Curse of the Druids Read Online Free PDF Page B

of defiant energy surged through my entire being. Along with it came the cavalier air I had been missing as of late, like an old friend determined not to be denied access to my heart and mind any longer.
    “What happened to the feisty girl who embraced danger with nary a care in the world?” I asked her, quietly, knowing the reaction I was likely to get. It came quickly, as Marie’s head swung toward me in a nanosecond, her gorgeous blue eyes ablaze with those curious gold flecks drifting as if prepared to form a phalanx and incinerate me where I stood. “Do you remember how little you cared about your personal safety when you hired me to help you find the Lost City of Gold in the Honduran jungles?”
    “What?! Do you think I’ve become weak?” she snarled, letting her voice rise and thereby inviting Ishi into the realm of our conversation. The gloves were coming off. “You can be such an insensitive asshole sometimes, Nick!”
    “Only when necessary,” I replied. “Sometimes, that’s what it takes to get through. Especially, for a team like you and me to survive, babe. We need to start kicking each other’s ass whenever one of us is ready to give up, instead of playing nursemaid. You told me once that your father used to say ‘Dead people are all around us, waiting to be buried and forgotten. Only the risk takers get to enjoy life.’”
    That got her. I fought hard not to laugh at the sight of her mouth hanging half open, without a damned thing coming out. Caught speechless—literally.
    Count on Ishi to take care of the inappropriate response to get Marie’s boiling anger back on track.
    “You look really funny,” he said to her, as he finished the set up of his Xbox to use with the room’s television. “And, you both sound like you’re married. Maybe you should get married.”
    He chuckled as he turned on the game system, keeping the volume high enough to drown out Marie’s and my quarrel.
    Well played, little buddy.
    “So, what in the hell do you suggest we do?” she asked, holding me in her fiery gaze. “Just because I’m a little freaked out about a car full of guys who likely have enough guns and bombs to remove Cricket Field House and half of Salisbury from the face of the earth, doesn’t mean I’m prepared to quit my search for the amulet. Don’t even think about suggesting again for me to leave England without it!”
    I liked her spunk—always had. Keeping her ire up would help us stay alive, I reasoned…. But being smart about where to direct that wrath was also part of the equation. Not sure where she and I would end up in regard to a romantic ‘life happily ever after’—especially if these guys were packing serious heat they intended to start using. A few direct hits from bullets or shrapnel would certainly take care of the ‘life’ portion of that idea.
    “Marie… I’ve gotta be honest,” I said, preparing to duck out of the way from heated words or potentially flying objects—anything within easy reach of a desperate feline on the edge of going ballistic. “I’m not saying we have to take a different route in dealing with this. But maybe we should consider laying low someplace for a week or so and see what happens. We can come back—”
    “No! We’re not leaving!!”
    “Babe—”
    “At least I’m not leaving!”
    I admit I was worried things would escalate from there, especially when a knock on a wall from an adjoining room indicated we didn’t have as much privacy as either of us had assumed. But, Marie simply announced she was done talking about it, and that Ishi and I were free to do what we wanted.
    Too bad my heart held better cards than my mind did.
    Despite an imploring look and whispered plea from Ishi to consider leaving Ms. Da Vinci to her ill-advised whims, I couldn’t do it.
    “All right,” I told her, after forcing her to look at me again.
“I’ll keep watch tonight while the two of you get some rest. If we make it until dawn without a single