His skin the same color as a perfect piece of caramel, he moved with the feral lope of an accomplished predator. Even though his gaze never wavered from hers, she had the distinct impression that he could see everything around him.
For that matter, she wouldn't be surprised if he could see behind his back, too.
"Why would you say that, Mister..." She dragged the word out, hoping he'd fill in the missing detail.
Luckily, he took the hint as he closed the gap between them. "Verastegui, Kukulcan Verastegui. But most people refer to me as Cabeza."
The way he said his full name, she could almost taste something sweet and luscious ... like warm cocoa.
Except one thing destroyed the image. The fact that she knew what his nickname stood for. "They call you ... Head? Why?"
One corner of his mouth quirked up into a smile that was both amused and threatening. "Pray that you never find out."
Her gaze dropped to the gold ring on his left pinkie. It bore a Mayan symbol, but she wasn't close enough to identify it, and though he was hotter than hell, she didn't want to get even a micro-inch nearer to him. His lethal persona said he might take her arm off if she tried.
"Is there something I can do for you, Mr. Veracity?"
"Vair-ross-STUH-gee," he corrected, rolling his R so that it sounded like a purr.
Enrique put himself between them, forcing Cabeza to stop short of reaching her.
Go, Enrique. Twenty-two-point bonus on your next test. God love that boy for being overprotective.
The scary glint in those soulless black eyes said Mr. Head didn't like or appreciate the interference. Cabeza spoke to Enrique in Spanish, but his accent was so thick that Kateri couldn't catch the individual words. However, there was no missing the way Enrique curled his lips before he shot back with a fiery retort.
Somehow, she didn't think they were discussing the weather or getting directions to something off-campus. They rather reminded her of a telenovela.
Cabeza laughed in a low, throaty tone as he tossed a smug expression at her. "You should call off your Chihuahua, chica. I'm really not in the mood to clean blood from my clothes."
Enrique started for him, then all of a sudden, froze as if someone had flipped an off switch. He stood stock still with one arm raised and his features contorted by anger.
Yeah, okay ... that wasn't right.
Gasping, Kateri took a step back, only to collide with the lab table that cut off her retreat. Crap!
"Relax, bonita. If I wanted you dead or harmed, you'd already be so."
Right ... He didn't know her at all if he thought that.
Her hands shaking with controlled fear, she reached into the pocket of her lab coat so that she could clutch her tactical pen-something her uncle Danny had insisted she always carry in case someone attacked her. If Cabeza didn't freeze her too, she had one heck of a surprise for him. She might be short and comparatively tiny, but thanks to her uncle Danny and cousins, she was all muscle and trained to fight dirty with the best of them. "What do you want?"
"You own a certain item that I require."
"And that would be?"
"A stone."
That was like asking the ocean for a single molecule of water. "Look around the room. I'm a geologist." She gestured to the shelves on her left that were lined with boxes of rocks- kind of what he was if he thought she was going to give him anything while he threatened her.
And that display was nothing compared to the ones she had at home. "Been collecting stones since I started walking. I need a little bit more than one noun. Could I buy an adjective there, Pat?"
His gaze turned dark. Deadly. "How about you just cooperate and give me what I need?"
Kateri pulled her pen from her pocket. "Let me think ... um ... no." She ran for the door.
Unfortunately, he ran faster and cut her off halfway to her destination. She slashed at him with her pen, but he caught her wrist in a move that was so fast she didn't see it until he had her pinned. Damn, he was a lot stronger than Mr. Hulk appeared. And that said it all.
"Give me your time stone," he growled in her ear.