And of course, there was one other obvious problem. "Where exactly am I supposed to put the stone?" The wall was completely flat without a single crevice in it.
"We'll find it, don't worry."
Now look who had found his optimism. Great timing, bud.
As Ren moved toward her, out of nowhere, a blast struck him hard enough to send him straight to the ground.
Reacting on instinct, she nocked an arrow, and turned to fire. But the moment she sighted her target, she froze.
No ... It was impossible.
WTF?
Kateri couldn't believe her eyes. It had to be a dream. Major hallucination.
Something.
She lowered the bow. "Enrique?"
"Si, Dr. Avani."
Gaping, she tried to make sense of this as he moved closer to her. "What are you doing here?"
He smiled coldly. "I'm here to see you, of course."
Of course?
"I don't understand. How did you know I was here?"
"Veneno," he said simply. "I captured him when he attacked Chacu in your lab ... I wasn't as frozen as you and Cabeza thought. And I spit down the necks of all those so-called experts who tell people torture doesn't work. To that, I say they don't know how to do it right. I, personally, have never had it fail me"
It took her a second to register the name of his victim.
Ren started for her, but Enrique blasted him into the opposite direction. "If you want her to keep breathing, stay back."
Kateri's watch started beeping to let her know they were in the final countdown. She had to get past Enrique. Now!
"What do you want?" she asked him.
"Hand me your time stone, or I will hand you your boytoy's stones."
She looked at Ren, still unsure whether or not this was a dream.
"Don't do it, Kateri," Ren said adamantly. "He's not human. Whatever you do, don't let him have the stone."
She shook her head. "He's my grad assistant."
Enrique laughed. "Yes and no. Enrique was your grad assistant. But I was actually your prisoner, Dr. Avani. Until Chacu unknowingly freed me."
None of that made sense to her. She scowled at Ren. "What do you mean he's not human?"
Enrique hissed. "Stupid puta. I told you ... I'm el peuchen. You brought back my carcel from your first excavation with Fernando so that you could test it. Because of those tests you ran, I was able to break free of my carcel. But I couldn't escape that damn campus. Not even after I took over your assistant's body. His great-grandmother was indeed powerful. And I've enjoyed devouring his soul. But now, I'm done. I want what I came for.
He reached for her.
Ren blasted him back. "Don't you dare touch her!"
Enrique turned on Ren, and shot something that went straight into his chest and splintered into fragments.