by S. E. Akers
“Ooops,” Kamya said with a grin as she rubbed her arm. “Mine will be as good as new after I’ve soaked it for a while, but those are destine for the trash.”
True, I thought with a droll smile. “What about my purse?”
Kamya strutted over to the sofa, where my magical purse lay still intact. She tossed it to me with a swift and guided pitch. “You’re lucky that your little voodoo bag made it out in one-piece.”
I looked around the room as I tucked the hilt inside my purse, noting that a crucial member of our party was missing. “Where’s Tanner?” The sour look on Kamya’s face sent me into a panic. “Kamya, where is he?”
“In the bathroom,” she finally answered. “His wounds needed tending to first. He may be in there for a while.”
That was alarming. “How bad did he get hurt?”
“Which time?” Kamya questioned. “When he was in the vortex, dealing with his demons, or when he helped me drag your stubborn, defiant hide out of there? You roasted him with one of Helio’s flames.”
I sprang out of the bed. “WHAT?” I shrieked.
“Feeling worse?” Kamya posed.
“NO!” I shouted. “It was the Onyx! He snatched the wand and grabbed me.”
“Tanner disarmed you… He helped pull you out of the vortex,” Kamya clarified. “You were quite delirious. The flames struck him as soon as we crossed its threshold.”
I rushed to the bathroom door. My clenched fist lingered for a moment, halted by my anguish. I struggled to summon the nerve to knock, but my faint-heart inevitably dropped it down to my side. The guilt I felt was immeasurable.
“Ta—Tanner?” I called out.
“Have you come to finish me off?” he answered. My head fell against the hardwood slab. Though his sarcasm eased some of my fears, my conscience could have done without the pot-shot.
“That’s not funny,” I pouted. “Can I come in?”
“I don’t think you want to,” Tanner replied.
I cringed. “How bad is it?”
“Bad,” Tanner stressed. “But I’ll heal.”
“Are you in a lot of pain?”
“How would you feel if several layers of your skin had been burnt off from the waist up?”
I banged my head against the door. Crap. “I didn’t—”
“I know,” Tanner interrupted. I heard a loud “slosh” and what sounded like footsteps. Tanner cracked the door enough to squeeze his hand through — his raw, charred hand. My wounds looked like paper cuts next to his. I had to hold back my gasp when I spied a glimpse of his tendons.
Oh no…
“Here,” Tanner said and then dropped a glowing red stone in my palm. “Hold on to the chalcedony.” I shoved it into my pocket straightaway, not pausing to marvel at the mystical little natural beauty or even caring about what having it meant. I yanked off my moonstone before he could retract his hand and slid it on his pinky. He tried his best to muffle his grunt, but I knew the maneuver had caused him an excruciating amount of pain. He grabbed my hand in turn, despite any agony, and stroked it as tenderly as he could. I let go of it (though I didn’t want to) and watched the door slowly come to a close.
“Could I have…killed him?” I whispered to Kamya.
“Yes…if I hadn’t been there,” she replied. I slid down the door, regretful of my question. “Cheer up, girl. He’ll be fine. Just a little tanner for a while,” she laughed. “That’s quite comical when you think about it.”
I shook my head. “Yeah… It’s hilarious.” I caught a glimpse of the clock. “Is that the right time?” I asked.
“Yes. It’s almost ten o’clock.”
“Where’s Federo?” I asked.
Kamya sneered. “That, I do not know. He didn’t follow me into the cave and when we came out…he was gone.”
“Does Tatka know where he went?”
“Possibly, but one has a hard time communicating when they’re dead,” Kamya announced with a foul glare.
I sprang to my feet in a gasp. “He’s dead? How?”
Kamya eyes glazed slightly as she took a deep breath. I could tell she was distraught by her calculated, far-off look. “Someone used a very powerful, wicked curse. His body looked as withered as a cut flower left to die on the ground in the scorching sun.”
I placed my hand on her shoulder. “That’s horrible.”
“Yes, it was…but I fully intend on repaying the bastard who attacked him with a punishment tenfold.”
“Valisco?” I guessed.
“The odds favor him,” Kamya admitted. “Shuars seek their victim’s souls. I have no doubt that Tatka put forth a vehement fight to keep him from claiming it. He must have sensed the end was near. He took his own life so he could release his soul back to the earth…on his own terms.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because… Tatka still had his head,” Kamya said with a proud grin. “Shuars will take the head of their victim and stitch it up so their soul cannot escape. It gives them more power. At least his assailant left without his prize.” She pulled something out of her pocket. “Here,” Kamya said as she handed me the gruesome, beady-eyed bat necklace the little sorcerer had given me.
I rubbed my neck inadvertently as I took hold of it. The magical amulet still looked just as ghastly as before, but now it served a new purpose — memento.
“It truly is a special gift,” Kamya reiterated as she eyed my uneasy twitch. Her weighty brow relaxed after a few thoughtful and very long seconds. “But you can put it away now,” she insisted with a grin.
“Thank you,” I sighed and beat a path to my purse.
“Are you kidding? You only have to wear it. Others have to look at it,” Kamya teased with a sneer.
“Do you think something happened to Federo too?” I asked.
“I wish,” Kamya huffed. “I would be in a much better mood.”
“Can you contact him?”
An acid-laced laugh shot out of the Ruby Talisman’s mouth. “Do you really think I would EVER give him one of my stones?”
“No,” I retracted.
Kamya shook her head. “I think my smack must’ve knocked something loose in that head of yours.”
An apprehensive feeling directed my gaze towards the closet. I had a stone in my pocket that could possibly be the answer to part of Katie’s prayers, so why was I still afraid to open that safe? The brazen but wise Ruby Talisman sensed my struggle too.
“Talk to her, Shiloh,” Kamya advised.
“I’m just coming to grips with the fact I almost killed Tanner. I’m nowhere near finished with my bout of self-loathing. I don’t think I’m up to hearing anyone else’s harsh words,” I assured her.
“Huh,” Kamya grunted with a shrug. “I guess I was right about you when we first met at the airport… You are yellow.”
I shot her a terse glare. I didn’t need any from her right now either. “Even if she wants to listen to me…what do I say?” I posed with a dry laugh. “Should I even tell her about the stone?”
“NO,” Kamya snapped and then softened her stance. “The stone is irrelevant,” she clarified. “Mending your rift must come first.”
I knew she was right, but that did nothing to subdue my fears. The worst of them being she had lost all hope. I remained right where I stood, just four feet away from getting my answer and still feeling helplessly paralyzed by my guilt.
Kamya cleared her throat. “Key… Lock… Turn… Talk,” she called off robotically. “Surely you can process that elementary sequence.”
Agitated by her prodding, I snatched my purse off the bed and searched for the key. Any other time I’d be digging forever for what I needed, but not this time. It practically jumped in my hand. I supposed I had karma to thank for that.
I tossed my purse onto the desk and strode over to the closet with the gold key firmly in hand. Even with it hovering less than an inch from the tiny hole, I still couldn’t bring myself to do it. It just didn’t “feel” like the right
time. Intuition… Maybe? That, or the fact I desperately wanted some PRIVACY! Kamya rushed over and snatched the key out of my hands. She had the safe unlocked and the door wide-open before I could utter the first objection.
“Any day now,” Kamya sang.
Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the suite door. I took it as the cosmos offering me a little divine intervention by way of a much-needed distraction.
“I’ll get it,” I mumbled as I turned around.
Kamya grabbed my arm. “Oh no! I’ll get it. It’s just the sea-salt…finally,” she huffed. “Don’t stop now.” Kamya rushed to the door but stopped shy of turning its knob. The muscles in her arms tightened as she formed two white-knuckled fists.
“Speak of the devil and he doth appear,” Kamya grumbled aloud and then kicked the door straight forward, slick off its hinges. It drove Federo across the hall, where he crashed into the wall. I rushed to the doorway. There stood a hotel porter nearby, who looked equally as stunned. Kamya flipped the busted slab off Federo, grabbed him by his throat, and dragged him into the room. I quickly snatched the bucket of salt out of the frozen man’s hands and issued him a quick mental tip. With that taken care of, he made a u-turn towards the elevator and I hurried into the room before the real damage commenced. Kamya had Federo pinned up against a large column. The crack of her whip snapped through the suite when it locked around his neck.
“WHERE WERE YOU!?!” Kamya demanded as she tightened her hold. “WHY DIDN’T YOU FOLLOW ME INSIDE?!?”
Federo tried to pry the blazing braid off his skin. “I had to stay…TO KEEP WATCH,” he choked out. “Ferrol showed up…right after you entered.”
Kamya tugged on the makeshift noose and threw her knee straight up and into his crotch. “LIAR!” she growled through her clenched teeth.
“It—it is the truth,” Federo squeaked. “Check my pocket if you don’t believe me.”
Not wanting to free her hold, Kamya tilted her head. “Shiloh,” she said with a jerk. “Come and see.”
“The left one,” Federo urged in a winded gasp.
Sure enough, I pulled out a red-orange carnelian that shored up his claim. It even had a fresh coating of diamonds on it, the same kind Ferrol had on him earlier.
“NOW do you believe me?” Federo asked. Kamya loosened her whip in a quick slicing jerk and then pushed him away. Federo let out a fierce growl and ran his hand over the cut on his neck she had intentionally made. “Untrusting bitch!”
Kamya checked his wounds. “What a delicate flower you are. A kitty scratches harder than that.” Federo pushed her hand away. “And I told you. My trust is earned,” the Ruby Talisman swore with a steely scowl.
“What’s going on out there?” Tanner called to me telepathically.
I headed straight for my purse to retrieve the amethyst. “Kamya is questioning Federo,” I replied. Straightaway, Tanner demanded to know what had happened to the absent Amber Talisman. I repeated Federo’s story and told him about the carnelian.
“Don’t let Federo know you have the red chalcedony,” Tanner ordered. “I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
“I understand,” I replied mentally as I stared at the open safe. I couldn’t stomach the thought of someone else’s ulterior motives thwarting another attempt to reunite Katie’s soul to her body, especially with all that Tanner had just endured. That was reason enough not to tell Katie about the stone. If something happened to it too — before we found her body — I didn’t quite know how she would take the devastating news.
“Thank you for the moonstone,” Tanner said with a grateful air.
“Is it helping?” I asked.
“Yes,” Tanner admitted. “My burns are almost healed. The gashes might take another hour or so.”
“Are those from whatever was growling in the cave?”
“Yes,” Tanner confirmed. He didn’t offer up any other information and I wasn’t about to push it. I was simply grateful he was alive. “I’m still mad at you,” he vowed. “I told you not to come inside.”
“I had to,” I confessed.
“Because of Katie?” Tanner posed.
My gaze shifted from the safe down to the desk in front of me. “No,” I replied. “Because of you.” The silence that followed was nothing less than painfully stirring. That was bad, but knowing he was only a few feet away and I couldn’t see him was about to drive me crazy. “Can I come in?” I asked softly. “Please?”
“You know how to unlock a door,” Tanner replied, almost in a whisper and sounding absolute with his words.
My pulse quickened as I slipped the amethyst back inside my purse. I took a deep breath, hoping my heart wouldn’t burst through my chest. As I turned, I spotted a small folded note addressed to me, and beside it lay a wadded ball of tissues on the desk. I opened the note. It was from Kara.
Shiloh,
I’m leaving for the airport.
I wanted to get on the first flight out.
Understandable, I thought and continued.
I found this in the pocket of my jacket.
I’m pretty sure it’s yours.
Kara
PS- Call me as soon as you can
so I’ll know you’re okay!
Thank you, Shi…for EVERYTHING,
But mostly for being my friend!
I should frame this. I unwrapped the tissues to find the little green malachite. Between the fiasco from the other night, the Emerald Eyes, my hangover, and all the other screwy events, I’d actually forgotten all about it. My “lucky” stone, I thought as I slipped it into the pocket of my jeans.
I headed past Federo and Kamya, whose horns were still locked like a couple of snorting bulls. The pair’s heated stance only broke because someone lingering in the now door-less entryway of the suite happened to call out my name. It was Ty standing there speechless, while his brainwaves teetered between “rattled” and “confused”.
Not good…
I hurried into the hall. “How are you feeling?” I asked, totally playing off the two strangers, as well as the busted door.
Ty’s sweeping stare absorbed everything, right down to my shredded jeans and bandages. “I’m fine…and YOU?”
“Good,” I answered with a perky smile as I led him away from the suite.
“Shi, we need to talk,” Ty insisted.
I lowered my head. “I know,” I confirmed as I stared at his cast-clad arm. “About the woman in the cenote? What you saw?”
“Well, yeah, about that too…but that’s not what I’m talking about. It’s Mike.”
I sighed and fell back against the wall. “What is he up to NOW?”
“A guy from Xcavare is down in our room. He came by to pick up Mike. He said that Lazarus arrived in Veracruz this afternoon and wants to see him.”
“WHAT?” I shrieked. THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!” My panic seemed to heighten Ty’s worry.
“I think it’s a bad idea too,” Ty remarked with a nod.
My eyes about bugged out of my head. No shit! My brain started to race. Lorelei had wrongly assumed Ty was a Talisman, and Benicio had made that same supernatural mistake with Kara too. The look on Malachi’s face at dinner the other night seared every synapse in my head. He knows someone broke into Lazarus’ room, and he’s been all over Mike this trip like white on rice. Malachi either thinks Mike is a Talisman or that he might know where Lazarus is! I slammed my foot on the ground. My fingerprints were all over this mess.
“And Shi, somehow Mike got his hands on a gun.”
I grabbed Ty. “Is he still in his suite?”
“Yeah, but he’s getting ready to head down to the lobby.”
“Is there a problem?” Federo asked when he stepped into the hall.
“Yeah… A big one,” I mumbled and raced for the stairwell. Their room was only one floor down, but I prayed I got there in time. I spotted a man escorting Mike onto the elevator, just as I threw open the door. I charged down the hall and jumped inside.
“Mike, you can’
t meet Lazarus! I won’t let you!” I yelled.
“This is what I’ve been waiting for…You’re not going to stop me,” Mike replied with a resolute grunt.
Before the man could say a word, I shook my finger and shot him a few orders of my own. “Take out your phone. Tell whoever sent for Mike that he won’t be coming.” I turned to Mike and growled, “Because he’s leaving on a flight tonight!” The man started to comply without batting an eye. Unfortunately, that didn’t set too well with Mr. Riverside.
“That’s NOT true!” Mike raged as he tried to grab the guy’s cell. I knocked the phone out of the man’s grasp before Mike could get a hold of it. As soon as it hit the floor, I smashed the cell with my foot and punched the “stop” button on the elevator.
“WHAT THE HELL, SHI?” Mike snapped. He tried to reach for the button, but I jumped in front of the panel and knocked away his hand.
“There’s something I have to tell you. Something I should have told you before now.”
“That you’re INSANE?” Mike charged.
I reached into his pocket and pulled out a small gun. I waved the pathetic-looking Saturday-Night Special in the air. “Oh, and you think I’m insane?” I posed. With a quick pop and spin of the chamber, I empted all the bullets and handed the varsity quarterback-turned-vigilante his gun.
“Give them back,” Mike demanded.
“You don’t need them,” I insisted.
“YES! I DO!” Mike barked.
“Mike, please listen to me. There’s no way you’re meeting with Lazarus tonight,” I announced.
Mike shook his head, confused. “And why is that?”
“Because he’s DEAD!” I yelled. “And he’s been dead for a while!”
“No,” Mike mumbled. “No! He’s here…in Veracruz! They said he was! He’s not dead!”
“Take my word. He is.”
“How do YOU know?” Mike questioned.
“Because… I killed Lazarus,” I finally blurted. Mike’s eyes glazed. I could tell he was a million miles away thinking about his hypnosis-induced dreams. “I was the other person in the room,” I confessed. “The one you couldn’t see. I was there with your father. It’s always been me.”
