The Prophecy (Daughters of the People Series Book 1) (4 page)

He cut the
thought off abruptly. Too much, too soon. He wasn’t ready for that kind of entanglement.
Still, it had been a good long while since he’d thought about a woman that way.
He just didn’t know if doing so was such a good idea, particularly when the woman
in question was as attractive and mysterious as Maya Bellegarde.

* * *

The shrill ring
of her phone woke Maya from a deep sleep. She groped her way to the nightstand,
picked it up, and glanced at the small bedside clock. 2:47 a.m. Alarm shot
through her. “Hello.”

“It’s Dani. Come
to the site now. There’s been a break-in.”

Maya  scrambled
out of bed and grabbed clothes, dressing one-handed. “Are you and Indigo ok?”

“I’m fine.” Dani
sucked in a breath. When she spoke again, her voice was tight and thin. “Indi,
not so much, but she’ll live.”

“Does Dr.
Lindberg know?”

“Yeah. Indi
called him and Dr. Terhune.”

“Any damage?”

“Yeah.” Bitterness
crept into the younger Daughter’s tone. “Everything’s a mess, but at least a
couple of the documents were taken.”

Maya closed her
eyes, a deep dread creeping through her. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

As she finished
dressing, her mind flashed rapidly through the situation. Dani still had the
rented Volvo out at the borg, leaving Maya temporarily stranded. There was no
way around it. She’d have to run the five-odd miles from the cabin to the borg.
She yanked the laces of her boots tight, grabbed a flashlight out of her
suitcase, and exited the cabin, locking it behind her.

“Maya!”

She swung
around, searching for the speaker. James was standing half in and half out of
his rental car, waving her over.

“C’mon,” he
said. “Indigo said you needed a ride.”

The next few
minutes were tense. The streets were empty and James took advantage, whipping
the car along the roads winding through open farmland at a breakneck speed. Maya
gripped the car’s door with one hand and the edge of her seat with the other,
questions jostling around in her mind. Who was behind the theft? What exactly
had been taken? And why had the dig been targeted right after she and Dani had
arrived, or was that a coincidence? As much as Maya would like to believe that,
she couldn’t quite bring herself to, not given the potential importance of the
anomalous burial to the People.

They arrived at
the site within minutes and tumbled out of the car as soon as it was safely
parked. A cluster of flashlights huddled near the trailer. From the number of
voices, Maya guessed most of the students had already arrived. She clicked her
flashlight on and hurried toward them, James close behind her.

Her steps slowed
as she neared the trailer. Indigo sat on the steps leading into it, an ice pack
pressed to the back of her head, a bruise spreading across her jaw. Helene
leaned over the other Daughter, gently patting her back. Dr. Lindberg and two
of the students were standing close by, in deep conversation. They turned
toward her and James as they approached, Olaf shaking his head.

Maya knelt on
the lowest step in front of Indigo and gently grasped her chin, turning her
bruised face into what little light there was. “Are you all right?”

“Maetyrm.”
Indigo winced and touched her fingers to the bruise along her jaw. “Whoever it
was got the jump on me. Knocked me out cold. I didn’t even hear them coming.”

Apprehension
tightened the skin on the back of Maya’s neck. Not many people could move
quietly enough to elude a Daughter’s keen hearing.

“I’ve failed.”
Indigo dropped her head into one hand. “Failed Dr. Lindberg, failed the People.
I’m so sorry.”

“Oh, bosh,” Helene
said in her thickly accented English. “These hoodlums, they did this to you.
Steal the artifacts, loot the dig, and then hit this poor girl on the head as she
tried to do her work.”

“Can you tell me
what happened?” Maya asked.

Indigo nodded,
then winced and held her head still. “Dani was still here. We lost track of
time talking and were a little late making our last round. I stopped to wash my
hands. Popcorn. Hate having dirty hands.” Her shoulders rose and fell on a deep
sigh. “Anyway, Dani said she wanted to stretch her legs, so she went out ahead
of me. She hadn’t been gone two minutes when the lights went out. I came out of
the bathroom and took a blow to the jaw, then one to the head. It must’ve
knocked me out for a minute. When I woke up, Dani was hovering over me
assessing my wounds.”

“Where is she?”

Indigo hesitated
and cut her eyes toward Helene. “I think she’s trying to restore power to the
trailer.”

Dani jogged
around the end of the trailer, flashlight in hand. Her gaze zeroed in on Maya.
“Around back,” she said, then pivoted and disappeared into the dark behind the
trailer.

Maya stood and
studied Indigo’s wan features. “I’ll be right back. Try not to move too much
until we can have a doctor look you over.”

“Yes, Maetyrm.”

James appeared
at Maya’s elbow. “I’m coming with you.”

She looked him
square in the face, saw the suspicion blooming there, and nodded. “Yes, that
would be best.”

Dani was
standing under the power lines, her flashlight playing over the spot where they
intersected with the trailer. She flicked her flashlight at Maya and James,
then fixed it back on a spot on the trailer’s exterior. “Power was cut here,
probably with bolt cutters. Stupid.”

Maya nodded.
Cutting a live power line like that was bound to cause sparks, maybe even a
fire, if it didn’t electrocute the person cutting it first.

“From the roof
or the ground?” James asked.

“Definitely the
ground.” Dani stepped back and played her flashlight over a block and the
ground around it. “Somebody used this as a boost. There’s a footprint here.”

Maya knelt beside
the print. “Any thoughts?”

“Yeah, lots, and
none of them good.” She crouched beside Maya and pointed at the print, her
finger well above the ground. “By the size and shape of the print and the use
of a block, I’d say it was somebody small and lightweight. Probably a woman.
Possibly a man with really narrow feet, but I’m thinking a woman, maybe five
seven, a hundred and thirty pounds. Small but strong.”

Maya stood and
brushed dirt off the knees of her pants. “Any other damage?”

“Lots. The
bolt’s broken on the storage shed.”

“Hence the use
of bolt cutters here,” James said.

Dani pushed
herself into a stand. “Looks like. I only took a quick peek in there, but it’s
pretty messy. Same with the storage containers under the tent. I’d say the
looter started there…”

“Looter?” Maya
asked sharply.

“Oh, yeah,” Dani
said, nodding. “Just the one. She, or he, started with the easy stuff under the
tents, then hit the storage shed, and finally the trailer. I can’t be sure
because I don’t know what’s supposed to be here, but it doesn’t look like a lot
was taken. I mean, a lot of the boxes in storage were dumped out. Stuff is
everywhere, but there’s an awful lot of it, so I’d guess not much was taken.”

“So the looter,
singular, was looking for something in particular and kept looking until he
found it,” James said.

Maya glanced at
him. “When Dani called, she told me some of the items taken were linked to the
gravesite.”

“That’s a big
coincidence, you showing up the day before a looter breaks in and takes the
very thing you’re here to see.”

Dani stiffened.
Maya laid a hand on her arm and shook her head slightly. “Yes, it is, but we
aren’t responsible, not directly at any rate.”

“You have to
admit it looks bad.”

Dani’s eyes
turned frigid. “If you think we’re responsible, just say so.”

Maya tightened
her grip around Dani’s arm. “Stay calm, Dani. Anyone else would think the same
thing. It’s best to clear those suspicions up now before they take root and
distract everyone from finding the real culprit.”

“Yes, Maetyrm.”
Dani relaxed slightly, though her gaze remained cold. “If you don’t mind, I’d
like to check on Indigo.”

“Of course.”

As soon as Dani
was out of earshot, James said, “She’s got a short fuse.”

“Not usually. I’d
suggest not provoking her further, though.”

He shot her a
startled look.

Maya tucked her
hands into the pockets of her cargo pants and shrugged. “People look at Dani
and see only the surface, a bright, energetic young woman who charms and flirts
her way through life, much to the detriment of anyone who crosses her. I assure
you, Daniella makes a formidable enemy.”

James crossed
his arms over his chest and scowled. “Is that a threat?”

“Merely a
friendly warning. Stay on her good side.” Maya smiled, mischief getting the
better of her. “Chocolate usually helps.”

“I’ll remember
that.”

“If it helps,
keep in mind that it takes a lot to anger her. The looting and Indigo’s injury
have upset her. This dig is as important to Dani as it is to anyone else here.
Once she’s able to take a positive action to resolve the situation, she’ll find
her calm.”

“Right.”

James’ voice
betrayed his doubt, but Maya let it go. Better for him to be at least a little
wary of the young warrior.

They walked around
the trailer and joined the main group. The students were chattering quietly
among themselves. Olaf, Helene, and Dani hovered over Indigo, who was still
holding an ice pack to the back of her head.

While Maya was
checking on Indigo, a lone police officer arrived and cordoned off the areas with
the worst damage. Very little of the site had remained untouched, with the exception
of the pits themselves. Helene finally convinced Indigo to go to the hospital
to check for a concussion. Dani insisted on driving, and Helene tagged along as
the navigator.

Maya spoke
briefly with Dr. Lindberg and offered her assistance in sorting through the artifacts.
Restoring order to the dig would give her a chance to assess what had been
taken, but it would also give her a chance to covertly monitor the police’s
investigation and begin her own. The students gave statements to the officer
and, with Olaf’s encouragement, wandered back to their lodgings for a few
hours’ rest, leaving Olaf, James, and Maya to guard the site.

As daylight
broke in the eastern sky, Maya found herself drawn to the undisturbed anomalous
grave. The skeleton still wore the ancient copper armband, the symbol of Marnan
just visible through the patina. Maya was certain the burial was of a Daughter,
but questions circled endlessly in her head. Had the Daughter really been
buried around the time of the massacre? If so, why had she been buried when all
the other victims had been left where they’d fallen, at a time when it was more
common to consecrate the dead with fire? Would the fragments contain an as yet
unknown part of the Daughters’ history? Or would the writings the Daughter
carried contain a dire warning for their future?

Most of all,
Maya considered the who. Who was this Daughter and how had she ended up in
Scandinavia? And who was behind the looting? Was it simply local artifact
hunters looking for a quick money-making scheme, or was it someone, or
something, more deadly?

Dread settled
low in Maya’s gut. Their ancient enemy had been silent for decades. She
fervently hoped they’d stay that way, but if her suspicions were correct,
they
were behind the looting. Her mind buzzed with the consequences of their
reappearance, to the Daughters and the IECS, to herself and her own daughters,
and to the people they loved.

Maya checked her
watch and calculated the time difference for the third time since her arrival
in Sweden less than twenty-four hours before. She called Director Upton and
caught her just after the other Daughter had gone to bed. In spite of the late
hour, the director’s voice was crisp, calm, and cool. Maya outlined the
situation with the artifacts, including Indigo’s injury, and assured the
director that she’d remain on site as long as she needed to.

She’d just hung
up when a scuffed footfall alerted her to someone else’s presence. She glanced
over her shoulder. James was ambling slowly toward her. In the distance, Dr.
Lindberg sat in a chair, head in hands, talking to the police officer.

Maya tilted her
head toward Olaf. “How’s he holding up?”

James halted
beside her, his gaze drawn to the partially uncovered skeleton at the bottom of
the pit. “He’s fine. Tired, worried. The usual.”

She nodded.
Looting at an active dig was heartbreaking, especially when you were in charge.

“Listen.” He
exhaled sharply and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “About
earlier. I don’t really suspect you or Dani or the IECS of being behind this,
and I apologize for implying that.”

Maya slashed a
hand through the air. “Don’t worry about it. It’s natural to suspect us. If I
were in your shoes, I’d do the same.”