But so much still didn’t make sense. I knew more now, definitely, but why would he want my mother dead? Why would he impregnate her in the first place, if he was going to try and kill her?
“What now?” I whispered.
“First, you’re going to give this potion to Felipa to fix the black rot on her roses,” Grandmama said tartly as she pushed the jar into my hand. “Then, you’re going to call more Blood.”
I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Yes. I had the capacity to call more Blood to me. Eztli had been with me the longest, and I’d called Maxtla and Luis later as I continued to gain in power. Each of them fed me regularly and deeply, increasing my power.
The more power I had, the more Blood I could call. It was an important cycle for the ruling queen of the nest. Especially if I wanted to breed the next Zaniyah heir. “And then I need a god.”
Grandmama snorted. “Not just any god will do for you, child.”
A slow smile spread on my face, and I laughed softly. “You’re right. I need a jaguar god, don’t I? So how does one go about finding a long-dead jaguar god that no one even remembers anymore, let alone believes in?”
Grandmama patted my cheek. “You call him, of course. And then you take him.”
3
Mayte
Night enfolded me as I walked the Zaniyah lands beyond the nest’s blood circle.
Trees grew thicker and taller, so old and majestic they might have sprouted before Grandmama was even born. The moon was just a silver slip in the sky, but millions of stars twinkled and blinked, a secret language that I couldn’t quite understand. Staring up at the midnight sky, I felt the answer inside me, even though I didn’t quite understand in words what the universe, or the goddesses, were trying to tell me. I felt it in my bones and in the pulse of magic in my blood.
Now.
It’s time.
Three jaguars prowled through the underbrush, though the biggest stayed close enough to me that his tail touched my thighs. Eztli always remained close, even as his jaguar. My fangs descended, and he made a low, coughing grunt of hunger. I held my wrist out to him and let him tear open my skin.
Power rumbled to life inside me. I didn’t shift to his form—I couldn’t. Shifting into a jaguar had never been my gift, only the ability to call them to my side. However, I did gain his enhanced senses. I could suddenly see perfectly in the dark shadows beneath the trees. I could tell the difference between the squeaks of bats feeding on the ripe fruit overhead and the tiny mice shuffling through the leaves on the ground. The slight rasp of a snake’s coils as it hunted its prey rang in my head as clearly as a bell. Thousands of scents flooded me, carrying all the messages of the land and its inhabitants. The jungle filled me, each life a blip on an internal radar that spun out into the night.
Eztli cradled my wrist in his formidable jaws, letting my blood run down his throat. His tongue was like sandpaper, but it was a rasp that I enjoyed. The rough stroke of his tongue told my body he was feeding, and soon, he’d be feeding me.
:Enough,: I told him in our bond, and he immediately released me. I needed blood for the call, and I didn’t want to bleed so much that he had to carry me home.
I held my wrist out so that my blood dripped onto a stele of crumbling stone that was almost hidden by thick ferns. So many lost cities lay buried in these jungles. Pyramids, temples, and ball courts from generations so long ago that even Grandmama didn’t know the cities. I wasn’t sure which goddess’s image was carved into the worn rock, but it didn’t matter. In my mind, it was Coatlicue, the Mother of the Gods, our Zaniyah patron.
She stirred in my mind. Approval flowed through me like a touch of coolness in an otherwise warm pool of water. I had never seen Her directly, though I felt Her touch and influence in my life often. Grandmama said I didn’t want to meet Her, because She only called us to Her pyramid home, Coatepec or “Snake Mountain”, when She had a dire purpose.
When someone needed to die.
I didn’t have death on my mind tonight. Only life and power. Blood and sex.
My usual thoughts, to be honest. The stronger I was, the better protected House Zaniyah would be, and blood was the path to greater strength. Inevitably, sharing blood led to sharing bodies too, and the more I shared with my Blood, the deeper and richer our bonds became.
My sacrifice sent a ripple of power through the old ruin. Letting my blood fall as it may, I walked up a fern covered hill, that was actually a small, overgrown temple. The jungle had swallowed it up, but the stones were still there, as well as the ancient power.
Sacrifice had been offered here many times before. Whether or not humans had lost their lives, priests always sacrificed their blood to the gods. Blood opened the portal to the otherworld. Absently, I wondered if Mama had known she needed to bleed in order to try and open the cenote portal, or if she’d just jumped in. I’d have to ask Grandmama if she knew.
On the flattened peak of the pyramid, I spread my arms, tipped my head back, and just breathed. I soaked in the jungle and let my mind roam the night. I touched each of my jaguar Blood briefly, their purrs and low roars familiar and dear to me. Not even thirty paces away, I felt a wild jaguar, wholly animal with no Aima blood. She crouched high above a game trail on a heavy limb, the glow of her eyes the only hint of her presence. Her coat blended in perfectly with the dark shadows and moonlight dappling through the canopy.
She inclined her head to me, and I knew she would do my bidding if I asked. But she was not Blood to be called.
I let my awareness spread further, lightly touching the other nocturnal beasts in the trees. Focusing on my need, I whispered aloud, “Come to me, my jaguar Blood, wherever you may be. Your queen has need of you.”
The night breeze carried my intent out into the world like a tumbling leaf. Powered by my blood, my call rose in strength. With my three jaguars pressing against me, I drew on their strength as well. Eztli’s unswerving loyalty. Maxtla’s fatalistic warrior attitude. He’d fought the tide of Spaniards and lost our greatest city, yet he lived to fight another day. Luis burned with the need for retribution. His brother had died decades ago, before he’d come to me, but Luis still hunted the beast who’d managed to kill a young but powerful jaguar shifter.
If we were going to leave the nest in search of my jaguar god, I needed as many Blood as possible. The god I sought was Tezcatlipoca, or Smoking Mirror. The god of darkness, divination, and earthquakes. But I had chosen him because of the other form he took in our religion, his jaguar aspect, Tepeyollotl, or Mountain Heart. Even his name sent a thrill through my power, a zing of confirmation that yes, he was the one.
He was the god for me.
Far to the south, I felt a slight tug, as if a fly had brushed the furthest edge of a massive web. My heart leaped with excitement. Could a long-lost god truly be found so easily?
I reached toward that distant sense of something… important. He was miles and miles away. Not the god, sadly, but a jaguar Blood. I felt him running through the dense jungle, his sleek body stretched out in flying leaps to reach me as soon as possible.
Good. Hopefully four Blood would be enough protection to risk leaving the nest in search of Tepeyollotl.
I turned in a slow circle, fingers spread wide to pick up the slightest sense of anything else responding to my call. Blood trickled down to my elbow, but I sensed nothing else. Not even a glimmer of Tepeyollotl, though I wasn’t sure what a jaguar god would even feel like. Pausing, I offered my other wrist to Maxtla and allowed him to feed for a few moments before allowing my blood to drip onto the ancient stone.
“Coatlicue, Great Mother, Skirt of Snakes, please hear Your child’s plea. Show me where Tepeyollotl rests. Help me find my future daughter’s father. Help us continue Your line in House Zaniyah.”
My instincts were to strain and push for any clue, but generally, that wasn’t the way my goddess worked. She much preferred a quiet, peaceful submission to Her will. I needed to surrender, so She could work through
me, not for me.
It wasn’t in my nature to wait quietly. I wanted to be busy. I wanted to make lists and plot maps and call every Aztec and Mayan expert to ask them where they thought a long-lost god’s final resting place might be. I was a doer. A fixer. A planner.
But none of those things would help me find Tepeyollotl.
I bled until my knees trembled and my head buzzed, but I felt nothing other than the new Blood far to the south.
Sighing, I drooped against Eztli’s side, and he bumped his giant head against my stomach. :You must have patience, my queen. Tenochtitlan wasn’t built in a single day.:
I wrapped my arm over his shoulder to steady myself as I carefully climbed down from the pyramid. Offering blood had never failed me before. I wasn’t sure what else to try. Maybe one of Grandmama’s potions?
Luis bounded ahead of us, scouting the path for anything or anyone who might threaten me. :The god you seek is called Smoking Mirror for a reason.:
“I know,” I replied slowly. “What does that mean?”
:You’re too young to remember the old ways,: Maxtla replied. :In Tenochtitlan, his priests used polished obsidian mirrors to speak to him.:
Hope quickened my pace back to the nest. “I’ll see if Grandmama has one. She has everything else hoarded away somewhere.”
:Tomorrow,: Eztli growled, his bond firming in my mind.
I knew he was only trying to take care of me, but I didn’t want to seem weak. A queen should probably toss her head with a haughty laugh and make a defiant statement, but he was right. I was exhausted, and I had to be smart and stay within my limits.
I needed to feed. I needed to rest.
And then I would search the nest top to bottom for an obsidian mirror.
Whatever that was.
Eztli
I held my queen as she slept, fighting to loosen my grip on her so she could gain the rest she needed.
My jaguar paced back and forth inside me, snarling and lashing his tail. She’s my queen. I will fight for her. I will die for her.
Closing my eyes, I pressed my face into the curve of her neck so I could breathe her scent of dragon fruit and honeysuckle. Her sweet, flowery scent usually calmed me, but tonight, it threatened to push me over the edge.
Alphas were always in control, not just of the other Blood, but of ourselves. I’d never had difficulty reining in my predatory instincts before, but tonight, all I wanted to do was tear my competition apart.
Even Maxtla’s soft panting was like an annoying pest buzzing in my ears. He’d stretched out on the balcony railing, surveying our queen’s territory and ready to pounce at the first sign of trouble. I still remembered the day he’d answered her call. He’d sat outside the blood circle, waiting for an invitation to approach. There hadn’t been a moment’s doubt in me as I stared back at him. I didn’t shift to my jaguar to challenge him.
I knew. He knew.
I was Mayte Zaniyah’s alpha. Without question.
Now a single question plagued me, driving me towards insanity.
Would I still be alpha if she claimed a god so she could sire her heir?
A fucking god.
How was an alpha Blood supposed to deal with not only another man in his queen’s bed, but a supremely powerful immortal being as old as time itself?
I’d never felt a moment’s jealousy when she asked other Blood to her bed. She allowed me to remain near in case she needed me, but she generally preferred to take us one at a time. I didn’t mind. I was alpha. I knew I could send any of the others away with a push of my beast’s formidable will.
I could not send a god away from her. Even as queen, she might not have the power to do so. I loved her dearly, and I would die before I allowed anyone to harm one hair on her head, but she wasn’t a kick-ass fighter. She didn’t care to play politics or seek more power for her court. All she wanted was for her nest to be safe and for her people to live happily, as we had been for centuries.
And a daughter. Her greatest and most desperate want. The only thing I could not provide to her.
If a blight attacked the crops or illness struck your family, she was the queen to call. She could heal almost anything. But I had no idea how she’d be able to bend a god to her will. She simply wasn’t powerful enough.
If he hurt her…
What could I do, but sacrifice myself trying to protect her? What could any of us do?
Luis touched my mind. :The new Blood has arrived.:
:Bring him through the circle and let him come to her.:
I carefully began untangling myself from her limbs. As I slid to the edge of her bed, she sleepily raised her head.
“Eztli?”
“Your newest Blood is here, my queen.”
Her eyes widened, and she sat up. “So quickly? I swear he felt like he was in Guatemala, or perhaps even further south.”
The new man paused in the doorway, waiting to be acknowledged. At least he seemed to have manners and sense, though his chest heaved with exertion. He smelled like a rank male in rut, and a raw, desperate light burned in his gaze, though he didn’t challenge me. He was quick to salute with a fist to his heart and even inclined his head. “Alpha.”
“Welcome to House Zaniyah.” My voice was rougher than I intended. I couldn’t seem to get my jaguar fully under control. “What’s your name?”
“Diego Chak.”
I gestured toward Mayte’s bed, but I didn’t look at her. I didn’t want her to see that same rawness reflected in my own eyes, though it was for an entirely different reason. “Our queen, Mayte Zaniyah, daughter of Coatlicue.”
Diego moved closer to her bed. “My queen. I’m yours. Use me as you see fit.”
Her hunger tugged on me like an incessant tide. I waited at the door, hoping she might call me back to bed. She did sometimes, though she usually preferred to have only one man’s full attention. I hated this desperation and helpless rage. It wasn’t her fault. She must have an heir. I understood her desire to have a daughter, and supported her wish with all of my heart and soul.
But why couldn’t I be the one to fulfill her heart’s desire?
The new man let out a rumbling roar, and I knew she’d sank fangs into him. Without calling me back to her side.
Quietly, I stepped outside and shut the door behind me. My jaguar roared and thrashed inside me with the force of his fury. He wanted to race like a killing wind through the night and release this anger on any hapless thrall or demon that might have stumbled near Zaniyah lands.
But with a queen so tightly bound to her land, few monsters dared come too close. It was impossible to hide from her, and so it was impossible to hide from me. If I hunted with this anger burning in me, I’d kill an innocent creature out roaming the night, and it would be a waste. I didn’t need meat.
I needed my queen.
A soft groan escaped me, and I tipped my head back against the door. Maybe the jaguar god would kill me. Then I wouldn’t have to live without ever touching my beloved queen again.
4
Mayte
Since my alpha had come to me, I could count on one hand the number of mornings I woke without Eztli beside me. Today was one of them. I touched his bond and felt him in the hallway, dressed and ready for my call.
But he didn’t feel… right. Only a few feet paces separated us physically, but his bond felt as distant as the stars.
I didn’t prod and invade his privacy. That wasn’t my way, though I certainly could have cracked his stoic silence open like a walnut. I was his queen, the air he breathed and the source of his power. If I gave him an order, he’d do it, compelled by my blood and magic flowing through his veins.
As a young woman, I’d never realized that becoming the Zaniyah queen would carry so many heavy responsibilities. I’d expected to take care of our family, but I had no idea that I would have such impressive and powerful men at my beck and call—men whom I could crush with an impetuous thought. I knew that it would wound his pride and destroy
our relationship if I forced the issue. He had to come to me willingly.
When he wanted to discuss this problem with me, he would. Besides, it was easy enough to guess what was bothering him so much that he’d walled himself off from me.
One new Blood had already arrived, and the jaguar god I needed to find loomed on the horizon like a dark, unknown storm that could devastate everything we’d built together. I didn’t know what would happen when I found Tepeyollotl. I simply had no idea. Would he be glad to be discovered? Or furious? Would he sire my daughter and then be done with me? Would he try to kill my Blood?
I closed my eyes for a moment, inwardly shuddering with horror. It could happen. I had to acknowledge and face that fear. It would devastate me if anything happened to my Blood because of the steps I took to have the child I so desperately wanted.
Yet what choice did I have?
I turned and looked at the man I’d taken last night. His hunger had been great, in more ways than one. I’d loved his wildness, his desire raging out of control toward violence. There wasn’t anything quite as exciting as taking a new Blood that very first time after he’d wandered aimlessly for so long in search of a queen. It was the only time any of my Blood had ever even come close to hurting me.
His eyes still burned with need, as if he wanted nothing more than to fuck me again. His hair was as rumpled as my bed and sexy as hell. I wanted to comb my fingers through the long strands that hung down into his eyes. Maybe to tidy him up, or better yet, to muss him up even more.
But I had too much to do to lie in bed making love all day. It definitely wouldn’t feel right to make Eztli wait outside and listen, either. Especially not with this tension shimmering between us.
I did lean down and brush a kiss against my new Blood’s lips, but I kept it light and withdrew before he could wrap his arms around me. “Thank you for coming to my call. What’s your name?”
Realms and Rebels: A Paranormal and Fantasy Reverse Harem Collection Page 117
