He let out a sound of supreme aggravation. "So the date's not important to the Mayans at all?"
"Yes and no. They'd think of it the same way we throw parties on December 31st and why we partied like it was 1999. It's the end of an era for them, and the beginning of a new one. But other than tossing down a few drinks, or taking a few heads as the Mayans were prone to do, it's no cause for alarm."
"Unless you're one of the heads they have their eyes on."
She laughed. "Exactly."
Enrique sighed like he was disappointed that time would carry on. "Well, damn. I better pay my light bill when I get home. I was hoping I could let it slide."
Before she could comment, a new voice interrupted them. "I wouldn't rush home if I were you. The world may yet come to a bad ending."
Kateri sucked her breath in sharply at the thickly accented male voice that intruded on their conversation. Neither Spanish nor Indian, his accent was more a soft blending of the two. One that made the deep rich timbre sound exotic.
Frowning, she looked past her assistant to find what had to be one of the sexiest men she'd ever seen in the flesh. He'd paused just inside the doorway so that he could watch them. Though she doubted he was much over average height, if that, he had an aura so powerful that it seemed to fill the entire room. It was the raw intensity of someone used to being worshiped and feared ... most likely at the same time.
Dressed entirely in black, he wore his thick ebony hair pulled back into a ponytail. He pinned her with a stare so unsettling, it made her hands shake. There was something about him. Magnetic and scary, it set fire to the very air around them.
It literally sizzled.
His skin the same color as a perfect piece of caramel, he moved with the feral lope of an accomplished predator. Even though his gaze never wavered from hers, she had the distinct impression that he could see everything around him.
For that matter, she wouldn't be surprised if he could see behind his back, too.
"Why would you say that, Mister..." She dragged the word out, hoping he'd fill in the missing detail.
Luckily, he took the hint as he closed the gap between them. "Verastegui, Kukulcan Verastegui. But most people refer to me as Cabeza."
The way he said his full name, she could almost taste something sweet and luscious ... like warm cocoa.
Except one thing destroyed the image. The fact that she knew what his nickname stood for. "They call you ... Head? Why?"
One corner of his mouth quirked up into a smile that was both amused and threatening. "Pray that you never find out."
Her gaze dropped to the gold ring on his left pinkie. It bore a Mayan symbol, but she wasn't close enough to identify it, and though he was hotter than hell, she didn't want to get even a micro-inch nearer to him. His lethal persona said he might take her arm off if she tried.
"Is there something I can do for you, Mr. Veracity?"
"Vair-ross-STUH-gee," he corrected, rolling his R so that it sounded like a purr.
Enrique put himself between them, forcing Cabeza to stop short of reaching her.
Go, Enrique. Twenty-two-point bonus on your next test. God love that boy for being overprotective.
The scary glint in those soulless black eyes said Mr. Head didn't like or appreciate the interference. Cabeza spoke to Enrique in Spanish, but his accent was so thick that Kateri couldn't catch the individual words. However, there was no missing the way Enrique curled his lips before he shot back with a fiery retort.
Somehow, she didn't think they were discussing the weather or getting directions to something off-campus. They rather reminded her of a telenovela.
Cabeza laughed in a low, throaty tone as he tossed a smug expression at her. "You should call off your Chihuahua, chica. I'm really not in the mood to clean blood from my clothes."
Enrique started for him, then all of a sudden, froze as if someone had flipped an off switch. He stood stock still with one arm raised and his features contorted by anger.
Yeah, okay ... that wasn't right.
Gasping, Kateri took a step back, only to collide with the lab table that cut off her retreat. Crap!
"Relax, bonita. If I wanted you dead or harmed, you'd already be so."
Right ... He didn't know her at all if he thought that.
Her hands shaking with controlled fear, she reached into the pocket of her lab coat so that she could clutch her tactical pen-something her uncle Danny had insisted she always carry in case someone attacked her. If Cabeza didn't freeze her too, she had one heck of a surprise for him. She might be short and comparatively tiny, but thanks to her uncle Danny and cousins, she was all muscle and trained to fight dirty with the best of them. "What do you want?"
"You own a certain item that I require."
"And that would be?"
"A stone."
That was like asking the ocean for a single molecule of water. "Look around the room. I'm a geologist." She gestured to the shelves on her left that were lined with boxes of rocks- kind of what he was if he thought she was going to give him anything while he threatened her.
And that display was nothing compared to the ones she had at home. "Been collecting stones since I started walking. I need a little bit more than one noun. Could I buy an adjective there, Pat?"
His gaze turned dark. Deadly. "How about you just cooperate and give me what I need?"
Kateri pulled her pen from her pocket. "Let me think ... um ... no." She ran for the door.
Unfortunately, he ran faster and cut her off halfway to her destination. She slashed at him with her pen, but he caught her wrist in a move that was so fast she didn't see it until he had her pinned. Damn, he was a lot stronger than Mr. Hulk appeared. And that said it all.
"Give me your time stone," he growled in her ear.
"My wha-Who?" Her gaze went to the calendar Fernando had sent. Was that what he was talking about?
Okay, that he could have. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't worth her life.
"You mean that?" She pointed toward it. "Take the stupid thing. It's all yours."
He glanced toward it, then did a double take. He released her so fast, she stumbled backward.
She ran for the door, but when she tried to open it, it wouldn't budge. Where was a grenade when you needed one?
Better yet, a key.
His features reverent, Cabeza ran his hand over the ancient carvings. He caressed the calendar like a lover he thought was lost to him. "How did you get this?"
"UPS."
He curled his lip and raked her with a sneer. "Where was this found? Tell me!"
Not the appropriate tone, buster. She'd never been one to be ordered around by anyone, anytime. Anywhere. Ignoring his command, she tried the knob again. C'mon door ... open, open, open!
Why wasn't the damn thing opening?
'Cause this day just didn't suck enough already.
That thought had barely finished, before the whole door blew apart in her hands. Shielding her face with her arm, she fell away in an effort to protect herself. Cabeza launched himself at her. Dodging his grasp, she ran for the opening, only to collide with a solid wall.
No, not a wall- A giant mass of a man who had to be seven feet tall stood in the center of the doorframe. One who snarled something at Cabeza in a language she'd never heard spoken before.
Kateri barely got out of the line of fire before the two of them went after each other with everything they had. They let fly blows that should have killed any normal human being. But neither of them did more than growl and attack as they continued to block her exit.
It was like being trapped by Godzilla and Mothra.
With no thought other than survival, she ran toward the closet in back. If nothing else, she could try to hide there.
As she broke even with the last table, where she'd left her purse, she grabbed her phone out of it. Intending to call security, she cursed as it started ringing in her hands.
Dammit! It better not be a telemarketer.
She flipped it open, and started to tell whoever it was that she was a little busy when she heard her cousin's voice.
"Teri? Is everything okay?"
"Sunny! I need help in my lab. Now! Call campus security for me. I'm being attacked." She'd barely finished the last word before her phone went dead.
"We can't be having that, can we?" Cabeza asked as he kicked the mountain away from him.
He started toward her.