The Circle of Lies

by Crystal Velasquez

  I looked left and right. The street was full of pedestrians walking around, going about their day. These dogs would be no match for us as big cats, but if we transformed here, we’d be seen and would probably cause a stampede. “We can’t do that,” I said. “Not out in the open. Let’s back up, nice and slow. Maybe they’ll leave us alone.”

  We each took a few halting steps backward, watching the dogs carefully. Suddenly one of them lunged, backing us all the way against the side of a nearby storefront. Some of the passersby glanced our way, but no one stopped to help. Maybe the roving band of stray dogs was a common sight around here, but my heart was beating out of control.

  “What do we do?” Doli yelled.

  I thought quickly. “We split up, and run!” I shoved Doli to the left and Lin to my right. Then I ducked down the side street behind me, a narrow one-way road with only two working streetlights. Just as I’d hoped, the dogs split up too. I could hear the nails of the other two dogs scraping against the pavement as they took off after Doli and Lin. I could feel the dog behind me gaining ground, but I dodged into a shadowy alcove. It was the perfect place to shift.

  Almost instantly I felt my skin dissolve into golden spotted fur, and my whiskers twitched in the breeze. I ran, my strides lengthening with every step. Even though I could take the dog in this form, I would avoid a fight if I could. Once, when I was younger, I had asked Uncle Mec what to do if kids bullied me at school. Corre si puedes, pelea si debes, he had said. Run if you can, fight if you must. I hoped that this time, running would be enough.

  I could no longer hear the dog following me. It must have seen me change and slowed down, probably wondering if it was worth it to keep up the pursuit. Still, I wanted to put more distance between us. At the end of the alley I saw a low wall that would give me the perfect step up onto the roof of the building.

  I scaled the wall easily and climbed onto the roof. I looked down, and in addition to the dog, I was stunned to see the black cat. There she is! I thought.

  I saw the dog reach the wall and stop short. It raised up onto its hind legs and pawed at the surface. It couldn’t make the jump. The black cat looked at the dog with disdain and hissed. The dog whimpered and backed off, retreating down the alley, but the cat stayed put, as if to stand guard. I kept going, confident she would find me later. Now that I had a moment to think without being chased, I lifted my nose to the air to see if I could smell Doli and Lin, but instead I caught a hint of something familiar—henna ink, toasted almonds, and worn-in sneakers. Shani! She’d come this way! Even if she wasn’t here now, she had been at some point.

  Lin, Doli—are you okay?

  Yes. I ditched the leader, Lin’s answer echoed in my mind. Embarrassingly easy to do.

  Mine got scared and ran away, Doli said. Didn’t want to tangle with a puma.

  Good. I smell Shani! Try to follow her scent.

  On it, Doli responded.

  Me too, Lin said.

  I inhaled deeply, letting my whiskers feel for subtle changes in the wind. But there were so many different new scents here, many of them belonging to animals. I couldn’t pick one out from another. They pressed in from all sides—roasting chickens, perfume, Darjeeling tea, cinnamon and red chili, pigeons and Persian cats, salt water and sweat . . . How was I supposed to find Shani’s scent in all this?

  Above me a woman opened her window to shake out a dusty rug. She glanced down and saw me, and her eyes widened in alarm. She slammed the window shut. I moved on. By the time she peeked out again to confirm what she’d seen, I would be gone and she would think I had just been a trick of the light.

  I suddenly heard a familiar roar in the distance. Lin! I took off across rooftops, following the sound. A few blocks away I saw the golden spires of a temple rising into the sky, and an orange flag flapping in the wind. I found a way back down to street level and did my best to stay in the shadows. I lifted my nose again to sniff at the air, and this time the smell of almonds and Shani’s sneakers was unmistakable.

  As I came to the end of the marketplace across from the temple, I spotted one of the dogs that had tried to attack us. It was the pack leader, the one I thought reminded me of Kiah. The dog was pacing back and forth outside the entrance, twisting its head in every direction. This must have been the dog that had been chasing Lin and lost her. I watched as the dog slowly lowered its tail and licked its mouth. It was giving up, I realized. It scratched furiously behind one ear, then ducked into the narrow alley to the side of the temple.

  A few seconds later Kiah walked out of the same alley, brushing off a maroon-and-white school uniform and combing her hair into place with her hands.

  I knew it! Kiah was a shape-shifter like Nicole, but instead of a hyena, she was a feral dog. A soft growl from behind me drew my attention away from her. A tiger was approaching, panting quietly, and just behind was a regal-looking puma, nearly invisible in the dark, except for her luminous yellow eyes. Lin chuffed and padded off toward the entrance of a nearby park that looked like it had been closed for the night. We passed by the locked gate and jumped easily over the stone walls that stretched out on either side of the entrance.

  As soon as we were safely inside the park and were sure no one could see us, we transformed.

  “Shani is in the temple,” Lin said immediately, still trying to catch her breath. “I’m sure of it.”

  “I smelled her in there too,” Doli said.

  “Me too. Guess we don’t need to find her phone after all,” I said.

  We heard a rustling in a bush near the wall, and out strode the black cat, her emerald eyes glowing like headlights in the dark. She rubbed up against each of our legs, then walked back to the locked gate and slithered underneath it through the gap at the bottom. She took a few steps toward the temple and looked back at us as if to say, What are you waiting for?

  I laughed. “I guess it’s unanimous.”

  Since we couldn’t go the same way the cat had, we carefully climbed over the wall and jumped down on the other side. We started toward the temple, but Lin shot her hand out and grabbed my shoulder. “Those dogs might be watching the temple,” she said. “Maybe we shouldn’t approach so out in the open.”

  I looked around warily. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s cut through the market. It’s right across the street from the entrance.”

  Doli looked conflicted, clearly itching to just go straight to the temple, but in the end she relented. “Fine. Let’s just make it fast.”

  Soon we were pushing through the crowds of Dadar Phool Gali, passing by cloth-lined bins filled with cardamom seeds and sweet orange curry, baskets of pink roses and yellow chrysanthemums, and stands of fresh green vegetables.

  But suddenly someone bumped right into me, too hard to be an accident, even in this crowded market. The bump pushed me into Doli and Lin, who both shouted “Hey!” and glared at me.

  I wheeled around to see who had pushed me. “What are you—” I started. But I trailed off when I realized I was facing a small elderly man with eyes that crinkled in the corners. He was holding three copper cups.

  “Forgive me,” he said. He forced one cup into each of our hands.

  “Who is this guy?” Doli asked.

  I shook my head at her. “I don’t know.” Then I turned back to the man. “What is this?” I asked, confused.

  He gestured that I should lift the cup and drink.

  “Sorry, my mother always told me not to drink anything given to me by a total stranger,” Lin protested, trying to hand the cup back.

  But the man shook his head and smiled. He curved his fingers into a C, and with his thumb against his bottom lip, tilted his hand up as if to say, Drink, drink.

  I leaned my face over the cup, taking in the scent of rich vanilla chai. It smelled heavenly. “I’ll drink it first,” I offered, “and I’ll tell you if it’s okay.”

  “No offense, Ana,” Lin said, “but that’s kind of a dumb plan. If it’s not okay, you won’t taste anything; you’ll just
drop dead.”

  I knew she was right, yet something about the man’s kind face told me I could trust him. “I’m going with my gut,” I said.

  Doli still eyed the man with a measure of suspicion. “All right. If anything happens, though, I’m calling the police on this guy.”

  “Fair enough.” I closed my eyes and drank the whole cup down, feeling its warmth spread through my chest. But it was more than just warmth. As soon as the delicious tea touched my lips and slid down my throat, I knew I’d never tasted anything quite like it. As the vanilla flavor burst onto my tongue, a strange tingle spread through my body, making me feel stronger and more alive. When I opened my eyes again, colors seemed a little brighter, and I was filled with a sense of confidence—like nothing could hurt me. The last time I’d felt that way had been when we had touched the magical orb that had released our Wildcat powers. “Mmm . . . ,” I said, looking at the man in astonishment.

  “So it’s good?” Lin asked.

  “No,” I said, never taking my eyes from the tea seller. “It’s awesome.”

  The other girls drank the tea in their cups too and were just as happy that they had. Lin reached into her pocket and pulled out a few rupees to hand to the old man, but he held his hand up, refusing the coins. Instead he handed each of us a small bouquet of flowers tied with an orange satin ribbon, and pointed to the temple. “Offering for Ganesh,” he said.

  He knows we’re heading to the temple, I thought. How?

  It was just one more unanswered question. I knew we had to get going. I bowed to him and said, “We thank you.” Lin and Doli did the same, and he gave us appreciative nods. I walked out of the market feeling braver and warmer but still afraid.

  As we headed toward the temple, which seemed to almost glow against the burning sunset, the black cat took off into an alley beside it.

  “There she goes again,” Doli commented. “Getting out of harm’s way. Hope she doesn’t know something we don’t.”

  I hoped not too. But I couldn’t help but wonder: What are we walking into?

  chapter 16

  Shani

  I WOKE UP IN MY cage, feeling completely drained. When had I fallen asleep? I didn’t know. The last thing I remembered was staring at Anubis’s evil face, wanting to tear it off, and then nothing. I looked around and found him sitting on the wooden throne atop the altar of human bones. Doesn’t he ever sleep? Maybe as a god of the underworld, he was beyond sleep. Even now he was leering at me in a way that made my skin crawl.

  Or it would have made my skin crawl, if I weren’t still covered in my feline fur. I had never stayed in my lion form this long, and now I knew why. It was exhausting! There seemed to be a time limit on how long I could be in a magical state of being, and I had passed it hours ago. I slowly got to my feet, feeling shaky and weak. Even if Anubis opened my cage right now, I didn’t think I’d have the strength to fight him.

  I guessed I had to accept it. There was no way out. No clever hacking tricks were going to save me this time. Even being a kick-butt magical lion was a liability right now. Seemed as good a time as any to have a little heart-to-heart with myself.

  Voice of Reason: So, Shani, looks like you’ve gotten yourself into a fine mess, huh?

  Me: Gee, really? Thanks for pointing that out, Captain Obvious. I hadn’t noticed.

  Voice of Reason: Hey, no need to shoot the messenger. It’s your own fault you’re in this cage.

  Me: What? How do you figure that?

  Voice of Reason: Think hard, and don’t get defensive. Is there any way you could have avoided ending up in a dungeon, about to help the god of the underworld destroy the planet?

  Me: Hmmm . . .

  Voice of Reason: Take your time. I’ll wait.

  Me: Well, I guess I could have ignored that article in the paper and not come on my own to what I had a hunch was a dangerous place.

  Voice of Reason: Good! Excellent start. Anything else? Think back a little further.

  Me: You mean what I did at the gym? But I saved everybody!

  Voice of Reason: True. But you were only able to do that because . . .

  Me: (hanging my head) I hacked into my principal’s account and stole her password.

  Voice of Reason: There you go. And before that . . .

  Me: Coach Lawson?

  Voice of Reason: Are you asking or telling me?

  Me: (sigh) Coach Lawson.

  Voice of Reason: You’re making excellent progress. Really great. But maybe we should go back even further. Back to where all this trouble began.

  Me: (long silence) Ms. Benitez. I accepted her invitation to the museum that night. The night I became a Wildcat.

  Voice of Reason: Even I have to admit, before that evening you were more or less a normal kid getting in a normal amount of trouble. And now, well . . .

  Me: Right. Alone in a dungeon, about to help destroy the world.

  Voice of Reason: I think we’re done here.

  I groaned. Had the best, most exciting thing to ever happen to me also been my worst mistake? Maybe so. And that’s coming from a girl who’s made plenty of mistakes. My inner voice was right. Before I had accepted that invitation to Ms. Benitez’s reception in the museum that night—the night I’d met Ana and touched the globe that had activated my powers—I had been fine. Normal. Just another kid at a fancy-pants boarding school, keeping my hacking tricks under the radar and staying out of trouble.

  Everything could have stayed that way too. But no, I had to go become friends with Doli, Ana, Lin, and Ms. Benitez—and look where that had gotten me. I owed some of my best memories of school to them. I had even done better in my classes. But I’d also been turned into some kind of avenging lion who was constantly being attacked by gods and demons.

  Mom would just love this. She had always warned me about befriending other future criminal masterminds, but she’d never said a word about shape-shifting do-gooders out to save the world. I could almost see her shaking her head and saying, You always pick the wrong friends. I would have laughed if it hadn’t been at least a little bit true. I guessed it didn’t matter now. I would never see them again anyway. I sighed and slumped to the floor.

  “Guys, over here! There’s another room back here!”

  My ears suddenly perked up. The voice was yelling from right above me.

  “Is she in there?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Lin, you just plowed that guy over!”

  “Sorry.”

  I shot back up to my feet, my heart pounding. I know those voices! From the way Anubis stood up and scowled, I could tell he recognized them too. My friends! I didn’t know how they’d found me, but I had never been so grateful. I’m down here! I yelled, but of course it came out as a cage-rattling roar.

  They probably couldn’t hear it anyway over the earsplitting banging of metal against metal. I realized they must have been trying to bust through the padlock on the metal gate separating the main room from the alcove that held the statue of Shiva.

  “Shani! Are you down there?”

  Yes! I thought as loudly as I could.

  I heard a man’s voice say something to them, probably telling them to keep their voices down and stop attacking the gate. Then Lin’s voice: “If you don’t want to be kitty chow, you’ll get out of here right now!” I heard a deep growl, then the sound of someone screaming and footsteps running away.

  Forget everything I said before, I thought. My friends are awesome!

  “We don’t have time for this,” Lin said. “Let’s just turn into Wildcats and knock the dang thing down.”

  “No, we can’t,” Ana pleaded. “We’re in a temple full of people and—” She was cut off by the sound of a puma’s roar, which sounded almost like the scream of an electric guitar.

  “Too late,” Lin said. Then she roared too. Soon Doli’s and Lin’s roars were joined by a third. I heard the metallic gate squeak and rattle once, twice, three times, then snap! It clattered against the stone floor
. They must have found the hole I’d escaped through before, because a few seconds later the Wildcats leaped down the stairs one by one.

  The first one down, Lin looked around at the engravings on the walls and thought, What the . . .

  Doli and Ana followed right behind and gasped when they saw the images of suffering littering the walls.

  It’s another Brotherhood of Chaos temple, Ana thought. What do we do now?

  You can start by getting me out of here! I urged, and even the voice in my head sounded simultaneously overjoyed and worn out.

  All three Wildcats turned in my direction, and their eyes grew wide.

  Shani! What happened to you? Doli cried, running over to the cage.

  Anubis lured me down here and then threw me into this cage. He needs my roar to release another god. Watch out. He’s right over— I broke off. When I looked over at the throne of bones, I saw that Anubis was gone. But how? As far as I could see, there was only one way out. He was right there, I said feebly.

  Forget about him for now, Doli said. Let’s get you out of there. She reared up on her hind legs and clawed at the lock, but it didn’t budge. Her eyes shifted to the thick wires forming the bars on the cage. Back up, Shani.

  Realizing what she was going to do, I shook my head. No, don’t. You’ll get hurt. Your jaws aren’t strong enough. . . .

  Doli huffed. Of course they are. How do you think pumas in the wild are able to take down prey twice their size? With that, she opened her jaws wide and attacked the cage as if it were Anubis himself. She clamped down on the wires and tugged at them with all her might, using her long tail for balance. I heard the ping and twang of wires snapping as she tore into them with her powerful teeth. Then, with one final yank, Doli ripped a gaping hole in the gate. The tension of the enclosure broken, all the wires unraveled and fell away. Doli spit out what looked like metal worms. The white fur around her mouth was covered in blood.

  I leaped out of the cage and rubbed my head against Doli’s. Thank you! I’ll never doubt you again, boss lady!

  Better not.

  Now that you’re free, any idea where Anubis ran off to? Ana asked.