(This book is a sequel to "Blood of the Gods" and can't be read as a stand alone)

Two and a half years after the disappearance of Emilio and Juan

It had been a gamble. A very long shot.

Mateo had been clinging to scraps of hope for months. First, he had combed through the ruins around Trujillo, where Juan and Emilio had last been seen. When that led nowhere, he had spent a significant amount of money on local police forces, sat for hours in bars listening to the wildest stories, and traveled to the most remote corners of Peru in search of his younger brother and his best friend. So far, it had all been in vain.

His search had brought him to this property at the foot of the Andes. Although nothing suggested Juan and Emilio had ever been in this area, several people had gone missing here in recent years. The mountains were not safe; it was easy enough to fall to one's death.

A contact in the police had told him about a woman who might be able to help. It didn't sit right with him that the authorities were passing this on to him, though he had never trusted people with badges anyway. If possible, he preferred to handle things alone.

Not that Mateo needed their help. He just wanted to show her a photo of his brother and see how she reacted—to see if anything suggested she had been involved in his disappearance, or at least knew more than she was saying.

Mateo checked that his jacket still hung properly over the pistol tucked into his waistband and walked toward the cabin. The small building almost disappeared against the grey rock rising behind it.

At the front door, he looked for a bell. There wasn't one, so he rapped his knuckles against the wood. He stepped back and tried to look through the window, but the sunlight was reflecting directly off the glass.

The door opened, revealing a woman who barely reached his chest. There was a cautious look in her eyes. Her hand rested against the doorframe, and he saw her fingers tighten around the wood as she took him in properly.

"Mateo, right?" she asked in English.

Mateo's mouth fell open—then twisted into a grimace. He drew his pistol immediately and pointed it at her head. "What do you know about me?"

"I know you're looking for your brother."

Mateo stared at her, momentarily speechless. He had expected to get somewhere, but this... this made no sense. He flicked off the safety and pressed the barrel against her forehead. "Where is he?"

She didn't seem fazed by the gun. Her calmness made him uneasy.

"I can show you the way."

His normally steady heartbeat now thundered through his entire body. Her reaction was so strange that he could hardly believe she actually knew anything about his brother's disappearance.

She knows my name.

He shook off the uneasy feeling. That bastard cop had probably tipped her off. Maybe they thought they could squeeze more money out of him.

"Where is he?" Mateo repeated.

"It's easier to talk without the gun," she said, her eyes sharper than he had expected. Especially since you won't shoot me as long as I'm the only one with answers. She didn't say it, but he was sure that's what she was thinking. And she was right, of course.

He lowered the gun, though he didn't put it away. Just in case she decided to make him disappear next.

"My name is Alva. I'd like to show you something."

"My brother, yes."

She gave him a small, sad smile, which put him even more on edge. "He's not here. I can show you where he is."

What did she mean, show him?

His grip tightened again and, on instinct, he raised the gun at her. Something was seriously wrong with this woman. A normal person would have said everything they knew the moment they saw a gun. "Just say it, you crazy bitch," he snapped.

"You won't believe me. Then you'll walk away and throw away the only chance you have of seeing your brother again."

Mateo took a deep breath, then finally lowered the gun again. "Fine," he muttered, deciding this was otherwise just a waste of time. "Show me."

"It's outside."

Mateo stepped back.

How had Juan and Emilio ever ended up in a place like this? Had his brother gone hiking and asked for directions back to civilization? And had she locked them up afterward?

Suspicious, he followed Alva around the cabin.

She walked up to the rock wall and pulled on a lever he hadn't even noticed.

Mateo froze.

With a loud grinding sound, the rock face slid open, revealing a steel door.

What the fuck?

He raised his pistol again instantly. A perfect place to lock up two young men and make them disappear. No way in hell was he going to be the next one who never came back.

He stepped into the dim space.

There were no cages. It looked more like some kind of research facility—flickering lights, unfamiliar devices, shelves full of reference books, and—

His throat went dry.

Medical chairs. The kind you could strap someone into.

"Juan... Emilio..." he muttered, as an unfamiliar fear flooded his veins. He shuddered.

"What the hell have you two gotten yourselves into?"