Sixteen-year-old Shaylyn Lark has spent her whole life in the shadow of her parents’ work — trailing behind two brilliant archaeologists through museums, lecture halls, and dig sites while the real discoveries always belonged to someone else. Smart, impulsive, and determined to prove she’s more than the professor’s kid, Shay is ready for something that’s finally hers.
She gets more than she bargained for.
When her family travels to Guanajuato, Mexico for her father’s lecture, a mysterious ring passed down through generations of women in her family begins to respond to something buried deep beneath the ancient Pyramid of Cholula. What Shay’s mother always called a simple heirloom is something far older — a relic tied to a secret sisterhood of guardians that spans centuries and continents… and to a Mayan death deity named Hunhau.
At the center of it all lies a cursed silver skull with the power to reshape the living world.
Suddenly, Shay is navigating ancient tunnels, deadly traps, and enemies who will stop at nothing to claim the skull — while trying to protect her friends, keep her family safe, and understand what it means to inherit a legacy she never asked for… and may not be ready to carry.
Blending archaeological adventure with Mesoamerican mythology, Shay Lark and the Pyramid of Cholula is a fast-paced story of friendship, family, and the cost of stepping into who you were always meant to be.