Page 93 of Autumn L.A.W

He smiled. “It was nothing.”

“Not to me,” she said. They spent a moment just looking into each other’s eyes. Eventually, she cleared her throat and continued. “We just need the Ghost Orchid, found in Cuba or Florida, and to come back for the Corpse plant.”

“I’m glad we’re leaving the Corpse plant until last in case we have to hold our noses all the way back to Tennessee,” he teased.

She laughed at his jokes but didn't have to fake it. He was genuinely funny.

“Okay, so we’re off to Cuba or Florida, then back to the mansion!” she said.

Everything went sideways the moment they landed in Cuba. Duke had tucked the library deep inside the jungle, hidden beneath layers of vines and thick canopy. Usually, that worked beautifully. The remote terrain avoided tourists and questions.

Unfortunately, jungles hid more than ancient plants and inconvenient reptiles, bugs, and animals. They also hid drug operations.

Duke realized his mistake approximately three seconds after he and Victoria stepped outside and found half a dozen armed men pointing rifles directly at them.

“Well,” Victoria muttered slowly, lifting her hands, “this seems unfriendly.”

The men barked orders in rapid Spanish.

Duke raised his hands too. “I may have overlooked something.”

“You think?”

A rifle jabbed Duke between the shoulder blades and shoved him forward.

They marched through dense foliage toward a clearing carved out of the jungle. A cluster of rough buildings sat beneath the trees. Armed guards lounged nearby with the relaxed posture of men entirely too comfortable holding automatic weapons.

Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

Victoria kept her hands laced behind her head and leaned closer to Duke as they walked. “Please tell me you have a spell for this.”

“Usually, yes.”

“And now?”

“I’m trying not to get us shot before I finish one.”

“That feels like an important step.”

Duke’s stomach twisted harder with every yard they walked. He’d chosen Cuba over Florida because Victoria had never been there, and Canadians were welcome. Also, he thought the jungle would offer better cover for the library.

Instead, he’d parked a magical occult library in the middle of someone’s criminal empire. Brilliant work, Masterson.

The guards shoved them into a large wooden hut where a broad-shouldered man sat behind a scarred table, lazily smoking a cigar. He looked annoyed more than surprised, as if random trespassers interrupted his afternoon schedule regularly.

The leader spoke sharply in Spanish. Duke caught maybe every fourth word. None of them sounded encouraging.

The man’s gaze slid toward Victoria and lingered. Duke straightened instinctively.

Victoria noticed too. Her expression cooled several degrees. Even trapped in another woman’s body, she still radiated the kind of confidence that made people look twice. Unfortunately, armed criminals apparently counted as people.

The leader snapped another order. The guards shoved Duke and Victoria farther inside.

An interior door cracked open. A lone figure leaned out partway. Behind him lay a table stacked with weapons.

Hope flickered.

The leader kept talking, clearly irritated now. Duke strained to follow the Spanish. Then one word landed clearly.