Niklas spun. “Do what?”
Dathan clapped his brother on the shoulder. “Dr. Rai is going to give us theMona Lisafragment after we help her find Star’s End.”
Niklas frowned. “Eos, you sure you want to do this?”
She nodded. “Yes. Dathan’s promised to help find Star’s End and the artifact.”
Dathan liked the flush riding her high cheekbones. “I don’t remember promising anything.”
Her chin lifted. “Deal’s a deal, Phoenix.”
He stalked closer, saw her fight not to take a step backward. For some reason, putting the lovely archeologist on edge was fun.
Leaning down, he brushed his lips against her ear. He kept his voice whisper quiet. “I promise. And fair warning, I promise to find out exactly what makes you tick, Dr. Rai, while I’m at it.”
A hand slapped against his chest. She pushed him back a few inches. “That’s not going to happen.” She kept her voice low. “The only things I want from you are Star’s End and theMona Lisa.” She pulled away. “Now let’s get to work.”
“Okay.” He grabbed her hand and towed her out of the room. His brothers followed.
She hurried to keep up with him. “Where are we going?”
They headed up some stairs. “Mission Control.”
At a landing,Eos watched Dathan press a finger against a DNA lock on a heavy titanium-reinforced door. There was a discreet beep and a faint flicker of light on the door. A quantum energy field disengaging. Serious security.
He waved her in. “Welcome to Mission Control.”
Where the warehouse downstairs was a jumbled mess, this place was ruthlessly organized. Artifacts from cultures all over the galaxy lined the shelves—labeled and tagged better than in the Institute Archives. A bank of screens—larger than downstairs—lined one wall, and a huge holo-table dominated the center of the room. They used holo-tables at the Institute for displaying data either like a normal screen or in three dimensions, but none this big.
Dathan strode to the table. “Nik, call up the hunt-planning checklist. We’ll see what we have in stock.”
With a nod, Niklas touched the holo-table and it flickered to life, displaying images and documents.
She stared at the focused look on Dathan’s face. Nothing like the irreverent man she’d met downstairs.
“Doc?” He pushed a chair out.
She sat, and he wheeled her closer to the table.
“Time for you to tell us where we’re headed.”
Her gut tightened and she pressed her index finger hard against her leg. She wasn’t used to trusting anyone, especially not with her life’s work.
Dathan pressed his hands to the table and leaned forward. “We need to plan and work out what supplies we need. That’s the only way to make this hunt a success.”
She watched Niklas running through the checklist. “Do you plan every hunt like this?”
“Every one.”
And here she’d imagined him dashing to abandoned temples and plundering everything he could find.
Niklas paused. “We’ll need a few things, but we can get it all on Souk.” He tapped the screen. “Now we need the destination.”
Dathan’s gaze bored into Eos. “Your call, Doc. In or out?”
She drew in a slow breath. “In.”
“Switching to voice commands,” Niklas said.
