“What?” Anissa asked all innocently. “You know it’s been a while.”
“There’s no way you could know that.” Miri crossed her arms.
“Girl?” Anissa said, leaning back on the bed and propping herself up on the side. “I know.” Her lips pursed as she gave Miri the side-eye.
Miri’s mouth twisted as she fought to come up with a retort, but how could she argue? The last time the two of them had gotten together in Chicago for the Chimalli exhibit at the Field Museum and they’d grabbed some drinks at the bar, Miri had pretty much confessed her dry spell over a couple of G and Ts. The gin had been doing most of the talking—okay, so maybe it was Miri’s proclivity for buzzed ramblings, or ramblings in general—butdamn, Anissa! This had to be breaking some sort of friend code.
“Well, whatever.”Nice comeback.Miri almost rolled her eyes at herself for her unwitty response. “None of this matters anyway, because with Vautour out there clearly looking for the Cidade da Lua, I don’t have time for distractions.”
Anissa sighed. “I mean, if that’s what you think you need to do.”
“It is,” Miri said with feigned confidence.
Though she wasn’t sure she meant it.
Miri peered out the window, watching the crew standing around talking, waiting for further instruction. Laughing. Joking. Carrying on not knowing the danger that awaited them.
And there was Rafa. He was a few hundred feet away, butshe could make him out clearly. The reminder of his lips warmed her body, giving her momentary pause.
But that was the exact reason she needed to pull away. She couldn’t afford to pause. She couldn’t afford to waste any more time thinking about anything other than what she came here for. The Cidade da Lua.
Corrie would be so disappointed in her.
She needed to do this. She needed to stop thisnot-relationship anddefinitely-not-lovebefore it turned into something more.
Tonight. She’d call things off tonight.
But first, she had to meet the terms of their deal.
Ting, ting, ting, ting, ting.
Miri held her wineglass high, tapping a butter knife on the side to get the group’s attention at dinner in the open-air cabana.
“Can I have your attention for a few minutes, please?” Miri said.
Annnnd, nothing. Forks and knives clattered against plates. Conversations continued. Barely even a flinch.
Let’s try this again.
Miri flipped the butter knife so the heavier end could tap against the glass.Ting, ting, ting, CRACK!
The glass shattered, spilling red wine down Miri’s arm and onto her shirt. Thankfully the stem she’d been holding hadn’t cracked with it, but still. All eyes shot to her.
But hey, at least she’d gotten their attention.
She scanned the tables, spotting Rafa with Logan, Felix, and a few other guys, before connecting with his gaze. So many questions swirled in Miri’s head. Wondering what he was thinking about. What, if anything, in Vautour’s messages was true.Whether she was making a mistake by deciding to end things with Rafa, not that they’d ever really started. But with the way her heart skipped just at the sight of him, the answer to at least that last question was clear.
Anissa whispered into Miri’s ear from behind, “What was it you were saying about distractions?”
The words zapped Miri back to the task at hand, finally tearing her focus from Rafa and back to the rest of the group, staring and waiting for her to speak.
“Now that I’ve got your attention, I want to fill everyone in on where we’re at with this expedition. First, Dr. Quinn is no longer with us…”
The entire team gasped in unison. Their hands quickly shot to cover mouths, and their faces contorted with worry.
Anissa palmed her face.Oh. Oh dear.They had the wrong idea.
“No, no, no,” Miri said, quickly waving her hands. “Not that. What I meant to say is that he’s alive”—the others instantly relaxed—“but his hand is broken in multiple areas, and he has a concussion, so it’s not safe for him to rejoin us here in the middle of the jungle in case his condition worsens.”
