by Holly Rayner
Then, Ramin dug his heels into Taggert’s gut and shoved, flipping the larger man over his head and directly into the open vent.
Taggert yelled in fear as he fell, scrambling for a handhold in the sand around the vent’s edge. Ramin rolled over, grabbing the man’s arm. But he grabbed the left, where the crossbow bolt was still sticking out from Taggert’s shoulder. Taggert shouted in pain and let go. And just like that, he was gone. Vanessa watched in horror as he plummeted past her and vanished, screaming, into the flames. There was nothing to be done to save him.
She looked away, afraid and in shock, until Ramin called her name. He was standing on the platform beneath the vent, a rope from Taggert’s supplies secured to the heavy stone seal. He threw the other end to her and she tied it around herself. He hauled her up while the flames consumed the scaffolding below them, and together they climbed out into the safety of the desert sun, battered but alive.
Exhausted, injured, and weak, they rested. Vanessa dragged the seal back over the vent and covered the cracks in the stone with sand, hoping to smother the fire within. When the smoke and heat had begun to subside, they started to move again.
They’d been lost in the tomb all night. The sun was rising, the air cool. They stumbled back to the dig site, nearly half a mile of desert away. The men they’d hired to dig were still there, gathered in concerned discussion with one another. When they saw Ramin and Vanessa stumble over the hill, they rushed to the couple’s aid, bringing them water and insisting they rest.
“We can’t,” Ramin explained. “Professor Van Rees is still down there. He needs help.”
“We already found him,” one of the laborers explained, and Vanessa’s shoulders sagged with relief. “We saw Peterson and his men run into the maze. The big blond one went over the hill looking for the smoke signal you made. We were alone, so we went to the hole to rescue you. You were gone, but we got the old man out and I sent two of my best with him in one of the jeeps to find help.”
“Oh, thank God,” Vanessa sobbed, and Ramin put his arms around her as she gathered herself.
“Is there a jeep left?” the Sheikh asked. “We should all head back. We need to get medical help, and a professional search party to find Peterson. Not to mention telling everyone about the tomb. It’s so much bigger than we thought.”
Vanessa raised her head as she heard a familiar sound in the distance.
“I don’t think we’ll be needing a jeep,” she said, and pointed at the helicopters coming over the horizon towards them.
Chapter Fifteen
The nearest source of help, it turned out, had been Sheikh Ansar’s palace. Professor Van Rees had told the Sheikh everything and he’d sent out a rescue party at once. Ramin and Vanessa were airlifted to the hospital where the professor’s injuries were already being treated.
“I can’t wait to get back down there, honestly,” Vanessa said as they lay in hospital beds near one another, both being treated for smoke inhalation and Ramin on concussion watch. “I hope the fire didn’t damage too much. I hate to think how much information we might have lost from the burial chapel.”
“Honestly, I feel the same,” Ramin said, smiling as he thought about the tomb. “All those sealed chambers—who knows what’s in them?”
“Really, I would think after an experience like that you would never want to set foot on a dig site again!”
They looked up as Sheikh Ansar entered the hospital room. Ramin smiled brightly at the sight of his uncle.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Ramin laughed, interrupting himself with a hacking cough. “I’m better than ever!”
“Save it for your father.” Ansar chuckled. “He and your mother and sisters are on their way here, now.”
Ramin groaned, and Vanessa laughed.
“I haven’t even told my parents I left the country,” she admitted with a wince. “They’re going to get a shock…”
“Oh, did you see to the crew?” Ramin asked Ansar. “They saved our lives, not to mention the professor.”
“They have been quite heavily rewarded,” Ansar assured him. “None of them will ever have to work again if they don’t care to.”
“I’d like to thank them personally when we get out of here,” Vanessa said. “I owe them more than I can say.”
“Any news about Peterson?” Ramin asked. “Have they found him yet?”
“Not yet,” Ansar admitted. “The maze is making things difficult. It’s enormous. They think it may stretch for miles under the sand. If so, it will be the largest labyrinth ever built. A wonder of the ancient world. And the newspapers are already reporting you two as having discovered it. They interviewed Professor Van Rees earlier tonight. He gave you sole credit for the discovery, Miss Hawkins, and made the significance of Amanirenas’s tomb clear. Peterson would have to emerge from the maze riding Noah’s ark to change things now.”
Vanessa fell back into her pillows, glowing with happiness. She’d found Amanirenas. That was enough. But the rest was certainly icing on the cake.
“I think there will be a lot of job offers waiting for you when you go back to America,” Ansar said with a fond chuckle.
“She has one more obligation before she goes back,” Ramin said, reaching out to her across the space between their beds. Vanessa took his hand with a smile. “She’s promised to go to dinner with me.”
“Oh, the reporters are going to love that,” Ansar snorted. “They’re clamoring for a chance to speak to you both. Not just the Ksatta-Galan news either. The size of the tomb, not to mention the drama of the crown prince’s daring escape, has made this international news.”
Vanessa grimaced.
“Oh, well,” she said. “I suppose more exposure for Amanirenas is a good thing?”
“Tell me if you still believe that in a week,” Ansar replied, standing and putting on his hat. “Speaking of, I had better get back out there. I’m doing my best to hold them off. I just wanted to let you know that your family is on the way.”
“Thank you, Uncle,” Ramin said fondly. “I owe you more than I can say.”
“We’re family,” Ansar replied lightly, heading for the door. “It’s my responsibility to take care of you.”
He paused suddenly in the doorway, looking back at them.
“That reminds me,” he said. “If you intend to continue running around, endangering your life, you had best see to your own family responsibility. Providing an heir, that is?”
He glanced at Vanessa meaningfully and raised an eyebrow. Vanessa went bright red and covered her face as, laughing, the old Sheikh turned and left.
Vanessa was there on the dig site two days later when the rescue teams finally found Peterson and what remained of his team. Renée Dubois led the surviving men out, though she was injured and weakened from days of hunger and thirst. The rescue team carried out anyone who couldn’t walk.
Vanessa and Ramin had been overseeing plans for the continued excavation (and lending expert help to the rescue team who were still having some difficulties with the traps), but hurried to where the rescue team was emerging when they heard the lost people had been found.
Renée, ragged, covered in dust, teeth set in a permanent snarl that seemed directed at life itself, marched straight towards Vanessa. Ramin stepped between them, concerned by the steely look in Renée’s eyes. Renée stopped in front of him, squaring up, until Vanessa pushed him aside.
“Renée,” Vanessa said hesitantly. “I’m glad you’re alive.”
Renée stared her dead in the eye, having clearly been through hell. Vanessa wasn’t sure what to expect. Renée stuck out her hand suddenly and, when Vanessa took it cautiously, shook it briskly.
“I wanted to tell you that you were right about that pissant,” Renée said in her thick accent. “He panicked as soon as we encountered the first trap and ran off into the maze. He was an idiot and a coward.”
“I’m sorry you got dragged into all this,” Vanessa said sincerely. “I’ve seen your work. Yo
u deserved better.”
“I was foolish,” she said. “I imagined he was a crusader just because his quest involved the holy. He never believed his own speeches. He only knew he could exploit the weaknesses of people like me.”
“It wasn’t your fault—” Vanessa started to say.
“Of course it wasn’t,” Renée said fiercely. “Even after he ran away, that imbecile would have gone on leading us into disaster. We survived only because he was lucky enough to have chosen me to join the team.”
At that moment, the rescuers were bringing Peterson up out of the maze on a stretcher, his eyes open but his stare blank and unresponsive.
“He hasn’t spoken all day,” Renée said, turning to watch him. “I think he is preparing an insanity defense for when he is tried for your attempted murders.”
She spat in his direction, then swayed on her feet. Vanessa reached out to steady her, but Renée waved her off.
“The doctors are waiting for you,” Vanessa said. “They’re going to airlift you to the hospital. You should go.”
“I will,” Renée said. “I just wanted to talk to you first. To apologize. For working with that twit. I should have said something when he put you in that vent. The professor was braver than me. And also, I apologize for what I said about your dress. You looked beautiful, that night at the party.”
Vanessa smiled, a little flustered.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
“If you ever require another linguist to help with your research,” Renée continued. “I am at your service. I’m fairly certain now that I have ripped crossbow bolts out of my own leg, I am qualified for any degree of field work.”
She nodded to Vanessa and then Ramin, then limped off towards the medical chopper. Vanessa noticed the deference with which all the surviving mercenaries treated her.
“That woman is a little terrifying,” Ramin said, and Vanessa nodded.
“I think I like her,” she grinned.
Chapter Sixteen
Once preparations had been made to continue the excavation, Vanessa realized it was time to go home, at least temporarily. Professor Van Rees had gone back already, ending his sabbatical early and resuming his work. Now that Amanirenas had been found, it was as though life had returned to him in a rush.
Vanessa would follow him, at least long enough to update her parents on what had happened, formally tell the university about her research and discoveries, and publish her thesis, which now had a very dramatic conclusion. It would be a while, but she knew she wanted to return to Ksatta-Galan as quickly as possible, and not just to continue work on the tomb.
The night before her flight out, a sleek town car picked her up from the professor’s apartment, where she’d been staying. She wore a gown the Sheikh had bought for her, a shimmering dark blue sheath that fell all the way to the floor in velvety waves.
She was driven to a fine restaurant in a skyscraper in the center of the city, where the maître d’ showed her to a glass elevator which rose above the glittering night-time city all the way to the rooftop. The restaurant was lush with potted plants and overlooked the glorious skyline, and Ramin was waiting by a table. He smiled as soon as he saw her.
“You look amazing,” he said warmly, and drew her into a kiss that left her lips tingling and her heart fluttering.
The food was incredible, the wine superb, but nothing was better than the conversation, in Vanessa’s opinion. They lingered over their meal, discussing discoveries they’d made so far, future research prospects—anything but what would happen tomorrow.
Eventually, over dessert, Ramin gave in.
“So,” he said. “Your plane leaves tomorrow.”
“Yes,” she confirmed. “A little after noon. We could have breakfast together if you like.”
“I’d rather have dinner with you again,” he admitted, taking her hand across the table.
She smiled, knowing how he felt. She didn’t want to leave him, after all they’d gone through.
“I don’t have a choice,” she said. “I need to finish my work at Columbia. And my parents saw me on the news before I had a chance to tell them what happened, so they’re losing their minds…”
“I know you have to go,” Ramin said softly, thumb running over the back of her hand. “But can you blame me for wishing you didn’t?”
“I won’t be gone more than a few months,” she promised. “Do you think I’d let them excavate Amanirenas’s entire tomb without me?”
He laughed, reassured, and she squeezed his hand.
“Once I’ve graduated,” she said. “Wild horses couldn’t keep me away, student loans be damned.”
“You know,” he said, “if you’re looking for potential jobs after you graduate, the University of Ksatta-Galan has an opening for a professor of archeology. I can almost guarantee you’d get it.”
Vanessa chuckled at his teasing tone.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said.
“In all honesty,” he said quietly. “I want you to come back, Vanessa. Not just for the dig. For me. The things we talked about down in the tomb… With everything that happened, I don’t know if you’ve really thought about it. About you and me.”
She had to admit, everything had happened so fast that there hadn’t been much time to just think about what she was feeling. But some things were obvious.
She knew she trusted him with her life. She knew she loved talking to him. She knew he would never ask her to choose him over her work because he loved her work as much as she did. He was someone she could travel with, learn with, really share the most important parts of her life with. She already knew all that. So what, really, was there to think about?
“I’m not just coming back for the dig,” she said, smiling at him. “I want to be with you, Ramin.”
He leaned across the table and kissed her, knocking over the salt shaker and nearly her drink, but she couldn’t find it in her to care.
They took the car back to his apartment, barely able to let go of one another. After everything they’d been through, there was nothing Vanessa wanted more. Ramin pressed her to the wall of the elevator as they rode it up to his penthouse, his kisses fast and hungry, his hands on her hips, pulling her close against him.
They were shedding clothing by the time they crossed the threshold of his apartment, leaving a trail of jackets and shoes across the rich, stylish home. The bedroom was huge, the bed set beneath a wide window with stunning views of the city that Vanessa hardly noticed, her attention wholly focused on the man holding her.
Ramin’s kisses fell burning across her throat and down her chest as he laid her on the bed, his fingers hot as they slid across her skin. He whispered words of devotion as she showered his face in soft, delicate kisses and lifted his shirt away. The moonlight through the window highlighted the planes of his muscular chest, and she planted kisses everywhere the light touched him, as though she was jealous it had reached him first.
He explored her body delicately, like he was uncovering something ancient and infinitely precious, his every touch ghosting over her skin as though afraid she would crumble or vanish into mist if he were too rough. Vanessa trembled at this teasing treatment, desperate for more and frustrated by his restraint, gently holding her back when she tried to urge him forward.
Until, finally, she made herself say the words, begging him for more. All at once, he was ruthless, plundering her like a tomb full of riches, his fingers leaving marks on her thighs and his kisses leaving red blossoms across her throat. She cried her approval to the ceiling and he responded with unabashed enthusiasm. The moonlight through the window cast the bed in silver as they gave in to what they’d both wanted since the moment they’d met.
Chapter Seventeen
The next morning, Vanessa woke first, in the pale blue light of dawn, and smiled as she saw him sleeping beside her, his expression peaceful and unguarded. The room was quiet and still, the only sound the rustle of the sheets when she moved. She felt wa
rm, heavy, and content, happy to slip back into slumber a while longer, or just to lay there awake, breathing in the serene morning.
Light edged Ramin’s dusky skin in gold and gilded his face, catching in his eyelashes and the curve of his cheek. She couldn’t resist tracing its pattern along his jaw with a gentle touch. He stirred, breathing deeply, and his eyes fluttered open. He smiled when they focused on her, and he reached out to touch her cheek and stroke her hair.
Vanessa felt a sleepy laugh bubbling up from her lips. The fact that they were there, alive and together with no regrets, seemed suddenly miraculous. He laughed with her, pulling her close to kiss her eyelids and nose and finally her mouth, long and slow. They rolled into the sheets while the sunlight turned golden outside the window and took their time with one another, unashamed and unworried about the future.
Later, he slipped out of bed just long enough to fetch coffee and oranges. They lay together in the tangled bedding, talking softly about anything but the future. Vanessa watched the moment when she’d have to leave crawl closer, willing time to move slower and let her enjoy this.
“You know, I think my father liked you,” Ramin said, pressing an orange slice to her lips. “He always said I should be with someone educated. He used to lament the thought of me marrying some feather-headed supermodel.”
Vanessa took the orange slice in her teeth and swallowed it, licking her lips for the last drops of tart juice.
“I couldn’t tell,” she confessed, peeling off a slice from her own orange and offering it to him. “He was so stoic. It was like talking to a statue. I wasn’t sure what he felt about anything.”
“He’s always like that,” Ramin said with a laugh, taking the orange with his fingers and leaning in to steal a kiss. “I can count the number of times I’ve seen him smile on one hand. My mother is always explaining to guests, ‘He’s happy, I swear! His face is just like that!’“