“When you’re finished, come back to the plane.”
“We’re not staying?”
“No.”
Mason nods and ushers me down to the tarmac where another rental car is waiting. We climb inside, leaving our luggage aboard the plane, and Mason opens the envelope.
“Well, this I know nothing about.”
I grin and hold my hand out. This clue wasn’t a letter from Aunt Claudia. It’s a card.
A tarot card.
“It’s the Thunderbolt card,” I murmur. “Frankly, when this card turns up during a reading, it makes most people nervous.”
“Why?”
“Because it usually means that there’s about to be a significant change in one’s life, but not in a good way. It brings great upheaval. The good thing is, it usually means that it’s for the best, but it’s disruptive nonetheless.”
“Hmm.” His eyes narrow as he studies the card.
“Do we even know where we are?” I ask, realizing that I didn’t hear the pilot say.
“No.” He pulls his phone out of his pocket and brings up the GPS. “We’re in New Mexico.”
“Okay. I have no idea what we might find in New Mexico. Aside from really good TexMex food.”
His lips twitch in good humor as he thinks. He snaps his fingers. “I know where we’re going.”
“Great. Where?”
“We’re going to find Thunder eggs.”
He tries to start the car, but it doesn’t turn over.
“Seriously, the rental place gave us a car with a bad battery.” He sighs and moves to get out of the car, but I lay my hand on his arm and shake my head.
“I’ve got this.”
He frowns, but watches as I mumble a few words, wiggle my fingers, and the car starts. He raises a brow. “Good job.”
I can’t help it, I throw my head back and laugh. He’s not shocked, or repulsed, or afraid.
He’s acting like he sees witches do this every day of his life, and nothing could put me at ease more effectively.
He pulls away from the plane and away from the airport.
“Do you know where we’re going?”
“Yes,” he says with a smile. “Aunt Claudia brought me here a couple of times.”
“Okay, what is a thunder egg, exactly?”
“It’s a rock,” he says as he changes lanes, “that when you break it open, there is amethyst, or rose quartz, or something equally beautiful inside.”
“A geode,” I reply with a smile. “They’re beautiful. I’ve never had the chance to find them, though.”
“They were a common gift from Claudia. I have dozens. All different shapes and sizes.”
“Do they just lay out in the open?”
“Yes.” He nods. “ You dig for the best ones, but this will be a quick challenge.”
We arrive at a parking lot where several cars are already parked.
“I’m not dressed for this.”
He looks me up and down, his eyes hot with lust as he does, and just shrugs. “If we have to dig, I’ll do the dirty work.”
“That’s very chivalrous of you,” I reply with a laugh. Mason glances in the backseat of the car and grins.
“They gave us a pick.” He reaches in and comes out with what looks like a tiny pickaxe. “This will make it easier.”
“If you say so. You’re the expert.”
He reaches for my hand and leads me down a dusty path. There are men with hats on to protect themselves from the sun milling about. They have bags hanging from their waist, and they’re scanning the ground.
“This must be lucrative.”
“It can be,” Mason says with a nod. “The thunder rocks look jagged, almost shaped like cauliflower on the outside.”
“I hate cauliflower.” I wrinkle my nose, making him laugh. “But I like pretty, sparkly things.”
He veers us off the path to what looks like a mound of dirt.
“Stand back,” he says. “It’s about to get pretty dusty here.”
And with that, he begins to ferociously attack the dirt, picking away at it until a rock falls out of it and down toward me.
It’s the size of a soft ball, and definitely looks like what we’re looking for.
“I bet this is a good one,” I say as Mason joins me. “How do we break it open?”
He takes it from me, lays it on the ground, and smacks it with the pickaxe. It breaks into two pieces, showing off a gorgeous pink center.
“Oh, that’s a pretty one.”
“Rose quartz,” he says, examining it. “This was formed by a volcano.”
“We’re standing on a volcano?”
“An ancient one,” he says with a nod. “This was once lava, probably about a million years ago. All of the pressure over so much time formed this pretty quartz.”
“You’re pretty smart, Dr. Jones.” I take one of the halves from him and study it. “I’m keeping this half.”
“Of course.” He kisses my cheek and then my neck. “We should probably head back. Sounds like we have another flight in store for us today.”
“Let’s take a minute,” I reply. “Alan suggested we take our time and enjoy the adventure. There’s no reason that we can’t walk around and see what we can find.”
“It’s hot out here.”
“I’m not suggesting we stay for hours.” I bat my eyelashes at him, making him grin.
“As you wish.”
“Now you’re quoting my favorite movies.”
“What’s not to like about the Princess Bride?”
“Exactly.” I link my fingers with his and we take a stroll around the desert, looking for rocks. “Are there rattlesnakes out here?”
“Probably.” He glances down at me, then back at the ground. “Are you afraid of animals?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because you asked if there were sharks in the ocean, and now rattlesnakes.”
“Well, wildlife isn’t something to scoff at,” I reply. “You should always be aware of what could kill you.”
“That’s not a bad motto to live by. You should make it into a bumper sticker.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.” He laughs. “What happened in your youth to make you so wildlife-conscious?”
“I was almost eaten by an alligator.”
“Really?”
“Really. We were out in the Bayou, at Mallory’s grandmother’s house, and Mallory and I were running around on the boardwalks that ran between her grandmother’s house and my grandmother’s house.”
“There are a lot of grandmothers and houses in this story.”
“Two of each,” I agree. “Anyway, we were running and being silly young girls. I was ahead, and I glanced back to see where Mallory was, and my shoe caught in one of the boards. I fell into the swamp water.”
“Ew.”
“No kidding. It’s gross anyway, but unbeknownst to me, there was a giant alligator in the water, and he wasn’t super happy with sharing his space with me.”
“Jesus, Lena.”
“I was petrified. I didn’t swim well. Mallory was screaming, and this huge dinosaur was swimming right for me. Gram must have heard Mallory screaming and came running out, plucked me right out of the water, just as the alligator reached me.”
“I think I’d be afraid of wildlife after that too.”
“I just like to know what might be lurking about.”
He pulls me to him and hugs me tightly, rocking me back and forth under the scorching New Mexico sunshine.
“I just found another thing about you that makes me like you even more,” he says.
“What, that an alligator almost ate me?”
“Well, I can’t fault the alligator. You’re delicious.” He bites my neck, sending shivers through me. “No, you just used unbeknownst in a sentence.”
“Unbeknownst is a great word,” I reply. “It’s fun to say. It might be my favorite word. What words do you like?”
; “Whilst,” he says. “That whole st sound at the end of a word is pleasant, isn’t it?”
I nod. “I also like soliloquy.”
“That rolls nicely off the tongue,” he says with a nod. “I have a bunch of dirty words that I like as well. But I’ll have to tell you those later, when I can point them out to you.”
“I always did enjoy show and tell.”
“Excellent,” he replies. “We’re going to have a fun session of show and tell tonight then.”
“I can’t wait.”
Chapter Seven
~Lena~
If I thought the flight earlier today was bumpy, I was mistaken. That was mild compared to the flight we’re on now.
“Seriously, are they aiming for the rough air?” I ask and hold onto the armrest for dear life.
“This is a smaller plane,” Mason replies. “It can’t fly as high as commercial flights. So, yeah, we’re going to hit more air.”
“It’s not a good time.” I swallow hard and wipe the sweat from my forehead.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He kisses my cheek and just takes my hand in his. We’re both seated with our belts on, and he’s not offering to do me on the floor of the plane, so it’s definitely a rough ride.
“We’ll be landing soon. Sorry for the bumpy ride, folks,” the pilot says over the sound system.
“Ugh.” I shut my eyes, but that just makes it worse.
“Have you always had motion sickness?” Mason asks.
“Yeah.” I shrug. “It’s gotten better as I’ve gotten older, but I avoid theme parks. Rides aren’t fun for me. Do you like the big roller coasters?”
“I haven’t spent a lot of time on them,” he says, shaking his head. “But I do love things like the Eye in London, or a ferry ride around Seattle.”
“Big kid rides,” I reply with a smile. We’re descending, and the plane isn’t bouncing around quite as bad now. “I wonder where we’re going now?”
“I think we’re headed east.”
“How do you know?”
He tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear. “Just a hunch.”
Just when I think the plane is leveling off and I might catch a break from the turbulence, it starts again, but worse this time.
The next thirty minutes are the worst of my life. Finally, when we’re on the ground, all I can do is breathe in and out through my nose.
“Are you okay?” Mason asks. I quickly shake my head no. “No more hunting today. We’ll go to the hotel and regroup.”
“It’ll be okay.”
“No.” The tone of his voice makes me turn to look at him. “This isn’t a race, Lena. We can take the rest of today to relax and get back at it tomorrow.”
“I could use some down time,” I admit. Even though I’ve done a lot of sitting in planes or cars between the actual events, I’m exhausted. “Traveling is exhausting.”
“Absolutely.” As soon as the plane stops and the pilot opens the cockpit door, Mason takes my hand and helps me stand. The pilot hands him an envelope and when we deplane, there’s another car waiting for us.
“Welcome,” an older woman says as we approach the car. “I’m not supposed to tell you much of anything except here is an envelope with your hotel information. Just let the hotel know when you’re finished and ready to leave and the plane will be ready for you.”
Mason nods, but all I can do is scowl.
More flights.
Yuck.
We get in the car, but before we can read the clue, my phone pings with a text from Mallory.
Are you in North Carolina yet?
I frown and call her, putting her on speaker phone.
“Hey,” she says. “Are you and the sexy Captain America in North Carolina?”
I smirk. “I don’t know, but the sexy Captain America, aka Indiana Jones, can hear you. You’re on speaker.”
“Hi, Mason,” she says.
“Hello, Mallory.”
“I think you look like Chris Evans with darker hair.”
“I will take that as a compliment.”
“Oh, it is,” she insists. “Pretty much every woman in America wants to do Captain America.”
Mason laughs, and I slap my hand over my eyes, mortified.
“So are you in North Carolina?”
“I don’t know,” I reply. “We just landed. How do you know where we might be?”
“Uh, psychic, remember?”
“Right.” I giggle and Mason checks his phone.
“We’re in North Carolina,” he confirms. “Charlotte, to be exact.”
“Okay, well, you guys have fun.”
“Love you,” I reply. “Good bye.”
“Bye!”
I hang up and sigh loudly. “She’s brutally honest.”
“Do you want to do Captain America?” he asks, his lips twitching with humor.
“I mean, I probably wouldn’t turn him down.” I shrug. “But I don’t think you look like him.”
“No?”
“No.” I shake my head and decide, what the hell? I don’t have anything to lose. “I think you’re better looking.”
“Now you’re just feeding my ego.”
“No. You’re pretty sexy. You always were.”
He kisses the back of my hand. “Thank you.”
I open the hotel envelope and am relieved to see on an included map that we don’t have far to go to reach our accommodations. “This is nearby.”
“Excellent.”
Once we’re checked in and we arrive at the room, all I want to do is order room service and pass out. But when we walk inside, I can’t help but notice that there’s only one bed.
“Was this your doing, or a mistake by the hotel?”
“It’s no mistake,” he replies easily, setting our bags by the closet. “I don’t plan to sleep without you again in the near future.”
But then you’ll leave and I’ll be sleeping alone again.
I don’t say that; I simply raise a brow. “What if I don’t want to sleep with you?”
He narrows his eyes at me. “Would you prefer your own bed?”
“No.”
He advances on me, slowly, those grey eyes still narrowed. He looks quite menacing, but I don’t move an inch. I raise my chin as he gets closer, maintaining eye contact.
“Are you being sassy?”
“I don’t know if you know this about me,” I reply, “but I am quite sassy all the time.”
“Are you still feeling ill?”
“A little. But now that I’m on the ground, it’s not so bad.”
“Good. Because I’d like to get you naked and make you moan under me.”
“Can we get food too?”
He smiles now. “Yes. Moaning is first.”
“Food first,” I reply sternly. “I’m hungry. I need the calories.”
He shrugs. “I can compromise.”
“Good.” I nod and turn to walk away, but he catches my arm and spins me back to him, pressing me against him. He cups my cheek and kisses me long and slow, making my whole body hum.
“There is no one else I’d rather be on this adventure with,” he says softly. “Thank you for agreeing to come. You’re amazing.”
“I’m amazingly hungry,” I reply and kiss him again. “And you’re welcome.”
***
“The hills are as green as what you’ll find inside them.”
Mason reads the clue the next morning and frowns.
“Emeralds,” I reply.
“How do you come to that?”
“Well, we’ve done nothing but chase precious stones, and I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that stones are our theme. Emeralds are green.”
“Makes sense,” he says with a nod. “I’ll bet there’s an emerald mine nearby.”
Google is my friend, and doesn’t disappoint. “There’s a place called Emerald Hollow Mine not far from here.”
“Let’s go,” he says. Once in the car, headed down the highway, I slide my
sunglasses on and reach over for his hand.
“I wonder how many of these she’s going to have us do?”
“No idea,” he says. “But I’m having fun with you.”
“Me too.” I grin and roll my window down to enjoy the sunshine. The air smells fresh. “It’s a beautiful day.”
Before long, we arrive at the public mine and walk into the small office. We’re greeting by a man with kind eyes and permanently dirty skin.
“We’ve been expecting you,” he says with a smile. “Come with me.”
We follow him out to a huge field of nothing but dirt. He passes us each a shovel and a bucket. “All you have to do is fill your buckets and then meet me over at that covered area and we’ll sift through it. You might get lucky and find some emeralds.”
He nods and walks away.
“He’s a man of few words,” I mutter. “And we get to dig in the dirt. Again.”
Mason chuckles and sticks his shovel in the dirt. “A little dirt never hurt anyone.”
“No, but you’re used to digging around in it. I’m not.”
“Do you want me to fill your bucket?”
“No.” I follow his lead and scoop dirt into my bucket. “I didn’t say I couldn’t do it.”
He nods and waits for me to finish with my bucket and then leads me over to the covered area where several people are sitting, sifting their dirt through contraptions very similar to the one we used at the opal mine.
An hour later, and five emeralds richer, we leave the mine, headed toward the airport with a new clue envelope.
“I’m gonna open it.”
“Do it,” Mason says.
I scan it and frown. “Your last clue was your last clue. You’ll be flown to your final destination, and all will be revealed to you there.”
“We’re almost done,” he says and glances my way.
“Time sure flies when you’re having fun.” My voice is light, but I can’t help but feel sad. We have one more adventure, probably just one more night together, and then we’ll go our separate ways again. I’ve known from the beginning that it would end like this, but saying goodbye is going to hurt.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say that I was falling in love with Mason Coulter all over again.
But I’m not. I can’t.
Because he isn’t going to stay.
We’re quiet as Mason drives us back to the airport and we board the plane. Our bags are taken care of.