The newly graduated Librarians were celebrating their first successful mission on their own at the café in Lima Ezekiel told them about.

"This little guy will make a nice addition to the Library don't you think?" He tapped the burlap sack that held a small statue of made from the bark of the Lupuna tree.

"As long as it stays in the dark we'll be ok and the people of Ah Ciliz can rest easy again." Jake took the bag and tightened the knot.

The Lupuna tree, was considered a sacred tree in the Amazon rainforest and villagers revered them believing the Lupuna to be inhabited by protective spirits. A hundred years ago workers from the Miller Logging Company aware of the legend did their best to avoid the tree when cutting lumber but one day they cut down the wrong tree.

Although they apologized for their mistake, an angry tribal chieftain made a totem from scraps of the tree and cursed them. Soon the workers met with accidents and injuries. The chieftain emboldened by his newfound power used it to threaten his own people and they feared the growing hold he had over them. When the son of the logging company's owner was killed in one accident, his father, Douglas Miller blamed the chieftain and wanted to avenge his death.

The village elders desperate to stop their once holy man and friend, told the owner where he lived. Mr. Miller confronted the chieftain when he was walking in the forest one day. He laughed at him and began to recite the spell to order the totem to kill him. Mr. Miller shot him before he could finish. He left the chieftain to die and as he lay dying, his now evil spirit, his anger and his rage transferred into the totem. Its powers grew great while it remained in the sun and the totem was reining havoc on the people of the village in retaliation for their betrayal.

The tribal elders tried to burn it, but the totem remained unharmed. They tried to chop it in pieces, but again it remained unharmed. They decided to bury it deep in the ground. Their plan worked, stripping it of its power and bringing peace to the village once again.

It was found several weeks ago by a group of college anthropology students on their first excavation tour and as the sun warmed it, the totem began its reign of terror again.

"That was kind of fun." Cassandra said. The two men glared at her.

"If you mean fun as in almost being killed by lightening bolts directed right at us and then almost being crushed by a giant stone then yeah, that sounds like fun." Ezekiel shook his head. "I really need to take a break, do something less stressful, like steal the Hope Diamond."

Jake chuckled. "It was pretty fun seeing you dangling from the top of that cave. I think the bats liked you."

"Ha, ha…" he gave him a smirk and got up to find their waitress.

Jake turned to Cassandra. "It wasn't fun almost losing you when the totem tried to send you off the mountain." He took her hand and kissed it. "You need to be more careful."

"It's part of the job we signed on to." She reminded him. "Plus I needed to be in the exact spot where it was created to trap it."

"I know, but you could have let me be the bait."

"Jake, if you are going to try and keep me out of harm's way on every mission, we are going to have serious problems." She crossed her arms and looked away from him, her brow furrowed and mouth clenched.

"No I'm not…"

"I suppose you think I can't do the job." She felt her head ache but she resisted the urge to rub her forehead so he wouldn't ask her what was wrong and give him more ammunition.

"It's not that, please look at me sweetheart."

She turned and faced him. Damn it, he had that crinkly look in his eyes again, the one that made her melt. He reached over and kissed her.

"You are strong enough and brave enough and smart enough, you don't have to prove anything to me anymore. I trust you with everything I have, but you need to trust us, we three are a team now." She smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I have to admit the thief is doing ok, but don't tell him I said that." He added making her giggle. Ezekiel came back to their table, a lovely young woman with long shiny black hair and large brown eyes was following closely behind.

"Well guys, I'll see you back at the Library. Carlita here is from Ah Ciliz and she and her family want to thank me for saving her village." Jake was tempted to correct him, but he refrained. He would make him pay for it later.

"Fine, we're leaving in a few minutes, so we'll take the totem with us then."

"Yeah, sure…" he paid no attention to him or Cassandra as he took Carlita's hand and let her lead him away.

Back at the Library, Jenkins found a dark container and locked it inside. He then took it to the back and placed it in the restricted section.

"So how was it and where is Ezekiel?" Col. Baird asked.

"It went well." Cassandra answered. "He stayed behind for a bit. Apparently he has some fans."

Flynn and Baird were preparing to go on their own adventure. He was stuffing maps into a backpack and she was reading about the artifact they were looking for.

Someone was pulling off amazing bank robberies all over the world in broad daylight without anyone seeing the thief. Flynn suspected it was the ring of Gyges which gave its owner the power of invisibility. "This going to be tricky." Flynn said as Jenkins got the door ready.

"You know you still owe me a real date." Baird said to him as they prepared to go.

"I know, I know…" and soon they were gone.

"Three down, two to go." Jenkins said staring at them as he went back to his workroom.

"So what do you want to do now?" Cassandra started to open her clippings book. Jake stopped her. "What's wrong?"

"I want to visit the family. Make sure every one is ok. It's been almost three months. I was hoping you would come with me." Jake said. She hesitated.

"You don't want to come?" he asked.

"It's not that, I'd love to see your family again especially Emma…"

"But?"

"I want to try a mission on my own." Jake was silent.

"You don't think I can?"

"No of course not, I know you can Cassie." She opened her book and smiled. "You're in luck I'll be nearby in Texas, so I can pop over when I am done."

He watched her as she got some things together she would need, saying little, resisting the urge to tell her he would go with her. He set the door for her. She kissed his cheek and waved goodbye as she walked through.

"See you soon, love you…"