Immortals After Dark 09 - Pleasure of a Dark Prince

dark claws flared in readiness.
    “Let me go first.” He took her free hand. “I can scent traps—or enemies.”
    As they began journeying down the dim tunnel, she could feel his excitement, sharing it in spades. Yet then he paused to say, “Probably should’ve addressed this before, but Valkyrie are notoriously…
acquisitive
, and I’m taking one directly to what might be El Dorado. Are you going to be able to handle this?”
    “I’m not as bad as some of my sisters.”
And I want something far more precious than treasure.
“I can handle it.”
    Slanting her an undecided look, he finally gave a halfhearted nod, then continued on, farther down the passageway. From the ceiling, spiderwebs dangled. A warm draft blew, whisking the dust on the floor and fluttering the webs.
    Though the tunnel had to be subterranean by now, all the walls were dry, the temperature stifling.
    “I can barely imagine what this arrow will be like,” she said in a hushed voice. Skathi’s had been a sight to behold, but this dieumort… “I bet it’s beautiful. And solid gold, only more perfectly weighted and aerodynamic than any I’ve ever seen.”
    “Whatever it is, let’s be cautious about this.” When the webs grew increasingly thick, he used his claws to slice through them. “I doona relish facing
loss-prevention technology
.”
    “Agreed.” Five minutes later: “MacRieve,” she murmured urgently. “Do you see something glimmering ahead?”
    “Aye, we’re coming upon a chamber.”
    When they entered it, Lucia breathed, “My gods, it’s El Dorado.”
    The “chamber” was the size of a warehouse, and its floor, ceiling, and walls were each tiled with solid gold. All along the perimeter, treasures were stacked high— gold bricks, chalices, and jewelry.
    “How are we doing, lass?”
    “Wowed.” She released his hand to turn in a circle. “But not tempted.”
Yet.
    As they neared the center of the chamber, she spied a mammoth gold sarcophagus atop a stone pediment.Exhilaration surging within her, she said, “MacRieve, look! The resting place of the Gilded One. It has to be.”
    Desiccated bodies lay around it,
husks
of some kind of humanlike creature.
Must be the watchers.
There was something familiar about their long, withered faces. Just as she remembered what it was, MacRieve muttered, “Wendigos?”
    Wendigos were flesh eaters like zombies, but
fast
. They had elongated faces and dripping fangs. “But I thought they’re only found in the northern forests.”
    “I’d believed so as well. No’ anymore.”
    The Wendigos were spread around the pediment like a pack of animals at their master’s feet, as if they’d fallen asleep like this and had never woken.
    “How did they dry up like this?” Lucia asked.
    “I doona know—” Suddenly, he lunged forward with his hand outstretched, palm up above one of the bodies. “Careful, woman!” He’d caught a bead of sweat that had dripped from her chin.
    “Sorry,” she whispered, briefly turning away to wipe her face on her sleeve.
    Cautiously stepping around the creatures, they made their way to the sarcophagus. The top was uncovered, as if for a wake viewing. After wiping her face again, she leaned forward, heart in her throat.
    Under the cover of the finest gold netting lay
a mummy….
The body was decorated with elaborate jewels, a gold breastplate and crown, and rings on every finger.
Stunning.
    ♦ ♦ ♦
    Lucia peered over the sarcophagus, her eyes widening with awe.
    Though he was keen only on finding the dieumort, Garreth’s curiosity got the better of him, and he briefly glanced down at the jewel-covered mummy. “No’ tempted to swipe a gem or two?”
    “I’m not staring at them. Look at the mummy.”
    “It should no’ be so preserved,” he said absently, his attention back to locating the weapon.
    “No kidding,” Lucia said.
    “What does the paleopathologist in you think?” he asked, scanning the room.
    “That something else isn’t right.”
    He glanced down again. “Yeah, El Dorado has breasts.
Big
ones.”
    Lucia cast him a glare. “Try to be serious.”
    “So El Dorado is no’ a man.”
    In a soft tone, Lucia said, “She’s La Dorada, the Gilded
Woman
. History had it wrong. Really wrong.”
    “Makes sense.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Say you were a conquistador, hunting for the Gilded One’s gold, yet the native was clever enough to keep a tomb full of it hidden. A native—a
woman
native— somehow outwits