Gunshots waken Ian Tunbridge, an assistant curator of classical antiquities at the British Museum, on his first day on a dig in California. The only way to save his life is to run for it, but luck is not on his side. At least, not until he meets Lucas Arpini, the brash American photographer who seems to have some sort of clue what’s going on. Together, they’re supposed to be the tools in finding an artifact nobody believes is real -- nobody, that is, except Lucas and the man kidnaps them both.<br><br>Ian doesn’t know what to believe. His colleagues are dead, he’s injured, and he has no choice but to put his faith in a gorgeous stranger. Their escape should lead them straight to the police, but when Lucas shows him pieces of the puzzle they were meant to solve, Ian is too intrigued to walk away. He wants to solve the riddle as badly as Lucas does.<br><br>Unfortunately, they aren’t the only ones ...

Riddle Me Wicked

“I’m going to clean up and change the wrapping on my ankle,” he said. “Let me know when I can help.”


Lucas held back his regretful sigh until he was alone in the room. He couldn’t hold it against Ian, though if he heard sounds that the other man was jerking off in there, all bets were off. But he’d meant what he said, and just because Ian pushed every damn button he had, that didn’t mean he could slack off when they finally had everything they needed to take the next step.


Each of the packages he’d mailed out held the same number of photographs. There were seventy in all, one of each shard in Sultis’s possession. He’d convinced Sultis the photos would not only help him figure out the order, but also help preserve the tablets. The fewer human hands that touched the ancient stones, the longer they would keep. He’d even tossed out the possibility of Sultis selling them to a museum or collector after they were done with them. The man responded to money like a dog to a bone.


Chapter 31