Page 80 of Stealing the Star Stone
Eli did as asked.
Amenkar stiffened.“Deception is not rewarded in the great skies.”He flicked his fingers, summoning the scarred man.“Zal, to the temple.Go now.Bigeeli, their things.”
She scampered away.
“Come with us, Frederik.”Eli hitched a thumb over his shoulder.“If he sees you here, he’ll know.”
“He’s many things, but he’s not an idiot.He must have guessed someone helped you.”
Frederik’s complacency gritted Nova’s teeth.Zal approached, Khepan trailing him with their bag and weapons.Bigeeli carried their clothes draped over an arm.
“Zal will take you as far as he can,” Amenkar said.
The scarred man bowed his head in greeting.“We must hurry.The bridge closes at midnight.”
When he ululated, Nova jerked back at the loud cry.
The crowd parted.He strode toward four black-clad men waiting by the pool.Behind them, descending the stone stairs was Orien, a young man scampering after him.She blinked, praying she was imagining things.
“Fucking you delayed us,” she hissed at Eli.
“And I don’t regret a moment of it,” he said.“Besides, I’d rather face him here than in a cave, alone.”
He had a point, but she wasn’t in the mood to acknowledge it.“Just us against him is better than endangering these people.”
“He might not—”
She squeezed his hand hard.“Hekilledtheir last chief.Wehaveto do something.”
“At last, Eli, Nova, I’ve found you.”Orien grinned, skipping down the final steps with his arms open wide.
“We weren’t lost,” Eli snapped.
“I know, I’ve been behind you every step of the way.You located another star stone.Faster than my entire team.”Orien pinched his lips.“Perhaps instead of studying you, I should hire you.”
“Not a chance,” Nova said, folding her arms across her chest and sidling in front of Eli to shield him.
Orien marched past the pool, ignored Zal and his men, and headed toward Amenkar.He bowed his head, not even bothering to kneel.Surely they taught archeologists to have better manners than this?
“My chief,” he said, his words translated by the young man.Orien paused to stare at Frederik, his left eye twitching.“Thank you for helping me re-capture these…thieves.”
“What the hell did we steal?”Nova demanded, bristling.
“My future,” Orien said with a sweet smile.“I want the stone you have.”
“What stone?”Eli asked.
She grimaced.He was right.Amenkar still had it.They would’ve traveled to the temple without it.
Orien drew his blaster and aimed it at Eli.“You’ve destroyed one stone and stolen another.Now, give it to me or someone dies.”
The translator announced to all Orien’s threat.Nova glared at the idiot while the crowd shuffled back.
Zal raised his spear with a heart-clenching war cry.He took two steps and slumped to the floor.A dark wound in his chest smoked around the edges.
Nova gaped, switching her attention between Zal and Orien with his blaster pointed at the fallen man.
The crowd scattered amid cries and ululations of despair.
