Excerpt: Lair of the Jaguar God

"Virgin. Completely untouched."
In the back of the jeep, Kit jerked out of a day dream and knocked over a duffel bag. It hit the floor with a clunk.
Professor Owen glanced over his shoulder. "You doing okay back there, Kit?"
"Yeah." He stared at Owen's gray ponytail and wished he could sink beneath the pile of supplies and disappear. Who'd told him?
"Jungle covered it completely." Owen waved a tanned hand at the jungle. "I suspect Tony knew it was there all along. He just helped me accidentally find it." He chuckled, and Elizabeth chuckled along with him. "Kit, I think you'll like Tony," Owen shot over his shoulder. "He'll enjoy having someone new to show around his jungle."
Kit stared out into the trees. He could feel his cheeks burning. Virgin. Of course, Owen meant the jungle. He'd been rambling on about it and the dig since they'd left Guatemala City. He'd probably rambled about it on the plane, but Kit bad been stuck in a middle seat between Mark and Gator. Which was why he'd chosen to spend the rest of the journey bouncing along with the professor's supplies. The duffel bags were better company.
Kit pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around his knees. He'd been introduced to a few guys he was supposed to "like" during his first year of college, and it had taken him a while to catch on. Just because he hadn't -- with a girl. Didn't mean --.
Because he wasn't and that was all that mattered. He wriggled down into a nest of duffel bags. The air felt heavy and warm, and even with his eyes closed, he could tell he was in the jungle. He could sense it, smell it. He felt a part of it, he thought, letting his thoughts drift with the sway of the Jeep.
Jungle surrounded him as he struggled through a tangle of vines. A spider ran across his bare feet and he jumped, crashing through a wall of leaves. He pushed to his knees and found himself staring up a tall figure. A man streaked with yellow paint and dotted with black spots like a jaguar. "What god made you?" the figure demanded.
Kit shook his head, not knowing how to answer. The figure stepped closer and reached out to touch his cheek. "I claim you, young Balam. You will come to know me."
"Damn!"
Kit jerked out of his dream as Owen hit the brakes and sent him sliding into the back of Elizabeth's seat. When he heard the screech of brakes behind them, he braced himself for another jolt. Mitch’s truck stopped so close Kit could see him frowning behind the windshield.
"Elizabeth? Kit? You both okay?" Professor Owen asked as he threw his door open.
"Fine." Kit shoved a duffle bag off and tried to shift the supplies so he could climb out.
"Something wrong professor?" Mitch was already out of his truck and striding up to help.
"Tree branch blocking the road." Owen called back to him.
The two men moved off before Kit could scramble over the supplies. He could hear Elizabeth muttering curses and see her dark head bent as she fished for papers scattered on the floorboard. He left her to it and scrambled after Professor Owen and Mitch.
Mitch squatted beside a large branch that lay in the middle of rough dirt track that passed as a road. He pointed at one end. "It's been cut. This was deliberate."
"Of course it was deliberate," Owen said. "But I doubt it was meant for us."
"Why would someone put a branch in the road?" Kit asked, and Mitch looked at him like he was an idiot.
"Poachers block the roads to keep the people out," Elizabeth said, joining the group. "They could be dangerous, Professor."
Owen stooped to examine the branch. "An old cut. Probably been here for months. We'll move it and be on our way. I doubt they're still in the area."
"Why?" Kit asked. This earned him another glare from Mitch, though somehow he suspected Mitch didn't know the answer either.
Professor Owen gave him a wink and looked pleased with the question. "Poachers never last long in this part of the jungle. Nothing seems to last here that isn't, well, welcomed by the jungle. It's why I've been so lucky finding untouched Mayan sites. It's as if some mysterious force has kept civilization at bay." He smiled. "Remnants of old Mayan magic perhaps."
Elizabeth sighed and shook her head. "Don't fall too hard for his romantic tales, Kit. It's hard living and rough jungle that keeps civilization at bay, not Mayan magic. But we can hope the professor is right, and the poachers have left."
"Gator and I will keep a watch on things," Mitch said. "Hey, Gator, come help me move this branch."
Kit watched big, red-headed Gator stride over to join Mitch. Both men acted as if he didn't exist. Sure, he was a bit more slender than Gator, but he could help drag a tree branch off the road.
Gator bent over, grabbed the branch with his meaty hands, and hefted it to his shoulder. He strode to the edge of the road and tossed it into the brush.
Kit glared at Gator's shoulders, then his gaze wandered up to the leafy canopy. Something was up there watching them. He could feel it.
"Better drive slowly and keep an eye on the road, Professor," Gator said.
"We could take the lead," Mitch offered.
"Thanks, but I think I can handle it." Owen gave Kit a slap on the shoulder. " Climb in Kit, and this time hold on. Unless you'd feel safer in Mitch’s truck?"
"I'll take my chances." Kit climbed back in with the duffle bags. If he'd been riding with Mitch, he would have crashed into Gator. Then Gator would have tossed him out of the truck as easily as he'd tossed the branch.