Fernando
Chills spread over her arms as she stared at his name on the paper and a million memories assaulted her. Even now, she could see him sitting outside the pyramid last summer as the sun set behind him. Grimy and sweaty with his hair matted and sticking up all over his head, he'd been happy and excited even though they'd been excavating for ten hours straight in the worst sort of heat. Flashing her that boyish grin of his, he'd popped open a lukewarm beer and handed it to her. "Despues del trabajo-cerveza!"
Tears welled in her eyes. That had been the worst-tasting beer she'd ever drank, but his company had made it seem perfect. Fernando had always been a good friend to her and she would miss him terribly.
Why did he have to die? He was too young. He'd had too many plans.
She clenched her teeth, forcing her tears down as she focused on what Fernando would want her to do. Work always came first. It was why he didn't have a wife or even a girlfriend.
Focus, Teri.... By the date and time on the package, he'd sent it to her the same day he'd boarded the plane to come home. No doubt it'd been too heavy for him to pack or carry, what with all the airline restrictions nowadays.
Not to mention, the stone was huge.
In more ways than one. If this really was fourteen thousand years old, and if that was Greek writing on it, it would entirely rewrite the historical record and change everything they thought they knew about the ancient world. Both here in the Americas and in Europe.
Fourteen thousand years predated any known script-writing system. Come to think of it, it might even predate ancient Greece....
She frowned at the thought. When was Greece founded? She had no idea. That wasn't her area of expertise. She'd never been all that fond of traditional history. That had been Fernando's scope of knowledge, and while she'd picked up a great deal of information on her digs with him, most of it was Mesoamerican and not European.
But even with her limitations, she knew this was epic to the extreme. One of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time ...
There is no such thing as a coincidence. The universe and spirits are always sending us omens and signs. You must learn to see and read them. Only then will you be able to control your destiny.
Her grandmother's words haunted her.
But what was this a sign of?
"Do you believe the world's going to end in two weeks?" Enrique asked, dragging her thoughts back to where she was.
"What?"
He jerked his chin toward the calendar in her hands. "You know, the Mayan thing? Isn't the world supposed to end any day now?"
At least that added a small twinge of humor to her sadness. She'd listened to Fernando rant and rave against that all summer long. It'd been his sore spot the way she couldn't stand how some people left their shopping buggies in the middle of the aisle so that no one could get past them. Rudeness always set her off.
"No, sweetie. There's absolutely nothing in the Mayan culture or writings to suggest the world will end this year. Like the Cherokee and other natives, they have a cyclical calendar system, and the fourth cycle ends on the 21st, but they never once wrote anything about it being apocalyptic."
Fernando would be so proud to know that she'd actually been listening to his tirades. That thought caused pain to lacerate her heart as she finished Fernando's diatribe in honor of him. "That was a distortion made back in the days when we could only read about thirty percent of the Mayan glyphs ... if that much. Then back in the nineties when everyone was terrified of Y2K, some scholars repeated the old misconception and cashed in on it. So don't start giving away your personal effects. You'll be needing them on the 22nd and whatever you do, don't forget to buy something for your mother and abuela for Christmas. They'd be very upset at you."
He let out a sound of supreme aggravation. "So the date's not important to the Mayans at all?"
"Yes and no. They'd think of it the same way we throw parties on December 31st and why we partied like it was 1999. It's the end of an era for them, and the beginning of a new one. But other than tossing down a few drinks, or taking a few heads as the Mayans were prone to do, it's no cause for alarm."
"Unless you're one of the heads they have their eyes on."
She laughed. "Exactly."
Enrique sighed like he was disappointed that time would carry on. "Well, damn. I better pay my light bill when I get home. I was hoping I could let it slide."
Before she could comment, a new voice interrupted them. "I wouldn't rush home if I were you. The world may yet come to a bad ending."
Kateri sucked her breath in sharply at the thickly accented male voice that intruded on their conversation. Neither Spanish nor Indian, his accent was more a soft blending of the two. One that made the deep rich timbre sound exotic.
Frowning, she looked past her assistant to find what had to be one of the sexiest men she'd ever seen in the flesh. He'd paused just inside the doorway so that he could watch them. Though she doubted he was much over average height, if that, he had an aura so powerful that it seemed to fill the entire room. It was the raw intensity of someone used to being worshiped and feared ... most likely at the same time.
Dressed entirely in black, he wore his thick ebony hair pulled back into a ponytail. He pinned her with a stare so unsettling, it made her hands shake. There was something about him. Magnetic and scary, it set fire to the very air around them.
It literally sizzled.