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appointment.”
    Zayn snorted. “Since when did you find a
sense of humor?”
    He speared his youngest brother with a look
he’d reserved for rowdy students back when he’d been with the
Institute.
    “I’m sorry.” Galen stepped forward and
raised his hand, holding something. “That wasn’t a question.”
    Next thing Nik knew, pain raced through his
body. His muscles contracted, his teeth clicked closed. He fell to
his knees, one hand fumbling at the side of his neck. A Tase
weapon.
    He heard his brothers yelling, then they,
too, dropped down beside him, jerking violently from the electrical
volts running through them.
    Damn Institute. On that final
thought, Nik blacked out.

Chapter Two
    When Nik came to, he saw Galen rifling
through Nik’s backpack. When the man pulled the idol out of the
bag, he studied it with a raised brow before showing it to the
others. Then he shoved the statue at one of the other agents and
barked out some orders.
    Nik closed his eyes for a second and willed
the nausea from the Tase away. His thoughts turned to Galen Ryant.
He’d once been a good man. The best. Until Nik had uncovered what
he’d been doing.
    Rough hands grabbed Nik, yanking him from
his thoughts and hefting him to his feet, an agent on either side
of him. His brothers received the same treatment.
    They were marched unceremoniously through
the jungle.
    Once they’d cleared the treeline, Nik
spotted a sleek shuttle sitting in a flat clearing. A small crowd
of people stood in front of it, all watching their approach. The
Institute logo was painted prominently on the ship’s side. The
Institute was always well funded. His jaw tightened. Not all of it
legally.
    They were released, and Nik worked hard to
stay on his feet. The effects of the stun had almost worn off, but
he was still feeling a little lightheaded.
    “You tased them?” An outraged female
voice.
    A woman pushed through the agents. She was
tiny, five feet tall, with a compact, little body and a fall of
sunny-gold hair. “I asked them to convince you to talk with me.”
She glared at Galen. “This was not what I had in mind, Agent
Ryant.” She drew herself up and managed an embarrassed smile. “I’m
Dr. Avril Luma-Smythe. It’s an absolute pleasure to meet you, Dr.
Phoenix. I’m so sorry it had to be like this.” Her smile lit up her
pretty face. “I studied your papers on Terran History for my
dissertation.”
    He blinked. He recognized her name. She was
one of the new assistant-directors at the Institute. He studied her
harder, looking past the cute face and earnest energy. She was
young for the role, which either meant she was very smart and good
at her job, or corrupt. She would have been a new intake in the
final years before he left…or was fired, depending on who you
talked to.
    He cleared his throat. “I wish I could say
it was nice to meet you.”
    “Yes. Well…is there anything I can get for
you, or your brothers?” She glanced at the glowering Dathan and
grinning Zayn. “I know the effects of the Tase are
uncomfortable.”
    “We’ll take our acquisition and then we’ll
be leaving,” Nik said.
    She eyed the idol one of the agents was
still holding. Her eyes widened. “A gold statue of the Inca sun
god, Inti? My gosh, if it’s real, it’s worth a pretty e-cred. But
the archeological value is immense.” She crossed her hands in front
of her body. “Look, let’s just table that for now. I need to talk
with you about something else.” She tilted her head, her pretty
blue eyes glowing. “I’ve tried to contact you numerous times but
you wouldn’t return my calls. I was getting a little
desperate.”
    “I’m sorry, Dr. Luma-Symthe, you seem nice
enough…”
    She smiled. “Thank you. And please, call me
Avril.”
    She really was a cute thing. In a different
lifetime, he would have been interested in talking history with
her…and coaxing her into bed. “Avril, I’m not interested in
whatever the Institute has to say. Even if