Al fired a volley of crossbow bolts, each one accurately aimed. But Balam stepped aside and all missed. The vampire laughed, the sound echoing through the vaulted chamber, and then he disappeared.
“He’ll never get out,” Al said. “The Federales will shoot him.”
Lorelai snorted. “They’ll never see him. He’s so old, he’ll glamour them or just fly by faster than they can see.”
“We have to go after Jax. We can’t let that monster sacrifice him.”
“Tuco told me of another exit, but we have to swim.”
Targ wobbled out of the tunnel to the altar and collapsed in front of Al. “Where’s Balam?” he gasped.
“He took Jax and went out through the ceiling. I think he plans to sacrifice him.”
Targ rolled onto his back. “Where are the twins?”
“They got away. They’re running through the jungle right now.”
“Thank God.”
“God had nothing to do with it. You saved them, didn’t you?”
“No, it was the light through the two holes in the roof, the moon and some other star. When the two beams combined, the twins shifted. Balam couldn’t step into the light. It burned him.”
“Venus,” Lorelai said. “The light from Venus is sacred to lovers. Because you love Enrique and I love Tuco, they were protected.” She laughed. “How strange. If we’d never met them, Balam could have sacrificed them.” She touched Targ’s shoulder. “Your love saved Rickie.”
“It was a miracle. I knew that when I saw it happen. Now we have to go after Jax.”
“The Federales are waiting. We’ll have to take another exit.”
Targ sat up. “I’m so frigging hungry.”
Al stared at him. “You’ll just have to wait. You’re not biting me.”
Targ turned and looked at Lorelai.
“I’m pregnant. Forget it.”
Targ moaned. “You two swim. I’m going out the front. Dinner is out there and I can’t wait. I need the strength.” He pulled himself to his feet using a large rock and stared out the door. His eyes were red with blood hunger.
Al moved close to Lorelai. “You could turn little and fly after them.”
“I have to show you the water exit. Maybe then. Come on.”
Targ seemed undecided. “You okay?” Al asked.
When Targ turned to look at him, his fangs were out. “I don’t want to kill anyone. I’m just so hungry.”
“Then do it carefully.”
“I hate what I am. I hate needing blood. It’s awful.”
“If it’s going to hinder you, then you need to feed,” Al said thinking how weird it was to give advice to a vampire. “We have to go after Jax.”
Lorelai took his hand. “This way. The way out is in the back of this chamber.”
When Al looked at Targ, he still watched them. “You going or coming with us?”
Targ cast one last lingering look at the front entrance and joined them. “I’ll just have to wait.”
Lorelai led them to the back of the cave. They threaded their way between rock falls, stalactites and stalagmites, the ceiling growing closer and closer. When it was so dark even Al had trouble seeing, they popped out of a narrow passage between two huge rock falls into another open chamber. At its center was a cenote, a spring. It filled a declivity in the floor, the water black and still.
“We have to swim through that?” Targ asked.
Tuco told me there is an underground tunnel that leads to another cenote, this one in the jungle outside. According to him, divers found it and they said a good swimmer could make it.”
She waded into the water, her white skin glowing. “He said there was one big boulder and the entrance to the tunnel is under it.”
Al followed her in. “That’s the biggest rock.” He plowed through the water. The bottom of the cenote was covered with rocks. He stumbled over them, jamming his foot between two and cursing. When he got to the boulder, he took a deep breath and dived.
Beneath the surface the water was clear as glass. He saw the rocks at the bottom and the boulder looming above. When he swam under the boulder, he spotted the tunnel right away. It was a dark hole about three-feet wide. He surfaced and waved to Targ and Lorelai. “I found it.”
Targ waded in and stood beside him. “Let’s go get Jax.”
“I’ll meet you outside,” Lorelai said and turned small.
“I guess it’s just you and me,” Al said. “Don’t even think about biting me.”
“I would never,” Targ said. “Besides, you stink.” He paused for a minute. “You smell like the altar chamber.”
Al was just about to dive and he stopped. “You smelled elf in the chamber?”
“It was all over the altar, that smell, the flowery strange smell.”
Al pushed him out of the water. “We have to go back. “There were elora flowers in that chamber. The flowers are poisonous to vampires but the Mayans also used the juice of the flowers to sedate victims. There could be some back there and we could use it to kill Balam.”
“Didn’t you say you weren’t sure whether the flowers killed vampires or returned them to life?”
“The ancient writings of elves are muddled because of time and different interpretations, but yes, some versions say the flowers kill vampires and some say they return them to mortality.”
The two of them ran back through the cave to the tunnel leading to the altar. “But what if the flowers did both?” Targ called over his shoulder to Al.
“What do you mean?”
“Isn’t it possible the flowers kill older vampires when they turn mortal? For example, if Balam, who is thousands of years old, was returned to life, wouldn’t he crumble to ashes? But a new vampire, like me, I would just be returned to my life.”
Targ stopped and stared at Al. His eyes glinted red in the dark cave. Al saw what he meant clearly. “If you’re thinking about swallowing elora flowers, it’s a pretty huge risk. You’re putting a lot on your theory, like your life.”
Targ grabbed Al’s shoulders. “You don’t understand. I would give anything to get my life back…risk anything. I’m in love with a shifter who is dedicated to killing vampires. What do I have to lose?”
They entered the altar chamber. Balam’s acolyte lay crumpled in a pile beside the altar barely breathing. Al pointed. “Dinner?”
Targ lifted Moon Man into his arms and held him. He was barely breathing. But the scent of blood was strong and he was hungry. Moon Man’s eyes fluttered open. “Do it,” he whispered.
“What?”
“Kill me. I want to die. Give me peace. Balam will return for me and my torture will go on for all eternity. Kill me.”
“Come with us. Escape from him.”
Moon Man closed his eyes. “You don’t understand. He can find me anywhere. I can’t hide from him. He is my master.”
“Are you a half-vampire?” Al asked remembering Russia and the dhampirs he saw there.
“Only one quarter,” Moon Man said.
“Is Balam your father?”
“No, my grandfather is a much older vampire. Balam believes my grandsire was the first vampire, a demon straight from Xibalba. He still exists in the jungles around Tikal. If he were dead, Balam would have died as well.”
Al held up his hand. “Don’t kill him, Targ. He might be able to lead us to this demon. If we kill him, Balam dies and you still live.”
Targ dropped the small man. “I couldn’t do it, anyway, I suck as a vampire.”
Moon Man sat up and rubbed his neck. “You’ll never be able to touch Camazotz. He is ten times more powerful than Balam.”
“There’s always a way,” Al said. The smell of elora flowers filled his nose. He walked around the altar stone searching for the source. A small clay jug with a cork stopper lay on its side under the stone. He picked it up and sniffed. This was the source of the smell. When he shook the jug, liquid sloshed around inside. “You used this to sedate the shifters,” he said to Moon Ma
n.
“The flowers grow in the depths of the cave.”
Al nodded. He’d never heard that, but it could be why they were so hard to find. “They don’t need sunlight?”
“The chamber where they grow is very deep in the system. Sunlight could never get to them.”
“Interesting.” Al stuffed the jug into one of his pockets. “Let’s get out of here. Balam has our friend and plans to sacrifice him. Do you have any idea where he’d go?”
Moon Man struggled to his feet. “Tikal. He would make the sacrifice there either at the Great Jaguar Temple or at the altar in front of the Temple of the Moon. He made many sacrifices there two thousand years ago.”
Al grabbed Targ’s arm. “Then we better hurry.”
Targ and Al ran through the cave with Moon Man stumbling behind. The smaller Mayan grew stronger as they jogged between rock formations and rubble piles heading deeper into the caves. When they came to the cenote, he was able to dive in and follow them into the tunnel. The complete lack of light in the underground waterway hampered Al. Targ passed him and took the lead. There was a small air pocket halfway through. Al stopped to breath for a second, and Targ lifted his head out of the water. Moon Man popped out of the dark, the whites around his eyes glowing.
“I never knew about this exit,” he said. “How did you find it?”
“Tuco has been on several explorations of the cave system. He told Lorelai.”
Moon Man nodded and after taking deep breaths, they dived back under water. The tunnel opened up shortly after the air pocket and they swam into an open pool. Moonlight shone through the water, giving it a blue glow.
When they surfaced, tiny Lorelei was there at Al’s ear. “Hurry,” she whispered. “The army is in the jungle. They have two men watching this spring.”
Shots rang out as soon as she finished her words. Al grabbed Moon Man and dragged him up the rocky side of the cenote by his shirt. Targ raced past him with Lorelai fluttering ahead. She had the Rover parked on a narrow track above the spring. Tuco and Enrique waited in the vehicle with the engine running.
“Hurry,” Tuco yelled from behind the wheel. “They know we’re here.”
Al dived into the Rover dragging Moon Man into the back seat. The four-wheel-drive vehicle was crammed to capacity when Lorelai assumed her normal size. Tuco slammed the Rover into gear and laid his foot hard on the accelerator. Bullets from two AK-47s sprayed them and the back window exploded as Tuco guided them down the trail into the jungle going way too fast.
But it was dark and the light of the moon distorted shapes and made shooting even more difficult. The shots fired by the authorities went wild tearing leaves off trees and sending vines falling on top of them as they hit the main road leading out of the Naj Tunich cave area.
“Where we going?” Tuco yelled.
“Tikal,” Al responded. “Moon Man says Balam will take Jax there to sacrifice him.”
Tuco accelerated down the dirt road and behind them, the authorities hit the road, turned, tires spraying dirt and clumps of mud, and shot off after them, guns firing.
“Hold on,” Tuco yelled. “We’re in for a wild ride.”
* * * *
Jax slowly regained his strength as Balam ran through the dark jungle. Cries of howler monkeys, the screams of jaguars and the incessant hum of insects filled his ears as he waited for the moment when he felt strong enough to shift and escape Balam.
Balam’s jogging pace bounced him as he hung over the vampire’s shoulder with his head smacking into the backs of Balam’s legs. The moon illuminated the jungle with enough light for Jax to see as clearly as if it were high noon. From the position of the moon, he figured they were headed north, probably Tikal, Balam’s old stomping grounds.
As strength filled him, he readied to shift. Balam stopped running and threw Jax on the ground. He stood over him and laughed. “I knew the minute you were strong enough to shift.” He touched Jax on the forehead. “You will no longer be able to until I release you. When I strap you to the altar to cut out your heart, it will be as a jaguar.”
“I’m a panther, asshole,” Jax snarled.
Balam picked him up and tossed him back over his shoulder. “Tonight, you will be a jaguar—a dead jaguar.”
Chapter 25
When Targ leaped into the Rover’s front seat, he landed in Rickie’s lap and for a moment, was overcome with emotional confusion, but Rickie was not. His lover grabbed the back of his head and kissed him as the Rover rocked and bounced through the jungle. With the Federales firing at them, they clutched each other like they would never let go.
Targ touched Rickie’s cheek in a soft caress. “So many times I thought I would never see you again.”
A tear dropped from Rickie’s left eye. “I thought I was lost. But you came for me. When you attacked Balam in the moon chamber, I was horrified for you but thrilled that you would brave so much for me. And then the light from the star set us free of Balam’s spell and we shifted.”
“Why were we able to shift?” Tuco asked Lorelai as he guided the speeding Land Rover down the narrow dirt road through heavy undergrowth and overhanging branches. “One minute we were paralyzed and silly on that drug and then we were panthers. It was crazy, muy loco.”
The fairy was squashed between Targ and Tuco. She patted Tuco’s shoulder affectionately. “Love, my darling, it was love. You were released when the light from Venus hit you, blending with the moonlight. Because you love and are loved, the power of the star, which the Mayans revere, released you from Balam’s evil spell.”
“That’s a little hard to swallow,” Rickie said.
Targ smiled. “Do you care? I love you and if Lorelai says it was love that released you from the spell, I’m happy.”
A volley of shots pinged around them as they entered a cleared area and the two trucks filled with soldiers behind them opened fire. Lorelai squealed as she was crushed against Targ when Tuco swerved hard right to dodge fire. Al looked out the back window and screamed a warning. “They’re trying to flank us. Hard left.”
Another barrage of bullets sprayed the trees over their heads. Branches and leaves rained around them as the Rover hit a huge hole in the rutted track and bounced high. Tuco fought with the wheel, wrestled the vehicle under control and hit the gas. They shot into a tunnel of vegetation, leaving the trucks momentarily behind.
The dirt road steadily improved and Tuco was able to increase his lead over the army. When they reached the locked gate, Tuco shot one look over his shoulder and yelled. “Hang on!”
He crashed the wire tearing a hole in it, but a large piece hit the windshield cracking it. Enrique leaned out his window and pulled the chunk of chain link off and flung it behind them as they squealed onto the black-top and turned north. Once on hard road, Tuco hammered the accelerator and the Rover put some distance between them and the angry army.
Al leaned over the seat. “I think we pissed them off.”
Tuco leaned his head back and laughed. “They will not give up easily.”
“No, they won’t,” Al said as he leaned back in his seat. “Now that we’re on the road north, we need to talk about rescuing Jax. Moon Man has given me the basic layout of Tikal. I know you two…” He indicated Tuco and Rickie by pointing. “…have been there many times. Tell us the best way to go in and how you think we can stop Balam from sacrificing Jax.”
“First thing, we need to get there as fast as possible,” Tuco said. “If we can beat him there, we can set up an ambush. I know he’s a vamp and all, but how fast can he travel dragging Jax?”
“He will go very fast and cut through the jungle,” Moon Man said from the rear seat. “He needs moonlight to make the sacrifice so he will run. But it is over fifty kilometers through dense jungle. It will take him maybe three hours.”
“Thinking Temple of the Moon, the altar?” Tuco asked over his shoulder.
Moon Man nodded. “Either there or the Temple of the Great Jaguar. Great Jaguar is higher, but
the altar in front of the Temple of the Moon is one he has used many times. They lie close to each other next to the Central Acropolis so if he is not at one, it will be easy to check the other.”
Al shook his head. “I don’t like it. We’re putting too many of our eggs into this one basket. What if he chooses another altar? Where would that be?”
“Perhaps Mundo Perdido, the Lost World complex. He has holed up there in an underground cavern and when he was alive, he said he lived there. It’s the oldest section of Tikal and surrounded by jungle. Much of Mundo Perdido is overgrown with vegetation. The jungle encroaches faster than the authorities in charge can manage to clear it, and for some reason, the growth is denser there than in any other section of Tikal.”
Targ turned to stare at Al. The elf’s hair was neatly combed and pulled into a tail at his neck and his clothes were clean. How does he manage it? “My money’s on the Lost World. How ‘bout you?”
Tuco spoke up from the driver’s seat. “I know that section of Tikal. There is an altar at the base of el Mundo Perdido’s great pyramid. It’s really ancient. If he decides to go there, that altar would be his choice. Moonlight will hit it directly. It’s the only open area in that section.”
“So what’s our plan?” Al asked.
“We have to get there first,” Tuco said. “If we don’t, Jax is a dead shifter.”
“Then drive faster,” Lorelai said.
A sudden barrage of bullets shocked everyone. Targ looked behind them and saw a jeep with a gun mounted on the back speed into view. The two trucks must be behind the jeep. They were bulkier and slower. The jeep accelerated and pulled closer. There were three Federales riding in it, one manning the gun. “Slow down,” Targ said. “I’ll leave the vehicle and handle this.”
“No,” Rickie grabbed his shirt. “I won’t let you.”
“I’m fast and stronger than you.” He grinned. “And I’m hungry.”
“Don’t kill them,” Al said from the rear. “If you plan to drink the elora potion and try to regain your humanity, you won’t be able to if you’ve killed for blood.”
The Virgin Vampire Page 15