubt some god, with his tongue out.
She wandered around the room and saw a large statue of some scary-looking goddess, a mural that still held most of its color, and some sort of elaborate feathered headdress.
Many still had lights illuminating them, so she guessed some nuclear power system was still running somewhere.
Almost giddy, but of course hiding her reaction, she spun.
“What do you think of this, Dr. Phoenix?”
He strode over. “The mural depicts scenes of everyday life. I think it’s Mayan. God, it’s beautiful. I’ve only ever seen images of things like this.” His gaze switched to the headdress and he froze. “The headdress and armband of Montezuma.”
Montezuma? The name rang a bell. “Aztec emperor, right?” She studied the headdress again.
The bright green feathers were striking and obviously treated with something to preserve them.
The base consisted of gold and colored stones.
She wouldn’t be caught dead wearing something like this.
She also noted the gold armband beside it.
“Yes,” Niklas answered. “Under his rule, the empire reached its largest size, and first contact with Europeans occurred during his reign, too.” Niklas raised his brows. “Needless to say, Montezuma didn’t survive that encounter.”
“Then he wasn’t smart enough to retreat, for the sake of his people, against a superior force.”
Niklas stared at her, his gaze narrowing. She guessed he understood her deeper meaning.
“Maybe.” With another sweeping glance, he took in all the artifacts. Then, with a wide grin, he grabbed Nera around the waist and yanked her close for a kiss.
It was supposed to be a celebratory moment.
Instead, the instant his mouth touched hers, it morphed into something else.
He groaned, his tongue sliding against hers.
She moaned, then jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist. He staggered two steps and pressed her back against something.
She thrust her hands into his hair, pulling his mouth closer, like she could merge the two of them.
Damn, he tasted so good. A taste she could drink in forever.
A growl echoed around them.
They both stiffened.
It hadn’t come from either of them.
In a second, he released her, and her feet slid to the floor.
She pulled her sword from the scabbard on her back, shook it to release the blade, and stepped in front of Niklas.