Shifter Origins (Series-Starter Shifter Variety Packs Book 1)

by Aimee Easterling

  But his mate must have possessed the ears of a cat because her smile matched his own. "You got that right," she said.

  And the words felt like a promise.

  Chapter 22

  This is it?

  They stood in front of a tree-covered mound that might, in its better days, have been an Olmec pyramid. The sun was hot and the ground was dry, and even Ixchel's wonder at traveling within her parents' home country and exploring ancient ruins paled beneath the dream of finding an ice-cold glass of water and something solid to eat.

  No, Tezzie hadn't let them stop for breakfast and it was now nearly time for lunch. The deity clearly resented the bond growing between Ixchel and Finn, and he obviously expected more consideration after taking the time and energy to heal the shifter's bullet wound. But what did Tezzie expect? For the duo to be at his beck and call 24-7?

  Yes, clearly that was what the god expected. Too bad she wasn't willing to roll that way.

  Which might be why Ixchel's voice was tart when she responded to their invisible companion. "If you'd allowed me to read the guidebook before we got into the car, I would have told you that El Azuzul's sculptures have been relocated to a museum in Xalapa." Then, opening the text and tilting it so the shifter could peruse the photographs, she told Finn: "I can see why Tezzie is so interested, though. There were some fascinating jaguar sculptures here, although they don't say anything about a mirror."

  But the city? My worshipers?

  For the first time since they'd met him, Tezcatlipoca's voice didn't sound angry or petulant. Instead, the god appeared to be truly shocked by the effects of two thousand years of time wearing down the seat of his power. There was nothing left now but swamp and farmland, along with this hill and its so-weathered-as-to-be-unreadable interpretive sign.

  It's all gone, the god finished, as if speaking to himself.

  "Well, it's been awhile, Tezzie," Ixchel said more gently. "I'm guessing your worshipers didn't have a reason to stick around once you went missing. But your mirror could still be here. The book says there are likely to be other unexcavated ruins scattered throughout the area. So where did you see the mirror last?"

  She felt like a parent helping her inconsolable child track down his favorite toy, but the trick worked. It wouldn't have been in the pyramid, Tezcatlipoca remembered. Turn to your right. No, your other right. A bit more, a bit more.... Now stop!

  Ixchel felt like she was being spun around in preparation for a game of blind man's bluff, but she played along as the god guided her across the road and into a little stand of trees.

  Now dig here! he demanded.

  "Dig?" Ixchel hadn't quite thought through what she was helping Tezzie do, but now she realized that they were already trespassing and would soon be stealing a priceless archaeological artifact in a country where she was entirely unfamiliar with the legal system. "I don't know, Tezzie," she backpedaled. "We didn't think to bring a shovel."

  "Well, actually." Then Finn was by her side, unfolding a little camping spade that he'd pulled out of his voluminous backpack. What else did the shifter have in there? And who set off for foreign climes after taking care to pack their shovel?

  Yes, ask your darling shifter that question...later when you're on your own time, the god broadcast absently, his attention clearly focused on what was to be found beneath their feet. Finn was already engrossed in digging, and Ixchel sank down to sit cross-legged when her companion waved away her help.

  I might as well flip through the guidebook a bit more as I wait, she thought. Now seems like as good an opportunity as any to read up on our personal god and on Olmec culture in general.

  And the vet turned out to have plenty of time to kill. Because Tezcatlipoca's memory had been dimmed by two thousand years trapped inside his little stone prison. Or maybe the world had shifted a bit in the interim. Whatever the reason, the god guided Finn toward five test holes before the spade finally clunked against stone. After that, it took another hour to clear away the soil so the two humans could leverage the rectangular rock up out of the ground.

  At which point Ixchel forgot her parched throat and growling stomach. Because a little cavity of air was protected by four additional stones beneath the first one. And, in the center of the cavity lay a handful of jade beads, a pile of rotten cloth, and a little stone bowl that the vet's research suggested had once been an Olmec mirror.

  "YOU CALL that a mirror?" Finn asked. Just his luck. He'd nearly broken his back digging up the pesky god's mirror, but all he ended up with was some jewelry and yet another rock.

  The shifter was heartily sick of rocks.

  It's all rusted. Tezcatlipoca's words sounded so much like a pouty child that Finn couldn't resist exchanging a glance with his human companion. Based on the amused sparkle in Ixchel's eyes, he supposed she felt as he did—that their personal deity had regressed while trapped inside his two-thousand-year-old tomb. Or maybe Tez had always acted like a five-year-old?

  Finn had little patience for petulance, but Ixchel continued to excel at god-wrangling. "I figured it would rust," she said, tapping the now-closed guidebook with one finger. "My book says that all of the iron-ore mirrors from the Preclassic period don't look very mirror-like by the time they're dug up. Now, if you'd built your mirror out of obsidian...."

  An obsidian mirror! Splendid idea. Tezcatlipoca didn't seem to realize he was being teased. Are there any? Obsidian mirrors created in my name, that is?

  Finn and Ixchel exchanged another glance, but this time an exhausted one. If he'd been able to pull his jaguar senses away from the hunt that afternoon, the shifter would have given Ixchel a turn with the shovel and taken a break in the shade as she worked. Instead, Finn's single-minded focus resulted in limbs that were now so bone tired he could hardly imagine walking back to their rental car, let alone driving all over Mexico in search of a mirror devoted to just the right deity.

  "That's not the kind of thing they mention in guidebooks, Tezzie," Ixchel said gently. "I mean, yes, there are obsidian mirrors around. But they were carved after your time, and who knows who they were meant for. Plus, we'd have to break into a museum to get our hands on one...."

  And that was the other reason Finn had clung so tenaciously to his spade. He'd caught Tezcatlipoca's trouble-making tip when the shifter pulled out his tool in the first place. And he knew that, given a bit of time and space, Ixchel would begin to wonder why her companion had packed such an unusual item in the first place. The calculation in the vet's eyes had been enough to prompt Finn to whip off his shirt when he began digging, hoping to distract the woman whom he hoped to turn into his mate with the sight of muscular abs.

  A technique that had proven almost too effective. When Ixchel's pupils expanded despite the strong May sunlight, Finn nearly dropped the problematic shovel, ditched Tezcatlipoca's wild-goose chase, and took the vet into his arms.

  And now the shifter wanted to hug Ixchel even more as she came through where his weary brain couldn't in order to save the day.

  "But, Tezzie," Ixchel said as Finn once again focused on the god's dilemma, "you don't really need an official mirror. The book says that bowls of water were often used for scrying. That's what you want to do, right? To talk to one of the other gods?"

  Of course. But there'd been a strangely evasive—though subtle—pause before the deity's response that had Finn narrowing his eyes. Something here wasn't quite as it seemed. Still, without more data, there was nothing the shifter could do other than let Tezcatlipoca's game play out to its conclusion. The were-jaguar would just have to stay alert and be ready to pounce when the tables turned....

  "As long as the water doesn't have to be potable, that's not too hard to manage," Finn said, finally joining in the conversation. "There's a swamp just over there, so we can fill the bowl up, let Tez commune with the heavens, and then be on our way. You and I could even buy one of those fruit ices on the way home, Ixchel. I'll bet the ones at that stand we saw would have been a delicious snack if someone
had let us stop the car."

  Because the god had resolutely refused to allow his humans to do anything that even slightly resembled sightseeing in the last twenty-four hours. Yes, Finn and Ixchel had been allowed to purchase new outfits and the latter had snuck the guidebook and a pair of large straw hats into their cart at the same time. Finn was particularly glad of the hats since the Mexican sun would have long since burned even his dark skin to a crisp without a head covering. But he wouldn't have minded a little time to romance the enticing veterinarian while they were away from her job and in an exotic locale....

  Swamp water? You want me to call up my sister god with swamp water?

  Finn didn't have the strength to argue, and Ixchel didn't bother. She'd already returned with a bowl of slightly murky liquid by the time Finn settled himself into the shade with his back to the trunk of a gnarled old tree. And as the god directed, Ixchel gathered up the jade beads and dropped them one by one into the liquid, then she followed up by slipping off her necklace and letting it sink into the mirror-bowl as well. Finally, the vet gently removed the ancient figurine from her pants pocket and, repeating a jumble of syllables that Tezcatlipoca was broadcasting into both of their minds, she dropped that final object into the bowl of water with a distinct plop.

  Chapter 23

  Even though Ixchel had watched Finn shift between two physical forms multiple times now, she wouldn't have said that she believed in magic. So a jolt ran through her skin as two faces floated up to the surface of the tea-colored liquid.

  One visage was immediately recognizable as their pesky god, even though Tezcatlipoca appeared far too young to have been trapped in a statue for two thousand years. Instead, the god looked like a teenager not yet old enough to drive, and a slash of black cut through the yellow color infusing his face. Despite the strange coloration and his relative age, though, Tezcatlipoca was nearly unbearably handsome, and his arrogant knowledge of that fact was evident in the twist of his lips.

  The other face was neither beautiful nor arrogant. Tez's sister god was an old woman, her face so wrinkled that the lines nearly hid her original bone structure. But, to Ixchel's eye, this second god seemed vastly preferable to the one she and Finn had been carting around for the last two days. Because the old woman's face boasted crow's feet promising frequent laughter, centered around eyes that seemed much deeper than the bowl should have allowed. The goddess also appeared to be staring right at her, and Ixchel found herself falling into the depths of the deity's gaze and relaxing as she fell.

  And then Tez, as he was wont to do, ruined the moment. I say, Ixxie, the male god broadcast with a snooty English accent, You're definitely looking your age.

  And you, my dear boy, are still not acting yours, the goddess replied with a chuckle in her voice.

  But Ixchel had a hard time focusing on the witty repartee. So this is who I'm named after, she thought as she reached up to finger the necklace that was no longer around her neck. I hope it was okay to take off the charm....

  It's certainly alright, dear, Ixxie answered, looking directly at her namesake once again. Ixchel gasped as a tingle ran through her entire body and a spark arced from her finger into the bowl of water. You haven't sworn to me yet, the goddess continued. And I'm not the kind of jealous god Tezzie here is anyway.

  The vet smiled weakly, amused to think that the nickname she'd come up with for the wind god was already in use by his compatriot. "I think I was supposed to swear to you on my eighteenth birthday," she said hesitantly. "But my mother didn't know the words...."

  And I'm afraid I can't tell them to you either, Ixxie finished. It's against the rules. The goddess eyed the wind god, and Ixchel figured she and Finn both understood the unspoken subtext—Ixxie, unlike her brother god, preferred to go by the book.

  Speaking of rules, Tez said, pushing himself to the forefront of the mirror. I, Black Tezcatlipoca, god of divination, sorcery, beauty, and war....

  The deity seemed to be rushing his speech, even though it appeared to be no more than another round of chest-thumping, and Ixchel suddenly had a bad feeling about this entire endeavor. Did Tezzie really want to chat with his sister god...or to do something more nefarious to her?

  The vet tried to reach out and grab her necklace back out of the bowl, but she was suddenly unable to move. So all she could do was listen as Tezcatlipoca continued to intone his lineage, the words seeming to reverberate with deeper power and meaning as time progressed.

  ...Slayer of Cipactli, foe of Quetzalcoatl...

  Above them, the sky began to cloud up, and thunder rumbled in the distance. The vet could barely see her human companion out of the corner of her eye, but that glimpse was sufficient to prove that Finn wanted to stop Tezcatlipoca as much as she did. And that the shifter was equally unable to move, held just like she was in the iron grip of a vengeful god.

  As a result, Ixchel could do nothing to prevent herself from being drenched as the clouds opened up above them. And as the jaguar god continued to chant, his words dropped directly into her mind unfiltered by the raging wind. I, Tezcatlipoca, do bind you, Ixchel, jaguar grandmother and nocturnal physician, into this statue to be released only when...another...takes...your...PLACE.

  Electricity charged the air, making the hairs on Ixchel's arms stand on end. Then, with a tremendous crash, a bolt of lightning struck the top of the pyramid-hill and Ixchel's hands were finally freed from their invisible restraints.

  "Ixxie, I'm sorry!" the vet exclaimed, expecting to see Tezcatlipoca materialize out of the air in front of her at any moment. She should've realized that Tezzie would seek the easy way out, even if it meant locking his friend away in the same eternal solitude he'd been forced to endure.

  And what did that mean for the future of the humans who had done their best to aid the god yet hadn't been entirely respectful in the process?

  But Ixchel had a hard time focusing on self-preservation when, just a moment earlier, she had been communing with a goddess. A goddess who meant so much to her own maternal lineage that each woman had passed down the concept of a cat charm from mother to daughter for what she now suspected was hundreds of years.

  The vet's ancestors had lost the words that made the figurine more than a trinket, and yet they'd continued to name their daughters Ixchel after this deity that Tezcatlipoca nicknamed Ixxie. And if the current Ixchel trusted her similarly named mother and grandmother and great-grandmother, then Ixxie must be worth the effort to serve and protect.

  There has to be some relative left who knows the words I was supposed to use to swear myself to her, Ixchel thought, possibilities humming through her mind nearly the same way the wind god's speech had once done. The vet was on the right track for salvaging this situation, she knew it. Maybe if I swear Ixxie's oath, then I'll be able to break Tezzie's curse....

  But then Ixchel realized that Tezcatlipoca had not appeared before her in the flesh. Instead, the wind god was still trapped within the mirror, facing his sister deity and cursing loudly. Then, abruptly, the sound cut off and she and Finn were left watching the deities' faces contort as the pair spoke in privacy, the mirror having turned into the godly version of a silent film.

  Chapter 24

  You tricked me! Tezcatlipoca howled. Because, after all of his hard work, he still wasn't free of this dratted prison. Instead, the god's physical body was stuck inside the figurine as tightly as ever, and Ixxie wasn't even incarcerated along with him.

  That latter option would have been an acceptable resolution, in the short term at least. Because while his sister god might currently choose to represent herself as a crone, Ixxie possessed a lovely face in her maiden persona. And Tez was quite certain he'd be able to talk her into the maiden...and out of her skirt...in short order if the two shared the same physical plane. It had been a long time since he'd lain with a woman, and his hand just wasn't cutting the mustard the way it used to....

  Tezzie, dear, do try to focus, Ixxie admonished gently. Yes, I tricked you. But you tried t
o trick me first. And as these modern humans say, turnabout is fair play.

  But it should've worked! Tez howled. Just his luck that using the exact same ritual and words that Yo Pe had utilized to trap him two millennia earlier now gave a very different result. Had everything changed?

  Or maybe the ritual wasn't the issue at all. I thought I'd recharged enough, but maybe I shouldn't have let those mortals call me by anything except my full name, Tezcatlipoca mused aloud.

  Oh, yes, as if having a woman think of you as Tezzie is really going to deplete your godly powers, Ixxie said.

  In her grandmother persona, Ixxie was so smug, so all-knowing. And drat the goddess (yes, he'd call her a goddess if he felt like it!) for being right, because Tez could now feel Ixchel's thoughts turning in his direction. And it did appear that the mortal's intention alone was helping refill his godhood despite the pet name the woman persisted in using.

  What then? I said the words exactly right!

  And now he decided he might like Ixxie's grandmother phase after all, because the god could almost feel his companion's soothing hand stroking his cheek. It's all in the intention, Tezzie, she explained. You intended to lock me away in a prison...

  ...Which is exactly what Yo Pe did to me!

  Not quite, Ixxie rebutted. Yo Pe went into his incantation planning to imprison a god who had become a danger to his people. Your worshiper wanted to protect other innocents from your depredations.

  Depredations! Not likely. Tezcatlipoca had ruled his followers with an iron fist, of course. But he'd given back too. Otherwise, why didn't they all just jump ship and run begging along after Q or Ixxie instead?

  Don't you remember moving the course of their river? Ixxie asked softly. Lack of water is bad for crops. Your people were starving.

  Well, they forgot my birthday first, Tez replied sullenly. Okay, so, sure, he might have changed the course of the Coatzacoalcos River (which, by the way, they should never have named after his archrival!). But if Tezcatlipoca's worshipers had groveled just a little bit more, sacrificed a few maidens, begged for his mercy, then Tez would have brought the water back.