Craved

Damon:

The heat of the morning sun reflecting off the sand beat on his back but was nothing compared to the heat of embarrassment searing his insides. The words he'd uttered were a mistake. He should've known better, yet his damn tongue had a mind of its own. A look of panic filtered into Renee's face when he admitted he didn't sleep well. Did she remember last night? But how?

Yet, she didn't flirt with him or even invite him in any way to her bed despite the dream as most women would have. In fact, she fidgeted the whole time she talked to him. Must be his paranoia getting the better of him. Forget it. The whole situation was in his head and perhaps from a lack of sleep and feeding. How he craved delicious, sexy energy right now.

The crystal. The urn. He'd call Cynthia and explain what to say to Renee, tell her that the urn depicted a queen with a scepter and nothing more. It would be expensive to convince her, but the museum always appreciated benefactors. The wind snatched dust and whirled it into a dirt devil. Renee rose on her toes, peering over his shoulder. He twisted in the direction of her gaze. Sarah, their camp chef, wiped her eyes. Before he shifted his attention back to Renee, she bolted past him with her canteen in her hand. Sarah allowed Renee to pour the water over her eye while she tilted her head sideways to rinse the debris out. Even after Sarah said it was better, Renee's concern lingered on her face. "Let me know if it starts hurting you again." She went to the fire pit.

Matt, one of the recruits, rushed up to Damon with items in his gloved hands. "Sir. We unearthed bone fragments and a jawbone in what we think is an unusual gravesite."

"Show me." Damon followed Matt past several roped sections.

Near the center of the excavation, a white jawbone stuck out from the earth. By Damon's calculations, this would be the throne room, not the catacombs. He knelt, his knees sinking into the dirt. Grasping his brush from his tool belt, he swept away the debris. Maybe he'd been mistaken about the temple's floor plan.

He frowned as he cleared the excess. Another jawbone. This one was so close to the other. Why? Were they buried together? A ritualistic sacrifice.

"Keep digging," he ordered Matt and the others who had stopped to watch him. "Let's uncover as much as we can before dark."

The group worked in patches, removing the topsoil with buckets. Damon shifted to his penknife and scraped around a skull. The more they uncovered, the more his stomach knotted. After hours of work, they'd discovered at least a dozen bodies, maybe more. What happened here?

Behind him, Carla snapped photos and cataloged the findings. Gary and Michael carefully brushed away debris from an exposed ribcage.

Damon took out his toothbrush, wiping the dust away from the small skull. A child's. He frowned, glancing around at the others unearthing bones. Femurs, hands, skulls, and dozens of bones half-buried around them. A massive grave. But why here? Why like this? After he wiped his forehead, he went back to the next section.

"Thirsty?" Renee held out a canteen. "You've been at this for hours."

"Thanks." He took a huge gulp, then handed it back to her.

Something had happened here. And he wanted to know what. His arms cramped, but he kept working. Soon, the scent of cooking stew made him pause.

"You gonna eat or dig?" Sarah called down to him.

"Need you even ask?" he answered without pausing.

Next, he selected his trowel, shoveling away a new section. More bones poked through, spread outward as if they were blown apart. How was that possible? Around this time period, there were rumors of a meteor hitting Turkey, but this pattern suggested a force blazing out rather than crashing down. His legs protested when he scooted again to another section, and his breathing came faster now.

Squinting, he moved to the middle of the mound and used a hoe to break apart the earth. A light flickered from above as someone climbed down the ladder.

"Thought you might need some light. It's nearly dark." Renee set the lantern in front of him.

"I know." He shook his cramped hands, then hit the ground with his hoe and deposited the loose dirt into the bucket.

Renee squatted and took out her trowel, digging near the edge of the lantern light. Their actions were in sync. Hours flew by, but the silence between them was comforting and he didn't feel as though he had to fill it with conversation. He turned the lantern light up as darkness descended, and still, she dug alongside him.

Twice she shook her hands out as though they cramped.

"Listen, I can finish here, why don't you go "

"No way. I'm fine." She brushed aside the earth over a rib cage faster. "I want to at least reach the bottom of this gravesite and find out what this was. Then we can estimate what happened here." "Fair enough."

The sound of their scraping mingled with the song of crickets and owls.

Glimmers of blue and gold carved stone caught the light. "Wait." Damon picked up his largest brush, smoothing away the surface. "This looks like the temple sanctuary."

"Oh? Then what about all these bodies here? Was there a war?" She held back a yawn.

"Hard to tell." He adjusted the lantern's brightness. "Hey, why don't you head off to sleep?"

"What about you?" She lifted her chin.

"I'm just gonna work for another hour or so, then I'll crawl into bed myself. Go."

She stretched and then climbed the ladder. When her feet shuffled away from the site, he debated turning in for the night as well, but he had to know more. Working in a spiral pattern, he uncovered the mosaic of large blue flowers and golden vines. Smudges hid most of the images. Damon turned the lantern brighter and ran his hand across the marks. Scorched. What? This place was too ancient for cannon fire. The fragments of bones and skulls littered in a circle around him. A sinking sensation hit him as if someone yanked the world out from under his feet. There had been a mass killing there, but he didn't think it was war. He needed to dig more to figure out what might have happened. He suspected that it had to do with the urn and the succubus priestess who welded a crystal on her scepter. Had the crystal backfired and destroyed everyone?

He reached his trowel, concentrating on the centermost point of the chamber. Slowly he worked, examining every shovel full of soil. When he got to the mosaic, a deep black hole welcomed his efforts. He sat back on his heels. Did that mean this crystal was dust?

No, Travis had detected it, and if it were disintegrated, there'd been too little of it for him to sense.

The lantern flickered; its oil was nearly gone.

***

The next morning, Damon woke with the thought to speak with Cynthia. If he examined the urn again, maybe it would have a clue as to what happened in the sanctuary. As he left his tent, he noted that at the edge of the roped-off section, Renee shoveled dirt through the shiv. Not too many interns appreciated menial work, yet here was Renee working away early, while some of the others were still sipping their coffee. "Have Renee log the artifacts." He waved Matt toward her.

As though hearing their conversation, she looked up with a puzzled expression. She knew how to log reports, but probably questioned why Damon trusted her with the task. Site reports of where the excavation was located had to be submitted timely to the government for evaluation and approval, and later these papers would be published and reviewed by other archeologists and professionals.

He dug out his cell from his pocket and hit the museum's number. He didn't have Cynthia's number. Another condition for the departure of women he hooked up with to feed-removal of all traces of her contact numbers so he couldn't locate them easily if he had a moment of weakness. Even though he didn't love them, familiarity tempted him.

When the museum's receptionist came on the line, he requested Cynthia. After a long wait, the phone disconnected. "What the h-"

He hit redial, but his call went to the museum's voicemail. He glanced at his phone. A new message blinked. Seeing the number looked vaguely familiar, he strode into his tent and was thankful Melanie wasn't there. He retrieved his new message.

"Hi Damon," Cynthia said. "Listen, no one here is experienced enough to give a clear interpretation of the meaning or even the date. There's a carbon testing lab in Cairo and a professor there with experience in the Phrygian culture. I'm taking a flight out this evening. I should be back in a week or so."

A pause as the line filled with static, but then became clear as she continued, "Next time come visit me just because you're in town. Love you! Bye."

Damon flopped onto his cot. Great. Just freaking wonderful. Cynthia was on a plane and the crystal was missing.

His hand trembled when he pushed himself up. He stared at them. The tremors were beginning. The first sign of starvation. Chills and fever would follow soon. Then blackouts until his power latched onto another form of energy as a means of survival. This meant violence, war, hatred. Many of his kind fled to the Middle East, thinking a crystal lay there, but all they found was bloodshed and once their time past, they soon lusted after the thrill of humans killing each other no matter the reason.

He stood and paced. I can't become like them. He wouldn't allow such a fate to befall him, even if it meant taking his own life. He would not add to the horridness of killing and violence just to live. His life was not worth the devastation. His fifth millennia deadline was approaching in less than a month. Surely, Travis would give him some idea where the crystal was. From legends, Damon knew a bit about how a crystal looked. Smoky quartz. The size of a small egg. Perfect. The oldest of their kind, Dax, had discovered a sliver of a crystal. With the crystal's help, he'd been the only one of them to pass the five-thousand-year mark with two lovers keeping him from going insane. As far as Damon knew, this was the only one of the crystals that had surfaced except the chunk Dax found. Many of his kind rushed to Africa to find another one since Dax confessed he found his on the border of Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

But Damon believed Turkey was the best bet for a crystal. And narrowing down the playing field to outside Cappadocia, had led him to pay for Travis' services to narrow down the location to fifty feet where a crystal radiated underground. He was so close, the knowledge danced along his skin. Would Damon finally be able to choose his lover? Someone he could share his life with, laugh, tease, and just play a game of chess with.

Renee drifted into his mind. He gritted his teeth, and his stomach clenched. No, he must not think of her. In his state, he could involuntarily slip into her dreams tonight if she called him again. He wouldn't force her, but if she said his name and kissed him, he wouldn't be able to stop himself. What if he lost control and drank her empty?

No, he couldn't let that happen. First, find the crystal.

"Look what the sand and dirt did to my pedicure!" Melanie stomped in with a pout he guessed she believed endearing, but he thought grating.

"Sorry. Listen, we're shorthanded because Travis is gone. I'm going to take the first watch tonight. If you're tired, don't stay up." He was going to work all night if he had to and uncover the entire chamber.

"Never too tired for you." She winked, but it looked more as though she had something in her eye.

He schooled his features into a neutral expression. Her sexual energy, even though she thought herself amazing in bed, was like someone eating tasteless food for decades. "It'll be late. Tomorrow, I'll call for a balloon ride."

"Why on earth would I ride in a balloon? I've had enough of this dust bowl and its funky-shaped mushroom buildings. Oh, look, now my ankle is getting swollen." She sat hard on her cot, and it nearly tipped over. "Send me on a small plane to somewhere exotic while you dig in the dirt. Like Guam or Japan."

Right. He forced himself not to run out of the tent. Less than a month before his gift shifted to chaos. Could he have found a worse bedmate?

***

Damon and his team had completely excavated the sanctuary chamber. From the layout of the bones, some type of force blew from the center of the chamber outward, killing everyone instantly. Even the walls were charred.

"What could have done this?" Renee asked as she picked up clumps of what looked like coal. "Look these appear to have a glitter-like substance in them." She turned them in her palm, and the light caught nearly microscopic glimmers of crystal.

He had been right, this had something to do with the crystal. "I'm not sure, but we'll send samples for testing. They'll check the carbon dating on these charcoaled bits. Maybe it was a fire that raged out of control." Though the destruction wouldn't be as widespread, he hoped she'd buy his lie.

After this incident long ago, how much of the crystal was left? And Travis still had not arrived with any word. Damn the gnome. Damon should have hired a dwarf. Gnomes were known to switch sides for higher pay. What if Travis kept the crystal for himself? If Clive or another incubus had acquired a crystal, they'd have bragged about it by now.

At least Melanie was gone. Ken volunteered to escort her to the nearest town where she'd stay in a hotel. Close, but not near enough to drive Damon mad. He hoped to recover the crystal before he succumbed to sleeping with her again. Later, after he'd tested the crystal and learned its range and abilities, plus another fifty years or so, he might be able to pursue love again. He had no idea how potent the crystal truly was, but he wouldn't chance it with someone he cared about until he was certain he wouldn't harm them. Look at what it did to a succubus and at least a hundred of her followers.

Carla carried a full bucket to the pulley, then rubbed her shoulders after the team above hoisted it up. Even Renee appeared tired with dark circles lining her eyes.

"Let's take a break." He dusted off his hands.

"What?" Renee asked.

"A balloon ride." He dug out his cell from his pocket. "We've all been working non-stop for hours."

"Hot air balloon?" Carla bounced up on her toes.

"The same."

Renee didn't act pleased but pissed as she scowled. "Will Travis be here with the bus soon? You all can go. I'll stay here and work on the site."

"I don't think so." When a mixture of anger and annoyance pinched her face, Damon continued, "But he could return any day now and Cynthia "

"You told me she flew out of the country with the urn and won't be back for a while." Renee wiped her hand across her forehead, leaving a trail of dirt on her skin. "It's this waiting I can't stand. I'd like to know now what they think of the urn, or better yet sit in on their meetings."

He doubted Cynthia or even the expert she knew would have any idea of the urn's true meaning. Even radiocarbon dating of items older than fifty thousand years, because of the small amounts of C-14 left, if any at all, would be inaccurate. "A ride over this gorgeous area to view the natural geography is just what we need." He dialed the number, not leaving the group.

"I'm staying here and working." Renee's bottom lip stuck out slightly.

He remembered the dream taste of her mouth and more. "All of us will go on the ride." He pulled the phone away from his ear briefly.

"I'm afraid of heights."

"Doubtful." When a man answered, Damon gave instructions and hung up once they were confirmed.

Carla squealed.

"If you desire a letter of recommendation to host your own expedition, Renee, you'll get off your ass and be ready to leave."

She glared. If she'd been a gorgon, he'd be stone.

"If I do this," her amber eyes glinted in the sunlight, "you will not only give me an honest recommendation, but Cynthia's personal number so I may call her myself. Then Travis takes me into town as soon as he arrives."

"Done. Just take my cell phone number." He grinned and gave her his digits. "Now clean up before I add more than a balloon ride to my side of the deal."

An hour later, the balloons arrived. Carla and Renee were in one, the other members of his team divided among the other three. He guessed it wasn't Renee's choice for him to ride with them, but too bad. The other baskets were full. "Ready, sir?" the balloon operator asked.

Damon hopped over the rim. "Let's go."

The hiss of the gas made the basket lurch as the operator flipped on the burner. Renee's stance softened as the ground drifted away. Carla grasped the side of the basket and began to talk nonstop to the operator. "Have you ever been on a balloon ride before?" Damon asked Renee.

"No."

They pulled away from camp, the tops of the trees drifting away below them.

"Then I guess it's good I ordered the ceremonial champagne." When she arched an eyebrow, he held up his hands. "It's tradition; first balloon ride calls for a glass of champagne. Not my rules, right operator?" "Yes, sir."

"You probably paid him to say that."

"No, he's telling the truth." Carla came up beside her. "I've flown once with my cousin."

"How much did you have to pay Carla?" Renee asked.

Damon laughed as he dug through the picnic basket and drew out the plastic champagne glasses. "We'll wait until we are over the fairy chimneys then we'll have our toast."

He was glad to have the company. If they rode in the balloon alone, he might have been too tempted to kiss her. That kind of thinking was dangerous.