Kingdom of Darkness by Andy McDermott Read Free Book Online

asked teasingly as Macy brought up a glass.
    ‘Yeah!’ she huffed. ‘I’m twenty-one now. Finally!’
    Eddie poured a glass for himself, then put the bottle into an ice bucket. ‘Something to celebrate, then. Cheers!’
    ‘Cheers!’ the two women echoed. They all clinked glasses and took sips, though Nina’s was by far the largest.
    ‘Ooh, and I’ve got something else to celebrate,’ said Macy, retrieving a larger designer tote bag from the back of the cabin. ‘My photo shoot!’ She took out a glossy men’s magazine. ‘Grant knows the editor; he set it up for me. Here, check this out.’
    ‘Oooo . . .  kay ,’ Nina said slowly as she took in the double-page picture. Macy, pouting seductively at the camera, was posing atop a rock before a vivid orange desert sunset. Her long dark hair had been tied back into a loose ponytail, and she had a gleaming pistol in each hand. The headline read: TRUE-LIFE TOMB RAIDER . ‘Is that . . . are you dressed as Lara Croft ?’
    ‘Pretty good likeness,’ said Eddie with an approving nod. ‘You got the tight top and hot pants right, too.’
    ‘Thanks!’ Macy replied.
    Nina had already moved on to the accompanying text, her attention caught by a familiar name. ‘Hey, this mentions me.’ She took the magazine from Macy.
    ‘Let’s see,’ said Eddie. ‘Where . . . oh, there. “As a student of famous archaeologist Nina Wilde, Macy discovered the long-lost Pyramid of Osiris deep in the Egyptian desert, and later uncovered the legendary El Dorado, City of Gold, hidden in the mountains of Peru. But as our sizzling shoot reveals, she’s every bit as sexy as she is smart.”’
    ‘You weren’t my student!’ Nina objected.
    Macy gave an apologetic shrug. ‘Yeah, I told them that, but I guess they thought it sounded better.’
    ‘So what else did they get wrong?’ Nina quickly read on, turning the page to reveal a second spread of similarly provocative portraits. ‘“With a boyfriend like Hollywood star Grant Thorn and a screen career on the horizon, it would be easy for Macy to take the road to the high life. But the Miami native insists she’s keeping her archaeological options open. She’s no mere MAW, but a real-life Lara Croft whose future is as exciting as the treasures of the past she digs up . . .” What’s a MAW?’
    ‘Model, actress, whatever,’ said Eddie. ‘Chuck something out of the window around here and you’ll probably hit at least two of ’em.’
    ‘Bimbos, basically,’ Macy added.
    Nina was not impressed. ‘So it’s kind of a demeaning term, then.’
    ‘Well, the article said I wasn’t one, so . . .’ She shrugged again. ‘Anyway, what do you think?’
    ‘Very nice,’ said Eddie with a grin. ‘I keep asking Nina to get an outfit like that, but she won’t have it.’
    Nina sighed, then turned back to Macy. ‘Modelling’s not exactly my thing, but you obviously enjoyed it, so . . . good for you. And I’m glad that even with these other options opening up for you, you’re planning to stick with archaeology.’
    ‘I worked really hard to get my degree,’ said Macy. ‘I’m not going to let it go to waste.’
    ‘You could be a model, archaeologist, whatever,’ Eddie suggested, grinning.
    ‘Yeah! Actually, Nina, if there are any openings at the IHA, I hope you’ll look at my résumé!’
    She laughed, but Nina didn’t respond in kind. ‘Macy, I . . .’ She gave Eddie a brief look before continuing. ‘I don’t work for the IHA any more.’
    The young woman laughed again, but it quickly faded when she realised Nina was serious. ‘What? Since when?’
    ‘Since two months ago. I resigned. I asked them to keep it quiet because I didn’t want to deal with the publicity.’
    ‘Oh my God! Why? What happened?’
    ‘Something bad happened to me. I can’t tell you too much, because it’s classified’ – that was not strictly true; Nina had made the decision to keep much of what had transpired a