by T. G. Ayer
She was shrugging on her jacket when Joss hissed, "Hurry up and get some clothes on. We have incoming."
Maya zipped her coat up. Hurrying to the door she hitched the rucksack high on her shoulder. As she thrust aside the fabric curtain Maya's heart jumped into her throat.
She was staring down the barrel of a very menacing looking gun.
She let out a shocked gasp, and the weapon drew closer, stopping an inch from her nose. The gunman studied her from over-the-top of the barrel. The expression in his eyes made her stomach go cold.
This was no village elder. There was a hard coldness in the man's expression. She and Joss were in deep trouble.
And it was too late to call Nik to their aid.
Damn it all to Patala and back.
Beside her, she felt Joss shift closer, curling her fingers through her elbow. Maya could feel the blood rushing through her friend’s veins as her heart sped up, just as fast as Maya's.
The man spoke, his voice guttural and threatening as he stared at Maya and Joss. "¿Quién eres tú? ¿Cuál es tu negocio aquí?”
But Maya didn't understand a word. And Joss, it appeared, choose to feign ignorance too. Instead she huddled close to translate in Maya’s ear.
Pedro called out from across a clearing, where a dozen armed men kept the villagers at bay.
“The thug’s name is Luis.”
Pedro glared at Luis. “¿Qué es lo que quieres con esas chicas?”
“Pedro is asking him what he wants with us.”
Luis turned on Pedro, his expression now suspicious. Maya wished the old man had not intervened.
Luis waved his weapon and one of his thugs stepped toward Pedro. The man was swarthy, with dark oily air and beady black eyes. He wore a sleeveless tank that revealed arms covered in tattoos that were hard to see from a distance.
The thug reached for the old man. “Cállate, viejo sucio,” he growled, ramming the barrel of his gun into the back of his head. Although Pedro crumpled to the ground, Maya was relieved. She'd rather him unconscious than dead.
Now she had the sole attention of Luis, she didn't have much choice. If he threatened her, she'd have to kill him, human or not. The fact that he was waving a gun in her face, who for all he knew was just an innocent girl, told her he wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger.
Maya cleared her throat. "Please . . . what do you want?"
Luis's face was hidden, the moonlight shining from behind him outlining his bare skull.
He took a step closer to Maya, and she made out the craggy lines of his face, the perfect white teeth, and the prettiest cornflower-blue eyes Maya had ever seen.
Talk about life not being fair.
"I think the correct question is 'what do you want' little girl?" he responded in perfect English.
Maya shook her head.
"We were just travelling through. Came to help with the fire," said Joss.
Maya's stomach tightened, wishing Joss hadn't brought attention to herself. With Maya's dark coloring she could possibly pass as Latina, but with Joss's pale blonde hair and equally pale skin, she stood out in this crowd.
And from Luis's expression as he sneered at Maya, they were in deeper trouble. He studied Joss from head to toe, spending considerable time at bust and crotch. The guy was an absolute creep, and Maya wanted to punch him in the face.
"I know something else you might want to help us with," he said, his eyes dark and malevolent.
Maya shook her head. "Our family will be looking. We'd better be going. If we don't get back soon they'll call the police."
A few of the men began to laugh, the sound resonating amongst the crowd.
She was about to speak when Luis pointed the gun at her face again, and played with the trigger. He held it in a nonchalant way, horizontal gangster style, which made Maya feel more threatened.
In a flash, Luis reached out and grabbed hold of Joss's throat, pressing a thumb against the front of her neck. Joss choked and sputtered, and grabbed his hand, trying to pull his fingers away from her neck.
Nothing worked, and Maya felt impotent.
She wasn't sure what to do. She had to entice Luis into the hut with her. That was the only way they'd be able to get away with a small chance of survival.
Maya laughed, trying to sound extremely bitchy. "Trust me, you don't want her." She injected enough derision into the word.
Joss glared at her, already onto what Maya was attempting.
Luis shifted his predatory gaze towards Maya. "What do you mean?"
"All I mean is, she's probably slept with every guy in the school. I know for a fact that she is HIV positive. You definitely don't want to risk sleeping with her." Maya swallowed the bile rising in her throat, accompanying words she'd never say about her friend.
She reminded herself this was an act. She was playing a part.
Luis looked at her. "What you trying to say? You just spoiling my fun with this one, so what do I get in place of her?"
Maya lifted her chin, staring at him. "How about me?"
Luis raised an eyebrow. "What's so special about you?" He stared suspiciously, his gaze raking her head to toe, in much the same way as h’d scanned Joss only moments ago.
"I haven't been with anybody. Ever."
The grin spreading across his face made Maya want to shiver. She'd hit the jackpot in terms of offers. He let go of Joss, and Maya squeezed her friend's hand, pulling her close.
"Maya what the hell are you doing?" Joss hissed. Maya just waved her into silence.
"I very much like that offer, little girl," said Luis as he stepped closer to Maya. She took three steps back, further into the hut, which made the thug grin wider. He assumed he was the one pushing her into the room so he could have his fun.
He was wrong.
When the doorway filled with curious faces, Maya turned her attention back to him. "Do you mind if we don't have an audience?" she asked softly, giving the door a glance.
Luis sneered, and appeared to be considering her request. He glanced at the door and the lascivious expressions of his men. Then he swore at them and waved them away. When they didn't move he took two threatening steps towards them and yelled louder. He achieved more success with threatened violence than the simple request.
The men faded into the darkness outside.
Luis turned his full attention on Maya, completely ignoring that she'd taken a few more steps back. She now had the smoldering corpse of the poor dancer in her sight, the smell enough to make anyone want to throw up.
But, given the situation she was in right now, any girl would want to vomit. Despite her show of courage to Joss, Maya was terrified.
She’d done this once before. Which was probably why Joss had given her such a horrified look. The last time she was also alone with a guy. The only difference was then she'd accidentally burned him to smithereens and he turned out to be a demon. Now, she faced a man, a flesh-and-blood human, who had the very same intention.
And Maya was going to have to take drastic measures to save herself and her friend.
Luis took one step towards her, and sniffed. His attention was drawn away by the heated embers at the middle of the hut.
"Did you put out the fire?" he asked, curious as his gaze returned to Maya's face. It didn't stay there long, drifting lower immediately to scan her body. She could almost hear the thoughts in his head.
He seemed so comfortable with attacking young girls. He must do this often. And had little opposition too.
Just that knowledge made Maya want to dig his eyes out. Only God knew how many women he'd attacked in his lifetime. How many women had suffered at his hands.
Maya nodded, even though he wasn't looking at her. "Yes."
He looked at her suspicious now. "How did you put it out?"
Maya shrugged. "Water," she said. "How else?"
He took a step towards her. "I don't see any water bottles. Where did you get the water from? Not from this village. Because we, I, control the wa
ter here."
He poked a slender finger at his chest, harder than was necessary. Maya supposed the force with which he stabbed himself was meant to convince her of his power.
It did convince her. And it certainly didn't impress her.
Maya's back was almost to the wall when he took another step. She had nowhere to go now. He reached out and placed a hand around her neck. "Something tells me you are lying."
Maya shook her head, although the movement was difficult, what with his fingers wrapped around her neck.
"I'm not lying. The truth. We had water bottles in our pack."
"Then where are they now," he asked, pushing his face close to hers, his breath wafting over her face.
Maya hesitated then looked back at the smoldering pallet. "I think we threw the bottles into the fire." It was the first thing that came to mind. Although it made absolutely no sense. "I wasn't thinking."
She injected fear into her voice, and began to shiver, hoping to convince him she was merely a weak female.
Maya was ready.
More than ready.
His hand drifted down to her chest, grabbed her breast and squeezed hard. Her anger was so volatile it took little effort for Maya to grab hold of her fire from and bring it to the surface.
Heat simmered in her body, and she smelled burning flesh. Luis hissed and grabbed his hand back, blowing hard on his burned palm.
"What the-"
He stared at his hand and then looked back up at Maya.
"What the hell was that?" Luis asked.
Chapter 27
LUIS SWORE, spit flying from his mouth.
Now his shock had worn off, the nerves would be screaming out in pain. It would get worse as the pain of the burn took hold.
He didn't turn and run as Maya had hoped. Instead, his anger spurred him towards her and he reached for her throat again. Despite the heat she was generating he still squeezed hard enough for Maya to fear passing out.
She lifted her knee, slamming it hard between his legs but he merely grunted and squeezed harder. A fist to his midsection did nothing either. What type of man was this? She couldn't fight him off with only her hands and legs.
She had no choice now but to use her fire, though she still hesitated.
He would kill Maya if she didn't do anything.
With a surge of energy, Maya pushed a fresh burst of fire to the palms of her hands. She shoved Luis hard against his chest, her fear and frustration giving the push a burst of power she hadn’t intended. She didn’t have time to appreciate it though, as she felt the skin at her neck break as his nails gouged into her throat.
But she didn't care about pain.
Luis groaned and fell to the ground, the ball of fire flying past him. He rolled over and sprang back up to his feet. A lithe, smooth move.
Was Luis more than human?
No. That wasn’t possible. Her senses hadn't pegged him as anything more. He was just one hardened mother.
Maya wanted to laugh.
Joss would be proud of her thoughts.
He got to his feet, screaming with pain. Maya glanced at the door, terrified his men would come running in to check on him. When nothing happened, her fear ratcheted up another notch. If his men hadn't come running on hearing Luis's screams, they must know he was capable of extraordinary violence.
Maya put all her power behind the next surge of fire that flew from the tips of her fingers. She flinched as her fire hit him straight in the face. For the first time in all the months of fighting, of using her fire in battles just like this, Maya was unable to watch as the man was engulfed by the flames.
He screamed louder, frantically hitting the flames that burned along his chest and neck. His bloodcurdling screams brought the sound of running feet.
Guess his men knew the nuances of his screams to know Luis was not simply enjoying himself now.
Maya looked at Joss, giving her a short nod.
“Nik.”
Joss scrambled for her phone sending the text at high speed but seconds went by and Nik hadn’t arrived.
They watched as Luis burned, as his men crashed into the room and stared in horror as their boss went up in flames. There was nothing in the room, no blankets, no water to help them put the fire out. A few fled, probably in search of some, while a handful remained, as if keeping watch.
From some of their expressions, the death of their boss didn't seem to be too upsetting. In fact, two of the thugs were smiling, their expressions assessing and opportunistic.
Where one head dies, two more will grow.
Maya had never understood the full meaning of that phrase until today.
People sucked.
It was too late for Luis.
The fire raged, eating at his body, melting all the flesh from his bones. And by the time his men returned with blankets and water, all that remained was a husk of blackened skin.
As the fire sputtered out, the men looked around the hut, curious. They'd seen Luis enter with two girls. And now, he was burnt to a crisp.
For Maya and Joss, the trouble had only just begun.
The men spotted the girls huddled in the corner and ran for them. Maya threw fireballs at them and while they shouted and dusted flames off their clothes she spun around and aimed her fire at the back wall.
Maya had no idea how heat reacted with mud but she sure as hell hoped it meant they’d be able to kick it down and escape.
“Maya!” Joss’s urgent yell sent Maya running instinctively at the wall, pulling Joss with her. They slammed hard into the wall and Maya sighed with relief, ignoring the pain of the impact as the wall crumbled.
The girls didn’t bother to look back. They just ran for their lives.
Screams and shouts echoed across the village as Luis's men searched for the girls, turning the village upside down. Right now, there was nothing they could do but wait it out.
"We have to get out of here," Maya rasped in Joss's ear as they ran to the trees. The night was lit up by a quarter moon, and Maya was both grateful and annoyed. It lit their way of escape, but would show their pursuers exactly where the girls were.
"We can make it to the road. Head to the nearest village."
Maya nodded gasping for air. "That should give Nik enough time to find us. Let's go."
She held onto Joss's arm as they crashed into the brush. Denser trees bordered the land, providing much needed cover for the two escaping girls.
But, it was hard to remain silent as they moved through the brush. The overhanging branches of palms and other wide-leaved trees crashed around them, the sound deafening to Maya's ears.
As they ran through the trees, Maya and Joss shared a terrified glance as shouts rose from the village. Glancing back at the valley, they made out a trail of bobbing torches.
They'd been seen.
The two girls ran faster, too late to care if their movements made a noise. The howls of dogs barking in the distance filled Maya with fear.
"Dogs?" squeaked Joss as they ran.
“Crap. I don’t want to fry any dogs to save our lives.”
She’d already killed a man.
”Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Joss managed to say as they raced out of the trees and came to a barreling stop in front of a narrow dirt road.
As she ran, Maya couldn’t get the image of Claudia out of her mind. Was she so upset she’d conjured up her aunt’s face inside of Rosa’s memory? Maya shoved the thoughts from her mind and cursed Nik for not coming to their aid. Sure they’d escaped and could probably get to safety but the big question was where the hell was Nik and what was keeping him.
And, when would he come to get them out of here?
"Which way?" asked Joss, staring up and down the dark road. Maya stiffened. What a mess they were in. Joss’s life was in danger now thanks to Maya. What if something happened to Joss?
But now was not the time to be faltering, allowing a head filled with negative thoughts to distract her. She could do that well enoug
h after they were safely home.
"Check your GPS," Maya urged as she studied the trees behind them, keeping an eye out.
Seconds later Joss whooped softly. “That village Pedro spoke of is nearby. Merida."
"Let's move." Maya grabbed Joss's hand and they ran. They had to hoof it, and still keep an ear out for the gang. "Shit. I think following the road will be dangerous."
"No choice. Just run faster."
Maya snorted, but ran faster.
Chapter 28
THANKFULLY THE ROAD didn't run in a straight line. Instead, it curved back and forth, snaking just enough to keep the girls out of sight of the men in pursuit. Ten minutes later they reached the outskirts of a moderately-sized town and Maya could hear music.
"What's going on?" she mumbled to herself as they hunkered down behind a broken mud brick wall.
“Looks like Dia de los Muertos.” Joss rasped. “That’s Day of the Dead-”
“I know what that means,” snapped Maya. “It’s the perfect cover.”
Joss nodded, not bothered with Maya’s tone. "For you, maybe. Any gringa in this town is now at risk because of me."
"Well, you don't have to be gringa, do you?" Maya rummaged inside her backpack and handed Joss her compact. As they made a mad dash for the nearest narrow street. "That's a good deal darker than your skin tone. Cover your face, neck and hands with that. As soon as we get into the village, we can find another disguise."
Joss nodded, and dabbed as she ran. Maya marveled at her skill. Minutes later she was all done. "Give me one of those tees you brought," Joss said.
They skidded to a stop at the border of the town and Maya gave Joss a blood-red tee, chosen because blood-stains tended to be less visible on red. Joss promptly fashioned a headscarf out of it, tucking the sleeves neatly into the back.
She managed to pass for not-so-white.
"You need darker eyes."
"No time," Joss whispered pulling Maya behind the house. She pointed behind them as two men cleared the road and began to hurry toward the village.
Without a word, Maya turned and ran deeper into the city. The girls didn't stop until they hit the main street and had to skid to a halt in order to avoid barreling straight into a float carrying a mariachi band and two dancing senoritas.
