by Linsey Hall
“He’s here!” I drew my throwing knives from the ether and raced for Ana, drawn by the tug in my chest.
Cade joined me, his long legs carrying him ahead of me.
The destruction of the woods was crazy—huge trees torn up and toppled over. Broken branches and gouges in the dirt. Something catastrophic had torn through here. A body lay about fifteen feet off the path of destruction. A man.
I didn’t stop, though guilt tugged at me.
But I could feel Ana. She was here. I had to get to her.
The forest lightened as I neared the edge. People were leaping out of the trees and joining me on the path, running for the castle ahead. Some looked familiar, like Protectorate staff. They must’ve been the guards.
“What happened?” I screamed at a nearby man.
He was blond, and his magic smelled of the sea. His gaze looked wild. “Tornado.”
In Scotland?
That was insane.
I sprinted out of the forest. In the middle of the clearing sat a tall stone tower surrounded by a hulking castle wall.
A chunk was torn out of the wall, and a large gray tornado was sweeping off into the distance.
Then Ana disappeared.
I felt it, deep in my chest, and stumbled, going to my knees.
She was no longer here. And the tornado was gone, too.
No! I scrambled to my feet, heart thundering.
The sun shone brightly on the mountains sweeping out in front of me. They were coated with purple heather, a beautiful sight if not for the chaos of the wounded castle and the people running around, shouting for their colleagues.
I ran for the castle, for answers. For Cade.
I found him at the edge of the wall, staring through the giant hole that had been torn by the tornado. The castle inside was a single tower with walls at least ten feet thick. It was easy to get exact dimensions since the danged corner of the castle was missing too.
Near the castle wall, Hedy was on the phone. Possibly with the Protectorate? Jude ran out of the castle, scrambling over the broken stone. Her gray hair was coated with dust, and the stone-cold expression that I’d first seen her wearing was replaced with panic.
“I’ve never seen anything like it!” She ran up to us, panting. “He came as a tornado! Blasted through twenty of our guards before we realized what was happening.”
“Did he get Ana?” Cade demanded.
“Yes. He got her.” I turned on Jude, voice harsh. “You said she’d be safe here! But she was bait. And she was caught.”
“I’m sorry.” Jude’s expression hardened. “He shouldn’t have had weather magic like that. No one has weather magic like that.”
“Someone gave him more power, but I have no idea who,” I said. “It just happened, though. We heard him talking about it in Venice.”
“Damn it.” A thundercloud crossed Jude’s face.
“Bree, can you locate where your sister went?” Cade asked.
I frowned, focusing on the connection charm that I hoped would help me find Ana. I stepped back from everyone, trying to clear my mind. This was why we’d bought these things. So we wouldn’t lose another sister. I couldn’t bear to lose another sister. Tears pricked my eyes.
Please work.
If Ricketts knew that she had a connection charm, he could do something to block it. Fear chilled my skin.
Please don’t realize.
“What’s she doing?” Jude asked Cade.
“Give her a moment.”
I envisioned Ana, begging the connection charm to make a link. Finally, it flared to life inside me. I looked up. “Mexico. A hundred miles east of Mexico City. That’s where he’s taken her.”
Jude nodded, her expression firm and accepting. “Fine. We’ll send reinforcements with you.” Her gaze met Cade’s. “How many transport charms do you have?”
“Three more.”
Jude nodded. “Good. That will transport fifteen people. Emily can take more.”
Hedy hurried up to us. “Bree. Your sister has had her antidote.” She dug into her pocket and handed me a little vial. “Here’s yours. Take it before you go.”
“Thank fates.” At least that was fixed.
I looked down at the vial. Did I trust her?
For so long, I’d trusted no one but Ana. But Ana had trusted Hedy enough to take the potion.
And I did trust Hedy. Even though it was strange to admit to myself.
Bottoms up.
I drank the potion, then shivered as strength flowed through me. The pain in my chest faded, a glorious pleasure. I hadn’t realized how crappy I’d been feeling. I’d chalked up any weakness to exhaustion, but it’d been the poison.
“Thanks. I feel a lot better.”
“Bree!” A feminine voice sounded from behind me.
I turned.
Caro ran for me, Ali, and Haris at her side.
“We were in the woods, guarding the castle. I’m sorry he got past us.”
“He had magic none of us anticipated. Something huge.”
“Let’s go get her,” Caro said. “We’ve got your back.”
My chest warmed. No one had ever said that to me except Rowan and Bree. “Thanks.”
“Where are we off to?” Ali grinned. “I’ve been itching for a fight.”
“Mexico.”
Cade joined me, resting a big hand on my shoulder. It was stupid, but I drew strength from it. Behind Caro, a crowd gathered. About twenty of them.
Our reinforcements.
Maybe this Protectorate thing wasn’t so bad after all. Not if they had our backs like this.
“I have three charms,” Cade said. “Divide into groups of five. Three will take the charms, Emily will take the rest.” He turned to me. “We’ll go first with Emily and get the coordinates. Then she’ll return and tell everyone else where to go.”
“Perfect.”
Cade handed the charms over to Jude, and Emily joined us.
“Ready?” She held out her hands.
Cade and I each took one.
“Imagine where we’re going,” she said. “Picture it in your mind as clearly as you can. I’ll take us there.”
“Okay.” I did as she asked, feeling the location more than seeing it. But there was water and jungle, the sound of night animals. Moonlight.
A moment later, the ether sucked us in. My heart thundered as we stepped out into the dark night.
In front of us, the moon hung heavy over an island in the middle of a calm lagoon. A massive step pyramid sat in the middle of the island, surrounded on all sides by smaller pyramids.
“Texochtatlan,” Cade breathed. He tore his gaze away and looked at his fancy watch, pressing some buttons. He looked up at Emily and rattled off some numbers.
Coordinates, I realized.
She nodded and disappeared. Cade’s awed gaze returned to the abandoned ancient city.
“What is it?” I asked.
“The capital of the supernatural Aztecs. Human Aztecs built Tenochtitlan, which is now in Mexico City. It was much like this. But this one is too far into the jungle. Humans have never found it.”
“Aztecs?” Shit. Back when we’d still had a TV, before Rowan had disappeared and we’d spent all our spare money hunting for her, we’d loved old history shows. “Didn’t they practice human sacrifice? Blood sacrifice?”
Cade’s gaze turned dark. “They did.”
My heart almost burst out of my chest, and fear iced my skin. “Oh no. That’s what’s changed. The reason he’s upped his game in trying to catch us. He’s not just going to kill us. He wants more than that. Magic. Our blood.”
“Aye. This is no coincidence.”
I sucked in a ragged breath and started forward. No time to delay.
The lagoon was about fifty meters from us. A long bridge, at least a hundred meters in length, stretched over it. Several more bridges spanned the lagoon on other sides. The full moon gleamed on the massive pyramid in the middle of the island. It had a
wide, flat top and was built of huge steps, unlike the Egyptian pyramids that were smooth sided.
We were too far away to see people, but Ana was definitely here. I could feel her.
“It’s been abandoned for centuries,” Cade said. “The supernatural Aztecs lasted longer than the human ones since the conquistadors never found them, but they left here long ago.”
My gaze raced over the bridge and the city beyond. It was magical, in an ancient kind of way. I could just imagine the ceremonies they’d once had here.
“Badass,” a voice murmured from beside me.
I turned to see Ali, his gaze wide. Haris and Caro stood next to him, along with Jude and another man I didn’t recognize. I spun, catching sight of about fifteen more people behind us.
Everyone was here.
“Let’s go.” I started for the bridge, Cade at my side.
“We’ve got this,” Caro murmured.
I hoped so. Without Ana…
There’d be nothing.
I stepped on the stone bridge, and a vibration of magic sang up my leg. I looked up at Cade. “Be ready for anything.”
“I feel it,” he murmured.
I drew my throwing daggers and jogged across the bridge. On either side, the water gleamed murkily in the moonlight. As we neared the middle, the magic in the air became stronger. A fierce prickle that made my hair stand on end.
Protective charms.
Nearby, the water splashed. I jumped, whirling. Everyone stopped in their tracks, frozen.
The water splashed again, big enough that it could actually be the freaking kraken.
Then a monster burst forth, mouth gaping wide with serrated teeth gleaming in the moonlight. It hurtled for the bridge, cutting through the water with unnatural speed. It looked like a giant monster frog, a demon from the depths.
“Cueyatl,” Cade said. “Mythical Aztec beast.”
“How do they think up these things?” It should have been kinda silly, but instead, it was freaking terrifying. And my measly weapons wouldn’t do any good against something of this size.
The beast crouched in the water, eyeing us from twenty feet away. Gauging the distance for its next jump?
I shuddered, then dug into my satchel and pulled out a random potion bomb, then hurled it at the beast. It exploded in its mouth, a plume of blue smoke rising into the air.
Nothing happened. Crap!
Someone heaved a massive fireball, but it, too, was devoured by the monster. Caro’s deadly water jets bounced off the beast.
Then the thing was on us, leaping through the air with its jaws open wide. Its gaping maw was so big, it could swallow me without chewing.
We threw ourselves to the ground. The beast sailed overhead, water and slime dripping coldly onto our backs. A loud splash sounded from the other side of the bridge.
I scrambled to my feet, leaning over. It was turning around, making a big circle to try again.
“It devours our magic,” Cade said.
“Could be growing stronger,” Caro added.
My mind raced, heart thundering. The water called to me, a living thing that I could feel as if it were an extension of myself. I had no freaking clue if it would work, but…
Not like I had a lot of options.
I called to the murky water, feeling every molecule and envisioning it rising up, forming a great wave. It did as I commanded, water sucking back from the shore and gathering underneath the giant fanged frog, picking it up like a boat on the sea.
“Back!” I screamed, and the water flowed away from the bridge, carrying the beast with it.
The monster leapt from the mounded wave, but I forced more water at it, catching it in mid-leap and carrying it away.
Then I turned and ran, desperate to get off the damned death bridge.
Ahead of us, a dozen war cries rent the night. Warriors burst from the ground, ghostly gray figures of muscular men and women wearing feathered headdresses and carrying spears.
Their blazing blue eyes landed on us, and they charged.
Shit. There had to be over thirty of them.
The bridge was only wide enough for two at a time. They charged onto it, footsteps thundering as they waved their spears and shouted.
Even with my new charm, my sonic boom might destroy the bridge and send us into the water with the Cueyatl, so that was definitely out. I couldn’t bet everyone’s lives on it working.
Though they were a ghostly gray color, they looked solid. I prayed weapons would work.
I hurled one dagger, then another, striking two in the chest. They stumbled and fell. Their companions leapt over them.
“Duck!” Caro screamed.
I ducked low. Water streamed over my head, spearing through the chests of two ancient warriors. They tumbled back into their compatriots, but were soon overrun.
“Trade me,” Cade shouted.
Caro joined me in the front, shooting her deadly water spouts while I dug into my pouch full of potion bombs. A big part of me really liked using Ricketts’s own magic against him.
I hurled the bombs at the warriors, lighting one on fire and coating another with acid. They both leapt into the lake. Caro took out the next two, but there was an endless stream of them.
The rest were nearly upon us now, only five feet away.
“Switch!” Caro yelled.
Cade took her place. I drew a shield and my sword. He drew his.
And we collided with the warriors, blocking with our shields, slicing through their wooden spears, and jabbing with our blades. In the tight quarters, I remained keenly aware of Cade.
Last thing I needed was to take out my backup.
Finally, we reached the end of the bridge, spilling into a mass of the warriors. But at least we had more room to fight.
I called upon my sonic boom power, throwing it out in front of me to clear a path. It exploded, bowling over a dozen of the fighters.
“Go!” I raced through the opening, headed for the massive pyramid in front of us.
Ana was up there. I could feel it.
Cade stayed close by my side. I sprinted full out, determined to get past the warrior guards. A quick glance behind showed that they’d closed back around our fellow fighters. The Protectorate was holding their own, though, keeping the warriors occupied while Cade and I ran for the pyramid.
On either side, smaller pyramids dotted the path. But it was the enormous one, at least three hundred feet tall, that we needed to reach.
The moon was getting low. Dawn was near.
Was Ricketts waiting for dawn? Many ancient sacrifices had been timed around the sun.
I sprinted faster, trying to ignore the magic that prickled at my skin. As we neared the pyramid, I thought that maybe I could make out the figures on top. There were more on the stairs, about a quarter of the way up the pyramid.
Two of them. Guards.
“Watch out!” I screamed.
The figure on the right, his cloak whipping in the wind, raised his hands. Magic exploded on the air.
The ground beneath my feet rose up. He was controlling the earth!
I leapt off the rising ground, stumbling onto flat earth, then kept running. I had to get close enough to throw a sonic boom or potion bomb. We were still so far away.
The figure on the left hurled a bolt of lightning at us. It cracked, loud in the night, and the flash made my vision go. Blindly, I dove left, skidding on the ground and narrowly avoiding the strike. Then the earth began to rise beneath me.
My heart thundered as I scrambled to my feet and ran across the rising earth, leaping over loose gravel and trying to find the steadiest parts. When I reached the edge, it had risen over eight feet in the air.
Cade ran below me, having avoided the rising earth.
I took a running leap, trying to break my fall by rolling. Pain sang up through my leg as the ground tore at my skin, but I managed to make it to my feet and keep running.
A lightning bolt shot right at Cade, but he dodg
ed, leaping aside. Then his round shield appeared on his arm. He heaved back, then hurled the thing at the mage.
It sliced off his head. He flew backward, crashing into the pyramid and lying still.
The shield turned in the air. The earth mage roared, throwing out his hands. Again, the earth began to rumble and rise. But the shield silenced that mage, too, taking off his head just as neatly.
“Nice.” I gasped, running as fast as I could toward the pyramid.
Sweat poured down my face. The sky began to lighten. Dawn was definitely coming.
Finally, after what felt like ages of running, we reached the edge of the pyramid.
More than a thousand normal steps led upward, a staircase cutting through the large stone ledges that made up the major steps of the pyramid.
My lungs already burned and my heart felt like it was about to explode, but I began to climb, racing as quickly as I could. What I wouldn’t give for the buggy right now. Those wheels could tear right up these stairs.
“Go ahead of me!” I shouted. He was so much faster.
He nodded and ran, but only made it up a short way before the stone ledges on either side of him began to shift.
A stone jaguar leapt out of the pyramid, charging for him. He returned his sword to the ether, and then brilliant silver light swirled around him.
A second later, the huge wolf stood in his place, then lunged for the jaguar. They collided in a mass of fangs and claws, wrestling on the stairs.
Holy crap.
Still pretty insane to witness.
I ran past them as Cade grappled with the cat, leaving him and the rest of the Protectorate behind. As the sun rose, it was just me.
Running out of time.
I was halfway up the pyramid when an ear-piercing shriek rent the air, chilling my skin. I looked toward the sky, gasping when I caught slight of the winged snake. It was huge. White feathers decorated its wings, and green scales gleamed in the low light of gloaming.
The snake dove for me, hurtling through the sky. I lunged away from its gaping jaws, barely avoiding a bloody death. The creatures swooped high into the sky, diving back to take another shot.
