Series: Royal States #3
Publication date: February 12th, 2018
Synopsis:
In the Royal States of America, magic rules all, but life--and love--always finds a way.
At the Texas Charity Auction, money can buy anything, and Summer Cassidy is under orders to take advantage of the opportunity. While she believes the marital collar once worn by an Aztec queen belongs in a museum, it's up to her to sell the priceless treasure to one of the elite in attendance.
Meeting Bachelor #103, a man who finds her descriptions of human sacrifice charming rather than appalling, hadn't been part of her plans. Buying his company for a quarter hadn't been part of her plans, either.
One coffee date, a dinner, and a curse later, Summer's catapulted across the Royal States on an adventure that will forever change her life, alter the course of an entire kingdom, and give her a chance to earn a love capable of defying even death.
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Excerpt
I cursed the day my boss had decided to get the university's approval to sell the necklace to fund the dig. I also cursed the day the Mexican government had sold all rights to the temple and its treasures to a scumbag like my boss and his cohorts.
I sighed. "I was researching the best way to bed men over sacrificial alters and pluck their still-beating hearts from their chests as an offering to the gods so the world won't end." Taking my time, I looked him over, wondering what sort of man his suit and mask hid. "They'd probably put you on your back and take your heart out after cleaving through your chest with an obsidian dagger. Personally, I believe the daggers were reinforced, strengthened, and sharpened with an earthweaving talent to minimize the effort it takes to reach the heart. Then again, if they're in a hurry or you're not an important enough sacrifice, they might just cut through your gut and fetch your heart that way."
"Charming."
I flashed him my best smile. "The other option involves breaking through your ribs and spine from the back, tearing through other organs to reach your heart. Either way, it's bloody, just like the Nahua needed to appease their gods and protect the Earth from inevitable destruction."
"Are you looking for live bodies to sacrifice? If so, should I be concerned?"
Bachelor #103 seemed more amused than worried to me, which I liked. "I'm looking for someone with two much money to buy a relic that belongs in a museum to find the excavation of a new Nahua site near Joya de Ballesteros. I was pulled off the dig last night." I regarded my muck-covered boots with a grimace. "I didn't have time to change."
I tried not to look at the floor and the dried mud I shed every time I took a step.
"You have my attention."
Without an easy way out of the conversation, I crouched, set the box on the floor, and opened it. I already regretted showing the man the piece, but I pulled it out anyway. The jade necklace, made of interlocking rings meant to be worn snug against the throat, was accented with strings of jade beads designed to fall between a woman's breasts. "No one really knows the full story of this piece," I confessed. "While I believe it's a gift from a wealthy man to his new wife, the rest of the team believes it's a sacrificial decoration."
It had been then I'd learned for certain I worked with idiots. What sort of filth would decorate a sacrifice with proclamations of his undying love for her? Just thinking about the team's unrealistic theories made me want to bash their heads with rocks until I knocked sense into their thick skulls.
"Is that jade? The design is unusual."
"It's jade," I confirmed, tilting the rings so he could see the carvings. "This tells a story of a young man's love for the newly fledged woman, from their first meeting to the day of their wedding. It was found among the grave goods of a prominent couple. Unlike most Nahua, these two were buried together in a stone vault. The inscriptions imply they were nobility. The woman's sarcophagus depicted her wearing this necklace."
Bachelor #103 chuckled. "That's a pretty impressive story. How much is it worth?"
That was the question of the hour, and one I didn't have an answer to. How was I supposed to assign a price tag to something priceless? I'd never seen its like, and I'd been studying the Nahua for the entirety of my adult life. I sighed and stared at the necklace. "It belongs in a museum."
"All the good archaeologists say that."
About the Author:
Under the super not-so-secret identity of Susan, the Royal States of America is explored, where the work of sixteen founding royal families preserved the United States from destruction and civil war when magic swept over the world.
In the Royal States, life, love, and magic always find a way.
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