Solemnly, Kivera nodded her consent. She released herself from his iron grip. Pride for her decision to sacrifice her life for mine swirled with remorse for everything she had already lost. “Release the child,” Kivera ordered, her voice firm and commanding. The guards jumped to obey her. In seconds I was free, as was my grandpa.
He ran to me. Scooping me into his arms, he hugged me with every ounce of strength he possessed. “It’s alright, honey. You’re safe now. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay now, Grandpa,” I said, trying to calm myself, worried about the blood matted in his hair.
“I wasn’t any help at all was I?” I said. “All I could do was scream at her and hate her for what she had done, but you felt sorry for her, didn’t you?”
My grandpa shook his head wearily. “I never thought I would pity either of them, but when I saw their faces, I felt nothing else.”
A slight sound drew our attention back to our former captors. Standing next to the altar, Kivera’s body was perfectly still. A genuine smile graced her lips. Slowly she lowered herself to the altars face. There were no cords this time. The guards stood aside, looking just as relieved that their endless task was nearing its end. A calmness settled over Kivera as she laid on the altar.
Knife in hand, Skaline slid into place at the head of the altar. His face was composed, but the horror of what he was about to do, kill his own wife for the sake of a young girl he did not know, was plainly visible. The question in his eyes was answered by a stiff nod from Kivera as she gazed at the knife in his hand. Even though she wasn’t technically alive, she would feel its bite. Whether she knew it was the right thing to do or not, she was terrified.
Tears flowed freely from both faces, but neither one would turn aside now, not with their only hope for peace being offered to them. The air wavered briefly. The centuries of pain and torture was lifted from their bodies. I gasped. The two stood transfixed, the exact images from my dream. Kivera’s timeless beauty was restored. Once again, Skaline was the strong young man he had been before trading his soul away.
“I love you,” Skaline whispered, before plunging his obsidian blade into her chest.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
A sweet smelling breeze lifted my hair. The strange stillness of the temple mesa was gone. Leaves rustled once more. Birds sang. The ice cream truck finally drove by.
The absolutely ordinary day surrounded me, and I reveled in it. The grass under my fingers was soft and itchy. I didn’t remember falling. Hands digging into the earth, my body heaved out gasping breaths. My head was swimming and I struggled to keep from tipping over. It was a wasted effort though because I found myself sprawled out on the grass a few seconds later with Tanner hovering over me.
“Arra, what happened?” he asked, panting with anxiety. “You went so still. You didn’t look like you were even breathing, and then you just collapsed. Are you okay? Are you hurt?” His hands roamed over my body checking for damaged and tickling me enough to make me laugh and squirm.
“Tanner. Tanner! I’m fine. It’s okay. We’re both fine, now,” I gasped.
Tanner just stared at me, completely perplexed. His eyes clouded angrily. “Why are you laughing? I was scared to death. I thought you were dead when you fell. What happened?”
“I’m sorry, Tanner.” I reached up and grabbed his face and pulled it down to mine. Seeing the fear in his eyes brought everything back. I never thought I would see him again and now that he was in my hands I didn’t want to let him go. Pulling him to me I locked him in a passionate kiss. His anger melted away the stiffness in his body and his hand came up to caress my face.
“I really didn’t think they knew each other that well,” Father Margulies said. Tanner and I darted apart at the chuckling voice, our faces deep shades of crimson.
“Are you okay?” my grandpa asked with a weary laugh. His voice was tight, his throat raw and nearly hoarse, but a relieved smile played on his face.
Looking over at him, I smiled. He looked worse than I felt. He pulled himself off the ground, using the bench arm rest for support, and slid onto the uncomfortable wooden slats. Reaching for me, his hand shook slightly. I stepped away from Tanner and went to him.
“I’m okay, Grandpa,” I said. “I’m better than I expected to be at this point.” Taking his hand, I slid onto the bench beside him. Tanner and Father Margulies both waited for us to gather our thoughts. I was sure they both wanted explanations, but they looked content to wait a little longer.
“How did you know it would work?” I asked. The relief and wonder I felt at how he had rescued me made him look down self-consciously. “I didn’t think anything would stop this from continuing.”
“When I saw his face, how different it was from the dream, I was shocked. I believed him when he said he wanted to stop it. I could almost pity him. Almost,” I said with a grimace, “but I still didn’t think he would stop from killing me.”
“When I looked at them,” my grandpa said, “I realized that they were the ones being punished. I mean, it doesn’t really make sense to kill so many just to teach two people a lesson, but I think that was what Tlaloc was doing. I had suspected it before today, but there was no way to know for sure. I wasn’t sure either of them would actually do what I suggested, but I hoped.”
“If you could have seen her in my dream, the joy on Kivera's face when she was offered a way to save herself, you never would have believed she would offer herself to save me. I wouldn’t have,” I said.
“When my great uncle described what had happed at the temple, the way the woman looked ready to crumble into dust, I knew she must be hungry for redemption, they both were. I wondered if she would take the chance to atone for her terrible choice, if only it was offered. I just wish I could have done something for the others,” my grandpa said, pain cracking his voice.
“When Kivera, mentioned the other girls,” I said, “asking if they could be saved too, my heart leapt. I prayed for that brief second, that Katie and Maera would come back. I know it was a foolish thing to hope for, but it was hard not to.”
He kissed the top of my head. “I was so afraid that I was going to be forced to watch you die.” He shook his head, as if shedding years of pain and grief in the slight motion. “I’m just so glad to have you here now. Let’s have no more talk of the past. It has haunted our family long enough.”
Both Tanner and Father Margulies still looked slightly unsure of what had actually happened, but neither of them said anything. I would explain to Tanner later, and I was sure Father Margulies would get the details from my grandpa sooner or later. But for now neither of us wanted to speak of it anymore.
“What time is it?” I asked. The time spent atop the temple mesa seemed to have lasted days, hours at least. With the exhaustion that had overwhelmed me, I would not have been surprised if it really had been several days since the Aztec guard had touched my hand. I shivered remembering that brief contact.
“It’s twelve oh five,” my grandpa answered. “I don’t think any time passed at all while we were there.” Rubbing his eyes, he sighed deeply, expelling emotions that seemed ready to overwhelm him. “I feel like I haven’t slept in days.”
“Me too.”
My grandpa ran his fingers through his hair and winced. His fingers came away bloody.
“That isn’t going to be easy to explain,” Father Margulies said.
“We’ll just tell your dad I tripped while we were hiking. Old fogies like me are always falling down,” he said, laughing for the first time in days.
“Then he’ll want you to go in for a cat scan,” I said.
“Why don’t you come inside and let me get you cleaned up,” Father Margulies said. “I’m sure Tanner can get Arra home okay.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The low crackling of the bonfire was hardly the only noise on the beach, but it was the one that I reveled in. Yesterday, I thought that the only fire I would ever see again was the one burning next to the Aztecan altar.
The sounds of laughing and the sound of the waves breaking in the moonlight went unheard by my ears as I moved closer to Tanner. He responded by wrapping me in his arms and pulling me into his lap.
Looking up at him, I watched the flames of the fire reflected in his eyes dance merrily. His lips turned up into a smile before leaning down and pressing against mine. Unlike the kiss we shared before I was pulled away to the temple, this one held no fear or desperation, only peace. Tanner pulled away sooner than I would have liked, but the adoring smile he gave me made up for that.
“Are you warm enough?” he asked.
After that kiss, I was plenty warm. “I’m fine.”
His smiled widened into a playful grin. “But you’re shaking.”
Color flooded my cheeks and I was glad for the darkness. “That has nothing to go with the temperature. Ever since yesterday that seems to happen to me every time I get near you.”
I expected more teasing, but Tanner’s face softened. “I’m glad you are near me,” he said. “I was scared yesterday. It only lasted a second for me, but I was terrified of what you were going through.”
I told him later that night the details of what happened on the temple mesa. Tanner stayed quiet the whole walk home from the church, which I appreciated. Dinner and a movie with my parents in honor of my birthday temporarily banished his questions and worry, but as soon as we were left alone in the living room he begged me to tell him everything.
Telling him was the last thing I wanted to do, but the guilt in his eyes that he had not been able to follow us convinced me in the end. He listened to every word, and even though he knew how it ended his hands were clenched in fear the entire time. In the end, we held each other until we were both convinced that it was really over. We were on the couch for a long time. Maybe not long enough given the look on Tanner’s face.
“It’s all over, Tanner. I promise,” I said. My fingers came up to his face and drifted back into his hair, curling the short strands around my fingertips in an attempt to soothe him.
“I know it’s over,” he said. “It’s just hard not to think about how close I came to losing you.”
An owl hooted in the distance as it searched the woodland floor for little mice. The owls had unnerved me the first few nights we were here, but now every sound of life I heard reminded me that I was still alive. So much had changed since moving to Grainer.
“Do you want to know what I dreamed about last night?” I asked him.
I can still see the fear in his eyes, but he attempts to hide it from me by pulling me against his chest. “What did you dream about last night?”
Pulling in even closer, I said, “You.”
“You dreamed about me?”
“Uh huh.”
“What happened?” Tanner asked, his body relaxing.
My grin is thankfully hidden by the darkness, and my giggle swallowed up by the sounds of the fire and ocean. Or at least I thought they were. Tanner’s warm breath rippled across my neck as he leaned closer to me.
“What happened in this dream?” he asked again.
“I’m not telling,” I said with another laugh.
“That is not fair.”
“Neither was showing up at my house with a bow as a birthday gift. My mom nearly had a heart attack when she saw it.”
Tanner scoffs and pulls back in mock hurt. “How was I supposed to know you shooting with me was a big secret. You could have told me,” he argued.
I kind of had a lot on my mind the last week. It’s a good argument, too, but I don’t use it. I’m done talking about what happened. Thankfully Tanner picks up the sudden slack in the conversation.
“But you have to admit I did a pretty good job of convincing her archery was perfectly safe. She let you keep the bow, at least.”
“No, you convinced my dad it was safe. My mom was still pretty upset about the whole thing. I think she might have tried to hide it last night if I hadn’t slept with it under my pillow last night,” I said.
Tanner’s deep laugh broke around me. “You slept with the bow under your pillow? Why?”
“Because I know my mom all too well, and…” I stopped myself, not meaning to add anything to that sentence. The and caught Tanner’s attention, though. His eyebrows rose expectantly and I knew there was no chance of him letting me squirm out of this one.
“Because I was a little scared of going to bed last night, and since I couldn’t have you with me again I had to settle for the bow.”
I couldn’t believe I just admitted that to him. My embarrassment had me looking down at my toes squiggling around in the sand. Tanner’s hands pulled me back up to meet his eyes. The soft, playful, sensuous glow in them froze my breath. Slowly his hands dropped from my face and pulled the sweatshirt he’d been wearing against the cool ocean breeze off of his body.
In one smooth motion he pulled it down over my shoulders. Autopilot alone made my arms work to push them through the sleeves. Tanner placed his hands back on my face, and said, “Since I’m guessing my chances of getting to sneak back into your room for the night are pretty slim…”
He paused and waited for my confirming, if not much too slow nod. My grandpa made it pretty clear to both of us he’d spill everything if he found out Tanner stayed over again. Whether my grandpa understood why I asked Tanner to stay or not, I was still his to protect.
“Well, now you have something else to keep you company if you need it,” Tanner said, rubbing his hands up and down my now covered arms slowly.
A sweatshirt wasn’t nearly as good as having Tanner, but it was a lot better than an uncomfortable bow. “Thanks, Tanner.”
Back in his arms again I closed my eyes with no fear for the first time and what seemed like years. I had planned very specifically to hate everything about Grainer. It really shouldn’t have taken a near death experience at the hands of ancient Aztec gods to realize how lucky I really was to be here. Somehow I had escaped my centuries old fate and landed the best boyfriend ever since moving here. Not bad for my first week as The New Doctor’s Kid. I just hoped the next two years aren’t nearly as exciting. Boring and small sounded pretty perfect right now.
###
Also by DelSheree Gladden
Twin Souls: Book One of the Twin Souls Saga
Shaxoa’s Gift: Book Two of the Twin Souls Saga
Qaletaqa: Book Three of the Twin Souls Saga
Inquest (Book One of the Destroyer Trilogy) Coming 2012
Check out this Sneak Peek of
Twin Souls
Book One of the Twin Souls Saga
Prologue
The back tire of the Harley tore at the earth, spraying gravel and dirt out behind me as I throttled the engine harder. I could not stop. Claire was waiting.
My vision blurred in and out as I tried to remain focused on the danger around me. The Matwau’s bulky grey form broke into view. No matter how hard I pushed the bike’s engine, the Matwau kept pace, its long wolf stride running parallel to the bike.
I could see the house where Claire waited, dying. I could just make out Quaile, now, standing outside the door, her face twisted with worry. Time was running out. The Matwau had almost reached me. Gripping the brakes, I pulled too hard, too fast, sending the bike over in a cloud of dust in my race to reach the house before the Matwau did. The bike slid across the hard earth, but whatever wounds the dirt and gravel inflicted, I could not feel them. Blood pounded in my head.
Free of the bike, I immediately jumped to me feet. I was sure that I was moving as fast as I could, but the world seemed to have lost its momentum. The trees slid past my view slowly and the breeze seemed frozen in place. Emerging from the dust cloud, the Matwau fixed me in its sights.
Fury at everyone and everything that had brought me to this point boiled under my skin. The creature was stronger, faster, more experienced than I. But I would not be stopped. I would reach Claire. If I was certain of anything, and there was precious little I was certain about at the moment, I was certain of
this. The Matwau would not stop me from reaching Claire’s side.
The Matwau had reached its tipping point.
With a cry of deep frustration, he turned and launched himself at me. Quaile screamed for me to attack and my body responded before I could even think to move. Power built in my muscles, strengthening them beyond what was humanly possible. Propelling myself right into the creature’s path, I locked my arms around it. Fire raced through my body from the contact as I flung it into the ground. The snapping of bones echoed in my ears but did not stop the Matwau’s attack.
Claws and teeth raked the air as he tried to tear my flesh. Pure reflex snapped my body back and forth to cut off his attacks. My thoughts focused completely on Claire, I pushed harder than ever. I was so close. I had gone clear across the desert to find Daniel and bring him back to save her life. I couldn’t stop now. Smashing my fist into the creature’s side, I saw its ribcage collapse. Fury screamed out of the Matwau’s shattered body, but it did not give up.
Broken bones meshed back together as he shivered in my grip. He was trying to change again. I refused to let him heal his wounds and prolong the fight. I had to get to Claire. Nothing was as important as saving her life. Heaving the beast into my arms I threw him as far away from me as I could. His body slammed into the ground, a blast of sand spraying into the air far enough away that it was barely noticeable by anyone but me.
Releasing an infuriated howl that said he knew he was outmatched, the Matwau pulled himself up and raced away from the ranch with ground eating strides. I didn’t even wait to see where he was going. Claire was dying.
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