They arrived in Peru in the late afternoon. After disembarking and once again getting their luggage, they headed out into the hot, humid air. Ray-Roy grinned. He was used to the heat. "This is the weather I like," he said, looking around at the tall trees. The brilliant sun shone high over the green, reflecting in the small puddles of water from the recent rain.

Vendetta stepped out beside him, bag over her shoulder. "Of course it is," she responded. "You're from warm climates."

"Yep," Ray-Roy said. "Grew up in Texas, almost every day was bright and warm, barely a breeze. Only days that weren't like that were days when a tornado touched down nearby."

"If only it had touched down on you," she murmured wistfully and started across the parking lot to a rental car.

Ray-Roy readjusted his bag over his shoulder then hurried after her. "Aw come on, you know you like me."

"No I don't," Vendetta said, opening the passenger door and getting inside, throwing her bag into the back seat.

The Texan jumped in beside her, doing the same with his own bag before starting the car with the keys. "Trust me," he said. "You like me. You just don't know it yet."

She raised an eyebrow at him and he pulled out onto the road.

"So," he said looking at the road. "Where're we goin'?"

"We'll go and look around the area that the peridot is in," she said looking out the window at the trees that blurred past them. "It's a few miles west of this town and should be pretty straight forward in getting there."

"Good," Ray-Roy nodded. They drove for a few minutes in silence and he stole a quick look at her. She seemed lost in thought. She had been acting like this ever since she had gotten that call.

"Everythin' all right?" he asked, turning back to the road.

She didn't look at him. "Yes. I'm fine."

"Seem tense is all. Was that call you got only about them checking up on us?"

She hesitated. "Dusk and Sanguine were being ambushed. I was just wondering if they were okay."

"Oh." He went quiet and they drove for a few more minutes in silence. He wasn't sure of how to take the information. Sure, Sanguine had been ambushed plenty of times but usually he was with him when it happened. "I'm sure they're fine," he finally said. "My dad has the habit to randomly burrow places and Dusk is a psychotic Vampire so it shouldn't be that bad. They've been in worse situations."

"True."

Ray-Roy hid a smile. He had managed to finally do something right without her injuring him. Maybe he would get a hug.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the place the peridot was in and got out of the car. A warm breeze rustled the trees above their heads and Ray-Roy was glad that he was wearing his sunglasses as he looked up at Machu Picchu. The ancient Mayan Relic rose up high above the ground, its shape was similar to the pyramid's he saw in Egypt, but unlike those, Machu Picchu's stone steps were dark with moisture and covered with slippery moss. The perfect combination for slipping.

Vendetta paused, cocked her head slightly, like she was listening. Then she straightened up and moved forward, slipping into the shadows. Ray-Roy followed her, careful to not step on anything that would create noise. Like a twig.

They moved together around the mountain of stone. Vendetta's movements silent and barely noticeable. Ray-Roy on the other hand, was having a bit harder time. He was moving pretty well, but every once in a while, he would step on a twig or accidentally send an animal running off. Every time that happened, Vendetta would glare and he would wince then mouth 'Sorry.'

It took them about half an hour to go entirely around the monument and get back to the car. "There are no entrances on ground level," Vendetta said. The flickering shadows played with her features. "So that means it must be higher up."

"You mean all the way up at there?" Ray-Roy looked up at the top of Machu Picchu, luckily he had his sunglasses on and he had no eyes so the sun didn't blind him.

"Yes, I didn't sense anyone here, so either we beat our competition here or they've already arrived and are waiting to spring a trap."

"What do you suppose we do then Pretty Lady?" He grinned.

She ground her teeth. "For the last time, don't call me that."

Ray-Roy's smile just widened. Vendetta looked up at the top, where the entrance was located. Suddenly, her head snapped to the side.

The Texan's smile disappeared. "Are you okay?"

"Shh!" Vendetta stayed like that for a moment, then her eyes widened and she yelled "DUCK!" as the ground at their feet exploded with machine gun fire. She shoved him back behind the rental car and they ducked down.

There was a loud "SMASH!" as the windows exploded. "Well," Ray-Roy said. "Looks like the windows aren't bullet-proof."

Vendetta dug into one of her pockets, she pulled out a small hand-held gun. She waited until the people had to reload before returning fire. Her aim was perfect and Ray-Roy heard the thud of a boy falling down the ancient stone relic to the ground. More machine fire. Vendetta ducked down again.

"Hey," Ray-Roy said. "What about me?"

Vendetta looked at him for a moment before reaching into another pocket and pulling out a gun identical to the one in her hand. "I want that back," she said then stood up when the gun-fire stopped and walked across the clearing to the trees, shooting as she walked. Once again, her aim was perfect and another two people fell down.

Ray-Roy waited for them to empty another round before doing the same as Vendetta, moving to the opposite side of the clearing the Vampire was on. He caught one in the head. Ray-Roy glanced over at Vendetta and saw her drop the hand-held weapon and go to one knee. She whipped out a pistol and continued to fire.

They continued this pattern for a while. Till one of the enemy got a lucky shot. Ray-Roy cried out then cursed. He gripped his shoulder, and bared his teeth. Now it was personal. He moved out back into the clearing, continuing to move the way he had gone into the trees, still firing. It worked. He managed to keep the last two people distracted enough so that Vendetta could get to the top and take them out. She blurred as she moved, faster than his eyes could follow.

After the last person was taken out, Vendetta looked down at him and nodded. He raced up the side of the monument, joining her at the top step, out of breath from running. And his wounded shoulder wasn't helping.

She, for her part, didn't even look different. "We don't have time to wait for tomorrow," she said after he got his breath back. "We have to go in and get the gem now."

Her eyes flickered to his shoulder. "Or you can stay out here and keep watch if your shoulder is bad enough."

Ray-Roy immediately straightened up. He wasn't going to show any weakness, especially to her. "No," he said. "I'm fine. Nothin' slows me down. Especially bullets. Just a nuisance, they are."

She looked at him for a moment. She didn't move for a good fifteen seconds and he noticed she had been like this when she had sensed the enemy up where they were standing. He looked around, making sure that no one was going to sneak up on them then turned back as Vendetta nodded and walked into the entrance of the monument.

Ray-Roy looked at her for a moment then shook his head and followed her deeper into the monument. As they walked in silence, he found himself once again in a dream- like state as he watched Vendetta walk. Silent and deadly, movements like a jungle cats'.

Vendetta finally turned to him, her face in half shadow, making her pale skin stand out more. "Are you done staring?"

Ray-Roy jumped, realizing that he had been staring at her for a long time. He was pretty sure he said something impressive along the lines of "Um….."

She shook her head and continued, quickening her pace. He looked around and quickly found his bearings once again then made a silent promise. 'Don't stare at Vendetta anymore.'

Vendetta stopped so suddenly in a doorway that Ray-Roy almost ran into her. "We're here."

The Texan readjusted his sunglasses and peered into the room. The peridot sat in the middle of a large room on an old stone pedestal. The walls were cracked and had odd plants growing out of the cracks.

Vendetta didn't move for a few moments. Then she moved forward. Ray-Roy followed carefully behind her, looking for any traps that the men they had disposed of earlier had set up. Nothing jumped out at them and Ray-Roy couldn't help grin as Vendetta reached for the peridot. "This is too easy."

Then as Vendetta grabbed the gem, the room began to shake. She cursed. Ray-Roy yelped as a large piece of ceiling missed hitting him by only an inch.

"Come on!" Vendetta shoved the peridot into her pocket. She blurred and disappeared down the corridor. Ray-Roy swore and disappeared into the ground. He followed the path Vendetta took but found himself unable to keep up. So instead he took a short-cut to the path he knew Vendetta was going to take.

He erupted out of the path, using his momentum to carry himself up. Right when Vendetta ran into him. They went sprawling, Ray-Roy opened his eyelids and found himself looking into Vendetta's blue eyes. Before he could say something witty, the female Vampire was up and running again.

Ray-Roy leaped up and followed, this time she was going slower so he managed to keep up. The entire ceiling was falling down now, rocks smashed into the ground all over the place. A roar was all he could hear and he couldn't look up in fear he would trip over his own feet.

When he finally did manage to look up, he saw daylight at the end of the tunnel. The entrance. Vendetta was only a few feet away from the fresh air when something above caught his attention.

A jagged rock, about the size of a microwave, was crumbling apart and was going to fall on Vendetta. Vendetta mean-while, was sprinting for the exit. Putting everything into trying not to get hit and make it out in one piece.

Then the rock came lose.

Ray-Roy barely had time to yell her name before the rock smashed into her skull. Vendetta crashed to the ground, rolling slightly and leaving a trail of blood. He cursed and raced to her side. Blood was pumping out of a gash in the side of her head where the rock had hit it. Her body was already beginning to heal over but Ray-Roy knew that he had to get her out of there before the entire tunnel came down on them.

He grabbed her then sank into the ground, just as the entire tunnel collapsed.

So, it has been brought to my attention by MJEG (Guest) that they need more opposition. I completely agree, so me and realtawit have come up with some opposition for them that will appear in probably the next chapter or so.

And to answer your other questions MJEG, thank you, I had a lot of fun coming up with Vendetta and Ray-Roy. I'm not exactly sure where I got her name, I think I heard it one day and after that I put together a character, added a back story and came up with the character we now have. No, I did not think of any other names to give her.

I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far and thank you to everyone who has read it or commented or in some way contributed. The next chapter will be up soon. :)