by Lisa Kessler
“I need to sit down.”
He nodded and helped her to a nearby bench overlooking the bay. The orange hue of the gas lamps stole the color from their faces and their clothes. Gretchen found the monotone coloring comforting. They both looked alike, no sign that Lukas wasn’t human.
“You don’t eat food, do you?”
Lukas shook his head slowly. “No.”
She pressed her lips together, trying to corral the stampede of questions. “The scientist in me wants to pepper you with questions so I can learn about your race, but the woman in me doesn’t want to hear the answers. That part of me would rather go on making excuses for why you’re different and pretend you’re just a man.”
Lifting her chin, he brought her gaze up to meet his and whispered, “I’m sorry things can’t be different.”
Gretchen stared into his eyes for a moment. She’d never been drawn to a man like she was to Lukas. But he isn’t a man.
…
“How did this happen?” She gestured toward him. “How did you become a Night Walker?”
Lukas kept his voice even, bracing himself for her reaction. “I ingested the blood of another Night Walker. I haven’t identified the scientific process yet, but something in the blood mutates a human’s chemistry until their body craves blood to sustain itself. My maker called himself a Night Walker, but I’m still searching for where we came from and why.” He stopped himself short of admitting the answer he truly searched for: an end to his immortal life.
The raw hurt in her eyes faded as the scientist inside her awoke. He could almost see the calculations forming in Gretchen’s mind. Her curious nature was winning out over her concern. He was grateful for her questions; he only wished there were easy answers.
“Do you consider yourself a god?” she asked.
Lukas raised a brow with a crooked smile. “Should I?”
The sound of her laughter warmed him more than mortal blood ever could. He watched her shake her head with a twinkle in her eyes.
“I only asked because the glyphs we translated referred to the Night Walkers as either gods or priests. I wondered which one you might be.”
“I’m neither.” His smile faded. “I was a mistake, Gretchen.”
Confusion filled her gaze. “A mistake?”
“Yes.” He nodded and stared out at the water. “The man I came to San Diego to see, Calisto, is my maker. He went by Gregorio in those days, living with the Kumeyaay tribe as their kuseyaay. Their healer. He saved me after a rattlesnake bit my leg. I think he thought by having me drink his blood it would cure the venom that poisoned my bloodstream. He was a new Night Walker himself and didn’t realize I would become a Night Walker, too.”
“How could he not know?”
“I didn’t stay with him long enough to ask.” Lukas shrugged. “I was a different man back then. Superstitious, fanatical about my religious beliefs.” He rested his elbows on his knees, staring at his hands. “I ran away before he could tell me much of anything.”
“You ran away? Why?”
“I went mad, Gretchen.” He straightened, rubbing the heel of his palm to his temple. “I was raised to fear God, but I feared Satan and his demons even more. The one who made me taught me to attract animals and feed from them.” He met her eyes, feeling more like a monster with every word he uttered. “I don’t know if the snake venom was responsible, but my thirst for blood was never satisfied. My body ached for more, and in less than a week of being changed, I killed a man.”
Lukas got up, standing at the railing. He looked out at the ocean, unable to face her any longer. “I went to the Mission De Alcala but I couldn’t be cleansed and forgiven because I couldn’t confess. How could I tell a priest I had mauled a native man and drank his blood? I couldn’t. Each night I tried to fight the urge to drink human blood, and each night my thirst demanded more.”
Gretchen didn’t reply. He stole a glance over at her. She still sat on the bench, but her eyes looked far away, lost in thought. Lukas remained quiet, fighting the urge to peer into her mind to see what she pondered. He asked her to believe the unbelievable. The least he could do was offer her the time to process it all. But that didn’t make waiting any easier.
Gretchen’s eyes shifted up to meet his. “You said, ‘back then.’ How long ago did you get the snake bite?”
“In 1777. Over two hundred years ago.”
The color drained from her face, and she gnawed gently at her lower lip. Her body language suggested she might bolt at any second, but her green eyes burned with a fiery determination. Her gaze never left his as she stood and came to his side.
“How is that…possible?” she asked in a hoarse whisper.
“It’s something in the blood. Like a vampire but with a new origin. My research led me to the Mayans, and blood sacrifices, but it wasn’t until we discovered that altar that I found actual mentions of Night Walkers. That’s why I was in the Yucatan. I’ve been searching for answers and hoping I might find them in the past.”
Her warm fingers traced over his face then, caressing his features as if she were memorizing every inch of him, and seeing him for the first time. He didn’t move, allowing her to explore the skin that was too cool and too smooth to be human.
He watched her face, loving the way her brows knit together when she concentrated. Right now she was Gretchen Finch the scientist, and it was this wise, analytical side of her that had first attracted his attention. She possessed a passion for learning and a hunger for knowledge that never failed to amaze him.
Her index finger slid over his lips, first the upper, then the lower, and the temptation from the heat of her skin so close to his mouth was too much. Lukas pulled away more suddenly than he had intended. He stared out over the ocean and took in a deep breath to calm the fire of thirst her touch had awakened inside of him.
“You’re hungry,” she whispered.
He nodded, unable to look at her. His jaw clenched in frustration. He hated himself for being so drawn to her. He felt more monster than man when his thirst pulled at his veins, demanding to be satisfied.
She reached to catch his chin to turn him toward her, but Lukas raised his head, refusing her simple gesture. “Don’t ask me to look at you right now. I won’t.”
“I’m not afraid of you, Lukas.”
Agitated, he spun around to face her. His eyes were already burning, glowing crimson with the power that came at such a high price. He could see, almost feel, her fear.
“You should be!” He growled in frustration, allowing his fangs to show for a moment. “You have no idea what I am capable of. I didn’t stop killing at just one man.” He struggled to keep the admission inside but the words spilled out anyway. “I slaughtered an entire family, Gretchen. I killed innocent people to quench this undying thirst inside of me. I didn’t ask for this curse. I never wanted it. But I can’t die! I’ve tried so many times. So, I endure. I kill to live. I’m not a man or an artifact for you to study. I’m a monster. You should be very afraid and run while you have the chance, because I will never be who you want me to be.”
His chest heaved with anguish. Torn. He should leave her now and hope that she would find a man who could give her all she deserved, but at the same time he was much too selfish. He wanted to be the man to love and protect her and share her company, her laughter, her tears.
He didn’t want to lose her, but how could he ask her to stay?
He watched in silence as she swallowed her fear and stepped closer. Her eyes glistened with tears that stabbed through his heart and into his soul, but he didn’t move. Without a word, her fingers brushed over his wet cheek. He saw his bloody tear glisten on her fingertips. The sight of his tainted blood on her perfect skin sent panic scorching through his veins.
He grabbed her wrist, quickly wiping all traces of his blood onto his shirt.
“You cry tears of blood,” she whispered.
“Tears you should never touch.”
“I thought I had to drink
the blood for the metamorphosis to work.”
Lukas let go of her hand, staring down into her eyes. “I’d rather not take any chances. This isn’t a science experiment.”
She shook her head. “I’m still not afraid of you.”
“If you had any clue how intoxicating the scent of your blood is to me right now, you’d be terrified.”
“I trust you with my life.”
“Then you’re a fool.” He took a step back from her, his entire body tight, his eyes burning. “Don’t trust me with anything so precious. I could steal it from you far too easily.” The image of her body lying lifeless on the bed in the hotel room flashed through in his mind. He took another step away. “I never should have brought you into all of this. Go home, Gretchen. Forget Night Walkers, and forget me.”
“Wait!” he heard her scream, but it was too late. He was already soaring over the water, a great horned owl once more, hunting and hurting like he never had before.
Chapter Thirteen
Gretchen still felt dazed as she took her seat on the plane. All the pre-flight activity buzzed around her in a blur. Lost in her mental fog, she kept seeing Lukas’s eyes glow, and his body blurring, mutating until he had feathers and soared into the sky as a large owl. Over and over again she watched his arms become wings and his facial features liquefy, until he had large green eyes and a razor-sharp beak.
She’d seen it herself and yet her mind still couldn’t comprehend it.
Lukas had saved her life in the rainforest. The night of the storm, when that owl ushered her back into the tent to avoid the falling tree. He had been the owl. As impossible as it was to believe, Lukas really was a Night Walker—and he could change his shape at will.
And if he expected her to just walk away and forget what she’d seen because he told her to, then he had the wrong woman. He knew her better than that. She was a scientist. It was in her blood to want to explain the unexplainable.
Simply forgetting Night Walkers existed wasn’t an option for her.
And forgetting how she felt when Lukas kissed her was an order her heart refused to obey. He needed her, and she needed answers. Answers that were hidden in the rainforests of the Yucatan, within the shadows of the Mayan pyramids. Knowing the stories she translated were actually true made her curiosity insatiable.
After a short layover in Houston, the plane finally landed in Cancun. With her carry-on bag and passport in tow, Gretchen cleared customs and made her way through the river of weary tourists to rent a Jeep.
She’d been to airports all over the world, and it still made her smile to watch Americans out of their element. The airport in Mexico gave most of them an immediate jolt of culture shock from the moment they disembarked the plane. Unlike the airports in the US, with prearranged car rentals and taxi cabs, the Mexican airport ran on the barter system, and many Americans had no idea they were paying far more than they should when they agreed to the first price offered. Most of them didn’t know enough Spanish to negotiate a better deal anyway, and the vendors were quick to announce they didn’t speak English so the tourists generally paid whatever they were told.
Pushing past a cart full of baggage, she reached a car rental stand and quickly had the keys to a Jeep for half the original rental price. The late afternoon heat enveloped her in its suffocating embrace as soon as she stepped outside the airport. She hadn’t missed the humidity, that’s for sure.
Gretchen sighed and quickly tossed her duffel bag into the back before climbing up into the driver’s seat. She had to hurry. It was a two-hour drive through rough terrain to get back to the altar site, and she only had about three hours of daylight left.
She was counting on being safe while the sun was still up.
Jamming the Jeep into gear, she left the airport behind and headed into the rainforest. She was already perspiring, but not because of the stifling heat. She wiped her forehead as the wind whipped back through her hair. Once the sun went down, she’d be vulnerable.
And this time, Lukas wouldn’t be there to save her.
…
The Guardian lumbered through the jungle, still searching for Camalotz. He felt heavy, his body aching for rest from the daylight, but she remained alert somewhere, and therefore so was he. She hid from him, he knew that now.
All the more reason to keep searching.
Camalotz was a primal being, thirsting to be satisfied while at the same time not understanding the emotions she yearned for. Her envy of those who could feel quickly mutated into hatred. She destroyed what she couldn’t understand, and if she were allowed to roam the earth freely for too long, eventually she would decimate the entire human race.
He stopped suddenly, his eyes carefully scanning his surroundings. He was standing in the clearing near the altar that marked Camalotz’s prison for millennia.
She was here. He could feel her, and her scent intoxicated him. As he looked around, he noted a large iguana sunning itself on a rock. Very few places in the dense tangle of trees that made up the rainforest ever saw direct sunlight—this spot was one of those rare places.
He stared at the reptile, examining it. The crimson twinkle in its eyes betrayed the Demon that dwelled inside. The Guardian approached, cooing in the ancient language of the Mayans as he scooped it up and cradled the iguana in his arms. She moved slowly, hissing in protest.
“Hush now,” he whispered stroking his fingers down her smooth scales. “You were foolish to change your form in the daylight.” She snapped her jaws at his fingers, drawing a shadow of a smile from the ancient man. “We should rest until the sky darkens.”
The iguana hissed again, biting his finger and quickly drinking from the wound. The Guardian walked deeper into the lush privacy of the jungle as she fed, and stopped when the iguana wriggled free of his grip. He watched as the scales gradually turned to flesh, the claws became fingers, and he listened to the snapping of bone as her spine and tail became one, expanding until she was once more in the form of a woman. Blood and sweat glistened on her brow when she looked up at him.
“He’skuba,” she hissed.
“Yes.” The Guardian bent to lift her into his arms. “You do need rest. We both do.”
He turned to look at the altar again before meeting her eyes. “Why did you come back here?”
Her eyes blazed but she volunteered no explanation, simply closed her eyes and mumbled against his chest. “He’skuba.”
He nodded, complying with her demand for rest. Shape-shifting during the day was extremely risky and draining. Why would she chance being discovered at her weakest moment? And why did she return to the altar?
Those were questions he could ponder later. At least while the Demon rested she would not let loose her wrath.
The Guardian uncovered an abandoned stone structure that had been forgotten centuries ago and long since was devoured by the rainforest. It was not as safe as one of the pyramids, but he didn’t have time to search anymore. Camalotz dozed in and out of consciousness, and being connected to her spirit, once she surrendered to sleep, the Guardian would weaken, and lose himself to sleep as well.
They needed shelter from the unforgiving afternoon sun. Now.
He helped Camalotz inside before crawling along after her, careful to conceal the opening with ferns and palm branches behind him. In the darkness, he lay down beside her, embracing the Demon, and the two immortals slept.
…
Gretchen drove up to the campsite. Their tent was still there, seemingly untouched. With a determined sigh, she turned off the engine and started unloading what little gear she brought with her.
The interior of the tent remained just as she and Lukas had left it, and right or wrong, that gave her a little boost of courage. Maybe the Demon was still back in San Diego.
She plopped down on her cot, sighing as the canvas creaked then settled beneath her. Leaning forward, she rested her elbows on her knees and rubbed her forehead. Even if she could decipher the glyphs and find more answers, what wo
uld it change?
It wouldn’t make Lukas human. She wouldn’t ride off into the sunset to live happily ever after. Sad laughter escaped her. She wasn’t even sure she believed in happily-ever-afters, and yet she sat mourning that she might never have one.
“I don’t have time for this.” She pushed herself to stand, also pushing away her melancholy thoughts. It would be dark soon, and if Night Walkers still existed, she’d rather not run into one if she could help it.
Grabbing her notepad, canteen, and rubbing kit, she closed the tent and disappeared into the thick of the rainforest. As she made her way down the path toward the altar she let her fears fade, and her scientific nature took over her conscious thoughts. Her mind became preoccupied with questions.
Did the Night Walkers have something to do with the disappearance of the Mayan civilization, or was it this Demon that was now loose in the world again?
The Demon that tried to convince her to kill herself back in San Diego…
Gretchen shivered at the memory, her hand instinctively going to her throat, reminding her of the still bruised and scratched skin. As a scientist, she could usually separate herself from fear by breaking down myths with fact and unraveling curses with concrete proof that such things could not and did not exist.
But she’d seen Lukas transform himself into an owl and fly away. She hadn’t imagined it. She watched it happen. He broke the lock on the bathroom door without any effort, and read her thoughts like he might read a book. She couldn’t explain those things away. The facts were more frightening than any folk tale or mummy’s curse she’d ever heard. Night Walkers were real, and after her experience at the hotel in San Diego, the Demon was probably just as real.
With a determined breath, she got down in the dirt and started the meticulous process of dusting and cleaning the ancient carvings. The only way to find any answers would be through her work. Being afraid would only leave her helpless, and that was something Gretchen wouldn’t allow again.
