Quint sniffed. “Smell what? All I smell is a jungle—dirt, decay, and the sickly sweet odor of something flowering nearby.” He couldn’t see any flowers on this side of the wall, though. The scent of the jungle always sort of reminded him of the inside of a greenhouse on a hot summer day.
“Death.” She leaned closer. “Smeared all over you.”
Quint raised his brow. “Say what now?”
She fell against his shoulder, her cheek sliding down his upper arm. “He must not be left,” she mumbled.
He grabbed her, holding her steady so she didn’t fall any further. “Daisy, are you okay?”
“Never alone,” she said.
“Daisy, open your eyes.”
She did as told, recoiling in the bright light as she stared at him, her gaze clear. “What happened? Did I faint again?”
“Maybe.” He still held her by the arms. “What do you mean ‘again’? Did you faint recently? Is there something going on with you physically that we should know about?”
“No, I’m fine, according to my doctor. I had a quick checkup done before coming back down here.” She pulled away slowly, sitting upright on her own. “And I haven’t experienced a blackout since …” She frowned. “Not since the last dig site, when …”
When Marianne channeled through her, he finished in his thoughts. Or rather, Marianne’s ghost.
He glanced around at the others, but nobody seemed to be paying attention to them.
“What happened?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. I’m sorry to worry you, Quint.”
“Don’t be sorry. Are you feeling dizzy right now? Maybe you need to drink more water.”
She shook her head. “I’ve been very careful about hydrating enough since arriving.” Clearing her throat, she gave him a wry smile. “I was having fun with our little game and … I don’t know, it was like I started seeing colors of the rainbow in my head. They were so vivid. So beautiful. I sort of got lost in the colors and forgot what we were doing. Does that make any sense?”
No, none at all. But he didn’t want to makeDaisy uneasy, so he smiled and answered, “Rainbows are a sign of hope, so yeah, I guess. I mean, you were just telling me during our game that we would figure out the role of this site and maybe find a king or shaman in the process. It makes sense you meditated a rainbow of hope while thinking these things.”
She hit him with a one-eyed squint. “Did you just pull that out of your ass, Junior Mint?”
He laughed. Juan was certainly making that nickname known. “Maybe, but it sounded good, right?”
“Youare a sign of hope, dear boy.” She stood and stretched. “Now, how about you and I go look for some goodies hidden away in the rocks while the head honchos finish their argument about a course for our immediate future.” Her smile was back as she held out her hand to help him up.
“You go on ahead, but be careful.”
“I’m fine, Quint, I promise.”
“Good. I’ll be right behind you. I just want to add one more thing in my notes about the site.”
She left with a smile on her face, back to her old happy self.
He watched Daisy step carefully through the rubble, stopping to bend over and talk to a bright green lizard sunning itself on a large chunk of limestone. “Well, aren’t you just adorable,” he heard her say.
Grabbing his notebook, he flipped to where he’d left off.
So, was that Marianne talking to him through Daisy again? Angélica was wearing her mother’s locket every day, just as Marianne’s ghost had instructed her to do at the last dig site.
He brushed a gnat off the page of his notebook, leaving a small streak behind.
If it was Angélica’s mom doing the channeling, what was that business about the ancestors whispering to a guardian? And what in the hell was a guardian? A shaman? A king?
Taking up his pencil, he jotted down a question to ask Angélica later when they were alone:
