up to her face like a dancer to blow off the sting. Great legs.
“Thank you, Max.”
He frowned, glanced the way the other had gone. “Come on.”
“Shouldn’t we wait for him?” She really didn’t want to trek through the jungle. The dart had to come from somewhere.
“He’s been gone too long.”
“Well, that can’t be good.”
He helped her off the ground and she followed him as they moved into the forest. Max hacked their way through the jungle for a considerable distance when he stopped, and called out softly.
Viva peered around him and she saw his partner.
He waved Max on. “You stay there,” he said, pointing.
“Anyone ever mention you have control issues?”
His look was deadpan, and when Max approached, he dismissed her.
Max bent to look at something on the ground. “Good God.”
Curious, Viva moved forward a few steps.
“I said stay back.” Sam tried to stop her.
“You really need to work on your attitude, mister. And you can ask my father, I rarely do anything I’m told.” She moved around Max and Sam threw his hands up in resignation. “Besides, I’ve seen a lot of interesting things in my life—” She stopped short. “Oh God.”
The body of a small man lay in the underbrush, not hidden, but not in clear view. Yet it was the condition of it that stunned her. All Viva saw was blood; on his throat and his crotch, his knees, and feet.
“I take it back.” She turned away, into Sam’s chest and gripped his shirt.
Sam blinked, then closed his arms around her. Her trembling vibrated into him, clinging down to his bones. He murmured something useless, hoping to soothe and praying she didn’t cry. Women and crying wasn’t something he handled well.
“I’ll just be a minute,” she mumbled into his chest, and Sam thought, take your time, honey, enjoying all the soft curves pressed into him. Man, it’s been a while.
Viva breathed deeply, the image of the mutilated body flashing in her mind as if once wasn’t good enough. Then she felt his arms tighten, his hand cup the back of her head and massage it a little. She suddenly breathed him in, a stranger, dangerous enough that none of this seemed to affect him at all. Another stupid move, she thought.
“Are you okay?” he asked in the deepest voice on the planet.
She tipped her head back and met his dark gaze. “You were right. I should have stayed put.”
His gaze roamed her face as if trying to scrape away the layers and see deeper. She felt suddenly hemmed in, as if a drape descended over them, closing out the jungle, the danger. It made her nerves keen, sentient, her body shift into his as if that’s where she belonged. He didn’t back off, frowning down at her, and she had the urge to rub the lines between his eyebrows.
“Will you obey my orders till we get to the city?”
“Sure.” She pushed out of his arms. “Though I’d have to trust you for that, which I don’t.”
Max observed the exchange, then said, “Think Kashir did it?”
Sam lifted his gaze from her. “Don’t know.” He squatted, inspected the corpse. “The back of his knees are cut, and his toes are gone.”
“That’s just nasty.” She looked everywhere except there. “Who would do something like that?”
Sam met her gaze. “A collector.” And it was ritualistic, he thought.
“Half Ear, no toes. Bodies dropping—” Viva’s hands never found a comfortable place to be and she turned away. “I can’t be here with you two. I just can’t.”
Sam latched on to her arm. “But you can’t be out there alone, either. I won’t be responsible for your safety.”
That got her. “Who says I want you to?” She yanked free, her hands on her hips. “You know, I’ve traveled all over the world and didn’t have a bit of trouble till I met you.” Well, never the dead kind of trouble, she corrected.
“Me either. So what is so special about this?” He grabbed her wrist, studied the cuff for a second before he let her go.
“This was found in the Udon Thani Caves, where it shouldn’t be. Since cave homes and temples form a line over the border, it’s entirely possible the royal family could have originally come from Cambodia or Laos.”
“That’ll ruffle a few feathers,” Max said.
She nodded. “Makes the bloodline suspect, and the royal family here rules. What would happen to this society if it were known? What will it change? This is a very important piece.”
“Then perhaps you shouldn’t be flashing it around.”
“I wasn’t. I hid it, they found it. Can I help it if they’re nosey? Oh, man.”
“What now?”
“My bag. It’s back there.”
“Next to the other body.”
“Thank you for that visual.”
Sam eyeballed her from head to toe. “Who are you, lady?”
“Xaviera Luciana Dominica Fiori.”
Sam blinked. “Jesus, you could choke on that.”
“Call me Viva.”
“Sam Wyatt, this is Max.” He tossed a thumb toward his pal.
“We’ve met.” She smiled kindly at Max.
“They couldn’t ship that?”
“Sure. But we didn’t. Not that it’s your business, and since we’re sharing, tell me why you look like Alan Quartermaine in bad need of a haircut and are dealing with those awful men.”
Max stifled a laugh.
Sam turned away. “Come on, we need to move.”
Clearly, he wasn’t being responsive. “Thank you for your help—”
He glanced at her. “You know where you are? Which direction to go?”
“South to Bangkok.” She pointed.
Sam inclined his head to his left. “That way.”
“Thank you.” She marched off, but didn’t get far. Sam caught her around the waist, lifting her off her feet. She struggled and he shook her, her feet dangling.
“It’s
