Paige stared in awe at the ornate temple. She’d dreamed of visiting Nepal one day and having the opportunity to experience the spiritual enlightenment of the people and the pristine precision of the architecture. She’d never thought she’d have this opportunity as a graduate student.

Ethan moved up beside her, nudging her with his elbow. “Pictures don’t do it justice, do they?”

She shook her head, unable to speak. She could barely breathe. She was humbled to be in the presence of such a structure. She could sense the peace emanating from the place and wanted to draw it into her, carry it home to the stress of school and finishing her graduate degree in theological culture. She and Ethan had earned their place in this journey, holding the highest GPA in the program, and they’d fought hard to get here.

The laughter behind them made Paige flinch. The other three members of the voyage didn’t seem to take it so seriously. It had nothing to do with intelligence. Charlotte and Kyle had earned the trip by staying at the top of the archaeological program, and Billy had been nominated by the ancient architecture program. But the three of them acted like this was merely a vacation, like some ski trip in Colorado or spring break in the Florida keys.

For Paige, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and she didn’t take it lightly.

As they approached, Paige rolled her eyes. Charlotte and Billy had hooked up at some point between getting on the flight out of New York and checking into the hostel in Nepal. He had his arm around her shoulders, and they were stumbling around, Kyle spouting lewd jokes at them. Paige blocked them out, still infused with the respect and calm of the temple.

“Well, are we going in or what?” Billy asked impatiently.

Ethan and Paige exchanged a look, and Ethan gave her an almost imperceptible nod. “I think we’re going to keep soaking in the ambience. You guys go ahead. We’ll catch up later.” Charlotte tugged at Billy’s sweater and trotted toward the entrance, Kyle plodding along behind them like a loyal puppy.

Paige hadn’t realized how tense she was until her shoulders fell slack and she let out a long breath of relief. “Thank you,” she said sincerely. “They’re so disrespectful. I don’t know how they can go on like that, not appreciating this gift.”

Ethan shrugged. “They come from money. They have trouble appreciating anything because they’ve never worked for it.” He gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. Worst case scenario, they’ll embarrass their departments and get kicked out of the programs.”

Paige snorted. “Yeah, and we’ll end up losing our places in the fallout.” She refused to let someone else ruin her life. Completing the program assured her a future she wouldn’t have gotten without grueling hours of study and intricate, hard work on projects and theses. She couldn’t afford for anyone to screw it up, least of all a group of spoiled rich kids.

“Just breathe,” he told her squeezing her shoulder. She felt a certain solidarity with Ethan, a camaraderie she could never feel with any of the other participants in this trip. They had similar backgrounds and similar goals for the future. While neither of them was stupid enough to push the boundaries in a way that would lead to a disastrous breakup the way Charlotte and Billy had set that collision course, they were close friends. She liked having a support system.

“Are you ready?” Ethan asked, and Paige turned to look at him. The light dancing in his eyes at the thought of exploring the ancient grounds had her excited again, her blood pumping hot and fast through her veins.

Nodding eagerly, she told him, “Let’s do this.”