“You guys, we have to hurry.” Then I panicked. “Wait—where’re the twins?”
“They’re fine,” Matt said. “They’re with Richard and Adriana over there. They weren’t as close to the split as we were. My, I’m so sorry. You just slipped out of my hand.”
“It’s okay, I’m fine.”
As we started to walk toward the twins, I spotted Avery Wells in the crowd.
“Come on,” I said, picking up the pace. “Did you guys just see him?”
“See who?” Richard asked.
“Avery Wells,” I said. “He’s right over…where’d he go?”
“I’m sure you saw him,” Adriana answered, looking around at the thinning sea of tourists. “We’ve spotted some of Toltec’s shifters and Lucas Moss since the museum started to clear out some. They lost a few shifters. That could work to our advantage.”
“Our biggest worry right now is getting you around this chasm and up to El Castillo,” Richard said.
And as I turned around to get a better look at the situation, I could easily see what Richard meant. The split had sliced the park right down the middle. The Temple of the Jaguars was completely gone, as was half of the Venus Platform that had been diagonal to it.
“We’ll have to take her back down the other side by the rift’s tail end,” Richard said after a minute.
The ground started to shake once more, but this time there didn’t seem to be any new rifts opening up. Though people began to scream again, the noise soon died down when the tourists began to see that they were safe. Then we heard it. It sounded like high-pitched eek eek sounds coming from deep within the pit. All eyes were fixed on the pit as a black, winged creature soared up. Its face and body were like a bat’s and it had a long skinny tail. And it was huge. I felt every cell of my being shrinking in revulsion as I watched it fly higher, making that terrible screeching sound. Everyone seemed frozen in fear and disbelief.
“Demon!” Richard yelled. “We’ve got to go now. But slowly. We don’t want to attract its attention with too much movement.”
No sooner had Richard spoken than the bat thing honed in on a woman trying to run for safety. It swooped down, picked her up in its talons, and dropped her into the pit. I turned away. As we all slowly made our way to the right, the crush of the crowd became too much. People were shouting out names, looking for their friends and loved ones. I could see that the throng was headed toward the exit gate and was pushing way too hard. More people had fallen and were now being walked on. When a young woman fell right in front of us, Matt grabbed her under the arms and quickly set her on her feet again. All of a sudden, I noticed that the twins weren’t following us. I stopped dead.
“What are you guys doing?” I yelled. “Come on!”
Damian slowed down and looked back at me. “It’s okay! I’ve got a feeling this is where we come in,” he called.
I looked from him to Lyssa, who was nodding her head.
“Wait, no!” I hollered. “We can’t just leave them here!”
Richard laid one hand on my shoulder. “Maya, the demon is from Xibalba. We’ve been given our job to do and they’ve been given theirs. Let’s go!”
We sped back toward the front gates, then took a sudden left turn. As we ran, I kept an eye on the twins until El Castillo blocked them from my sight. Would we ever see one another again? Up until today, we hadn’t even known what part they would play in all of this, and now it wasn’t just Matt anymore. There was a chance that I could lose my best friends. Still running, I wiped away my tears.
The weirdness of the earthquake and flying demon had both helped us and hurt us. As the museum emptied out, we could fight as shifters without worrying about being seen by too many tourists. On the other hand, we ourselves were now out in plain sight. There were no more crowds to hide in. As we got closer to the pyramid, it became obvious that Toltec had no intention of letting me near it.
I stopped running and looked up. “Richard,” I said, “I could open a portal to the top.”
“No, it’s just too dangerous. If you were off by even a fraction we could lose you,” Adriana said.
“She’s right,” Richard said. “It’s too risky
Before I knew what was happening, shifters were phasing all over the place. Matt and Cesar remained at my sides, looking for an opening. But not all of Toltec’s shifters had phased. I could see several of them standing at the foot of the monument to make sure we couldn’t get close.
“My, quick! Come back here,” Matt said.
I followed him around the northern side of the pyramid, where he took my arm, pointing to a small doorway under the staircase.
“Stay here until we can deal with the shifters,” he said. “Don’t come out unless Cesar or I come for you.”
I looked at the opening. It was pretty small. “Okay,” I said.
He helped me over the rope that kept tourists from entering, then I walked inside and followed a short tunnel. Before long, I came to a steep, narrow staircase. It led to several tight passageways and small chambers. I kept going. Then I spotted a red, jade-studded jaguar throne. I ran my hand over it. There was Balam, so ancient and yet so much a part of me. Just seeing the throne made me feel more at ease. That is, until I heard footsteps coming into the chamber.
“Matt?” I whispered.
“I’m afraid not.” Victrixa. “You know what they say about payback?” she asked in an acid tone.
“And let me guess. You’re the bitch.”
She smiled. “We gave you your shot, but you turned it down. Now it’s over.”
She phased into Kan and I could feel a cold chill run down my spine as I once again looked into her menacing, reptilian face. Then she began to slide toward me. I looked around. There wasn’t anything here to fight her with. People weren’t even supposed to be here. Would it be easier to fight her if I phased? No. There just wasn’t enough room. She was closing in fast. This was worse than when I’d first met her in the bathroom. Now I had only one choice. I closed my eyes and centered myself as fast as I could. My powers were definitely expanded here. I could feel it right away. No sooner had I visualized the little doorway of the temple than I was there. Blinded by the sunlight, I just stood there until I heard Cesar’s voice.
“Maya, come quickly!”
He steadied me with one hand and we ran around the other side of the pyramid. Two of Toltec’s shifters suddenly appeared and came barreling after us. Matt was already around the corner, fighting a Toltec shifter that was twice his size. Cesar punched the guy’s face so hard there was a sickening crack when he made contact.
“Thanks,” Matt said.
Cesar gave a quick smile. “Okay, when we find an opening, we go all three of us. Like your American football.”
A wily smile crossed Matt’s face. Cesar was learning to speak his language, that’s for sure. As soon as they saw a break in the lower perimeter of the pyramid, they charged forward, carrying me between them. With their outside arms and shoulders leading, they were ready to pummel anyone that got in our way. We tore forward, and they thrust me partway up the stairs. For a moment, I was actually airborne. I hit the stone hard, which tore a hole my jeans and gouged my knee. When I looked back, they were in the middle of a fist fight with two Toltec shifters.
“My! Go!” Matt yelled.
Jolted out of my stupor, I turned and pushed off against the steps. I threw everything I had into propelling myself upward. My legs burned. I could feel the shin splints coming before I even hit the halfway mark, but I let the adrenaline carry me. My lungs complained with each breath I took. I refused to take my eyes off the top. I pushed the pain to the back of my mind and kept climbing. I lost my footing and slipped several times, but each time I pushed myself up and kept going. At some point, I noticed that I was leaving bloodstains on the stones. I knew it would only be a matter of time before Toltec sent someone after me.
I reached the top! I collapsed against the wall of the Temple, trying to catch my breath.
And that’s when I felt it. Adriana had been right. I could feel the power that the pyramid was amplifying. I looked down at the fighting, so far below me. It looked totally surreal. Still staggering, I walked around the corner, following the edge of the Temple. There was the bat demon, still flying above the museum. But something was wrong with it. It kept shaking its head, like it was trying to fly straight but couldn’t. Then I spotted Damian and Lyssa far below. They looked so tiny. They were facing each other and holding hands, and somehow they were pushing thoughts into the bat demon’s mind.
The twins were kicking some serious butt. Now it was my turn. I ran back around the corner and entered the temple. It was time to tap into the energy of that baby and see what it could do. I closed my eyes, focused, and where it would normally take me minutes to tap into the earth’s energy, up here, it was only seconds. I let go and found myself standing on the windy platform on the very top of El Castillo.
I could feel the power from the earth beginning to enter my body before I even called for it. I moved my legs apart for a firmer stance, took another deep breath, and opened myself up to it. Give me strength, Balam, I called. Give me strength. I don’t know how long I stood there, trying to let in as much k’ul as I possibly could. I looked down at myself. I was blazing with bright light. I was my own sun! And then, suddenly, it felt like something was going horribly wrong. My insides felt as though they were burning, like someone had sent acid through my bloodstream. Still I allowed it in until I couldn’t take it anymore. I let out a piercing scream and raised my arms up above my head in a V. I let go. Power streamed out from my hands, like a giant flame thrower, lighting up the sky. As the k’ul poured out of my body, the pain gradually subsided.
From my perch, I could still see the twins standing close to the abyss. They were struggling against five demons now, trying to focus their telepathy on a couple at a time. After a minute, one of the demons looked up and turned its attention to me. I had an idea. It took almost every ounce of strength I had to work against the k’ul exploding out of my body, but I was able to get my arm down enough to aim the energy at the demon. It instantly burst into flames and fell like a comet back into the pit.
I took out two more the same way, then I looked around again. I saw shifters battling one another as both humans and animals. There had to be fifty of them, and I knew at least twenty of them were ours. From where I stood, it could have been something off of Animal Planet. There were large birds swooping down from the sky, doing a lot of damage with their talons and beaks. I spotted tunkuruchu among the birds and wondered briefly if it might be Richard. Liam had phased into a polar bear and was attacking a huge bull. At first, they looked evenly matched, but then I saw the danger. The bull lowered its head and gored Liam. I had to look away. When I looked back, he had phased back to his human form and had both hands on his stomach. He fell to the ground. My heart sank.
As I bowed my head, I suddenly caught a glimpse of Victrixa out of the corner of my eye. She was standing at the bottom of the pyramid just next to the abyss. What was she up to?
I looked along the other edges of the chasm and noticed that Avery Wells and Lucas Moss were doing the same thing further along the pit. What was going on? And why weren’t those disgusting bat demon thingies attacking any of them?
I took out another demon with a fiery blast of k’ul, only to see Victrixa turn around and look up. I looked down at her with a big grin on my face. Honestly, I just couldn’t help it. She just looked so pissed, and I was so way tired of her trying to kill me. As the power running through me began to weaken, I glanced down behind me and saw that there were wounded shifters on the ground. I looked for Cesar and found him fighting an elk, but why couldn’t I find Matt? Where the hell was he?
As the energy flow continued to cut back, a feeling of total exhaustion started to replace it. When the last of the energy had left my body, I started to fall forward. I was caught just in time by Matt and Richard.
Then I heard Matt’s voice. “Oh, my God! Look what it did to her, Richard! Look what it’s done!”
“Okay, Matt, let’s hand her down,” I heard Richard say. He sounded far away. “Cesar,” he was saying, “take her nice and slow.”
Barely conscious, I could feel myself being passed from one set of strong arms to another. When I woke up, it was just for a moment. I could feel the motion of the van as it rocked back and forth on the highway. I opened my eyes and realized I was riding with my head in Matt’s lap.
“Shh,” he whispered. “Go back to sleep, babe.” The last thing I remember was the expression on Matt’s face. He looked devastated. But I realized I could only tell from the look on his face. I couldn’t feel him anymore. Just for a split second, before I passed out again, I saw Cesar lay his hand on Matt’s shoulder.
CHAPTER TWENTY
I heard Richard’s voice again, still far away. “We’ll have to cut her out of these clothes.”
“Damian,” Adriana’s voice, “would you go find Selena, please? And ask her to bring her kit.” She paused. “I don’t know how we’re going to get that necklace off of her. That probably wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had.”
Most of what I heard after that was just bits and pieces of conversations that didn’t make much sense. Then I fell into a deep sleep.
…I was standing just outside a village high up in the mountains. I could hear people yelling and screaming. Almost instantly, I understood them and realized that they were speaking the Mayan language, Quiché. I was in Guatemala. As I started to walk toward the village, I saw that I was wearing a long, white, flowing gown and my feet were bare. I walked into the village, only to see that I had entered a scene of total chaos. Children were crying, their bellies swollen with malnutrition. The men were yelling at the women to keep bringing more water. The women were hurrying past me, and I could see that their beautiful Mayan skirts and blouses were filthy and torn. No one seemed to see or acknowledge me at all, so I continued to walk closer to where the yelling was coming from. A minute later, I came to the center of the village. Now I could see what was happening. There was a fire. The ceiba tree, the heart of the village, was in flames, and the men were desperately trying to put it out. An old woman, whose face was wrinkled and blackened with soot, suddenly looked right at me “K’atik!” She cried. She seemed to think I didn’t understand her because then she spoke in Spanish. “Ayúdenos, Diosa! Por favor, que nos ayude!” She fell to her knees, grabbing my white gown and smudging it with ashes and dirt. She kept repeating her plea for help over and over, her face contorted with grief….
I woke up. I was covered in sweat. I couldn’t get that old woman’s voice out of my head. I was in my bed. But when I looked at Matt’s side, I saw that it hadn’t been slept in. All I had over me was a cotton sheet, but even that didn’t seem comfortable. My skin felt hot. It stung and burned like mad. I stood up, wrapped the sheet around me toga style, and walked into the bathroom, where I flipped on the light and looked at myself in the mirror. I gasped. I looked like hell! My whole body was covered with what looked like a horrendous sunburn. Even places where I had been wearing clothing were red and burned.
“Hey, you’re up!” Matt came into view behind me.
“Uh, yeah.”
“I know it’s red,” he said. “But you already look so much better.”
“Better? Better than what?”
“It was worse when we took you down from El Castillo yesterday.”
“I only slept one day? I feel like I’ve been out for weeks.”
“About twenty-four hours,” he said, kissing the top of my head.
“Ouch.”
“Sorry.”
I turned to face him. “Matt, why am I still wearing my necklace?” I asked. I reached up to touch my neckline, but he caught my hand.
“You’re…you’re not, babe,” he said.
“What do you mean I’m not? Of course I am. I can see it.”
“I thought I heard voices in here!” It was Adriana.
“Maya, you’re awake.”
“What the hell is this?” I asked, still staring at my reflection.
“I’m so sorry, Maya. The silver became super-heated because you retained all that energy yesterday. The burn from the necklace is imprinted on your skin. I’m afraid it’s going to be permanent.”
“Wait—what?” I panicked, looking back at my reflection, my eyes tearing over.
“It will improve with time. Selena has been keeping a special salve on it around the clock. But, yes, to some degree, it will always be there.”
Matt spoke up. “Why don’t I run you a cool bath, My? Adriana, how about if we see you at dinner.”
“I don’t want a bath,” I said, and then I burst into tears. Matt put his arms around me, being as careful of my burns as possible. He held me gently for a long time, and I realized that I could feel him again, his worry and love for me. I sighed in relief.
“I’m sorry,” I said, feeling and quite possibly sounding like a two-year-old. But once I was in the tub, the cool water and the herbs from Selena started easing the burns on my skin, and I started to feel better.
Matt poked his head in a few minutes later. “My, I left your shorts and one of my T-shirts on the bed for you. I figure the looser the better for now.”
“Thanks,” I said, then, “Matt?”
“Yeah?”
“Is my necklace okay?”
“It’s fine. Damian said it should have melted, but it’s fine.”
“In Lak’ech,” I said.
“Ala K’in, babe,” he said.
A few minutes later, I got out of the tub. Giving up on toweling off, I decided to air dry as I carefully brushed out my hair. I had a similar issue with the shorts Matt had left for me. I decided that a pair of his boxers would work best with the big and (mercifully) dark-colored T-shirt Matt had put out. I couldn’t even imagine trying to deal with a bra. Yikes. I tiptoed out to the kitchen. By the time I got there, only Adriana, Richard, Matt, Selena and the twins were there.
Jaguar Sun (The Jaguar Sun Series) Page 17
