The Circle of Lies

by Crystal Velasquez

  Maybe he saw us and just gave up and went back to the underworld? Doli said hopefully.

  Doubt it, I said. Anubis had some pretty big plans for me. I filled them in on the statue of Shiva and how Anubis planned to use my roar to bring him back to life. Everything that happened back at Temple—the fake call from Ana’s aunt, me getting kicked out of school—it was all part of his plan to get me here.

  Diabolical! Lin said. Anybody who would go through that much trouble isn’t going to let us just walk out of here.

  As if on cue, an eagle suddenly soared out of nowhere and swooped down on us with a terrible scream.

  Aw, not this again, I said. Before the bird had a chance to fly past us, I pounced and sank my claws into one of its wings, bringing it down. It tried to claw at me, but I bent my head and ripped into its throat. One good thing—really, the only good thing—about getting ambushed by eagles earlier when I’d been all by myself was that it had made me kind of a pro at killing them. Now that I had learned how to time my attack and come in at just the right angle, taking them down was easy.

  Whoa, Ana said. Got a few anger-management issues?

  When it comes to those birds, absolutely.

  Well, that’s good, because here come some more.

  Just as they had upstairs, the eagle Chaos Spirits started multiplying. One became two then became six. . . . It was hard to see how they were even doing it. This time there were no Eddie the Eagle banners or Temple T-shirts to help them. They just kept dividing, like in that video we’d watched in biology class about bacteria cells splitting in half to reproduce. I must have fallen asleep during the part when cells divided and became a legion of soul-crushing demons.

  Soon the room filled up with flapping brown wings that together sounded like water rushing over the edge of a cliff and crashing into the rocks below. My heart banged in my chest. I could actually feel a breeze as the motion of their wings stirred the stagnant air of the basement temple, the foul odor of death growing stronger in my nose. But at least I wasn’t alone, I reminded myself. I had three Wildcats by my side, and that was all I needed.

  It’s time for payback! I charged into the flock of birds, my claws slashing as I went. The eagles flapped their massive wings in Lin’s face, knocking her to the ground, but she quickly regrouped, grabbing up the broken wires in her mouth and flinging them at the birds. A frayed edge pierced one of the birds in its chest, sending it reeling to the floor, and Ana finished it off with one powerful chomp.

  In answer, three eagles attacked at once, sinking their talons deep into Ana’s leg and pecking bloody welts into her thigh. She roared, rolling over and crushing them under her weight. Nice! I’d have to remember that move. Still, for every eagle we brought down, three more showed up, and all of us were already bleeding from patches where tufts of fur had been ripped out.

  We have to get out of here! Ana yelled.

  But we couldn’t. At the foot of the stairs perched four of the largest eagles I’d ever seen, blocking the only exit. It must have been their job to make sure we couldn’t run away.

  I looked around, thinking furiously. There was no water here like in the gym . . . but there was fire. I looked at the throne where Anubis had sat watching me. It was almost the only thing in the temple that wasn’t made of bones. The throne itself was made of dark wood—flammable dark wood. I reached deep into myself and dredged up the last drops of energy I could find. Ana, help me!

  I led the way over to the throne and crouched behind it. Ana joined me. Smash it, I said. We need kindling. Catching on right away, Ana placed her strong paws on the back the chair. Together we rocked it back and forth until it tumbled from its perch and splintered apart, breaking into several pieces.

  We pulled the pieces to a space near one of the torches on the wall. I jumped up and knocked the torch out of place. It landed right in the middle of the remains of the throne. The blaze grew fast, licking at the walls. We ran back to the cage, where Lin and Doli were still fighting. The eagles had gained the upper hand—upper wing?—and immediately talons aimed for our faces. I closed my eyes and batted them away. The best defense is a good offense, I thought. I leaped forward and galloped through the crowd of birds. Finally a few of them winged back to avoid the crush of my teeth—and flew right into the flames. Those few were all I needed.

  When they felt the fire catch on their wings, they panicked and flew into the thick of the other birds, trying to beat out the flames. But all it did was spread the fire. In minutes, eagles were screeching in pain and the fire was spreading, smoke and the smell of singed feathers filling the underground chamber.

  Now! Let’s go! I yelled. We clambered over the bones covering the floor and found the steps. We ran up the stairs to the small room with the statue of Shiva, but we stopped short when we reached the top. A man sat in front of the statue. His head was bowed, and his hands were palms-up on his folded legs, his middle fingers touching the tips of his thumbs. We all exchanged puzzled looks.

  Is he a tourist? I asked.

  Looks like he’s meditating, but if he doesn’t get out of here, he’s going to get himself killed, Doli stated matter-of-factly.

  I crept closer, trying to get a better look. When I bent my neck and caught a glimpse of the man’s peaceful smile and closed eyes, I jumped in shock, my tale swishing. It’s the tea seller from the market!

  Ana, do you think he followed us here? Doli wondered.

  I don’t know, she said. But he was kind to us. We can’t just leave him. He’s in danger here.

  Then let’s scare him so bad, he’ll go screaming like that guard did. Lin got right in the old man’s face and let out a terrifying growl. But the man didn’t move a muscle.

  Maybe he’s deaf, Ana guessed. He won’t move.

  Doli shook her head. Or maybe he’s in some really deep meditation. Hey, let’s put the broken gate over the hole in the floor. It’ll slow down any surviving eagles or . . .

  She started toward the broken remnants of the gate, all of us following behind, but she stopped dead in her tracks. The twisted scraps of metal had suddenly sprung from the floor, straightening and snapping back into position, reforming into the gate before our eyes. I heard Lin roar in frustration, but the sound only seemed to bounce off the gate and echo meekly back, like the metal had absorbed the brunt of its volume. No one will be able to hear us roar, no one will be able to hear us scream, I thought.

  Then Anubis materialized out of thin air, glaring at us from in front of the soundproof gate. That was freaky enough. Even scarier, he looked just past us, and his face contorted in fear. We couldn’t help it—we turned to see what was freaking out the Egyptian death god.

  There, in front of the statue of Shiva, where the tea seller had been a second before, now sat a man with light blue skin and four arms.

  I didn’t know much about Hindu gods, but this one . . . I’d have bet my life on it. He was a god of protection. What was his name? It was on the tip of my tongue. . . .

  Vishnu!

  chapter 17

  Ana

  INSTEAD OF RAISING HIS STAFF and shooting out fireworks of magical energy, Anubis puffed up his chest and started chanting in some ancient language that practically dripped with evil. It jabbed into my ears like knives. I let out a whimper and dropped to the ground, desperately trying to cover my ears with my paws.

  Vishnu started chanting too. If Anubis’s words were knives, Vishnu’s were a salve, soothing the pain. But Anubis raised his voice higher, and the poisonous words tumbled out faster, taking on the buzzing quality of a hive of angry wasps. When his chanting reached a fever pitch, he raised his staff and shot a bolt of energy—right at Doli! This time Ms. Benitez wasn’t there to leap in the way and take the blast. The full force slammed into Doli’s chest and knocked her to the ground. We opened our mouths and let out a chorus of bone-shaking roars. Too late, I realized that Shani had roared too.

  Shani, no! I tried, but already Anubis had begun to laugh in triumph. Lin
, Doli, and I had freed his prisoner, but he had still gotten the roar he wanted. I looked around with wild eyes as the chamber filled with an unnatural glow. The statue of Shiva was pulsing with a greenish-blue light, and its eyes slowly slid open. The statue was coming to life!

  Shiva stretched his arm out, his palm facing us, and conjured a wall of light that sent us all flying across the room. The force pushed all the air out of my lungs, leaving me gasping for breath like a fish out of water. My chest burned, but I couldn’t decide if the feeling came from the inside or out. We crashed to the floor near Doli, who had been knocked unconscious, our bones slamming painfully into the hard stone.

  Lin groaned. How are we supposed to fight that?

  I . . . I’m not sure we can, I answered. I felt my hope ebbing away.

  Grinning down at us, Anubis called out, “Good-bye, Wildcats.” He raised his staff and aimed it right at us. There was nowhere left to run. All we could do was pile in front of Doli to protect her as best we could and wait for our inevitable fate. The staff let out its stream of hot red light, but just before it reached us, it curved and bounced away from us—as if it had hit some invisible force field! I glanced over and saw that Vishnu was holding all four of his arms over us, creating a sky-blue dome of protection all around us.

  I stared at Vishnu in amazement. Why are you helping us?

  Like Ixchel, he could hear my thoughts, and he responded in kind, his voice seeming to come from all around me but also from inside me. I am Vishnu, he said, the god of protection. I cannot help you in your fight, but I will do what I can to protect you. As he spoke, two more blasts ricocheted off the dome and shot across the room, shattering a window.

  “Stay out of this, Vishnu,” Anubis barked. He changed the angle of his staff, aiming it directly at our only ally. The blast hit Vishnu’s back, and for a moment the dome flickered and disappeared. Shiva took the opportunity to shoot searing bolts of magical heat at us. One of them grazed me and singed the hair on my neck. Another hit Shani square on the shoulder and burned the hair away, leaving a hot red scar, bubbling like boiling water. She roared, this time in pain. Quickly Vishnu recreated the dome and said, Do not worry yourselves. The burn will heal.

  How do you know? I asked.

  She, too, drank the tea. But its healing properties will not last forever.

  The tea! That was why he had been so insistent that we drink it. He had known we were heading into a battle and would need a little extra protection. Maybe that meant Doli wouldn’t end up in a coma like Ms. Benitez had. I looked around, trying to find a way out. But the newly restored gate blocked our escape back into the main room of the temple, and smoke rose in thick plumes from the hole in the floor. Run if you can, fight if you must, Uncle Mec’s voice sounded in my head. Well, there was nowhere to run, so that left only one option.

  Anubis and Shiva were both good at using magic against us from far away, but how would they be close up? Vishnu, can you cover us until we get right next to Anubis?

  Yes, but you must hurry.

  Lin, let’s go remind Anubis why he’s afraid of us!

  Right behind you, Ana.

  Together we crept close to Anubis, protected by Vishnu’s dome. Then at the last minute, I yelled, Now, Vishnu! and the protective veil fell back to cover only Shani and Doli. Lin and I each roared and swept out with our claws, hooking into Anubis’s legs. He screamed in surprise and fell to his back. Without skipping a beat, Lin pounced on top of his chest while I slashed his legs. But before we could do anything else, Shiva shot a white-hot beam of light at us that sent us scrabbling back to the dome, ducking for cover.

  Anubis got to his clawed feet and brushed himself, barely a scratch on him. Then he lifted his arms up in victory and shouted, “Your efforts are in vain. As you can see, Shiva’s joining the brotherhood will change everything. He is the destroyer of worlds!” As if just hearing his name was his cue to destroy something, Shiva lifted his palm and shot out a pulse of light, and a huge section of the wall exploded into a heap of dust and rubble. “Destroying the world so we can remake it in our own evil image is exactly what the Brotherhood wants to do,” Anubis went on. “It is a partnership made in hell!”

  Then a new batch of eagles flew in through the shattered window, fresh and ready to fight. I counted about nine of them. Anubis turned his red-eyed glare on us. “Your time is up, Wildcats.” He shot one devastating blast at Vishnu, who went flying and collapsed against the wall. The dome evaporated like steam.

  The eagles descended, swooping by and gouging us with their talons as they passed. Blood—mine, I think—spattered across the floor. Shani tried to bat the evil birds, but her shoulder was not yet fully healed, and the motion made her wince in pain. Beside me, Doli’s eyes fluttered open. What’s going on? she asked, struggling to her feet.

  We’re getting our butts kicked, that’s what, Shani replied.

  Then let’s retreat, Doli said sensibly.

  There’s nowhere to go! I cried. Even the windows the eagle spirits had entered through were too high for us to reach, Wildcat or no.

  Doli looked around the room and nodded her head toward the hole in the floor. There! The small fire we’d set had turned into a raging inferno downstairs, and flames were now shooting up through the hole, licking at the ceiling of the chamber and creating a protective wall of fire. We’d been so focused on the battle at hand that we hadn’t noticed. The eagles won’t go near the fire. And Anubis and Shiva won’t be able to see us, Doli said.

  Good thinking. Let’s go! I took off running and skidded to a stop behind the wall of flame. A bolt of angry white light collided with the fiery wall, and a burst of flame lashed out where the bolt had impacted. Soon all four of us were there, panting and licking at our wounds.

  What are we going to do? Lin screamed. We’re outnumbered.

  She was right. We had to find a way to at least take the eagles out. But how? Nothing we had used to defeat them before would help us now. Here there were no water sprinklers, and the eagles had learned their lesson about fire. They wouldn’t go near it again. Still, there weren’t that many of them this time.

  Why aren’t they multiplying like they did before? I wondered.

  Maybe the temple was the source of their power, Lin offered, and now that that place is toast—she nodded to the flames shooting out of the hole—they can’t multiply anymore.

  That means we have a chance! Shani cried. What we need is a diversion. If one of us distracts Anubis and Shiva, the other three of us could take on the eagles and win.

  Okay, but who would be crazy enough to do that? It’s beyond dangerous, Doli said.

  I heard another bolt of energy hit the wall of fire, a harsh crackling sound that echoed around the chamber as the flames briefly flickered, before returning to full power. Shani looked into the fire, the red and orange flames reflected in her large eyes. I’ll do it, she said.

  What? No! You can’t. Doli shook her head. You’ve already sacrificed enough.

  Which means I have the least to lose, Shani said, her eyes glassy with tears.

  I moved toward her. No, Shani. You already got kicked out of school for protecting us. I hung my head in shame. I’m so sorry about that. I’m so sorry we didn’t come forward and stand up for you.

  Shani shook her head at me. No, don’t apologize. What happened may not have been all my fault, but I was no innocent bystander. I’m the one who got myself kicked out of three boarding schools before I even got to Temple. I’m the one who refused to stop hacking—even when a good friend told me not to. She glanced at Doli, who pawed at the ground. Being part of the Hunters is the first time I’ve used my head to help people. If I don’t make it, I’ll feel good knowing I died doing the right thing.

  My eyes blurred with tears, but Lin stepped forward, so she was nose to nose with Shani, and said, That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard! You actually think leaving us short another Hunter when we still have a bunch of Chaos Spirits to hunt would be helping
us? And you think we’re going to stand by and watch our friend go on a suicide mission alone? Did you completely lose your mind while you’ve been away? If that’s what happens when we separate, maybe we should make a pact to never let that happen again. Obviously it scrambled your brains.

  Shani’s eyes softened for a moment. As sarcastic as Lin was, we all knew what she was really saying was, We love you.

  The crackling noises of the blasts’ impacts were getting louder and more frequent, fireballs now bursting from the flames above our heads every few moments. Suddenly Shani’s whole body seemed to fill with steely resolve. There’s no time for this, she said. Good luck, guys.

  She leaped over the flame in one smooth motion and ran straight for Anubis.

  NO! I yelled. I leaped after her and lunged, and landed on her back, toppling her to the side.

  Anubis smiled. “The Wildcats are fighting one another? Well, this is a pleasant surprise.”

  Get off me, Ana. What are you doing? Shani shouted.

  This, I said. I got to my feet, and before Shani could stop me, I ran the rest of the way to Anubis. I felt almost as if I were running in slow motion. With every step, I thought about the fact that I still didn’t know where Uncle Mec and Aunt Teppy were, and I was sure he did. Maybe he was even holding them hostage somewhere, like he had Shani. The anger that seeped into my chest at the thought of him hurting my family—the only family I had left—burned hotter than the flames consuming the underground temple. With a rage-filled growl, I sprang at him.

  Anubis raised his arms, trying to protect his hideous face, but I clawed at his left arm, forcing it down. In his right he still held his staff, and he fumbled with it then, trying to aim it in my direction. I refused to let him get off that easily. I rose on my hind legs and clamped down on his elbow, sinking my fangs into his dark flesh. I instantly recoiled, tasting the bitterness of rot and death touch my tongue. And as I backed away, I saw that the arm I had bitten was unharmed. My jaws hadn’t made a mark on him. Anubis followed my gaze and laughed, which only made me more furious. I charged again, this time leaping into the air, firing my full weight at his chest. He went down easily, his staff clattering to the ground. I climbed on top of him. Behind me I could hear the eagles’ death cries as the other Wildcats brought them down. But I didn’t look at them. I stared straight into Anubis’s eyes. I wanted him to know who had defeated him before I grabbed his head in my jaws and ripped it right off.