Which still begged the question of where the First Guardian was now. It wasn't like him to be missing while his daughter was in danger.
Maybe she's not really his daughter.
But he knew better. Between the mark all Guardians had and her eyes ...
He had no doubt about her. While her powers lay dormant, they were still present to anyone who looked past the surface. In all his life, he'd only been defeated one time.
By her father. And even then, it hadn't been through her father's superior battle skills. Rather, the First Guardian had won the fight mentally. He'd verbally stripped Ren bare and left him exposed until his will to fight was gone.
It was the dirtiest trick anyone had ever used on him. And given his past, that said a lot.
She arched one probing brow. "What are you hiding from me?"
"What do you mean?"
"I've always had the ability to know whenever someone was keeping a secret. You have a deep one. I can feel it."
Oh yeah, she was definitely the daughter. No one else had ever been able to read his moods-not the way the First Guardian had.
And he really wasn't into sharing. "You don't need to know anything about me."
Her other brow joined the first in a look that said he'd offended her. "You don't have a lot of people skills, do you?"
If she only knew the truth....
"Don't want them."
Kateri frowned as the image of Ren being mocked went through her head. That would explain his hostility toward people. And who could blame him?
But this couldn't be the same man. She knew better. Those images had come from her dreams. Some weird holdover maybe from her dig last summer. Her grandmother had firmly believed that objects could carry the essence of previous owners. That the human spirit was so powerful, it could leave impressions on virtually anything. Kateri had handled a lot of different Mayan fragments. Any one of them could have "infected" her and caused her subconscious to create fictional scenarios.
While it wasn't the most satisfactory of answers, it was certainly a lot better than believing he was some reincarnated warrior or immortal vampire or something else bizarre and farfetched.
Which led her back to the oddest question of all. "How did you get me out of that hole?"
"Carried you."
Nice sarcasm there, buddy. Never had she held a stronger desire to kick anyone. Not even the little boy who'd stolen her purse in kindergarten to aggravate her. But this man ... he was purposefully being vague and difficult.
Unlike the little boy in her class, this one ought to know better....
"You're really going to play this game with me?"
His gaze dropped to her lips. For the merest nanosecond, she saw the spark of desire in his eyes. But no sooner did it flame than he extinguished it. "You asked and I answered. No games."
"What? You don't play those either?"
He wore the most emotionless expression she'd ever seen in her life. Man, he should have played the Terminator. He'd have been better than even Schwarzenegger. "No. I do not."
"You should. There's a lot to be learned from games. As Socrates said, a person can discover more about another in one hour of play than in two years of conversation."
He seemed to consider that until his phone rang an instant later.
Ren pulled it out of his pocket and checked the ID, expecting it to be one of his few friends. His heart stopped.
Not a friend, after all.
It was Coyote.
Don't answer it. Nothing good could come of talking to his brother. Nothing.
But his curiosity was too great. He wasn't even sure how his brother had his number, never mind why the bastard would be calling him. Before he could stop himself, he flipped it open. "Osiyo."
"Greetings indeed, big brother. It has come to my attention that you have yet again stolen the very thing I need. I want it back."
Ren tsked at him. "Poor Anukuwaya. You never could hold on to a woman, could you?"
As Ren had intended, Coyote sputtered in indignation. Then he broke off into a round of cursing him.
In spite of the gravity, Ren was amused by his brother's colorful choices. "That is your father, too, Anukuwaya. More so, actually, since he was never interested in claiming me."
Coyote snarled in his ear. "I want her. Now."
Yeah, and people in hell want ice water. "Will not happen."
"Not even for Choo Co La Tah's life?"
Ren froze at the unexpected question. No ... surely Choo wouldn't have been captured. "You lie."
He heard something that sounded like a fist striking flesh. It was followed by a deep grunt. "Say hi, dog."
A deep English-accented voice spoke over the phone. "There is nothing more frightening, Renegade, than ignorance in action." Choo was one of the few who knew what Ren was short for. His way of letting Ren know Coyote really had him.
Not that he had to doubt. An instant later, a photo text message buzzed, showing him Choo tied down to a chair and beaten brutally.
"His future is up to you, Makah'Alay."
Ren gripped the phone as fury tore through him. The man he'd learned to become wanted to save his old friend. But the warrior in him knew better.
When the coyote was hungry, it fed. There was no appeasing the beast until it'd eaten its fill. No matter what he did, it wouldn't change Coyote's actions or Choo's fate.
"Does Choo Co La Tah live or die?" his brother taunted.
Ren ground his teeth before he spoke the only answer he could give. "That decision is yours alone to make. The Ixkib stays with me."
Coyote laughed before he mocked him. "You were ever st-st-st-stupid."
The line went dead.