He counted down to one, then hurled the transport stone at the ground. The silvery gray cloud burst up, and we stepped through the cloud.
A moment later, we appeared in a bustling village. The sun beat down harshly, and I was suddenly glad that I’d changed back into my Death Valley clothes. Ana always said it made us look like we were in Mad Max, and fortunately, I fit in well in this supernatural village.
“Wow.” Ana spun in a circle to take it in.
I followed suit.
We stood in the central square, surrounded on all sides by merchants with their colorful goods laid out on blankets. Ceramics and cloth, spices and fruit. Dozens of people filled the square, all kinds of supernaturals from what I could see. Except for vampires—because boy, would this sun murder them.
I shielded my eyes to check out the three-story buildings surrounding us on all sides. They were nothing like I’d ever seen before. Made of smooth beige adobe, they were all connected as a united fort like apartments. Roofs arched up at the tops, and narrow, open adobe staircases crisscrossed the fronts, going up to each level. Instead of windows, there were huge open doors at each floor, accessed by the narrow stairs.
“This is incredible,” I said.
“It is,” Cade said. “Come on. Let’s see if we can find Doug and Veronica. I wasn’t able to get in touch with them, but hopefully they’re here.”
We followed Cade through the square, dodging the blankets covered with goods.
When we reached one of the buildings, Cade said, “Wait here. I’ll check their apartment.”
“Sure thing.”
He climbed onto the stairs that ran up alongside the front of the building. Could the little adobe stairs support his weight?
They didn’t crack, at least.
He poked his head through a door at the top and called out, then waited a moment. After a while, he turned around and came back down.
“Not home,” he said. “So they’re either out on a job or trying to convince some locals to tell them where the good stuff is.”
“That’s how archaeologists find things? Just asking around?” Ana asked.
Cade nodded. “A lot of the times, aye.”
We followed him down the row of buildings to the other side of the square. He stopped at a narrow staircase that ran all the way up to the third floor. “We’ll try the bar up here. Might get lucky.”
I followed him up the narrow stairs, which were built right into the front of the building. They didn’t pass in front of any apartments, though I was desperate to peek inside and see what they looked like. They sure smelled good, though, with the scent of savory meat and spices spilling from the doors above and below us.
When we entered the dimly lit bar at the top, cool air enveloped me.
“Wow.” I blinked, letting my eyes adjust.
“Aye, the adobe keeps the interiors cool,” Cade said.
I noticed a small bar at the back and tiny round tables throughout the space. A little stage was occupied by a fae playing a stringed instrument I’d never seen before.
“There.” Cade pointed to a table in the back corner.
Two people were sitting at it, talking to an older man with white hair and a black felt cap. The two archaeologists looked to be in their early thirties, and both were dressed like Indiana Jones, wearing khaki and leather.
I grinned, suddenly liking them.
The man was tall and broad shouldered, with sandy hair and kind eyes. The woman was nearly as tall, strikingly beautiful with her wild black hair tied back with a colorful scarf.
“If you could get a table and some drinks,” Cade said, “I’ll get Doug and Veronica.”
I nodded, then followed Ana toward the bar.
From behind the counter, a woman with gorgeous blue hair smiled at us, her fangs glinting in the light. “What can I get you?”
“Something local?” Ana asked. “Non-alcoholic.”
The woman grinned. “Celestia, then. A popular non-alcoholic beer.”
“Sounds good.” Actually, it didn’t. But it also didn’t really matter what we drank.
She was quick with the beers, and fortunately, she took credit cards. It might look like we’d stepped back in time here, but the technology was up to date.
Ana and I carried five beers toward a table against the wall and sat. I sipped mine, and eyed Cade, who was talking to the archaeologists.
A moment later, they left the old man, who was now beaming, and approached.
The woman stopped in front of our table and stuck out her hand. “I’m Veronica. I hear you’re nuts.”
I grinned and shook her hand. “I’ve heard that before. I’m Bree. This is Ana.”
Ana shook.
“Doug.” The man smiled and stuck out his hand. We shook, then everyone sat.
I leaned forward. “So, am I nuts because I want to go to Kart-hadasht or for some other reason?”
“Not sure about any other reasons—maybe you’ve got them—but Kart-hadasht is a bad idea.”
“She means it’s a death wish,” Doug said.
“So you don’t go there?” I asked.
“We’re not idiots. We do flyovers with our drones and create 3D maps,” Doug said. “Data without the death.”
Veronica grinned. “It’s our motto.”
“Not a bad one, honestly,” I said.
“It’s not. And if you don’t want to die, you won’t go to Kart-hadasht.” Veronica’s dark eyes glinted with warning.
“What’s changed?” Cade asked. “Didn’t you used to go into the ruins?”
“Once, yeah,” Veronica said. “But about four years ago, something shifted. The magic got weird. Buildings started to throw giant bricks at us.”
“Throw bricks?”
Doug nodded. “There’s new magic there—violent magic. I don’t know what changed, but it all went south.”
“Say we were willing to risk it,” Cade said. “Would you take us as close as you can?”
“When?” Veronica asked.
“Now.”
“Ha, dream on.” She leaned back in her chair.
Doug just laughed. “Now’s the worst time to go. We can’t transport across the desert because it’s protected by enchantments. And it’s sandstorm season. You’ll drown in the stuff before you make it halfway across.”
If transporting didn’t work, I hoped our portal would. To my knowledge, portals were a totally different type of magic, so hopefully we’d be in the clear.
“But the sandstorms don’t always come, do they?” I asked.
“This time of year, they’re frequent enough that we don’t cross the desert,” Doug said.
“What if I could block the sands?” Ana asked.
“Shield magic?” Veronica said.
Ana nodded.
I couldn’t tell what kind of supernatural Veronica was. Or Doug, for that matter. They kept their signatures on the down-low. I’d have to ask Cade.
“We’ll pay,” I said.
“We’re not interested in money,” Doug said.
Veronica punched him in the shoulder.
Doug sighed. “Fine. We not uninterested. But it’s not what drives us.”
“It does buy equipment, though,” Veronica said. “And nice hotel rooms on vacation.”
Doug smiled. “True.” He tapped his chin. “This will be dangerous, but maybe we can cut a deal.”
“What kind?”