Skykeepers

by Jessica Andersen

  Instead, Strike turned and beckoned to her. “Sasha? Come here, please.”

  Frowning, she moved up and joined them, her heavy black robes swirling around her ankles. “Yes?”

  He handed her the bowl. “Bless them, please. And then let them grow.”

  The pinch smoothed out and she smiled. Touching the hopeful little seeds, she felt the magic in them, the life. She sent them a song and felt them respond. Then, acting on instinct, or ch’ul, or maybe just a mad impulse, she swung her arm and sent the seeds flying in a glittering arc, out past the torches to the ash-shadowed court-yard. There was a ripple of laughter from the magi, a shimmer of magic from beyond the torchlight. And she knew that in the morning, there would be life in a spot that for so long had represented only death.

  “Nice,” Michael said when she returned to his side. “That was very nice.”

  Then it was time for round two of the day’s ceremonies, the more somber of the two. Ambrose’s funeral.

  “You ready for this?” Michael asked as Jox started herding everyone toward the ball court, where they’d set up the funeral pyre so it would be downwind of the wayeb feast. After the fire burned itself out, the ashes would be allowed to fly on the canyon winds, as Ambrose had requested, back in another lifetime.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.” And, as she reached the traditional wooden structure upon which they’d placed Ambrose’s wrapped body, head and all, she realized she was ready. She’d come to terms with Ambrose and the ways he’d failed her, the ways they’d failed each other. He had given up his own life to save hers, on his queen’s orders, on her mother’s orders.

  The sun kissed the horizon, turning the sky to a bloody smear that warned of impending storms. The light cast strange shadows as she picked up the pulque-laced torch she’d prepared earlier in the day, sealing it with both chocolate and her own blood. She held it out to Rabbit, who stood with the others in a loose circle around the pyre and its wrapped bone bundle. “Will you do the honors?”

  He nodded, held his hands cupped together, and whispered, “Kaak.” Fire. A flame kindled in his palms, soft and kind, not the fireball of war. He held the spark to her torch, spoke another word, and sent the flames dancing across the alcohol-soaked brand. Then he stood beside her as she touched the torch to the pyre, and urged the flames to make it quick and do it right. She knew he’d done the same for his own father. Knew Ambrose would approve.

  The others moved up around her, standing in silent support as she fulfilled a promise that had started out causing trouble and ended up showing her the way to her family, to the man she loved, whether by chance or destiny or, most likely, a combination of the two.

  In losing her father she had found her family. And now Ambrose had come home. Finally. “Gods speed you to your rest,” she said softly, thinking for a moment that she could see his face in the flames. “And thank you. For everything.”

  The bone bundle caught and flared, and the heat intensified, driving them away from a pyre that had become a bonfire. She thought Ambrose would’ve enjoyed that too.

  “Hey.” Michael touched her arm. “You good?”

  “Yeah.” She turned to him, smiled up at him, and felt a weight lift off her soul. “Yeah, I am.” But she faltered a little when she saw the look in his eyes, the hint of reservation, of worry. “Michael, what’s going on?”

  He took a deep breath, tried for a smile and missed. “I know this probably isn’t the right time or place to do this,” he began.

  Her heart took a nosedive, and all the old insecurities rose up, threatened to swamp her. “If you’re dumping me, you might want to rethink. Third-degree burns on your ass won’t be much fun.” She tried to make it sound like a joke. Failed.

  “I’m not dumping you.” He sounded exasperated rather than annoyed. Then he hitched up a pant leg and dropped to one knee in front of her.

  She looked down at him, at the firelight illuminating one side of his face, the darkness touching the other, and her heart stopped, simply stopped in her chest. “Michael?”

  The others had gone very quiet around them; the only sound was that of Ambrose’s funeral pyre. Then Michael reached into a pocket and came up with a small velvet box. Held it out to her. “I can’t give you the jun tan, but I want—I need—you to wear something of mine; I want to know that you’re mine, from this point forward. So we’ll do it the newfangled way.” He paused. Took a breath. “Sasha Ledbetter, will you marry me?”

  It was the moment her younger self had dreamed of. And her more mature, grounded self fumbled the shit out of it. “I don’t . . . I mean, I didn’t think . . . Oh, hell.” She blew out a breath. Made herself stop babbling. “Yes.”

  His eyes glinted. “Was that a yes, you’ll marry me, or are you still stuttering?”

  She laughed. “A little of both?” She felt the smile start, felt warmth and heat and love expanding inside her chest, growing out beyond the bounds of her body as her eyes filled with tears. “Yes. Of course I’ll marry you. I love you. Every piece of you.”

  “And I love you,” he said. And, as the bonfire showered sparks behind them, she realized he’d been wrong about one thing: It was the perfect time and place for them, for the ceremonies of life to counter those of death.

  He rose then, and flipped open the box, which held a fat, princess-cut diamond in the most exquisitely traditional of settings. Tradition for a man who was anything but traditional, she thought. It should’ve jarred. Instead, it fit perfectly. As did the ring.

  “I love you,” he said again, the words coming easily, from his heart. “I can’t promise you the jun tan or a quiet life, but I can promise you that nobody will ever love you as much as I do. Nobody will ever need you the way I do.”

  The words were raw and honest. And she answered in kind, touching her lips to his before she said, “Nobody’s ever challenged me the way you do, and I know I’ve never loved anyone the way I do you. Just love me; that’s all I ask. We’ll figure out the rest as we go along. Deal?”

  He smiled against her lips. “Deal.”

  They kissed to a round of applause from the assembled group. And when they parted, something danced across Sasha’s nape. A coyote howl lifted from the near distance, the wild music rising to the sky. Eyes drawn by something—maybe magic, maybe instinct, maybe just a wish—Sasha looked through the fire to the empty ball court beyond the pyre. There, in the firelight, stood a tall, lanky man with a tired face, a long gray ponytail, and a pronounced stoop to his shoulders, as though he’d spent many years trying to look smaller than he was, trying to blend into a life he hadn’t chosen.

  “Ambrose,” Sasha said, tears welling up to spill over and track down her cheeks. She lifted her hand in a wave, saw her new diamond glint in the firelight. “Thank you.”

  The spirit—ghost?—lifted a hand, returning the wave. The fire distorted the air between them, but she could swear she saw a smile on the spirit’s face, and no hint of madness in its eyes. For a moment, she imagined he looked like the man she’d glimpsed on his good days, in the gaps between obsessions. And in that moment, she imagined that all was forgiven between them both.

  It is, she heard in the crackle of the fire, in a multitonal voice that shouldn’t have existed outside of the barrier. Michael stiffened at her side, letting her know he’d heard it, too. Then the spirit’s form wavered. And disappeared.

  “What did he mean by that?” he asked quietly.

  “It means all is forgiven.” She lifted their joined hands to her cheek, rested her face on his strength. “It means we go on from here and do the best we can do.”

  “That I can manage.” He gathered her close, pressing her against his broad chest and rocking her gently as the others ringed the bonfire once again.

  Strike and Leah, Nate and Alexis, and Rabbit and Myrinne paired off, the mated couples wrapping together while the other magi and the winikin stood apart and alone. They watched the fire burn down, even knowing that Ambrose’s spirit had passed onw
ard. Sasha suspected each of them saw something slightly different in the flames—scenes of the past, of futures near and far.

  She had fulfilled three-quarters of the prophecy: She’d become a daughter of the sky, a ch’ulel; She’d conquered death, bringing Rabbit, Michael, and Lucius back from the brink; and she’d defied love—or at least what she’d thought she’d known about what she wanted when it came to falling in love—by claiming Michael for her own despite all the reasons they made no sense together. As for the lost son . . . well, time would tell.

  The next six months would be critical. They needed to call the Triad, deal with Moctezuma, and figure out where the Banol Kax would strike next. Each of those things seemed an insurmountable obstacle in isolation. In sum, they could be seen only as impossible. Yet rationality said that a dozen magi wouldn’t be enough to save the world when the prophecies spoke of hundreds. So far they might not be kicking ass, but they were holding their own. Over the next few months, the next three years, they would continue to do the same.

  “It’s not going to be easy,” Sasha whispered, pushing slightly away from Michael’s chest so she could see the firelight play on his face. “The next few years, I mean.”

  “No, it’s not. But whatever happens, we’re in it together.” He tapped the ring, the symbol he’d known she needed, and had come to need himself. “That’s a promise.”

  She smiled up at him, touched her lips to his. “I like the sound of that.”

  The next three years—and the future beyond—were wreathed in shadows and darkness. But she had a family now, and a lover. A fiancé. There was strength in that, and power. And, in the beginning and the end, there was love. And it was in that love she wrapped herself as stars prickled in the sky and the fire burned low, leaving the Nightkeepers in gathering darkness, standing together as a team, as a family.

  Her family.

  Read on for a sneak peek at the next book

  in the Final Prophecy series

  by Jessica Andersen,

  DEMONKEEPERS

  Coming from Signet Eclipse in April 2010.

  Skywatch

  It was almost full dark when Strike materialized himself and Jade beneath the ceiba tree. The mansion was only dimly lit, making it seem far away, while the stygian silhouette of the training hall loomed very near. But despite the darkness, Jade appreciated the king’s tact; the absolute last thing she wanted to do was see the others. She wasn’t sure she could handle doing the Hi, how have you been routine right now, as she’d been gone nearly ten weeks, taking a crash course in ancient Mayan glyphs and language . . . and getting some distance.

  Yeah, she’d needed the miles. At that, she’d still be far from Skywatch if it hadn’t been for Strike’s message. She wasn’t sure which was worse: the secondhand booty call, or the fact that she’d volunteered for it. It’s the right thing to do, she reminded herself. Lucius needs to trigger the Prophet’s powers, and he’s not getting it done on his own. This isn’t about us; it’s about the magic. More, it was her chance to be on the front lines for a change.

  “Okay,” she said under her breath. “Here goes everything.”

  But when she headed for the mansion, thinking to sneak in through a side door, Strike shot out a long arm and aimed her in the other direction. “He moved into one of the cottages a couple of months ago. Said the mansion made him feel claustrophobic after being trapped inside his own head for so long.”

  “Oh.” She tried not to let that rattle her, even though when she’d pictured what was going to happen, she’d always envisioned being in the safely familiar three-room suite a few doors down from her own. Not a big deal, she told herself. It’s just a change of scenery. Experience, both as a woman and as a therapist, had taught her that people didn’t fundamentally change; only peripherals did. Human, Nightkeeper—it didn’t matter. Some people were good, some bad, most a mixture of the two. She knew Lucius, trusted him. Wasn’t scared of him. She could do this.

  “Problem?” Strike asked, the darkness making his voice seem to come from the air around them rather than from the man himself.

  Shaking off the thought—and the quiver of nerves it brought—she said, “Of course not. Which cottage?” There were thirteen of them in two rows of six, with lucky thirteen on the far end, off by itself.

  “The very last one; you’ll see the lights. Nate and Alexis are spending the night in the mansion. With Rabbit and Myrinne at school, you’ll have privacy.” He pressed something into her hand. “Take this.”

  Feeling the outlines of one of the earpiece-throat mike combos the warriors used during ops, she didn’t ask why. “Who’s going to be on the other end?” Even knowing that the mike would only transmit if she keyed it on, she couldn’t help picturing a voyeuristic tableau in the great room.

  “Either me or Jox. Unless you’d prefer Leah.”

  The king was doing his best, she realized, to maintain the illusion of privacy while keeping her safe, letting her know the warriors stood ready to come to her defense if the sex magic went awry and Lucius’s dark tendencies once again drew the attention of the Banol Kax, or even opened him up once again to makol possession. Which had been just one of the numerous daunting possibilities that had been thrown around, only to be set aside because the Nightkeepers were running out of options.

  “Whatever you think is best,” Jade said, just barely managing not to tack on “sire” at the end. I’m not following orders this time. This was my idea. My choice. Raising her chin, she said, “Don’t worry about me. I know Lucius.”

  The king’s answer was slow in coming. “You know, becoming the Prophet has . . . changed him.”

  Anna had said something along those same lines earlier, when Jade let her know the booty call had come through on schedule. Now, as then, Jade waved off the concern. “He’s not the Prophet yet. If he were, you wouldn’t need me. Would you?”

  Strike didn’t have an answer for that one, and that fact pinched somewhere in the region of her heart. With the information in the archive virtually exhausted, her value as a librarian was almost nil. Given her inability to tap her scribe’s talent, she didn’t bring much in the way of a unique skill set to the Nightkeepers . . . except in the matter at hand. She and Lucius had a history, and she was the only female mage who remained yet unmated. More, in the wake of her and Michael’s failed affair, she’d proven that she could be sexually involved with a man and not lose her heart. She and Lucius ought to be able to return to the friends-with-benefits arrangement they’d had previously, and use the generated sex magic to trigger the Prophet’s powers.

  That was the theory, anyway.

  Realizing that Strike was waiting for her to make her move, she inhaled to settle a sudden flutter of nerves, and said, “Okay. Wish me luck.”

  She halfway expected him to come back with something about getting lucky. Instead, he said, “Remember, you can bail at any point. I wouldn’t have called you today if you hadn’t volunteered, and if I didn’t think this might be our answer. Still, I want you to promise me that you’ll stop if it doesn’t feel right.”

  Pulling back in surprise, she glanced at his dark silhouette. “But the writs say—”

  “Fuck the writs,” he interrupted. “They might be a good rule of thumb, but they’re not perfect by a long shot, and over the past couple of years we’ve certainly proved that they’re not immutable. So now I’m telling you—hell, I’m ordering you—to make your own decision on this one. Take me and the others out of it. This is between you and Lucius.”

  Jade drew breath to Whatever you say, sire him, but then stopped herself, thought a moment, and said, “With all due respect, that’s bullshit. There’s no way I can possibly take out all the other variables. I’m here right now because we’re out of other options. If we don’t get our hands on the library soon, we might not even make it to 2012, and we sure as shit won’t have enough firepower to defend the barrier. So you don’t get to tell me to take all that out of the equation, just so you can
feel better about what I’m about to do. If it doesn’t bother me, then it shouldn’t bother you. And if it does, that’s not my problem.”

  There was a moment of startled silence; then Strike said, “Huh.”

  Jade didn’t know if that meant he was offended, taken aback, or what, but told herself she didn’t care. “What? You didn’t know I have a spine?”

  “I knew. I wasn’t sure you did.” He made a move like he was going to touch her, but then stopped himself. Letting his hand fall, he said only, “Good luck, then. And remember the radio in case . . . well, just in case.”

  Without another word, he spun the red-gold magic and disappeared in a pop of collapsing air, leaving her standing there thinking that the ’port talent was a hell of a way to get the last word in an argument. Not that they had been arguing, really, because they were both right: She couldn’t separate the act from the situation, but it was her choice. Strike had called only to tell her that the other magi and their winikin were out of ideas, and that a midday blood sacrifice channeling nearly the power of the full equinox had failed to trigger the Prophet’s power. Her response to the information was her responsibility. “So why are you still standing here?” she asked herself aloud.

  “Perhaps because you’re wondering whether Strike and Anna were right to try to talk you out of this,” a familiar voice said from the doorway of the training hall, which was a pitch-black square against the building’s dark silhouette.

  Jade’s pulse skittered at the sound, then started pounding hard and heavy as she heard the rasp of clothing, the pad of approaching footsteps. Swallowing to wet her suddenly dry mouth, she said, “Eavesdropping, Lucius?”