by Lisa Kessler
Issa picked up the pace, racing through the jungle toward the sound as he sent his silent growl up to the eagle soaring above him. I do not know this game you are playing, Mulac, but I am no longer your brother.
The Guardian felt movement to his right, followed by a gasp. Although the Demon had stolen his vision, his other enhanced senses allowed him to see in a new way. He held out his hand toward her.
“You are awake?” He waited, making no other movements. The petite blond Night Walker had survived an attack from Camalotz. Her mind was most likely as damaged as her body.
He kept his voice soft, but its low timbre could not be helped. “Are you in pain?”
“My name is Marguerite.” Her voice trembled. “Who are you?”
He dropped his hand back to his side. “I am the Guardian.”
“You are the Night Demon’s lover…Camalotz’s mate.”
“Protector of the mortal world.” He let out a defeated sigh. “An impossible task for any one being. She is too strong to be stopped.”
He heard the woman get up and settle in front of him. She smelled of fresh flowers in spite of her surroundings.
“Did she do that to you?”
He raised his large hand, smudging the blood on his cheek as he nodded slowly. “She took my eyes.”
He felt the woman’s hand lightly grasp his own. “Why would she do this to you?” Her soft fingers traced along his forehead, brushing his hair away from his face, carefully avoiding his wounds as they healed.
“Her eyes were lost in a battle.”
“So she took yours,” she whispered.
“He’le. Yes.” Although he could no longer see, he kept alert, listening for the Demon’s return.
“She had no right to harm you.” He could hear a trace of anger in her melodic voice.
“She had no right and all rights.”
“That makes no sense.”
He turned toward the sound of her voice. “I am hers. Perhaps in this world, lovers do not hurt their loved ones, but Camalotz is not of this world. I belong to her, and I fear her. I love her and hate her. I was made to please her and also to stop her conquest of this world. It does not need to make sense, it simply is. I know no other way to explain it to you.”
“How did I get here?” she finally asked.
The Guardian placed his other hand over hers, enveloping her soft, porcelain skin between his palms. “I am not certain. I found you in our bedchamber. Dead, but not dead. I knew you would be sentenced to an eternity of pain without blood to heal your body’s thirst, so I covered you and fed you from my veins.”
“No.” Her grip on his hand tightened. “Kane attacked me. How did I end up in the Demon’s lair?”
“Kane?” The Guardian frowned. “You know the God of the East?”
“He is my maker.” Her tear hit the back of his hand. “He was the other half of my soul.”
The Guardian shook his head. “Kane would never forfeit a loved one to her appetite.”
Her French accent thickened, exposing her invisible wounds. “He was more animal than man. He took my blood without my consent and drank until my world went dark.”
The Guardian remained silent, staring blindly into the darkness. Finally, he squeezed her hand. “Camalotz is not like the Night Walkers. While you can only take the form of your animal spirit, she can become anything she chooses once she has taken their blood into her body. She has tasted Kane’s blood in the past. That would allow her to become him in the future if she chose it.”
Marguerite’s body went rigid. “You think Camalotz attacked me in Kane’s form?”
“It is the only answer that makes sense. Kane does not know where we rest. He could not have brought you here.”
Marguerite withdrew her hand from his and he sensed she paced in front of him. “Is she so purely evil that it gave her pleasure to make me believe it was Kane who raped me for my blood? Why not just kill me and be done with it? Surely she has that power.”
The Guardian shook his head slowly. “I do not know. There is usually a purpose to her actions, but I cannot guess what it might be.” He turned toward the sound of her voice. “She does hate you—she must. She brought you here to ensure you endured many nights trapped in your bloodless body with the pain of your hunger.”
“How can she hate someone she has never seen? I still would not recognize her in her true form. How could she know using Kane’s image would hurt me?”
“Camalotz can penetrate even the strongest minds. Perhaps she saw Kane in your mind, or saw your face in his thoughts.”
“She nearly took his heart the last time she walked the earth. Maybe she knew that hurting me would wound Kane.”
“It is possible.” He nodded. “Or she simply saw your love for Kane inside your mind. Camalotz does not understand love, and yet she yearns for it. She hates any being that enjoys a pleasure she cannot share.”
“What will happen to you if she finds out you helped me?”
“I do not know. I am her consort and companion. There is a good chance she has the power to destroy me. I do not know, but I also do not believe she would try. I am the only part of this world of man that is truly hers. Her rage will be intense, but I do not think she will end my existence. Without me, she is alone.”
“We need to escape before she returns.” Marguerite took his hand, tugging him toward the mouth of the cave.
“It is useless to run. Camalotz has tasted our blood. She would find us no matter where we went. There is no hiding from her.”
“Then we find Kane and Colin.” She kept pulling him forward, strong for a tiny thing. “We can face her together…”
“They have not yet found the Goddess of the Moon who called Camalotz back into this world. There is no way to stop the Demon without sacrificing her master’s blood to close the door to this world.”
Marguerite groaned. “Why did you save me if my fate was already sealed?”
The Guardian straightened to his full height, his head held high. “I could do no other than save you from her wrath. I was created to guard and protect.”
“Then leave this place with me to protect Kane and Colin and the other brothers who created you. They are out there somewhere, and so is the Demon. They need our help.”
“I will find them, but you must stay.” He stepped back from her. “Camalotz will know if you leave this place.”
He heard her exasperated sigh. “You are blind. You need me. How will you find them without your eyes?”
His large shoulders fell slightly, but before he could respond, he felt her hand in his.
“Let me be your eyes. Together, we will find the others.”
Lukas rose from his resting place and started toward Cancun to find Gretchen, but he stopped himself. This was Gretchen. Did he really believe she’d do what he told her to?
He looked back in the direction of their tent. She couldn’t have stayed there knowing the Demon and other ancient Night Walkers were roaming the jungle. No.
He took another step and stopped again. She wouldn’t have slept in the tent without any way to defend herself.
Except for her damn flare gun.
He almost smiled at the thought of Gretchen’s aversion to firearms. She wasn’t militant about her dislike for guns, never judging others for their use of a rifle or handgun, but he’d learned after sharing many long months in the jungle with her that she would never own a gun, and certainly never trusted herself to fire one.
She’d told him once that a bullet was too permanent, too irreversible. So rather than use a pistol for protection from wild animals or the occasional poacher out looking for a jaguar pelt, Gretchen had purchased a flare gun. In her own words, it was “enough to scare away a wild animal and slow down a poacher.”
His heart clenched. He already missed her.
Without realizing it, he started walking back toward the research tent. He’d just check to be sure. And he’d never tell her he’d contemplated that she’d risk
staying at the tent.
A sudden burst of red lit the night, followed by the tortured scream of a woman.
Lukas ran.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The flare hit the dark-haired intruder square in the chest, knocking him on his back right outside the tent, followed by a woman’s scream.
Gretchen’s hands trembled, but she didn’t drop the flare gun. She shoved the door open, eyes widening when she saw the man’s chest on fire.
“Gretchen, I need your help!” The woman screamed over the rain. “Please, help me.”
Gretchen lowered the gun, firing up her father’s lullaby in the back of her mind. “How do you know my name?”
Before she could answer, a huge horned owl swooped through the doorway. It landed directly in front of Gretchen as a man. Lukas. Gretchen dropped the flare gun.
“Calisto is my maker.” Lukas rushed to the fallen man, calling over his shoulder. “Gretchen, get my leather gloves.”
“Leave me,” Calisto gasped, staring up at Lukas. “I will heal. Save Kate.”
“I’m not leaving you.” Kate piled mud onto his chest, trying to smother the chemical fire feeding on his immortal flesh.
He remained focused on Lukas. “He recognized her.” He winced, gasping. “Called her Ch’en.” His eyes darkened. “Get Kate out before they find her. Protect her, Lukas.”
Gretchen handed Lukas his gloves, and faster than the human eye could see, he donned them. He ripped the core of the flare free from Calisto’s chest and tossed it out into the storm.
Kate stared at his wounds and choked on a sob while Gretchen’s stomach wretched. Calisto lifted his head, pain lining his features. The fire had burned through his skin, leaving his sternum exposed. Hot rain pelted bone and muscle tissue. Calisto dropped his head back and clenched his jaw, obviously struggling not to scream.
Gretchen watched them, feeling sick with guilt and uselessness. She should have stuck with the plan and driven to Cancun.
Calisto opened his eyes again. “I have never asked you for anything, Lukas.” His breath wheezed, air seeping out through a hole in his lung. “Take the women. There is another Night Walker, an ancient. Black hair, black eyes. He is hunting Kate. Chasing us. No doubt they have”—Calisto winced, fighting for the breath to continue—“seen the fire here.” He coughed, growling in pain. “Please, Lukas. Take Kate and Gretchen and go.”
A silent moment passed between the two men, and Lukas rose to his feet. Taking Gretchen’s hand, he reached for Kate.
“Don’t touch me!” she screamed over the bellowing storm. “I won’t leave him here.”
“He will live.” Lukas held his hand out to her. “It’ll take time, but his body will heal.”
“Not if the others kill him first.”
“It is you they want, Kate,” Calisto whispered. “Do not waste time. Go.”
Kate cradled his head in her lap, her wet hair covering both their faces in a shroud as she wept. “I love you. You don’t leave someone you love when they need you most. I won’t go.”
“No.”
Gretchen snapped her gaze up when the deep voice cut through the storm. A tall, broad-shouldered man with dark skin and long, black hair stepped into the clearing. His gaze was locked on Kate, snapping Gretchen’s trip wires as he walked straight toward them.
“You will not be going anywhere.”
“We make a good team.” Marguerite pulled his hand, guiding him around a low-hanging tree branch. “You are the map of this jungle, and I am your eyes.”
The Guardian nodded, leading her deeper into the thick of the rainforest. Even without his eyes, he felt confident he could lead her to the ancient pyramid, to Kane. The God of the East would protect her from the Demon.
“Should I tell you what I see? Do you know where we are?”
He heard the uncertainty in her voice. “Have faith in me. It is not my eyes that make me the Guardian to the mortal world. They are but one sense.”
“My mind was shielded. How could you—”
“I am not like you,” he interrupted. “I hear and sense many things that you cannot.”
The corner of his mouth curved up. He knew without seeing that her cheeks were flushed with color, but he would keep that knowledge to himself.
After another hour, her concern had blossomed into hopelessness.
“We are not walking in circles.”
She squeezed his hand. “My lack of confidence is showing?”
“He’le.” He couldn’t prevent his smile that time. A foreign sensation. “But you will see our destination is right through these trees.”
When he heard her gasp, he stopped, giving her a moment to take in the massive monument. The pyramid had been hidden away, forgotten by humanity for over a thousand years. Nature had reclaimed it for herself, keeping modern man far from her secrets.
“Come. Help me find the entrance.” The Guardian walked without assistance toward the stone base. “We cannot remain in the open while Camalotz still wanders the jungle.”
Once he touched the walls, his large hands searched the ancient limestone seams for the one that would yield the opening. When he found the spot, he reached for her hand. “This way.”
Marguerite followed him into the thick, stale air. He heard her fingertips brushing along the edge of the moist walls.
“I see a light.” She pulled him faster, and gasped when they rounded the corner. “Colin?” She dropped the Guardian’s hand. “You’re injured.”
“Marguerite?” The God of the South’s voice sounded weak. “Kane thought you were—”
“Is Kane here?”
The Guardian could feel Colin radiating pain from the center of the room and moved closer.
“No. He and Issa are searching for Ch’en.” He paused. “We need her to cage the Demon. Her sacrifice.”
“Did the Demon do this to you?” Marguerite’s voice carried a cold edge.
The Guardian followed the sound of her voice and stepped to her side. She took his hand, holding it tight.
“Kane was in trouble.” Colin coughed and growled in pain. “He and the Demon were battling as humans, then as jaguars. Kane was insane with rage and losing the battle. I flew in and took her eye. I could not kill her, but I knew I could blind her. If she could not see, Kane could escape, aye? But when I dove for her other one, she caught me in her paws, and I have no memory after that moment.”
“You saved Kane from the Demon…and himself.” Marguerite’s voice trembled. “Thank you, Colin. I owe you more than I can ever repay.”
“He would do no less for me.”
She lightly laid her hand on his skin. “Why have you not healed yet?”
He took a deep breath. “I may never heal. Not completely. Not this time.”
“You need blood.” The Guardian stepped forward, thrusting his wrist toward the sound of Colin’s voice. “I offer mine. Drink.”
Colin took his wrist, but before his teeth broke through the flesh, he paused. “She took your eyes.”
“Yes.” The Guardian stood still, an ageless centurion, but deep inside he felt an unfamiliar current of emotion.
“Camalotz can see once more?”
The Guardian nodded slowly in reply. Colin sighed and sank his sharp teeth into the Guardian’s wrist, drinking deeply of the proffered blood. Through their blood connection, Colin shared his frustration that he sacrificed his arm in vain.
The Demon was whole again. Something he would never be.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Issa stared at the woman they called Kate—Ch’en. He’d never dreamed he would look into her beautiful eyes again. The lower corner of her right iris shone in the moonlight. Bright. Until this moment, he hadn’t truly allowed himself to believe that she lived again, that her soul was once more immortal and a part of this world.
He couldn’t contemplate sacrificing her again. Taking her heart, and her immortal life, had nearly driven him to madness the last time. Would he be able to s
urvive that twice?
He felt Kane approach the clearing behind him, but he paid him no attention. His gaze remained riveted on the Goddess of the Moon. He couldn’t take his eyes from her face. Her hair was shorter now, her skin slightly fairer, but her dark, fathomless eyes still bore the light crescent of the moon. His chest tightened with emotions that plagued him ever since he’d first laid eyes on this woman millennia before this one.
Bloody tears stained her cheeks as she cradled a wounded man, stroking his hair back with a tenderness that made Issa ache inside. She looked fiercely determined to protect the man in her arms, her gaze burning with infinite love.
Why had she never looked upon him with such depth of emotion?
With a heavy sigh, Issa buried his true feelings, amazed how quickly the ability returned to him. The closer he got to Ch’en, the more her scent consumed him. He wished he could retreat back into the shadows. He couldn’t face the torment again. But turning his back on his duty to this world was impossible. He was still a god, damned to walk through eternity with the heart of a man.
“Ch’en, you must return to the pyramid.” He kept his deep voice even and void of emotion. “Only you can stop the Demon.”
“My name is Kate, not Ch’en.” She glanced up at him, and his foolish heart softened. “I’m not going anywhere without Calisto.”
Issa’s dark gaze wandered over each of the faces now staring at him. He wondered about the identity of the young Night Walker standing in front of the tent. The brown-haired man with piercing green eyes shielded a human woman just behind him. Issa could see their hands clasped together, unified, and felt the vice around his heart tighten.
Unable to look at Ch’en, he dropped his gaze to the pale Night Walker in her arms. He knelt down to inspect the man’s wounds, careful to avoid her eyes. “He is gravely wounded.”
“Please help him.” She reached out to take Issa’s hand. Her touch sent scorching heat shooting through his ancient veins. “I know you can help him. Mulac didn’t tell him we were breaking a Night Walker law. You can punish me later, just save him.”
