The Bloodgate Warrior

by Joely Sue Burkhart

  Then he whirled away and leaped into the air. Feathers sprouted from his back into huge blue-green wings, and his skin glittered, red and green and gold, like he’d rolled in a pirate’s treasure.

  In the darkness, I couldn’t see much of his form, but he looked more like a dragon than a snake, certainly nothing like the creepy tentacles curling around Alvarado. Técun screamed out a bloodthirsty battle cry and seized Alvarado in footlong talons. The demon howled and tore at the mighty creature, but Técun ignored the blows.

  He wanted me to escape. He wanted me to run, instead of lingering to watch him die. Already he felt distant, as though he were trying to lock me away. He would spare me the final pain and horror of his death, but he couldn’t prevent me from sensing his plans and knowing his thoughts as my own.

  Not when I was noyollotl, his heart and soul.

  He meant to drag Alvarado into the deepest level of Xibalba himself and keep him there personally for all eternity.

  I couldn’t leave. As long as he was still here in the flesh, there was hope. Hope we could find a way to win. I ran across the plaza, straining to keep up.

  Those mighty wings beat the air irregularly, struggling to keep both Técun and the demon aloft. Alvarado snarled and fought, struggling to escape, his tentacles tearing at Técun’s feathers. Blood loss weakened him, but he didn’t have far to fly. He dropped from my sight, tumbling into a large hole.

  The Sacred Cenote of the Itza. I crept as close as I dared to the edge, my teeth chattering. If the threat of drowning in an unknown depth of water wasn’t enough to terrify me, the fall down into the dark hole made me want to vomit. Blue-green feathers littered the ground, torn and bloody. I couldn’t see anything in the darkness, but from the screeches and clash of metal and talons, it couldn’t be going well.

  I picked up one of those torn feathers and cradled it against my cheek. It smelled like Técun: fresh, green jungle and sweet passion fruit. Even his blood smelled good, rich and warm, ripe with his magic and his love.

  My heart gave a frantic leap and my eyes flew open. His blood.

  If the wrong spear hadn’t been able to kill Alvarado because it didn’t bear Técun’s blood…

  I gripped the knife so hard my fingers ached. The blade was still dark with the blood Técun had sacrificed at the beginning of our ritual on the pyramid.

  Peeking over the edge of the crater, I strained to see the bottom. The world tilted crazily, my head spun and my stomach felt like I’d swallowed my weight in lead. How far down was the water? Ten feet? Twenty? How deep was it?

  The thought of water closing over my head again made my teeth chatter.

  Técun’s down there. He’s down there dying.

  I closed my eyes and jumped.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Howling at the top of my lungs, I fell endlessly, dreading the cold wet darkness. I knew I should take a deep breath and hold it before I hit the surface, but I couldn’t stop screaming. Nothing but Técun—and Natalie—could have gotten me down into that water.

  I sank like a stone through bone-chilling water. I gasped, taking in more water. The quetzal surged under my skin, dragging me toward what I hoped was Técun. Trusting its sense of direction, I pushed my body with it, fighting toward the surface.

  My head broke through the water and I coughed, breathing in fresh air. Water splashed, waves sloshing up the sides of the cenote. I crashed into the side, bumping my head on a rock. It was so dark. Had the last of his magical light already died? Had he died?

  I refused to consider it. “Técun!”

  Alvarado let out a shrill scream of victory that tore down my spine like a sheet of ice. “She’s mine, warrior! With her blood, I shall break the curse and wreak my vengeance on this world!”

  Something tangled in my hair and dragged me down into the water. Thrashing wildly, I fought back toward the surface, likely pulling out a handful or two of hair, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t think, not with water closing over my head again. God, if it was one of those nasty snake things sprouting from Alvarado…

  The quetzal let out a screech inside my head, breaking my panic. I had to get close to Alvarado if I was going to save Técun, even if that meant letting him drag me deeper. I tightened my grip on the knife, trying to keep it up out of the water. The last thing I needed to do was wash off Técun’s blood. All I need is a drop or two.

  Instead of fighting, I went limp. Close, I had to be close. My head broke the surface and I gasped for breath, but the stench of a rotting corpse filled my lungs instead of fresh air.

  A sharp sensation against my temple made me flinch. With a sickening sweet croon, Alvarado drew me closer in a parody of a lover’s embrace. I couldn’t move my arms and my mind shuddered to the point of fracture at the thought of those tentacles. He held me so tightly each breath hurt. Moonlight glinted on his skull-white face and unfortunately, now I was close enough to see what he wore around his neck. Severed hands were strung together into a gruesome necklace, some of them distressingly tiny.

  His tongue flicked out and that sharp pain stung my forehead again.

  He was licking my blood.

  My stomach heaved. The curse. If my blood freed him… I have to distract him.

  “Do you know who cursed you? Who sent you to Xibalba?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  Yet I heard the interest in his voice. He’d had over five hundred years to hate whoever had dared crack open the Mayan hell and throw him inside. “It was someone close to you. Someone you might even have loved.”

  “Not my dear Luisa. She’s the only woman I ever loved.” Even as a monstrous walking corpse, he still loved the Tlaxcalan princess. “She had the power to curse me, but she wouldn’t do it. I saw it in her eyes when Técun died and the mighty K’iche’ fell. She never forgave herself, but I only loved her more.”

  “No, not Luisa,” I agreed as casually as possible. One of those shadowy things clamped tighter around my neck and rib cage. I let the gasping struggle for breath rattle my chest without saying anything else until he grudgingly loosened his grip on me. “She died before you did. There’s no way she could have sent you to Xibalba.”

  He clicked his teeth together in a horrible clack that made my skin try to shudder off my skeleton. “They all hated me but none dared attempt such a curse. They were too afraid of my power.”

  Trying to come to my aid, Técun thrashed in the water nearby, but his struggles sounded weaker. I raised my voice so he’d hear my determination. “Leonor wasn’t afraid.”

  Alvarado let out a metallic chuckle like screeching, rusty gears. “Oh, Leonor, of course. She never forgave me for giving her to Pedro when she was barely more than a child. I should have dashed her little head against a rock when I learned that Luisa had promised her entire bloodline to Técun, but it amused me to let Leonor think she’d be able to bring him back to life. Foolish child.”

  It was horribly wrong to hear fatherly indulgent love from a monster, but I capitalized on that pride the best way I could. “She’s my great-great-something-grandmother. Which I suppose makes you my grandfather.”

  Blinking with surprise as though he’d only now thought of the familial connection, he stared down at me, searching my face as though he’d recognize me in some way. “You managed to bring Técun back through the gate. Luisa was clever to hide him from me.”

  “Do I look anything like Luisa? I’m named for her—Cassandra Luisa Guzmán Gonzales.”

  He turned me around, lifting me closer, inches away from the rotting corpse that clogged my throat with bile. “Luisa? Is it you? Have you come back to me after all these years?”

  I stabbed the knife as hard as I could into his bony chest. “I’m not Luisa, you son of a bitch. Her love won’t save you this time.”

  “Little human.” Shaking his head, Alvarado laughed. His eyes gleamed with pride, presumably at the courage he must have assumed I’d inherited from him. “Did you not learn anything from your great warrior? Di
d you not see how your ancestors failed to stop me with their puny curses? Regular blades cannot hurt me. His spear didn’t stop me, so why would you dare to guess your pitifully small blade would keep me from bathing in your blood? It will be all the sweeter knowing that now I may break both Luisa’s and Leonor’s curses at the same time. I am free, and Técun shall never walk this earth again.”

  Green light flickered across the water. My heart pounded with hope, and a surge of adrenaline made the quetzal tattoo expand in my skin. Its wings spread completely across my chest, wicked talons ready to rip him to shreds.

  With a shock, I realized the light came from me.

  I carried Técun’s love and his magic. After our ritual, there was nothing that could keep us apart. Not even this nasty demon. My fear evaporated on a fierce surge of triumph as the shadowed tentacles loosened their hold, flinching from my magic. “Not even a blade covered in Técun Úman’s blood and wielded by Tecubalsi magic?”

  Alvarado laughed again but it sounded…oddly wet. He coughed, and dark blood speckled his lips.

  “Impossible. You fell into the water. The blade was washed clean.”

  “Not clean enough. One drop of Great Feathered Serpent’s blood is enough to send you back to hell where you belong. Especially when my blood—and the blood of my ancestor, Luisa Xicoténcatl Tecubalsi—is mixed with it.”

  Alvarado coughed again, expelling a huge glob of tar-black blood.

  Técun whispered in my mind. “Use your blood, Cassie. Bind him to Xibalba with your will and your blood as she did.”

  I reached up to the cut on my forehead and smeared my blood across the demon’s ghastly face. “I send you back to Xibalba, Pedro de Alvarado. Never rise again!”

  Black blood trickled from his mouth and eyes. His face sagged, skin tearing and melting away to nothing. His eyes blazed red in his skull and his bony fingers closed on my throat. Instinctively, I reared back, throwing myself away from him. Skeletal fingers slid away, crumbling to dust.

  Alvarado wailed, floundering in the water, but his actions only made his skeleton disintegrate faster. Waters swirled, creating a whirlpool that sucked his remains downward. It tugged at me, too, forcing me to swim toward the wall. I ran my hands over the rocky surface, reaching up for a hold to pull myself higher out of the water. I had to find Técun. If he was too weak, he might get sucked away to Xibalba too.

  His scent enveloped me, his feathers brushing my cheek. I grabbed hold of him, thinking to pull him up out of the water while our magic pumped in me. Instead, he grabbed my arms in his talons and leaped upward. Blood and feathers rained down on me, mixing with my tears, but he fought his way free of the cenote. We tumbled onto the ground, his wings bent and twisted.

  I crawled to him. The feathers and scales faded back into his skin as I watched, leaving behind tears and gaping punctures. Looking at his injuries made me sick. So many. I couldn’t imagine how he’d had the strength to pull us out of the cenote.

  “You did it,” he gasped, forcing his eyes open. The jade light in his eyes bled back to his normal dark brown. “You jumped into the water. For me.”

  “Of course I did.” I brushed his hair out of his face, my eyes overflowing. “What can I do to help you?”

  “Alvarado…”

  “He’s gone. He went through the gate, hopefully to Xibalba.”

  Técun let out a long sighing breath. “Good. Your blood should lock the curse upon him.”

  But he didn’t say how I could help him. I was afraid he’d have to go through the waters back to his own pyramid.

  Fierce determination burned inside me. I leaned down so I could glare into his eyes. “If you’re thinking about going home to your world, then you’re taking me with you.”

  He laughed softly and reached up to cup my cheek in his. “Time is all I need, noyollotl, and perhaps a taste of your magical blood if you don’t mind sharing with me again.”

  I still had a death grip on the knife I’d used to defeat Alvarado, but the thought of using it on myself after I’d stabbed that filthy thing made my stomach lurch.

  “There’s no need for a blade.” Técun gave me a slow, delicious smile that curled my toes. With a purring rumble, he drew me down toward him, rising up to bury his face against my throat. His lips and tongue caressed my skin, and my body ignited.

  I remembered every caress, every whispered endearment, the powerful glide of muscle against me, the pleasure he’d already lavished upon me. My blood thundered in my ears, more than eager to heal him and return him to full strength.

  “Take all you want.” He gripped my throat in his teeth, not drawing blood yet but promising. Teasing. So I couldn’t help but tease him back. “But don’t even think about giving me another tattoo that’s going to move around.”

  In my mind, I heard him laugh even as his teeth sank into my skin. “I thought to give you a serpent on your backside this time.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Reverently, José brought us the bloodstained bundle from one of the packs the Rojases carried from Lake Atitlán. As Técun unfolded the sheet, the organ inside thumped harder, faster, whether with hope or fear I didn’t know. Could Natalie feel us close, trying to save her? Or was she completely gone, lost in the watery hell with demons and other evil creatures? The thought made me want to pull out my hair and wail in misery.

  “If you can’t heal her, can you at least make sure she’s at peace? Not trapped with demons?”

  He smiled, taking away some of my fear. “Have a little faith in your warrior, noyollotl. Since my hands are occupied, use my blade to make a small sacrifice. I need to see what manner of traps Alvarado may have left for us.”

  Since he didn’t wear an obvious knife sheath, I had to do a little exploration. If I wasn’t so worried about Natalie, I would have enjoyed patting him down for weapons. I found a long blade strapped to his thigh beneath the jaguar pelt. Trying to keep my worry at bay, I joked, “This skirt is pretty hot, but I’m surprised you guys wore these things to war. How’d you stash your weapons?”

  “You may be surprised at how many knives I carry, noyollotl,” he murmured in that low rumble that made my bones melt. “Do you care to make a wager?”

  Unsheathing the knife, I stepped back and scanned him from head to toe. He wore soft leather boots up to his knees, the short cloth about his hips, and nothing else. If he had another knife strapped on his other thigh and one in each boot… “Four?”

  He flashed a cocky grin. “Then it’s a very good thing you didn’t wager something you’d care to lose.”

  To keep from thinking too much about what I was doing with his knife, I demanded, “How many, then? Five?” Ow. I’d never get used to cutting myself. My thumb burned, blood welling in a short cut. “Is that enough?”

  “Higher. Now walk a circle about her body, no closer than we are now, and allow a few drops of blood to drip on the ground. It won’t take much.”

  I did as he said, unable to stop the anxious glances at Natalie’s body. She still didn’t move, not a muscle. Dead, she’s dead, no matter what we do. Trying to avoid tears, I turned back to teasing Técun. “Six?”

  “Higher.” His voice lowered to a deep bass vibration that made me shiver. Now that we’d performed so much magic together, I could feel the pulse in the air. Even with my eyes closed, I could have pointed to every single drop of my blood on the ground. Power wafted from each drop, the scent of green jungle, rich fruit and musk.

  My musk.

  I don’t think I’d ever be able to feel his magic without remembering the pleasure he’d given me on the altar.

  “Now offer my blood, noyollotl. We’ll need both to break the traps he set upon her body.”

  Moving back to stand before him, I hesitated. The thought of actually cutting him, hurting him, made me ill.

  “Unless you think to cut off a part of my body, you can’t hurt me, Cassie. Of course, you can hold her heart and I will make the sacrifice…”

  Shuddering, I
shifted my grip on the knife. “Where do you want me to make the cut?”

  “Anywhere,” he growled in that delicious low purr that made me ruin my last clean pair of underwear. “Use your imagination.”

  My brain insisted this was a bad idea, but my body remembered full well how good he’d tasted at the fountain. I could make a small cut high on his inner thigh so I could torment him with my mouth…

  He groaned deep in his throat. “Enough, woman. Cease the torture until we’re safe and I’m free to indulge your every desire.”

  I lifted the blade to the slick scar tissue on his chest. He’d healed from Alvarado’s attack, but I couldn’t help but remember the ugly wound. I moved a few inches over to his right pectoral and pressed the tip into his skin. Blood welled and the night went jungle green. Birds and monkeys clamored in a canopy that the dryer Yucatán had never known. Thick and lush, trees crowded close, the humid air thick with the scent of ripe fruit and riotous growth.

  His hands began glowing, his low, steady chant rolling like distant thunder. His blood mixed with mine on the blade, a glowing ruby fire that pulsed in the night. Without his instruction, I knew what to do. After seeing how our blood had driven Alvarado back to Xibalba, I turned to Natalie.

  Now I could see black serpents of shadow roiling on her lifeless body as they had on Alvarado’s. I pointed the blade at them and they writhed in agony, recoiling from our magical blood. From her toes up to the horrible cavity on her chest, I drove the darkness out of her. A drop of blood onto her chest lit a glowing green bonfire of magic where her heart should be.

  Técun neared and the first sign of life twitched through her body. He held her heart over his head. “The White Road has no claim on you, Natalie. You travail in Xibalba before your appointed time.”

  Shafts of light blazed from her heart, cutting through the night. Gently, he knelt and placed the glowing organ into her chest. The light died immediately, leaving me blinking, struggling to see what was happening.