Ancient (#5 Destroyers Series)

by Holly Hook

  Paul took deep breath after deep breath. The monster slowly retreated back into its cave. This wasn't really Huracan's fault. Well, it was back in the beginning, but he was starting to forget who really had caused all of this, and her name started with A.

  The ripples of bluish-gray on the ground shifted and rose.

  Huracan was sitting up.

  He muttered something Paul had no hope of understanding. It was a language that had never met his ears before. From his years of travel he knew he could recognize Spanish. This definitely wasn't it.

  The god froze on the ground, sitting up. Paul guessed that he was looking around at everyone, taking in the scene. Was this the first thing he had laid eyes on in over five hundred years? He had to be confused.

  "This might not be as easy as we thought," Gary said in a low voice.

  Huracan said something again. The words might as well have been Martian.

  "He doesn't speak English," Sophia said from somewhere to Paul's left.

  "Of course he doesn't," Gary said in a why-didn't-I-think-of-that tone. "He probably knows Mayan and whatever other languages people spoke back then. If we're lucky he might know some really old Spanish. You know, from when the Mayan civilization ended."

  "Manuel," Janelle said from the other side of the grayish-blue ripples. "He's not going to like this."

  Paul swallowed. He might have a while to wait until he could ask for Leslie's salvation. And judging from the dark clouds moving overhead and blocking out the last of the stars, a while might be too late.

  * * * * *

  Janelle wasn't sure Manuel let them board the van when he spotted who they had in tow, but she had to take the risk. If Huracan did know any Spanish at all, he was the only one who could help them.

  At least it was easy to get the confused god to follow them. She waved everyone along as she traced a path back to the trail and the city. It was slow work, since the guards still stood out by the cenote in a big group, evidently trying to figure out what had spewed all the water out of it. It would keep them occupied until they got out of Chichen Itza, at least.

  Nobody spoke. The stars had gone now, and the only sign Janelle had the others were still right behind her were snaps of twigs and the bluish-gray glow, in the outline of a man, following. It brought back too many bad memories. Andrina had that same glow in the dark. The same electric aura. Huracan could paralyze everyone except for Kenna and Sophia and vaporize them for waking him up from his nap.

  But if he wanted to, he would have by now. Wouldn't he?

  The lights of the pyramid shone through the trees ahead, and Janelle broke through the underbrush after making sure no guards patrolled around. The atmosphere remained quiet.

  She turned, heart racing as she watched the others come out into the light. She hadn't actually seen the storm god until now.

  Huracan stepped out of the trees, batting a branch out of the way as if it were a fly buzzing around his head.

  And yet he looked…almost normal.

  Well, except for the man-skirt, the layers and layers of necklaces that threatened to break his neck, and the headdress that was tipped on his head. Its feathers dripped water onto the ground next to him, which Leslie and Paul were making a show of staying away from. His glow had vanished in the light, leaving him a guy around thirty just wearing a period costume. He had a face that not too many women would have swooned over--a bit pointy and a little too tan under the eyes. Janelle blinked.

  Then she saw his eyes themselves, which blew all notions of normal away.

  Grayish-blue, swirling with the same storm that filled Andrina's.

  And he was staring right at her.

  Huracan strode up, the limp and sleep gone from his limbs. Janelle leapt back. This was a bad idea. She never should have woken him up. Now he was going to--

  "Move!" Gary leapt out, but too late.

  Huracan grabbed her left sleeve, pulling her closer. Janelle tried to pull back, but her shirt might as well be caught in the jaws of a shark. The god flipped up the fabric, revealing her gray spiral on her upper arm.

  Her Tempest mark.

  Janelle let out a breath and waited. The cool night air rested on it as he stared. Recognition stole over the god's face as he looked up at her, only to be replaced by a silent question: why?

  Why did you wake me up?

  The sky felt very huge above her all of a sudden as a steady, light rain began to fall.

  "Come on," she said, waving him towards the gate and the hole in the fence.

  * * * * *

  Manuel got out of the van and rubbed his eyes when Janelle approached, pulling the storm god along with one arm and shielding her face from the growing rainstorm with the other.

  Gary ran on the other side of her, shooting her every wide-eyed stare that he could. She could see the words forming in front of him. Let him go, Janelle. We know what he can do to us all. But the relief was there, too, the relief that she wouldn't have to go goddess and do the dirty work after all. It was there in the way he ran and the way that his back had lost its hunch, like he'd shed an anvil he'd been carrying on his back.

  "Who…what?" Manuel stuttered more than Porky Pig as he leaned against the van. His black hair stuck to the sides of his head in the rain. "Is that--"

  "Yes," Gary answered first. He never wasted any time.

  "You might be able to translate for us," Janelle added.

  "Are we going to have enough room in the van?" Kenna's voice shot through the rain pouring down all around them. Her urge to get out of it was obvious.

  "We have to," Janelle said. She dropped her hand from her face and fished through her pockets for another hundred or two. Manuel deserved it for all they were putting him through tonight. "I think we'll be safe. We just need to talk to him and explain what's going on. Please."

  Manuel swallowed and waved everyone towards the van.

  "That's the closest thing we're getting to a yes," Janelle said, opening her door.

  * * * * *

  If the tension Janelle had coming here was bad, this was ten times worse.

  Mainly because she and Gary had the honor of sitting next to the storm god in the back of the van.

  The other ten percent of her nerves was mostly because the steady rain had turned into a soft roar on the roof of the van, which meant that a certain storm goddess could appear at any second. They weren't ready for that yet.

  Huracan didn't say much for the first half of the ride. He spent much of his time taking in as much of the inside of the van as he could, running his hand across the back of Leslie's seat and looking back and forth between the floor and the moving landscape outside. Of course, he'd been asleep for over five hundred years. Cars were new and fascinating.

  Paul kept the van's cabin light on, probably to hide the grayish-blue glow that Huracan gave off whenever he was in total darkness. Janelle was glad for it. Too many bad memories lurked in that glow.

  Halfway through the ride home, Huracan gave up checking out the van and settled back into his seat, arms folded on his lap. It was time to start the dreaded conversation. Their plea for help. If Elise had been right back in Mobley and Huracan was a god consumed by power, playing the jealousy card was probably the best way to go. He wouldn't like that another was taking his place and pushing him farther out of the minds of the world.

  Sucking up might not hurt, either, as much as she hated to do it.

  "Manuel, can you translate into Spanish for us?"

  "Are you sure he's not going to kill the messenger?" he asked. The man's nerves rolled off him in waves, adding to the electric sensation in the car.

  "Sure," she said. "I'll be careful."

  This was provided Huracan knew any Spanish. The chances of that might only be fifty-fifty. Finding someone who knew Mayan would be quite a bit harder.

  Janelle tapped the god's shoulder. "We woke you up because we need your help."

  Manuel hesitated for a second, then translated.

  S
he watched Huracan's face light up with some recognition. He twisted his features for a second, trying to work it all out in his head, and responded in what Janelle recognized as Spanish.

  Bingo.

  Manuel's shoulders relaxed and slumped. "He says he knew it must be important if both of his children have joined to wake him up," he translated.

  Both of his children. Huracan meant the Tempests and the Outbreakers.

  Janelle sucked in a breath. Buttering him up was going to be vital here. "Everything you made a long time ago is being ripped apart by a new goddess," she explained. "She is--"

  Thunk.

  Something heavy landed on the roof above.

  Manuel slammed on the brakes. Sophia screamed and ducked lower in her seat. The van swerved on the wet road, but Manuel regained control and punched the gas again. Another, softer thunk sounded farther back on the van, right above Janelle's head.

  "Go!" she yelled, undoing her seat belt and standing up. "She's here."

  Chapter Ten

  Kenna jumped at the second thunk.

  The entire van exploded in noise. Kenna whirled around to face Janelle, Gary, and Huracan in the back seat. Janelle stood up, barely balancing. Manuel hit the accelerator harder. Gary and Huracan stared up at the ceiling.

  There was a dent in it now as if a gargoyle with claws had landed on top of it.

  Andrina. The presence of Huracan hadn't kept her away after all.

  The storm god squinted at the dent as the van's engine whined higher and higher. He looked at everyone in turn, waiting for an answer.

  That was going to come later. They had an insane goddess to hold off first.

  "Sit down," she ordered Janelle, undoing her own belt and climbing into the back. Kenna nearly tripped on peoples' feet as Gary stood to let her through. In the jam, he pushed Janelle towards the front, as far as he could get her from Andrina. Janelle tripped over Kenna's feet and went sprawling towards Paul and Leslie.

  That was close enough. She was out of the way. That fiery monster rose inside her again, and this time there was no stopping it. Kenna was done being the useless one, always soaked by water and wrapped in a blanket or carried around by the others. It was time to face Andrina again, because getting everyone out of here using fire travel wasn't an option. Not in this rain, anyway.

  "Janelle…"

  That awful, thunderous voice echoed above them. It didn't even sound like a woman anymore. It sounded like the world's biggest thunderstorm had grown a voice box.

  "Stay down!" Gary ordered. Janelle muttered something that got lost in a tirade of swearing from Paul and Manuel.

  Huracan faced Kenna, nodded, and looked back up at the ceiling as he stood and crouched to avoid hitting his head. Kenna could guess what he meant. He wanted some backup.

  She'd be happy to give it.

  The screech of metal ripping open filled the van. Kenna resisted the urge to cover her ears. Rain poured in, soaking the carpet. She pressed against the back of Paul's seat. More water. Of course. But she had to stop letting this hold her back. If she was supposed to be a fire goddess, so be it.

  She dug in her pocket for her lighter. Don't leave home without it, she thought.

  A face came down through the opening.

  Sophia screamed again.

  It was a woman's face, blond hair wild and flying. The gray and blue in her eyes spun with enough rage to destroy the world. Her face had so many anger lines and deep canyons that Kenna felt certain at that moment that Andrina had crossed the line to full insanity.

  "Janelle!" she called again. The rain intensified, echoing her name.

  "Faster!" Janelle ordered Manuel, followed by an apology.

  Kenna fumbled with her lighter, keeping it out of the water as much as she could. The rain blasted onto her skin. The numbing effects of it crawled up her left arm. She couldn't stop or back down now.

  Huracan shouted something up at Andrina and shot Kenna another confused look. He blinked a couple of times, unaffected by the rain, comprehension coming over his features.

  Andrina returned his stare, mouth falling open.

  The lighter sprang to life. Kenna rubbed her finger over the flame, taking in its dry warmth, teasing it higher and higher. Its light filled the back of the van and reflected off Huracan's arm. He tensed, staring up at the hole in the ceiling. Doing her best to avoid the seats, Kenna willed the fire upwards towards Andrina's face.

  At the same time, a blast of wind shot upwards.

  A terrific whoosh of fire and wind shot up through the opening like a mini explosion.

  A scream followed with another thud.

  The flame and the wind died. The hole on the top of the van was an empty hole into rain and night.

  "She's gone," Kenna breathed, sagging against the back of Paul's now-empty seat. "He helped us. We blasted her right off the top of the van!"

  Huracan let his arms slap to his sides and said something in Spanish again, but Manuel was too absorbed in driving to hear it. The poor man still had his foot mashed to the accelerator and didn't slow down even as they ran over a puddle and started to hydroplane. Kenna fell into a seat. The van righted itself. Paul hugged Leslie tighter as they crouched low in the middle. Sophia had her head down on the other side of another seat, the top of her black hair barely visible.

  "Keep going," Janelle begged from Gary's arms. Even she was breaking down at the sight of her biological mother. "Please. Don't stop. She won't give up that easily. I swear she--"

  Thunk.

  The roof in the middle of the van caved in.

  Kenna had no time to react before the next metallic ripping sound came.

  Rain poured down, extinguishing the flame of her lighter. A pair of hands grabbed the sleeves of her shirt and pulled her up into the night. Out into the storm. Down below, someone called out her name. Kenna barely heard. Darkness and driving rain became her world. The light of the van below grew more and more distant as she kicked thin air underneath her. Its headlights turned to pinpricks. The road entered her vision, a dark line snaking through the forest.

  Kenna's stomach dropped as she realized.

  She was flying.

  "Always at my daughter's side, aren't you?" Andrina growled in her ear. "How many times have you been in the way now?"

  Kenna couldn't answer. Dizzy panic seized hold with an iron grip. Her head spun as she glimpsed the ground below. The van was only a twin set of headlight beams heading away. Or were they? She couldn't tell. Andrina was carrying her away so fast that it might be an illusion.

  "No answer for me?" the insane goddess asked from above. "Well, let's see. You helped that monster who tried to kill her. You know, the one living in Sophia?"

  Kenna sucked in a breath, closing her eyes to block out their height. "It's not like that anymore," she managed. Her face turned into a numb mask in the rain. Her lips went stupid. She wouldn't break down and beg. Never. It was what Andrina wanted.

  "Some friend you are to Janelle," Andrina growled. "And some goddess you are. Though I must admit, the four eruptions a couple of days ago got a lot of people shaken up. I might still be able to consider letting you join me. We could still make a great team. You, at least, haven't tried to harm my daughter. Not on purpose, anyway." Andrina twisted in midair, making the rain spin around Kenna. She opened her eyes, thrashing in the spinning world, praying she didn't throw up. "If you help me get to her, I might consider it."

  The headlights of the van grew smaller. They were the only speck of light in the dark expanse below. Andrina was toying with her, trying to extract a terrified yes.

  As much as Kenna hated the air, Andrina wasn't going to get it. Betraying her friend was worse than this. Much worse.

  And Andrina had betrayed her before. There was no reason to believe she wouldn't do it again.

  "No," she shouted into the rain. "And you're not much of a mother."

  Andrina let go of one of her sleeves.

  Kenna fell a few inches into the
darkness below. The scream came on its own, cutting into the driving rain and the wind around them. She hung by the fabric of her other sleeve. It would take a tiny motion for Andrina to let go. A sneeze, even.

  She closed her eyes and sealed her lips, holding in another scream. Andrina wouldn't have the satisfaction. You can’t die. Remember that. You can't die. Kenna repeated it like a mantra to herself, over and over until her breathing started to match its slow pace.

  "You said?" Andrina asked above, cutting into her growing calm.

  Kenna forced her eyes back open, reaching for that angry monster inside. She found it, smoldering and ready to pounce. "You heard exactly what I said. Janelle doesn't want anything to do with you. You're nothing but a liar and a fake who betrays people so you can get what you want."

  She braced for the fall that would follow.

  It never came.

  Andrina's voice returned, so low and rumbling that Kenna mistook it for a crack of thunder at first. "Who is that god that you pulled from that pit?"

  It was enough to make the monster whimper and back away, leaving space for the panic and the vertigo to come rushing back. She'd seen them. She'd figured out what they were planning even before they arrived tonight.

  "You know who it is," Kenna responded, trying to sound dangerous. Up here, it didn't work too well. Far to her left, the lights of Chichen Itza glowed, illuminating the pyramid even in the thick rain.

  "Well, I don't think a half-asleep god who doesn't care anymore is going to be much competition," she said. The lack of concern in Andrina's voice was more ominous than any roar or growl. "I'm sure he'll want to go back to sleep any time now. And if by some off chance he wants to stay awake, the world will have even more problems to contend with. Just be glad that you won't be here to see it."

  Wind beat against Kenna. The ground was quickly coming up on them. The pyramid zoomed past. Kenna bent her legs, bracing for the landing, but just as she thought Andrina was going to put her down on the wet ground, she pulled up again, sailing past the tops of the trees. The wet branches slapped at Kenna's jeans, making stripes of pain flare up on her legs even through the numb coating on her skin.