The rock thrower adjusted beneath Chance’s weight as he surveyed the agitated men. Chance took advantage of his distraction and pressed his forearm against the man’s neck. “Go,” Chance said through gritted teeth. Stray dirt in his mouth crunched under the pressure.
“Sí.”
Finally, a word he understood. The rock thrower nodded and extracted himself from under Chance. He turned without a second look and joined his compatriot, who was backing down the road.
The Bull watched his sidekicks disappear on the darkened street and gave a shout. “Qué pasa?” Then he grumbled a word Chance assumed was a curse. Rising slowly and standing tall, the disgruntled, dusty man grimaced at him. In one smooth movement, Chance jumped to his feet and pointed at the backs of the retreating men.
The Bull lifted his chin, blew a kiss to Ana, and strolled casually down the road as though he didn’t have a care in the world. When he was about fifty feet away, some of the men walked up to Chance and slapped him on the shoulder.
“Eso fue una estupidez, pero muchas gracias.” The men laughed.
Stupid and thank you. That was about all he’d gleaned from what they said, and he figured stupid was about right. However he hadn’t been able to just stand on the sidelines and watch these people being bullied. And when they’d threatened Ana’s safety, all bets had been off.
A familiar voice cut through the crowd. Ana emerged with glistening eyes. With a strangled sob, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “You okay? I was so scared,” she said in his ear. Moisture collected around the collar of his shirt, and wet eyelashes brushed against his neck.
He pulled away to look at her. The makeup around her eyes was smudged and her cheek was quivering.
“All it’ll take is a quick shift to heal. Don’t worry about me, Ana. How about you? How’s your back?”
“It was nothing, but your face…” She shrugged off her backpack and rifled around until she found what she was looking for. Gently, she dabbed at his temple and nose with a handkerchief.
Chance winced at her touch and took the cloth from her. It was best he take care of his own injuries. He didn’t like her seeing him in pain and he wanted to survey the damage for himself in a mirror. A huge swollen lump that no longer resembled a nose protruded from the middle of his face. If he had to guess, he would say it was broken. It burned, his vision was blurry and between his nose and temple, he had a splitting headache.
Momentarily disoriented from the pain, he hadn’t noticed the elderly woman walk up to them. She stood beside Ana and, patting her arm, said something to her and walked away.
“Come on, let’s go. We’re staying with Sanchia tonight and I think she’s got a remedy for your injuries. Grab your stuff. That’s enough excitement for tonight.”
Chance and Ana slipped their heavy packs on and followed after their host. As Chance walked along, his physical pain couldn’t compare to his disappointment. I just traveled hundreds of miles to get punched in the face and I didn’t even find Balam. Awesome.
Chapter 16
Pillows and cushions plopped onto the floor beside the yellow, flowery threadbare couch. Chance laid a sheet over them, and then Ana unfolded the well-worn fleece blanket Sanchia had given her and tucked it onto the sofa.
“Sure you’ll be comfortable on the floor?” she asked.
“It’s only for one night. No worries.”
Sanchia came into the small room with two pillows tucked under her arms. She handed them to Ana and patted her hand.
“Muchas gracias,” Ana said.
“Sí, muchas gracias.” Chance echoed after her.
Sanchia held up her index finger and scurried out of the room into the tiny kitchen. A metallic clang and scrape followed. A moment later, she reappeared with a dishcloth and a pot.
“Siéntate!” she barked at Chance and pushed him onto the couch. Gingerly, she dipped the cloth into the clear liquid in the pot and pressed the towel against the cut on his forehead. It stung at first and then the discomfort dissolved into numbness. After a minute, she repeated the procedure with his nose, although it took longer to gain any form of relief there.
Chance knew recovery was only one shapeshift away, but he considered it might be wise to stay under the radar and not draw attention to himself. If his broken nose healed overnight, it would be noticed. Plus, he didn’t even know if he could shapeshift if he wanted to. His nose tingled under the pressure of the cloth and he took hold of it so Sanchia could let go.
The woman walked over to the only window in the room and pulled the curtains shut. Concrete walls once painted yellow showed a few cracks but the masonry kept the room cool, which was a relief after their long day in the humidity.
“Buenas noches,” Sanchia said before disappearing into her upstairs bedroom.
Ana called after her, “Muchas gracias!”
Chance kept the cloth pressed against his nose and slipped onto the floor to his lumpy makeshift bed. A small lamp at the corner of the room cast angular shadows on walls, giving everything an unfriendly feel.
Ana dropped onto the couch with a groan. “What a long day. I’m exhausted. I think I could sleep on a bag of rocks.”
He couldn’t contain his anxiety any longer. Now that they were alone, he had to say something. He knew she wouldn’t like it. Chance pulled the towel away so she could hear him, but didn’t dare look at her. “Ana, I’m not sure this was such a good idea.”
“What do you mean? Because of today?”
“Of course. I worry about you. Those guys, and the way they looked at you…I didn’t like it. Things could have gone a lot worse.”
Chance focused on one particularly long crack in the ceiling. His jaw clenched as the men’s leering faces flashed in his mind. His nose throbbed as if he’d gotten punched all over again.
“Tough. You can just put that thought right out of your mind because I’m not leaving your side. The amount of trouble you get in, I’d never see you again!”
Ana’s face hovered over his and her hair tickled his cheeks. From beneath her curtain of hair, her lips grazed his, and all previous thought about her going back home dissolved.
A thump upstairs sounded and Ana drew back and giggled silently. She jumped up, turned off the light and brushed past him as she slipped into her bed on the couch.
Her voice sounded through the darkness. “It’s settled. You’re staying out of trouble and I’m going nowhere.”
Chance grabbed for her hand and gave it a squeeze. They were equally stubborn. He knew it wasn’t worth the fight. But he would have to do what she said—stay out of trouble.
“I love you.” Ana whispered.
“And I, you,” Chance said.
Soon, her soft rhythmic breathing told him she was fast asleep. It took him over an hour to slow his mind and allow himself to join her in dreamland.
Chance woke suddenly.
He sat up, disoriented. His nose throbbed for a moment as the blood rushed from his head. The same dark room enveloped them. What time was it? He reached for his phone. Five-thirty.
His ears strained to determine what woke him. Ana’s soft whistles and the gentle lullaby from a breeze rustling the trees and bushes outside wouldn’t have alarmed him.
The hairs on the back of his neck rose. He wasn’t alone. Using his sharp vision and half-functional nose, he combed the room in search of any living creature and searched in silence until he found a trail of ants marching across the wall toward the kitchen. Besides Ana, there were no other living things in the room. Although he couldn’t shake the feeling he was being watched.
Ana would be safe in the house without him. He just wanted to take a quick look around. Chance gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead, slipped his shoes on and snuck out the door.
The town was empty and still. A bat flew over his head as it cut through the night in search of food. He turned to face the outlying wilderness beyond the sleepy community.
A twig snapped and he rushed toward an ove
rgrown trail. Once in the jungle, he paused to listen for more movement. The veins in his neck throbbed with excitement. Chance didn’t know if he was chasing after a parrot or a shapeshifter but it was exhilarating. He knew he was impatient to a fault. However, this was why he had come to Mexico—to find answers.
With a tilt of his head, he honed in on the sound of breathing, and, using the skills his grandfather taught him, he crept along the pathway silent as a doe. He moved like this for at least half an hour.
After he had let Markus go free in crow form, unsure if it really was him or not, he had promised himself not to dismiss his instincts again. He wasn’t sure if he was being hypersensitive now or not. However, this time, he would see it through.
Daylight crept over the horizon, waking the forest inhabitants. Chatter from the birds quickly drowned out all the other noises. He stopped and stared up into the lofty tree canopy above. Small creatures darted from branch to branch. Movement was all around him now.
Frustrated, he swiped at a bushy vine that extended in front of him. All that effort just to lose all vestige of hope.
Then something deep, so deep Chance doubted average ears would be able to pick it up, rumbled nearby. The guttural sound gained power and rose in pitch. Now he wasn’t the only one that heard it. The birds above went silent for a moment before resuming their chittering.
Through the dense jungle growth, a pair of brown eyes stared at him. Far away, nearly fifty feet from where he stood, a black form stood on a mound of mossy rocks. The abnormally large jaguar leapt down and disappeared down the trail.
Chance’s breath caught in his throat. His mind raced. Digging his toes into the clay earth, he propelled himself on the path as fast as he could. When he reached the rock pile, he realized the trail he had been following was white unlike the orange clay earth surrounding it. Small, crushed pieces of stone and shell littered the path. Down a slope, another screech called and Chance scrambled on.
He continued running blindly after the jaguar until he reached a high overgrown hill. Trees crowned around it protectively as if they were hiding a secret. At closer glance, he noticed it wasn’t a hill but a pile of hewn stone.
The wild cat’s call had come from this direction. A high vantage point could give him perspective. He began to climb the rocky mound. Footholds were easy to find. He quickly scaled the stone mass. When he reached the top, he wiped the sweat from his brow and peered down into the dense forest below.
There was plenty of movement but from small creatures, not the jaguar. He sat there for ten minutes waiting for something—anything. Every time he swallowed, his dry throat pinched and begged for water. Why had he rushed off into the jungle unprepared? Now that he stopped to think about it, he wasn’t even sure where he was. He had been gone for what felt like over an hour, and now that the sun was up, the air was warm and humid. His thirst and hunger were getting the better of him. If Ana was awake, she would be wondering where he was. He hadn’t even left a note for her.
A veil of dirt and vines covered the upright stone he was leaning against. There was a design on the rock. A carving. Chance used both his hands to free it of its earthen mask.
Teeth bared in warning, a jaguar’s face stared back at him. He took a step back and saw the head of a jaguar with a human body perched on a throne.
Balam.
As he traced the carving with his fingers, he had a thought. What if he had been led into the jungle for a reason? To get him alone, or worse, so Ana would be defenseless.
Ana woke to the sound of a horn outside. She stretched and sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Expecting to poke Chance with her toes, she pulled her feet back to discover his bed was empty.
“Chance?” she called softly.
When no answer returned, she stood and walked across the tiled floor to peek into the kitchen. Sanchia had her back to her and was busy at the counter chopping something, from the sound of it.
“Good morning,” Ana said as a yawn slipped out.
Sanchia turned around, beamed at her and returned the greeting. Then she scurried over to the stove and spooned out something dark into a mug. “Hot chocolate?”
“Mmmm, yes, please.”
The Maya know how to start the day out right. She blew into the steaming cup and the delicious smell curled up to her nose. Ana inhaled deeply before she took a sip. It was nothing like the instant hot chocolate her mother bought at the store. It wasn’t nearly as sweet or creamy, and it had a spicy kick. She took another mouthful to decide if she liked it or not. When she reached the dregs, she asked for more. “What’s in it?” she asked Sanchia.
“Cinnamon, chili, honey, vanilla, cacao and water. You like?” Sanchia asked as she returned Ana’s filled mug to her.
“Yes. It’s delicious.” Ana blew on the dark, steaming liquid and said, “Have you seen Chance?”
Sanchia shook her head.
Maybe he went for a walk to look for signs of Balam. He could have left a note, though. Just to make certain, she slipped her phone out of her pocket to see if he’d sent her a message. He hadn’t but she wasn’t getting good reception there, anyway. She started to get annoyed. If Chance had left willingly, he should have thought about her feelings. Of course she’d be worried about him. Especially after last night. Did that mean he’d been abducted?
What was she supposed to do now? The person that was supposed to protect her was gone. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. It was still early so she decided she’d give him another hour before she started freaking out.
She needed something else to focus on. “Grandma Sanchia, will you teach me more about your plants? Your remedies?”
“Yes, yes.”
Sanchia led Ana out the kitchen door to her backyard garden. Plants grew all along the perimeter of her crumbling cinder block wall. Leaves padded the ground, layered in a thick carpet. The elderly woman led her around and pointed out the parts of the plants: the leaves, flowers, roots and stock. Each part was used for different things. They compensated for the language barrier the best they could, using gestures when words failed them.
Absorbed with her lesson, the hour slipped by quickly. She was engrossed, inspired by Sanchia’s medicinal knowledge.
As she listened, she twisted the ring Niyol gave her between her fingers. Memories surfaced of the quiet talks they’d had together when Chance was off parading around in animal form. Of how he’d believed in her. She missed Niyol. Although he hadn’t been a part of her life for very long, he had made a big impact.
A pair of eyes fixed on her through a crumbling hole in the cinder block wall. They were only a couple feet from the ground and surrounded with sandy fur. Ana walked to the border, lifted herself up onto her toes and peered down. The scruffy stray stared up at her. With a yip, it trotted to the road, stopped and looked back at her.
Ana called over to Sanchia. “One minute—I’ll be right back.”
She knew this was unwise especially with Chance gone, but for some reason she trusted the animal. Ana walked around the wall and followed the dog. An old memory surfaced of watching Benji on TV with her sister and grandmother on the couch. You always knew what the dog wanted when it barked.
Ana followed the dog with caution as it ran off the road and into the forest. She thought she detected an overgrown trail but stopped at the entrance.
She whistled. “Doggy?” She glanced over her shoulder at the town. She spotted hunched forms in the agricultural fields that ran alongside the road and kids playing soccer in the street. Sanchia was watching and waving her back.
Vines rustled and Ana expected to the stray to wander out but it didn’t. Instead, something large collided into her.
Chapter 17
“Chance!”
His arms caught her before she tumbled over from the impact. Damp with sweat, his shirt clung to his body. Ana didn’t care. She held onto him, relieved.
“You scared me. Where have you been?” she demanded as her anger bubbled to the surf
ace.
His breath was ragged in her ear. “C’mon, grab your stuff. I want to head back—I think I saw Balam.”
“Really? That’s great!” she said, distracted. “But I’m still angry with you. You left without leaving a note or anything. What was I supposed to think? I didn’t know if you’d been abducted or what.” She crossed her arms and glared at him.
Chance rubbed the sweat from his temple and sighed. “I’m sorry Ana. I woke up early and just started following my instincts, which led me way into the jungle. I didn’t even think about letting you know…”
“Well don’t do it again, okay? You’re supposed to be protecting me, remember? What would I do if you just disappeared and never came back?”
He placed his hands on her hips and looked her in the eye. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I just wasn’t thinking. I won’t do it again, promise.”
Chance leaned down and kissed her cheek.
“Well, c’mon, you look wiped out. Let’s get you some water,” Ana said.
They held hands and walked back to Sanchia, who had wandered out from her backyard to see the excitement.
“We need supplies—food and water, if we’re going back,” Chance said.
Sanchia’s eyes were wide and she appeared concerned. “Did anything happen to you in the forest?” she asked in Spanish.
Ana translated for Chance and he answered, “No—just lots of animals.”
His answer seemed to worry her even more, for some reason.
“If you look for trouble, you will find it,” she said.
Ana distracted her with questions about where to purchase food. The woman didn’t respond but led them back into her kitchen where she grabbed a bunch of bananas and tamales wrapped in corn husks. When Ana pulled out money, the woman shook her head and pushed it away.
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