It turned out to be just the four of them for dinner that night. Lyssa had told Alma to take the night off. She figured everyone could use a break from Mexican food, so she made pasta. It wasn’t until she was almost finished that she realized she had used Maya’s sauce recipe. Dammit!
“Smells good,” Matt said from the couch, where he was catching up on his classwork. “If that’s Maya’s sauce, though, don’t forget to add the carrot shavings. You know, to cut the acidity?”
That did it! Seriously, was the whole universe conspiring against her? How many people’s feelings was she going to hurt in one day? She wanted to scream.
As they all finished their pasta, Matt apologized to Damian for having taken off by himself.
“It’s okay,” Damian answered. “We were just worried.”
“No, Damian, it’s not okay. And you guys don’t ever have to worry about it happening again.”
Lyssa smiled. “Who wants a churro?”
“Did you make a lot, bella?”
“Hellz, yeah! I thought I was cooking for thirty, remember?”
“Awesome!” Damian headed for the counter and helped her carry the mugs for the chocolate and the basket of churros back to the table.
I’m sorry about before, Damian. Am I forgiven?
Of course. I wasn’t really mad at you, anyway.
What were you mad about?
Just me and what a wuss I can be.
You are not a wuss. Not everyone is as accepting as we are. You have every right to be cautious.
Damian looked over at his big sister, she held up one hand, and they gave each other a fist bump over the table.
Then Lyssa looked at Matt. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.” He dipped the end of his churro in chocolate and took a big bite.
“Is Maya…I mean, is—she’s okay and everything, right?”
“She’s safe, Lyss. That I can promise you.”
Just then, they heard the SUV pull up to the house. As they were starting to clear away the dinner dishes, the front door opened and Adriana and Richard walked into the house.
“Your ass, my room, ten minutes,” Richard growled as he walked past Matt.
“Anybody want my last churro in case I don’t survive this?” Matt asked.
“Ya,” Cesar said.
Matt slapped Cesar’s back. “Thanks buddy.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Matt walked down the hallway to Richard and Adriana’s room. He was pretty sure he was gonna to get his butt handed to him. He deserved it. He’d had good intentions, but he’d gone about it the wrong way. He’d left the compound to keep everyone from worrying, and they all worried anyway, maybe even more. He’d been the man of the house for so long at home that he was used to being the one taking care of everyone, not the other way around. That’s the way he was wired.
He gave the door a brisk knock.
“Come in.”
Adriana was there with Richard. Maybe that would work in his favor. Or at least keep him alive till morning. “Hey.”
“Matt—” Adriana began.
“Look, I know what you’re gonna say. I effed up big time.”
“You got that right,” Richard said. “You’re impulsive, you’re reckless. Since you’ve been here, we almost lost us our best shifter. This time, you just take off? You don’t tell anyone where you’re going? We have no idea what’s going on out there, Matt! Maya’s just barely finished the transition, and no one knows what the hell’s up with Toltec. If you were anyone else, I’d be throwing your butt out the door. It’s just lucky for you that you and Cesar are the best guys I’ve got.”
Had he just heard that right? “I’m sorry?”
“You’ve almost single-handedly kept Maya together, which under the circumstances is damned near miraculous. Instead of us losing Cesar, you wound up friends. And you figured out who the mole was. Your service has been exemplary, Matt. But you just don’t get it.”
“What don’t I get?”
Now Richard was pacing back and forth in front of him. “You’re too quick to jump into things,” he said on one pass. “And too quick to sacrifice yourself,” he said on the next. He stopped walking. “You’re not thinking about the consequences because you’re always putting everyone else first. Matt, you can’t keep this up. You’re going to end up getting hurt. Taking off on us is the perfect example. What were you thinking?”
“I figured out that when I’m in my Gray Wolf form, I can’t feel Maya’s emotions. It’s like instinct takes over. So I figured if I stayed in my second form as much as possible, it would be best for everyone. I wouldn’t be freaking out, so you guys wouldn’t be worrying about her or me. And she would be free to do whatever she needs to do.”
Adriana cleared her throat. “Richard, could I talk to Matt alone for a minute?”
Richard looked questioningly at her for a moment, and then nodded. “Yeah, sure.”
She sat on the bed and waited until Richard closed the door. “Matt, come sit down.”
He sat down in the chair across from Adriana and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.
“Tell me what’s going on with you,” she said. “This isn’t like you. And don’t give me a line. I haven’t slept in twenty-four hours.”
Matt looked down at the floor. “I just…I don’t know how to do this.”
Adriana reached out and laid one hand on his arm. “What don’t you know how to do?”
He swallowed hard. “What if she doesn’t come back?”
“She wouldn’t do that.”
He shook his head. “That’s not what I mean. What if she can’t?”
“What?”
“I’m not sure exactly. It’s just…there’s so much going on, Adriana…inside of her. What if she’s supposed to be somewhere else?” He shook his head again. “I can’t…I don’t think I can—”
“Matt, look at me. Look at me.”
He raised his eyes.
“There’s something we didn’t tell you when Maya was kidnapped. We thought it was for the best at the time. But now, well, I think it’s something you need to know. Matt, sometimes, when shifters are in too much emotional pain, they phase and realize that the pain is better because the animal instinct helps to block it out. They start to use it, like a drug, spending more and more time in their second form. Did you know that shifters who remain in their second form for too long can risk losing their humanity?”
“What? Really?”
“It’s not something you’ll hear on TV. It’s not very common, and it’s been kept quiet outside the shifter community. There’s been a lot of fear over anything that could make non-shifters view us as any less human than they already do. If you had gone through with this, you might never have come back from it. There’s evidence to suggest that there are shifters out there who have been permanently lost to their human forms. Instinct totally takes over. They’re left with no memory at all of being human. We could have lost you. Maya could have lost you.”
It took him a few moments to process what he’d heard. Then he said, “Are they sure?”
“As I said, it’s rare. But most shifters know or have heard of someone it’s happened to. It seems to happen more often than not over the loss of a mate.”
“Wait. Do you actually know someone it’s happened to?”
“Cesar’s father.”
“Jesus.”
Adriana nodded. “Cesar’s mother died, and over time…I think Cesar was fifteen…we...knew Cesar’s father, Soaring Eagle, very well. He was an avian shifter. He was like a mentor to Richard. After we lost him, well, Cesar’s been with us ever since.”
“I…I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Matt tried to push everything back down, but he just couldn’t hold on any longer. Tears started rolling down his cheeks.
Adriana stood up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him to her. “No, Matt. Don’t. I’m sorry. We haven’t been there for you the way we should have. To go
through these kinds of separations when you’re newly mated is really tough.”
“What if she doesn’t come back?” His head was down, his hands curled into fists.
She patted his back. “Look, I know we don’t know what’s going on. I know I can’t feel her the way you can. But she is not going to leave you, Matt. You have to believe that. You have to trust her.”
“I do. It’s just…Ever since we were mated, it feels everything has been trying to pull us apart.”
“But it hasn’t. Don’t you think that says a lot about you two? About what you can handle?”
Matt wiped his face with his arm. “Yeah, I guess it does.”
“You’re damn right it does. When Maya was kidnapped and struggling to get free, who do you think she was trying to get back to?”
In his heart he knew that Adriana was right. But he also knew that this time it was a whole different ballgame. This time, the opposing team wasn’t even human.
***
“Cesar,” Matt yelled, “are you gonna throw the ball or what?” This was a great idea. He’d decided to teach Cesar how to throw an American football while they were waiting for the twins to finish their work with Richard. For once, they all had some time together in the evening when it was cool enough for soccer. Matt was dying to run off some nervous energy. But watching Cesar try to palm the football correctly was robbing him of his will to live.
“Sorry!” Cesar yelled back. He threw the ball and Matt watched it wobble through the air.
“That was better.”
Cesar laughed. “Maybe I should just play soccer.”
It was kind of hard to argue with the guy when he was making so much sense. He was a phenomenal soccer player. But American football? Not so much. “It just takes practice,” he called back.
“The ball is awkward. I would rather tackle.”
Matt’s mind instantly went to the day he and Cesar had fought. Maya had come flying out of the house and separated them with her powers. What a douche he’d been, thinking that Cesar was some kind of competition for Maya. And now here they were, tossing a ball around.
“Hey, Cesar, about today,” he walked closer. “Thanks for coming to get me.”
“No problem. What my bella wants, my bella gets.”
Matt laughed. “That’s for sure. Hey, here they come.”
The twins were just passing the bench in the garden. Matt watched Lyssa for a moment. She looked different today, somehow. He’d known her for three years and she’d never looked like she did today. Man, she looked so happy. He smiled and tossed her the football. She caught it easily.
Cesar chuckled. “She does that better than me.”
“You’re not kidding.”
“Can you teach me how to throw, bella?”
“Anytime, baby,” she said. “Are we playing football now?”
“No,” Cesar and Matt said together.
“Thank God. One of you would have squished me, for sure.”
Damian twirled a soccer ball in his hands. “No doubt.”
“How’s it going with Richard?” Matt asked him.
“Okay. Every time our powers expand, we have to figure out how to control them. It takes a lot of practice.” He dropped the soccer ball, kicked it, and took off toward the wide-open area near the cabins. Within seconds, his friends were at his heels.
“Okay,” Matt said, “let’s mix it up. I get Lyssa this time.”
“Or Lyssa and I could play the two of you,” Damian suggested.
“Like hell! The last thing we need is the two of you together.”
But Lyssa was looking past the boys and at the trees. “Hey, you guys hear that?” she asked.
“Hear what, bella?”
Damian nodded. “I hear it. Where’s it coming from?”
Matt was looking around. “I don’t hear anything.”
Lyssa shushed them. “I can’t tell.”
“It’s gone,” Damian said. “Huh. That was odd.”
“It was the same sound I heard last night,” Lyssa said. “Just before Cesar came in from guard duty. It was coming from out in the jungle somewhere.”
“You’re sure it was the same sound?” Damian asked.
Matt still hadn’t heard it. “Hey, guys, what noise are you talking about?”
“I’m not sure,” Damian said. “It sounds like some kind of weird bird or—”
“Demons!” Matt yelled. “Everybody get down!”
They all dropped and looked up. Wouldn’t you know it? Above them were the same huge bats they’d seen at Chichen Itza. There were three of them. Hadn’t Maya and the twins nailed all those SOBs? He watched as the ugly things glided in and out, circling and waiting.
The twins were on the ground looking at one another across the small field. Matt couldn’t tell they were communicating, but he figured they would use some kind of mind control, like they had at Chichen Itza.
All of a sudden, Lyssa inexplicably stood up.
“NO! Lyssa, get down!” Matt yelled.
It happened in an instant. She was barely to her feet when one of the demons swooped down and snatched her up by the shoulders.
“LYSSA!” Cesar screamed. He sprang to his feet, and within seconds he had crossed the yard. But he was too late.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“More wine, Lucas?”
“No, thank you.”
“Having second thoughts, are we?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Trixa. There are only two cenotes in Toltec’s research that are thought to be gateways to the underworld. The fact that you found one is nothing short of a miracle. I’m just not sure you should be using it alone.”
Victrixa smiled. Lucas’s fear was palpable. It wasn’t just fear of the power they sought. He was also afraid of her because she was a shifter. Even though they had worked together in Toltec for years, this fact still stood between them. To her, he was just one more piece of evidence that humans and shifters could not coexist. Fear, jealousy, and hatred on the part of non-shifters always got in the way. In fact, she couldn’t seem to recall ever having met with Lucas without Avery or another member present until today. She should kill him right now, the little rodent.
“You and I both know that it isn’t enough just to have found the cenote,” she told him. “A snake is also needed for the ceremony. Not just your average garter snake, mind you. You are aware that our avian shifters spotted Maya in Valladolid. She’s not only alive, but she’s alive and well. She was bouncing all over town with her mate.”
“I agree that things have not been going according to plan. I just don’t understand the sudden urgency, Trixa. So the girl survived Chichen Itza. It was always a possibility, if remote.”
“I thought I recalled you being there, Lucas. Did you not see her on top of El Castillo? No human could handle that amount of energy and survive. We have to strike now, while we can.”
“Here we go again with the whole goddess thing,” he said. “Are we really back to that? Other than her abilities on the pyramid, we have no proof that she could be some kind of immortal. She’s powerful, to be sure. But is that really the only possible answer? The powers of the cenote are unknown, but they’re hardly anything to be taken lightly.”
Trixa put down her glass. “Avery—”
Lucas interrupted her. “Avery agrees with me, Trixa,” he said. “He wants to do the ritual as a group. He also wants to know the location of the cenote. He believes that you should tell the two of us, at the very least. He feels that—
“Yes, Lucas, do tell me how Avery feels, since he doesn’t seem to be man enough to come here and tell me himself.”
“You know very well that he is out of the country.”
“He certainly has good timing.”
“Are you insinuating—”
Trixa stood up. “I insinuate nothing. I’m telling you that I believe he sent you here to confront me in his place.”
“Trixa, don’t start jumping to conclusions. When he gets back
, you’ll be able to speak with him yourself and settle things then.”
Victrixa laughed out loud. She couldn’t help it. She had known Avery and worked with him in Toltec for twenty years. There was nothing to settle. He had sent Lucas here to send a message. Either she gave up the location of the cenote or, as far as he was concerned, there was nothing left to discuss. Lucas was the only one who didn’t realize it. He always had been a moron.
She smiled. “Yes. We’ll just settle it then.”
Lucas smiled back.
“Are you sure you won’t have more wine?” she asked. “It really is divine.”
“You know…I think I will have just one more glass.”
“Go ahead and help yourself. I’ll just see how dinner is coming along.”
But Victrixa did not leave the room. As Lucas turned to the bar to get more wine, she phased into Kan. The strike was so fast; Lucas Moss never had a chance. She took him around the neck, breaking it instantly and sinking some venom into him for good measure. His lifeless body slid to the floor as she phased back and laughed aloud.
Apparently she couldn’t be trusted after all. Victrixa stepped over Lucas’ pathetic body and poured herself another glass of wine. Then she slid out of her shoes and walked out onto the porch, where she sat down on the chaise longue and laid her head against the back. For once it wasn’t too hot to sit outside. She loved Mexico, but she hated the humidity of the Yucatán. Most days she wondered why she had wanted the porch built at all. She missed her ranch and the dry heat of New Mexico. Buying the ranch had simply started out as part of her work with Toltec, but then she had grown to like the dry heat and countryside.
Alone in the villa, Victrixa could scarcely keep track of the days as they passed. But the solitude suited her. It had been weeks since she’d heard from Ana. Not that she really blamed her. Victrixa had given her daughter up to be adopted by Alma Rivera when she was ten. It was all for the good of the cause, of course. For ten years Toltec had a live-in spy in Richard’s organization. Victrixa smiled as she thought about it now. It had been an ingenious plan, but unfortunately it had cost her Ana. It was funny how like herself Ana had become, even though she had been raised by that ridiculous housekeeper. But when Ana had come back to Avery’s ranch after being discovered, no one could deny who she was. She looked just like Victrixa with her tall, strong build and dark hair. Her second form was a snake, just like her mother’s. And there was something in the way she carried herself.
Jaguar Moon (Jaguar Sun Series Book 2) Page 8
