Undiscovered(35)

“No stars.”

She stared ahead, then gasped. “Something’s blocking out the stars.”

As she said it, the wind picked up even more, howling at them.

Dec’s mind raced as he tried to find an escape plan to keep them alive. Behind them, was a team of very organized and well-funded antiquities thieves.

And in front of them, brewing like a boiling witch’s broth, was a wild desert sandstorm.

“Come on. We go on a bit farther, then we’ll take cover.” If they burrowed in too early, the thieves might catch them.

“If we wait too long, the sandstorm could kill us,” Layne shouted. “I’ve been through one out here on another dig. And I’ve heard some pretty bad stories.”

“Then we’d better get the timing right. Everyone, open your emergency packs.”

Everyone pulled scarves and goggles out of the backpacks and slipped them on.

They pushed on until the edge of the sandstorm swallowed them. Soon the lights behind them disappeared. Hell, everything disappeared.

The sand was pinging off his skin hard and stinging. He tapped Logan’s arm. The man would know what to do.

Dec grabbed Layne’s arm. There was no way she’d hear him over the howl of the wind. He pulled her down in the sand and yanked his backpack off. He pulled out the small, plain canvas tent he had in his pack.

It wasn’t fancy. You didn’t want mesh in a desert to let all the dust and sand in. He quickly set it up. It was a solo tent—sleek and streamlined. It was going to be a tight fit for two of them.

He urged her in. He tried to spot the rest of his team, but the storm was too bad. The wind was tearing at him now like a wild beast. Logan and the others were all trained and experienced. He knew he didn’t need to worry about them.

Dec followed Layne into the tent. It only took a second to seal the tent behind them.

He turned to face her. There was only just enough room to sit up and his head brushed the top. He pressed a button on his watch and the face glowed. It gave just enough light to make her out. She looked kind of cute with the huge goggles dominating her face.

The wind was making the canvas flap, and its wail was like a mob of monsters right on top of them.

He saw Layne’s hands were clenched tightly together.

Dec pulled her into his arms and held on. She buried her face against his chest and wrapped her arms around him.

Funny how in that instant, Dec wouldn’t trade being stuck in the middle of a deadly sandstorm for anything.




Callum Ward gunned his motorbike and leaned into the curve.

Evening was falling in Denver and the city lights twinkled above him. His sweet little Ducati wanted to go faster—she’d clearly missed him while he’d been trekking through the Amazon. But as he whizzed through the LoDo area, he stuck to the speed limit. Mostly. He promised himself he’d take her out of the city one day and let her knock his teeth into the back of his head.

His jaw tightened. After he’d rescued his brother.

Cal pulled up in front of the Treasure Hunter Security warehouse. Lights were still on inside and he knew Darcy would be busy with her computers.

He pulled his helmet off and headed inside.

Darcy looked up and as soon as she saw him, rushed over. “Thank God you’re here.” She threw her arms around him. “I didn’t think you’d be back until tomorrow.”

“One idiot anthropologist safely retrieved.” He pulled back and frowned at her worried face. “D, what’s going on? On our last call you said you were worried about Dec and his job…”

She pressed her hands together. “The dig got raided three hours ago. I’ve lost contact with Dec and the team.”

Cal cursed. He strode toward the computers. The thoughts of taking a few days off to ride his bike and go rock climbing in the mountains evaporated. “What do we know?”

“Anders raided the dig with Silk Road thugs. Dec and Layne, the lead archeologist, got separated from Logan and the others. I have no idea if they managed to meet up.” Darcy scraped a hand through her hair, messing it up. A surefire sign she was agitated. “Something jammed our signal. Plus I just checked—” her blue-gray eyes were drowning in worry “—and a huge desert sandstorm hit their location a few hours ago. I can’t even pick up the emergency trackers in any of the team’s watches.”

Fuck. Cal sucked in a deep breath. “Any good news?”

“No. Dec said Anders captured one of the other archeologists and a scroll that leads to Zerzura.”

“Look, they’ll be fine. Dec is good at this work, D. He’ll get himself, the team, and the archeologists out of there.”

“Cal, it’s Anders.”