CHAPTER ELEVEN
At breakfast the next morning, we all sat at the long table that ran directly down the center of the big kitchen, with Lyssa, Damian, Matt, and I at one end. We pretty much kept to ourselves. It was hard to get to know the other shifters, who lived in two big log cabin-style buildings at the back of the property. They were always taking their turns at guard duty, so when it came to meals, we sat at the table with a totally different configuration of people all the time. But this morning, I couldn’t help but notice the guy I had seen in the kitchen the night before. He was sitting across the table near the other end.
I watched him curiously as he tucked his hair behind one ear. He was very tan and was clearly Mayan or from some other Native American tribe. He was definitely tall, maybe a couple of inches taller than Matt, who was 6-1. I was wondering if he had overheard my conversation with Grandma the night before. Was I paranoid? He seemed much less threatening in daylight, but when he looked up and caught me looking at him, I quickly put my head down and grabbed my orange juice and took a long drink. When I looked back up, though, he was still staring at me. Whatever, I thought. I could appreciate that he was here to help, but he seriously needed to learn some manners. I looked at Matt, who was sitting to my right. He was looking directly at the guy.
After breakfast, boot camp started. Adriana led me down the hallway and through the room she shared with Richard. I was surprised to see that there was a sunroom off their bedroom. It was at the back of the house, so I hadn’t noticed it yet. The room was all windows except for the ceiling, and it was air conditioned so it was as comfortable as the rest of the house. And the view! It was beyond beautiful. There was a huge garden to the right where the most lovely irises, orchids, and plumeria grew, surrounded by guava, papaya, lemon, and orange trees.
“What kind of trees are the ones with the bright yellow flowers?” I asked Adriana.
“Those are called lluvia de oro. In English it means ‘rain of gold.’ But I think people call them golden shower trees.”
“I like the Spanish better,” I said, surprising myself.
“Me, too,” she agreed. “Well, I thought this would be the best place for us to work. It’s secluded, away from all the comings and goings of the rest of the house. And being surrounded by nature can often help us to connect to it. Now we’ve worked on some centering and meditation. The idea is that you need to learn to calm your inner noise, your thoughts, so that you can recognize the k’ul that flows through your body. Once you can do that, you will learn how to build power and use it.”
“That will stop it from going all wonky?”
“That and so much more, I promise. Today we’re going to work on grounding. It’s important to stay balanced so you stay in control. But first I want to explain portals.”
“Portals?” Why did that sound familiar?
“Yes. When you activate a portal, you create a space that is sacred. That sacred space lets you pass into the celestial realm. That realm is where your personal nagual exists. Each time you phase, you are actually calling the spirit of your nagual through a portal so that it can share its power with you. Shifters have enough k’ul to be able to do that at will. Maya, you have an incredible amount of k’ul. I believe that you will be able to summon and use a portal or possibly even multiple portals any time you wish.”
“Really?” I was stunned. It finally came to me when I had heard about portals before. Grandma had mentioned them. But hadn’t she said that even the Elders needed to use ritual to open them?
“Wouldn’t I need to use a ritual to use a portal for something other than phasing?” I asked.
“That’s the traditional way to open one, but you will be able to do it without any ritual at all.”
“How do you know that?”
“I believe the portals are the source of your visions. They’re also what allowed you to be able to see and hear me talking to Richard yesterday. I think you’ve been opening portals without even realizing it. First, you learn how to harness your k’ul and open and close these portals at will. Once you can do that, you’ll be ready for what you’ll need to do on the day of the winter solstice.”
“The last day of the Mayan calendar.” I suddenly felt my stomach starting to churn.
“Exactly. You know, I’m picking up on a lot of stress coming from you. Let’s just forget about the solstice and focus on the task at hand, okay? I know that it’s scary, Maya, but once you get things under control, I think you’ll feel better.”
Maybe Adriana was right. I prayed she was right.
“Let’s start working on grounding. First, stand perfectly still. Don’t slouch. Stand up to your full height, like there’s a marionette string attached to the top of your head and holding you up.”
I straightened up. “Like this?”
“That’s perfect. Now close your eyes. Notice your breath as you breathe in clean air and breathe out what your body no longer needs. As you breathe in, visualize the air going down through your body, down your legs, and out through the bottoms of your feet. Imagine it connecting you to the earth and all the life that the soil contains. Continue downward, as though your connection to the earth is in long tendrils, like the roots on your mark. Okay, now imagine that your roots are opening up and allowing the earth’s energy to begin to move through them. Let it come up through your roots, entering your legs. Follow it through your torso and up into your arms. Can you feel it?”
Could I feel it? I was positively vibrating. And it was collecting in me, stronger by the second. “Uh, Adriana, how much should I be feeling this?” I asked.
“It should feel like a gentle thrumming.”
Gentle? Not so much. I was totally suffused with power. The feeling was most intense in my hands. Without thinking, I opened my eyes and looked at them. They were glowing.
“Uhh…Adriana,” I said, my voice filled with panic.
Adriana opened her eyes and looked at me. “Okay, I want you to lie down on the floor. Quickly. Put your body in contact with the ground as much as possible. Let any extra energy go back into the earth.”
I got down on my stomach and put my head down, my cheek against the floor. I watched as my hands slowly returned to normal and the pressure inside me calmed. After a couple of minutes, Adriana told me that I could sit up normally. I sighed with relief.
“Was that supposed to happen?”
“I’ve never seen it happen before,” she said, “but clearly you are capable of harnessing an amazing amount of energy.”
“Is there such a thing as too much k’ul?” I asked.
“There is, yes. Too much k’ul can be harmful, especially if you’re out of balance. But you weren’t, Maya. You were completely grounded. Clearly, you are strong enough to contain it.”
“What would have happened if I hadn’t sent it back down into the earth?”
“If you knew how to control it, you could use it. But you’re not there yet. Now that you’ve let go of the extra energy, can you feel a gentle thrum in your body?”
“Oh, yeah,” I said.
“Okay. Cross your legs and focus. Follow your breathing.”
I followed my breath as it passed in and out of my body. Slowly, my mind cleared.
“Tell me what you see,” Adriana said.
“I see…Matt. He’s over by the eastern wall. He’s talking to that shifter with the long dark hair.”
“Cesar? What are they saying?”
I let myself go deeper into the vision. They were…arguing.
“You heard me, Matt was saying. I wanna know what your deal is with Maya. You were staring at her at breakfast, and it’s not the first time.”
“So because you’re her mate you own her? Is that it?” Cesar answered in accented English.
“No, I don’t own her. But if you’re doing something that I don’t like, I’m sure as hell gonna let you know.”
“And what exactly do you think is going on?” Cesar asked.
“I’ve seen you watching he
r and I wanna know why,” Matt repeated.
“Is this a joke? So I looked at your mate. What are you going to do, gouge my eyes out?”
“Damn right!”
I could sense the energy coming off of him. “Oh, my God,” I exclaimed. “He’s gonna phase!” I ran to the porch door and pushed through it, then dashed in the direction of the eastern wall. I ran around the corner just in time to see Matt become Gray Wolf.
“No!” I yelled. Too late. Cesar phased into a Kodiak bear. I felt a sudden surge of power inside me and I watched in disbelief as the two huge animals flew apart in opposite directions. They landed on their sides and phased back, looking confused and disoriented. I stopped cold, watching as they slowly stood up.
“Maya, are you all right?” Adriana came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder.
“Did you see…I just….” What just happened?
“I know, honey, I saw it. You still had a lot of energy in you.”
“But how did I…?” I just stood there. A moment later, Matt came up to us and startled me out of my thoughts. I looked up at him. His eyes searched mine, looking for some kind of explanation. But I didn’t have one. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know who I was anymore.
“My, what happened?” he asked. “Are you okay?”
“I guess I saw you two phase and…I just, I panicked.”
“Did you—?” He turned to face Adriana. “Did she?”
“Yes,” Adriana answered. “We were working, and she had a vision of you two arguing, and she ran out here and stopped you.”
“Jesus, My, I’m so sorry. Look, I shouldn’t have lost it back there. But there’s something going on with that guy.”
“Cesar?” Adriana asked. “How so?”
“I don’t know. He stares at her all the time. He watches her. Something’s not right.”
“Matt, you’re going to have to deal with people looking at her. I know your protective instincts are stronger than a human’s, but you can’t phase every time someone gives her a glance.”
“That’s not it,” Matt said.
“Look,” Adriana said, “Cesar has been with us for almost five years. I appreciate you looking out for her, Matt, I really do. But Cesar can be trusted. I promise.”
“Okay, fine,” he answered. He turned and walked away toward the house.
Adriana put an arm around my shoulders and walked me back to the sunroom. “I’m sure you’d like to talk to Matt,” she said. “I just wanted to explain to you how that whole thing probably happened.”
“I threw them apart! Two huge animals and I threw them apart like they weighed nothing, like toys. How could I do that?”
“Well, actually, you didn’t.”
“What?”
“You didn’t physically push them. You opened two different portals and sent each of them through a few feet.”
WTF? “I did?”
“You did.”
“Huh.”
She smiled at me. “Now, why don’t you take a break? We can work some more after lunch.”
I walked back into the house, cutting through Adriana’s bedroom again, then looked in on the twins. They were in Damian’s room with Richard, working on their telepathy. I turned and quietly opened the door to my and Matt’s room. He was sitting with his back to me on his side of the bed. As I watched, he leaned forward on his elbows, rubbing the stubble on his unshaven face as if deep in thought. I closed the door behind me with a quiet snick.
“Matt? Are you okay?” I whispered.
He turned his head. “Yeah. I was just thinking. Come here.”
I walked over and sat down next to him. I stared at the floor, wondering what he could be thinking about me and this newest display of my freakish powers. I could feel a massive stress headache coming on. I rubbed my temples.
“Are you okay?” he asked, putting an arm around me.
“I guess.”
“That was pretty incredible, what you did out there.”
All I could do was shake my head. “It may be incredible, but it’s not normal, Matt.”
“Come on, don’t do that.”
“My hands were glowing—for real—while I was working with Adriana.”
“Okay, so you can manipulate mind-blowing amounts of energy. We knew that. That’s why we’re here, babe.”
“Yeah.”
He straightened up. “Look, I need to ask you something. Have you noticed Cesar looking at you or doing anything…unusual?”
“I saw him looking at me at breakfast.”
“Anything else?”
“I don’t think—oh, wait.” I thought for a minute. “I saw him in the kitchen last night. I couldn’t sleep, so I went out to the living room to call Grandma. I saw him in the kitchen after I hung up.”
“Do you think he was listening to your conversation?”
“I don’t know, maybe, I’m not sure when he got there. Matt, what’s going on?”
“I have an idea,” he said. “You’re not gonna be real psyched about it.”
My stomach gave me its usual jolt. “What is it?”
“I know we agreed that I wouldn’t do any guard duty, but I think I’ll be able to keep a better eye on him and find out more if I get in with the rest of the shifters.”
I exhaled. “You really think it’s that important?”
“Yeah. I do. And if I could think of another way of dealing with it, I would do it, you know that.”
“I know,” I said, laying my hand against his cheek. “Just be careful, okay?”
“I will. I promise you,” he said.
“Okay. I guess that’s all I can ask.” Man, I desperately needed to clear my head. “Let’s go see what the twins are up to and give them an update.”
We went across the hall and found the twins in Lyssa’s room, watching a telenovela on Mexican TV.
“That’s a sad, sad replacement for Glee,” I said, shaking my head in mock disgust.
“Whatever,” Lyssa said. “I’m going through withdrawal. I’ll do what I gotta do to get my fix.”
“It does have a somewhat addictive quality to it,” Damian agreed.
“Oh, please,” I said.
“So, guys, how’s the telepathy going?” Matt asked.
Damian looked at his sister, then at Matt. “Well, the good news is Lyssa can bug the hell outta me from really far away now.”
“The bad news is that learning how to put up our mental walls and get some privacy totally blows,” Lyssa added.
“Yeah, it’s really hard,” Damian said.
“There’s no friggin’ way we’re gonna figure it out in this lifetime.”
“Listen,” I said, “Matt and I need to talk to you guys about something.”
Lyssa popped some gum into her mouth. “Shoot,” she said.
Matt quietly shut the door and sat down on the bed next to me. “I think we’ve got an issue with one of the shifters,” he said in a low voice. “Do you guys know who Cesar is?”
“Tall, dark, and hottie?” Lyssa asked.
“Shoulder length hair,” Damian added.
“Yep. Well, I think something’s up with him. I’ve caught him watching Maya a lot,” Matt said.
“Okaaaay. What if he’s just checking her out?” Lyssa asked.
Matt shook his head. “I don’t think it’s that kind of watching. If it was, I wouldn’t be concerned. I think it’s something else.”
“Like what?” I asked.
“I wish I knew.”
Jaguar Sun (Jaguar Sun Series Book 1) Page 18