Team 52 Box Set: Books 1-3 Read online

  He smiled. She was the best he’d ever had, bar none. It seemed January James was passionate about more than just her work.

  His phone rang, and he reached over and snatched it up. “Brooks?”

  “Hey, Seth. Hope you got some sleep.”

  Hell, no. Not that he cared. He grunted wordlessly in reply.

  “Meeting in the lab.”

  Seth straightened. Work called. He didn’t waste any time taking a quick shower and dressing. As he shaved, he kept thinking of January. He hated that he hadn’t woken up with her. Which was weird, because he never hung around long enough to wake up with a woman.

  He rinsed his face and reminded himself that he didn’t do relationships. He’d had a girlfriend in high school, but once he joined the Agency, relationships had become impossible. He’d had an agreement with a fellow agent for a while. She’d been good in bed, but it hadn’t taken her long to try and screw him over in order to get a promotion. Once, he’d also tangled with a foreign agent in more ways than one, and gotten in too deep. He’d never been in love, but he’d been in lust. She’d burned him badly when she’d tried to steal top-secret data from him.

  But on top of all of that, as he’d done his job, he’d watched people betray their friends, family, and country over and over again. He’d watched agents lie, steal, and kill. Hell, he’d lied, stolen, and killed.

  He’d quickly learned that no one was who they seemed, and that everyone was out to get themselves something.

  His jaw locked. It had been one of his own agents who’d sold him out to the enemy and gotten him tortured. Seth had considered Agent Roger Lawley a friend, until the fucker had sold Seth out for money.

  Everyone had secrets, and with the right motivation, anyone could be turned.

  Seth headed for the lab, stopping in the rec room to grab something to eat. Axel was already in there, and his friend paused to look him up and down.

  “Why do you look so relaxed?”

  “Took a nap.”

  Axel looked suspicious. “You don’t look like you slept much.”

  Seth wasn’t up for an interrogation. He opened the refrigerator and grabbed a protein shake. “We need to get to the lab.”

  Axel lifted his chin, and Seth downed the shake. Together, they headed to the lab. The others were already there.

  He glanced over and saw January, shoulder-to-shoulder with Ty, looking at the artifact on the bench. She was wearing black cargo pants and a black T-shirt. These fit her better than the shirt he’d torn off her, so he guessed that she’d borrowed something from Blair or Callie.

  He got closer. “Hey.”

  Her head jerked up and she looked at him. She lifted a hand and shot him a small smile. “Hi.”

  Friendly and distant, like they were acquaintances. He frowned. He didn’t like it. At all. There wasn’t a single hint on her face that said she’d let him fuck her brains out and she’d enjoyed every second of it.

  “We’ve been testing the artifact,” January said. “Ty had some brilliant ideas.”

  “Because I am brilliant,” Ty said.

  “He’s also very shy and extremely modest.” Blair rolled her eyes from where she sat on a stool. Beside her, Callie smiled and shook her head.

  “Watch this,” Ty announced.

  He pulled the cover off a box and Seth saw what looked like a fish tank. The glass box held a small layer of dirt that contained tiny plant seedlings.

  With a gloved hand, Ty grabbed the jade sphere and set it into the tank.

  “You think the sphere is a garden ornament?” Axel asked.

  Ty scowled. “No.”

  Suddenly, Seth saw movement in the tank. He moved closer, and watched the seedlings start to unfurl. He inhaled a sharp breath.

  “Hell,” Axel muttered.

  As they watched, the sprouts grew, rising up inches at a time.

  “Hell.” Lachlan frowned, crossed his arms over his chest, and stared at the tank.

  The vines grew and tangled around each other.

  “Unreal,” Blair murmured.

  Ty reached through the runners and pulled the sphere out. The tank was now packed with tangled vegetation.

  Lachlan leaned a hip against the bench. “Tell us what’s going on here.”

  “I ran a battery of tests while you guys were lazing around,” Ty said.

  Seth’s gaze moved to January. Their eyes met, and he saw the faintest touch of color along her cheekbones.

  “The sphere is emitting an electromagnetic field.”

  “And that stimulates plant growth?” Lachlan asked.

  Ty nodded. “There have been various studies into the effects of electromagnetic fields on plant growth, and the effects are positive. Seeds have a higher germination rate, plants grow taller, larger, and are healthier.”

  “Oh, my God, I’ve tried something like this,” January said. “A colleague showed me how to set up a solar root stimulator. It had a small solar panel, and sent electrical stimulation to the plant roots.”

  “Got a green thumb, James?” Seth asked.

  Her nose wrinkled. “I keep trying to grow things, but they keep dying.”

  “Brown thumb.” His gaze dropped to her mouth.

  She licked her lips, which he felt in his cock, then turned away.

  “Pulsed electromagnetic field therapy has been around for a while,” Ty added. “It’s used to increase the healing rate of certain types of bone fractures. It was mostly used in Russia and parts of Europe, and vets used it in the US to help heal broken bones in racehorses. FDA approved it for human use more recently. PEMF therapy was used by the Russians to help slow bone density loss suffered by cosmonauts. NASA’s poured money into the therapy as well, for not just bone, but tissue repair, as well.”

  “So,” Lachlan said. “You think the Maya discovered that electromagnetism stimulated plant growth?”

  “I think the Snake Kings discovered it,” a female voice said.

  Seth turned to watch their archeologist enter. Dr. Natalie Blackwell wore a long, fitted skirt in fawn brown, and a navy-blue shirt with a faint pinstripe. The woman was always dressed to the nines. Her high heels tapped on the tile floor, and dark hair spilled around her shoulders.

  “Nat.” A smile broke out on January’s face.

  “God, January. I’m so glad to see you.”

  The women hugged tightly, and Seth’s brows rose. He didn’t know they knew each other. He didn’t think they’d ever met on any of January’s trips to Area 52.

  “We worked on some digs together,” January told everyone, before smiling back at Nat. “We both managed to survive Professor Horton.”

  Nat wrinkled her nose. “That old coot. He was always looking down my shirt.”

  “Mine too.” Then January’s face turned serious. “You think the Snake Kings discovered this tech?”

  Nat nodded. “Likely. My guess is they stumbled on an earlier device and worked out how to use it.” Nat smiled at Ty. “Can I borrow a screen?”

  Ty scowled. “I guess.”

  “Gracious as always, Ty.” Nat grabbed a remote. Two images appeared. One was a perfect Mayan step pyramid. If Seth remembered correctly, it was from the famous site of Chichen Itza in Mexico. The other picture was a Mayan image of a snake with the head of a man, complete with elaborate headdress.

  “This here is the Mayan snake deity called Kukulkan,” Nat said. “He was also known as the feathered serpent and his image is found all through Mesoamerican cultures. We don’t know everything about him, thanks to the Spanish conquistadors and Catholic priests destroying Mayan codices.” She pulled an unhappy face. “But he was the god of the wind, sky, and sun. Legends say he gave mankind learning, knowledge, and laws. We do know he predates the Maya, probably originating in the older, mysterious Olmec culture.”

  “The main pyramid at Chichen Itza, El Castillo, is dedicated to Kukulkan.” January was staring at the image of the pyramid, then looked at Nat. “You think he’s linked to the Sna
ke Kings?”

  Nat nodded. “It fits. The cult of Kukulkan spread to Guatemala and they use a serpent as their emblem, and their friezes are filled with feathered serpents. The feathered serpent represented fertility and leadership.”

  The lab was silent as they all absorbed the information.

  “What’s Kukulkan got to do with the spheres?” Seth asked.

  Nat swiveled on her heel. “What I know about Kukulkan is limited, but he was known as Quetzalcoatl to the Aztecs. We know much more about Quetzalcoatl.” More images appeared on the screen. These were Aztec, showing different depictions of the god. “The god of wind and wisdom.”

  Seth felt the tension in the room. Nat was working up to something.

  “When Cortes and the Spanish arrived in the 1500s, there were stories that said the Aztecs welcomed him as the returning Quetzalcoatl. Not all historians believe the accounts, thinking the Spanish embellished this as propaganda.”

  “Why would the Aztecs think a European was their god?” Lachlan asked.

  January stepped forward. “Some depictions show Quetzalcoatl as a bearded man.”

  “January’s correct,” Nat said. “And there are similar accounts from when Pizzaro arrived in South America. The Inca believed he was their god Viracocha. A similar deity to Quetzalcoatl and Kukulkan in terms that he controlled storms, and brought the Inca knowledge and taught them about agriculture, mathematics, medicine, astronomy. Viracocha was described as a paler-skinned, bearded man who wore a robe.”

  “Shit,” Seth muttered. “So you’re saying that both Mesoamerica and South America had legends about a god who arrived and shared knowledge with them.”

  Nat waggled her eyebrows. “The conspiracy theorists say he was an alien.”

  The room erupted in snorts.

  “You think he was a survivor from the floods,” January said. “From a more advanced civilization.”

  Nat’s dark hair slid over her shoulder as she nodded. “I suspect it wasn’t just one man, but a few, and over time, the legends grew up around them. They likely had knowledge and brought certain pieces of tech with them.”

  “Like the spheres,” Seth said.

  “Like the spheres,” Nat confirmed.

  “And the Snake Kings found them, and discovered how to use them,” January added. “It would explain their rise to power, seemingly out of nowhere. From what we’re discovering, their agriculture was very advanced.”

  Nat nodded. “And their people were taller, healthier. Or their elite, at least.”

  January sucked in a breath. “You think the spheres had an effect on the people, as well?”

  “From the mummies that have been uncovered, the Snake King rulers were taller and stronger. We don’t have enough to confirm, but I think the theory holds merit.”

  January nodded. “Jade was usually reserved for the elite classes, so it makes sense that royalty was exposed to the spheres most frequently.”

  Lachlan frowned. “Could the sphere be harmful to us?”

  “I don’t think so,” Ty said. “But I don’t fully understand it yet. I need to keep running tests.”

  “So,” Seth said. “That brings us to our next question. What do the Knights of Gaia want to do with it?”

  “Accelerate plant growth,” January said. “They must have a plan.”

  A tense silence filled the room. The Knights could wreak a lot of havoc in a lot of different ways with the sphere they had.

  Lachlan turned to Brooks. “Any luck tracking these fuckers down?”

  Brooks shook his head. “They’re damn ghosts. I did manage to track the plane they used to travel back to the US. They landed in Los Angeles. I’m trying to see if they moved on from there, or if they have a cell in L.A.”

  “How did they know about the artifacts?” Seth interrupted.

  January swiveled. “What?”

  “How did they know you had them? How did they know to bring the plane down?”

  Her face tightened. “I don’t know. We’re only just discovering what they do. How does a group of ecoterrorists know what these spheres can do just as we discover them?”

  “Shit,” Lachlan said. “Good question.”

  “January,” Seth said. “Who knew you were up on that flight?”

  “My entire team. It wasn’t a secret.”

  “And who knew you were carrying the artifacts?”

  “Fewer people had that information, but it was no secret that we’d found the spheres. Still, none of my team knew that they were potentially powerful, ancient technology. They just knew that they were valuable.” She scowled. “My team are hard workers and dedicated to their work. They wouldn’t sell me out.”

  “Someone sold you out.”

  Seth could see she didn’t like that idea at all.

  “The Knights of Gaia had prior knowledge.” Nat tapped a fingernail against her lips. “It’s the only explanation. I’ll see if I can find any references to the spheres anywhere.”

  There was a pause as everyone looked around. Seth watched as January looked at everyone but him. It should make him happy, but instead it was pissing him off. She’d been naked in his arms for the last few hours, she could at least look at him.

  Brooks straightened and touched his ear. “Dr. James, there’s a message for you.”

  “A message?” she asked with a frown.

  “Someone called your home phone in San Francisco, and I’ve had your calls re-routed to my system.”

  “Who called?” she asked.

  “A Dr. Joshua Andelman.”

  Seth straightened. “Dr. Douchebag.”

  His teammates swiveled to look at him, all looking amused.

  “He left a message for January,” Brooks said.

  January shrugged a shoulder. “I’ve no idea what he wants to talk to me about.”

  Brooks cleared his throat. “He said he wants to talk to you about the artifacts.”

  Chapter Ten

  January sat in a seat on the plane to Las Vegas—this time a sleek jet—staring out the window.

  Josh’s message was replaying in her head.

  January, I ah…I need to see you. It’s about… God, I’m… Shit. Look, I can’t talk over the phone. It’s about the artifacts. Meet me at Las Vegas McCarran Airport, Terminal 3, near Gate E3. There’s a Starbucks close by. Please, January. I need to see you.

  He’d sounded worried and scared. The man was self-absorbed and the king of blustering, so she’d never heard fear in his voice before.

  “I still think this is a bad idea.”

  Seth didn’t sound happy. She looked over at him. All of Team 52 was seated in the rows around her. Blair was kicked back with her legs stretched out in front of her. Smith was sitting beside her, with a cap pulled low over his face. He appeared to be napping, but the coiled strength of his body said he was awake and alert.

  Lachlan and Axel were playing cards. Callie was cleaning a weapon. For a moment, January was bemused that such a lean, pretty woman could look so dangerous.

  Seth was sitting beside January and scowling. He’d been edgy from the moment they’d boarded the plane.

  Just looking at him caused a shiver deep in January’s belly. When she wasn’t thinking about Josh’s message, she was remembering Seth’s mouth and hands on her. His cock inside her.

  Another shiver. Oh, God. She had some small bruises on her hips in the shape of his fingerprints. And he’d been right. She’d feel him in some very intimate places for a while.

  Their eyes met. Yeah, he didn’t look happy.

  He hadn’t looked happy the moment he’d stepped into Ty’s lab. Yes, she’d snuck out of his bed, mostly because she’d woken up wrapped around him and she’d liked it—a lot. It had started to freak her out, and so she’d quietly slipped away.

  She cleared her throat. “If Josh knows something about the artifacts—”

  “What could he know? Unless he’s involved.”

  January laughed, but it sounded unnatural, ev
en to her ears. “Josh is way too focused on himself to be involved in something like this. He lives for his career. Besides, he’s unaware of the artifact’s abilities. Maybe someone contacted him? For all his faults, and he has plenty, he’s still a decent archeologist.”

  Lachlan set his cards down. “Let’s go over the plan again. January, we head into Terminal 3 and you go to the meeting point. The team and I will blend into the crowd.”

  She couldn’t imagine any of these people blending in anywhere, but she nodded.

  “You meet with Andelman and find out what he has to say. After, we’ll rendezvous with you and leave.”

  She nodded.

  “You don’t let him convince you to leave or go somewhere else.”

  She nodded again.

  “In. Out. Done,” Seth said.

  “Yes, Dad,” she muttered.

  She saw a flash in his pale-blue eyes. God, she’d slept with Seth Lynch. And she’d loved it. Heat flickered over her skin. Okay, so there hadn’t been much sleeping involved.

  She tugged on the neckline of her T-shirt. Focus, January.

  Finally, they came in to land, and the plane pulled to a stop. She followed Seth and the others off and down the steps.

  At the bottom, Seth spun around. “Here.” He held up a hand. On the end of one long finger, was a small micro-dot.

  “Communicator. I’ll put it in your ear. It’ll keep you in contact with us.”

  “Will I be plugged into the team forever?”

  “Nope. It’s removeable. You can take it out after the mission.”

  He gently pushed her hair aside, and January tilted her head. His fingers brushed her ear.

  “I’m pissed you snuck out this morning,” he said quietly.

  January glanced at the others. They weren’t paying any attention.

  “I was just trying to keep things easy.”

  His gaze met hers. “I look like a man who likes easy?”

  January shivered again. No, he did not. “Seth—”

  “Hi, January, this is Brooks.”