by Lisa Kessler
Kate looked at each of the immortal brothers. “I don’t speak Mayan, and I didn’t know anything about a Demon. How could I have called her back without the words? Mulac must’ve put the words in my head when I drank from him.”
Colin stepped forward toward Mulac. Issa noticed his usually congenial expression darkening. “Are you the one I should thank for this arm that will never heal?”
“Are all of you so short-sighted?” Mulac’s voice echoed through the pyramid. “Why must we fight her? Let Camalotz finish this world as she finished the world of man before us.” His eyes moved from one brother to the next as he went on. “We will be gods again, my brothers. Worshiped, revered, feared, and honored above all else. No longer will we hide in the shadows and watch eternity pass us by. We will be eternity.”
Issa crossed his arms over his chest. “She will kill us all.”
“No! Can you not see? We have Ch’en. Allow Camalotz to decimate the human world, and then we will cage her before she comes for us. Think of the future! Once again we will sit at the top of the temples. We will drink the blood sacrifices offered to us out of love and devotion, not as monsters, but as the gods we have always been.”
“You did summon the Demon,” Colin said. “You found Ch’en, and you gave her the words to free Camalotz into the world of man.”
“Yes!” Mulac’s prideful laughter echoed off the walls. The sound curdled in Issa’s stomach. “I waited for centuries to find her and regain our place in this world, my brothers. This was no easy task. You should thank me!”
“What?” Issa stared at Mulac with disbelief in his eyes and disgust in his soul. “How could you do this, Mulac? We are the protectors of this world, not the destroyers.”
Mulac’s laughter faded away, replaced by a stare that breathed pure hatred. “Who are you to judge me, dear Issa? You, who abandoned our world, hiding yourself away under the sands of Egypt.” He spun around. “And what of you, Kane? You, too, abandoned our people. You and Colin made your way across the ocean to live with the humans, among them. Have you no pride? No dignity? You were gods!
“I was the only one who remained in our land. I watched our civilization and our people die a slow, painful death. The Spanish brought with them a new religion, a new God, and left no room for any others. Our codexes were burned. Our written language destroyed, our ceremonies scoffed, and our people converted until we were all but forgotten. Where were all of you?”
Mulac pulled his white hair back from his forehead, pacing the floor. “I could not bear to watch these small-minded mortals destroy our world, but I could not fight them alone. So I went North. I found another ocean, the Pacific, and I found a new people, a new place among the Kumeyaay. I was their healer, their wise one. And I waited.
“The Spanish came again.” His eyes glowed a deep crimson. “Again they brought with them their merciless God, turning the native people into their slaves, abolishing their culture. But while the natives were being baptized and renamed as neophytes into the Catholic church, I found her.” He pointed to Kate and a spark lit his eyes. “Ch’en. She was the chief’s daughter, and her eyes bore the mark. She dreamed of jungles. She lived again, in spite of our efforts.
“And she was in love with one of the priests. I saw them dancing in the ocean waves in the moonlight, and in that moment, I knew how to defeat the Spaniards. We could regain our thrones and rule as gods again. I would use Ch’en to awaken Camalotz.”
“But the Spaniards killed her before you could give her your blood,” Calisto said.
“Yes!” Mulac growled. “They killed her before the next sunset.” His eyes met Calisto’s. “So I gave you my blood instead.”
“You told me I could live to love her again,” Calisto said.
Mulac nodded. “Not all gods send you to Heaven.” He sneered. “I knew she would be born into this world again, and when love is pure, the heart will find its mate even when the mind has forgotten. If I kept you in this world, eventually she would live again, and she would find you.”
“And then you would sentence her to death,” Calisto growled.
“I did what had to be done to right this world.”
“This is not our world anymore, Mulac.” Issa gestured toward the jungle. “We have no place in it.”
“Ah, but we will. Give Camalotz more time. We are safe from her hunger for now. We have Ch’en. When the world is ours again, we will perform the ceremony and sacrifice the Goddess of the Moon. The Demon will be banished, and we will rule once more.”
“And what of the innocent lives that will be lost?” All eyes turned to see Marguerite stepping out from behind the Guardian. “What kind of god allows his people to be slaughtered needlessly?”
Mulac raised a brow with a smirk. “Who are you to ask me such questions?”
“Leave her alone, Mulac,” Kane warned.
He shrugged. “I merely asked her name.”
“My name is hardly of any importance when the mortal world is being annihilated because of the ambitions of an immortal madman,” she said.
“Oh, she has a sharp tongue.” Mulac grinned at Kane. “Perhaps you will share her with me.”
Kane lunged at Mulac and threw him to the ground, his hands gripping his brother’s throat as he slammed his head into the earth over and over again.
“Enough of this!” Issa pulled Kane back. “The sun will rise soon. There is too much emotion to think clearly now. We can decide what must be done at the next nightfall.”
“No, we can’t.” Lukas stood in the opening of the chamber, cradling Gretchen in his arms. “Camalotz is trying to reproduce. We have to stop her now. Tonight.”
…
Gretchen’s head felt like a ship’s anchor, too heavy for her neck to maneuver. Lukas cradled her in his arms; there was no way she’d be able to stand on her own at the moment. Not the best way to gain confidence in a room filled with immortals, but it would have to do.
She fought the pull of gravity and forced her eyelids to stay open. The first brother she made eye contact with was the blond… She couldn’t remember his name. Just keeping her father’s lullaby running in her mind exhausted her.
Gretchen met his gaze with heavy-lidded eyes. “I come with a warning from the Night Walker, Zafrina, fertility priestess on Cozumel. The Demon knows you gave her a sterile mate, and her instinct to reproduce is strong. Your Demon is in heat.”
“This world cannot support Camalotz, let alone another Demon with her appetite.” Kane pulled his fingers back from his forehead through his blond mane as he paced. Shaking his head, he met Gretchen’s eyes again. “Camalotz has no mate other than the Guardian. How could she conceive?”
Gretchen shrugged. “I don’t know. Zafrina said the Demon is not from this world, so I would assume no human man or mortal animal could impregnate her.”
“Then who?” Kane asked.
Gretchen lifted her drooping eyelids to look up at him. “Maybe one of you?”
Kane stopped pacing, frozen where he stood.
“What is it, Kane?” Issa asked.
“The Demon was not after my heart this time.”
Issa frowned. “I do not understand.”
“Before Colin found me attacking Camalotz… I thought she was Rita. The Demon fashioned herself exactly like my mate. She seduced me and I thought…” He turned toward Marguerite, his expression filled with regret. “I did not know until our hands clasped together. She did not have your rose, my love. Her finger was bare. Until then, I thought I was holding you.”
Marguerite paled, but underneath the shock, Gretchen noticed her hands ball into fists and her jaw tighten. “That is why she attacked me and drained my blood.” Her eyes shone, but she didn’t allow a single tear to spill. “She needed to steal my form and my mate.”
“Night Walkers can’t have children though, right?” Kate asked.
“No,” Issa answered. “Not as far as we know.”
“But Camalotz doesn’t have the same genetics as the rest of you.
” Gretchen rested her head against Lukas’s chest, taking comfort in the sound of his heartbeat. “No one knows what it would take to impregnate her. You’re immortal and so is she. It makes more sense that she’d choose one of you rather than a male of some other species.”
Clenching his jaw, Kane turned away from Marguerite’s questioning gaze. “We cannot wait. If the Night Demon gives birth to an offspring, it will not be bound to Ch’en. Our magic may not be able to contain it. The Young One is right—the ceremony must take place tonight. Before sunrise.”
…
Issa knew Kane spoke the truth, especially if he’d mistakenly lain with the Demon, but he couldn’t bring himself to confront what he knew must be done. Issa stared at Kate, the firelight dancing in her dark eyes, and his heart shattered inside his chest.
To love her and never receive her love in return was heartbreaking enough, but to be forced to rip the life from her body not once, but twice, was more than he could bear.
Issa took a breath and forced his legs to move. He reached out to take Kate’s arm when Calisto’s hand shot forward, grabbing his throat.
“Do not touch her,” he spat.
Issa sighed. Although they both knew Calisto was far too weak to stop him from taking Kate, he still tried to protect her. This man was worthy of her love.
“Let me go.” Issa’s deep voice commanded obedience. “There is no other way.”
Calisto’s grip tightened. “Mulac gave her the words. Mulac called the Demon. Mulac should be the sacrifice.”
Issa started to answer, but Calisto stopped him. “You asked for another solution, for any other way to end this. I am giving you that way. Please. Do not hurt her. Kate did not unleash this Demon. Mulac used her for his bidding.” He released Issa with a final word. “Please.”
Issa looked over at Kate, watched her shoulders tense as she took on more of Calisto’s weight. Her concern over the new blood soaking through her mate’s shirt was palpable on her face. When she raised her eyes to meet Issa’s gaze, emotion overwhelmed him.
The world be damned. He would not kill this woman twice.
Gretchen stirred, breaking the tense silence. “You said the Demon can only be trapped with the blood sacrifice of the one who called her, right? Kate didn’t even know the Demon existed, and Mulac gave her the word… So technically, he called the Demon.”
Issa pondered the mortal’s words, which echoed Calisto’s thought process, and turned to Kane, placing his confidence in his brother’s tendency toward feeling first and thinking later. “They are right. If anyone called the Demon forth, it was Mulac. Kate was his puppet. Were it not for Mulac’s interference, she never would have freed Camalotz, and none of us would be here right now. Colin would not be injured, Marguerite would never have been harmed, and the Demon would not have deceived you. All of this is Mulac’s doing.”
“This is ludicrous!” Mulac scoffed. “The Demon is tied to Ch’en’s soul, not mine. I could not call her to the ceremony, and she would never follow my body into the cenote to the center of the earth.”
“But she would follow me.” The Guardian stepped forward with his head held high, his large chiseled frame still poised with the confidence of a warrior in spite of his blind stare.
Marguerite took his large hand. “You have done your part in this. More than your share. Let the brothers finish it.”
He looked down at her, covering her hand with his. “They need me.”
“But you will die.”
“And the rest of you will live.”
“You deserve better than this.” A red tear drifted down Marguerite’s cheek. “You are my friend.”
“And that is why I have volunteered.” A smile tugged at the corner of his ancient lips. “I am your friend, and I want justice for you.”
“Then it is settled,” Issa said. “If we are to do this tonight, we must hurry.”
Issa never saw Mulac’s blow coming. His world simply went dark.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Blood gushed from the back of Issa’s head as his body slumped to the ground. Mulac hovered over him like a vulture waiting for his feast to finally cease breathing. His claw-like fingers now resembled the talons of his spirit animal as he toyed with the open wound and the tender brain matter that was now exposed.
If Gretchen hadn’t already been so light-headed she might’ve thrown up. After witnessing Calisto’s horrific chest wound, maybe she was getting numb to the sight of blood.
“Come any closer, and our dear brother will be mindless for the rest of eternity.”
“You need him for your plan to succeed,” Gretchen said. She felt Lukas tense up. She probably should’ve kept her mouth shut but the blood loss made it hard to think straight. It was too late now. Besides, she trusted Lukas would keep her safe.
“I need his hand to plunge into Ch’en’s chest. That is all I need. And it will be far easier to accomplish it without his affection for her making him weak.”
Mulac bent to lick the rich blood from Issa’s open wound, his eyes burning with fire. This time Gretchen’s stomach did roll. In the shadows, she saw Kane circling behind their insane brother.
“And Kane would be far better served to listen with his ears rather than his heart.” Mulac glared over his shoulder at Kane with a cold grimace. “Do not touch me.”
“You were always far too arrogant, Mulac,” Kane growled.
While Kane had Mulac’s attention, the blinded Guardian found his target, tackling Mulac without a sound. They fell to the ground, the white-haired immortal wrapped up tightly in the Guardian’s arms. Mulac’s scream of rage gave way to the screech of an eagle, but even in his animal form he couldn’t break free of the larger man’s impenetrable grasp.
“Bring him, we have wasted far too much time already,” Kane instructed the Guardian as he and Colin helped Issa to his feet. “Issa? Can you make the journey into the jungle?”
His brother’s tired eyes fluttered and slowly opened. “My head…”
“It is still bleeding,” Colin finished, looking over at Kane. “He needs blood to speed his healing.”
Kane brought his wrist to his teeth and bit deeply into his veins. He placed the wound to Issa’s lips, wincing as his brother pulled hungrily at his wrist. Even exhausted, Gretchen couldn’t miss the way he kept staring at Rita.
The petite blond knelt beside the Guardian and helped pull him up to his feet while Mulac continued to struggle in the Guardian’s arms.
Kane finally focused on Issa again. “Can you make the journey out to the altar?”
This time his brother nodded in agreement. “Yes.” His dark eyes narrowed with the gleam of a predator. “And Mulac will be my sacrifice.”
…
“We’re finished here,” Lukas whispered, following the others into the heart of the rainforest. Gretchen still faded in and out of consciousness. Her soft skin was now clammy and pale. He’d taken far too much of her blood. “I’m taking you to the hospital.”
“Don’t you dare,” she mumbled against his chest. “Archeologists would kill for the chance to see an ancient Mayan sacrificial ceremony. And last time I checked, I was still a damn good archeologist. I’m not going to miss this.”
“If we don’t get you to a hospital, you might die.”
“No!” She looked up at him with the glare of a very healthy woman, and he couldn’t help but smile.
“All right.” He raised a brow. “But you stay awake. Any more fainting, and I’m taking you to see a doctor, like it or not.”
“Deal.” She settled against him again, her head nuzzled into his chest.
Lukas held her close, burying the emotion welling up inside of him. Love seemed too simple a word to describe what he felt for the woman he carried in his arms.
Kate walked just ahead of them, her arm tightly around Calisto’s waist, supporting him. The others had tried to convince her to leave him behind, telling her he would slow their progress, but she had flatly refused. With
a Demon on the loose, she wasn’t leaving him unprotected and alone.
Lukas could understand her protectiveness. He glanced down at Gretchen, at the soft smile warming her lips, and caught himself smiling, too, when he looked back up to follow the others.
“We’re almost there?” Gretchen mumbled against his chest.
“Yes, I recognize the path now. It shouldn’t be much longer.”
What he failed to mention was that the sun would also be rising soon. His limbs were already beginning to feel heavy and lethargic. Lukas had no idea how long the ceremony would take, but they would all need to find refuge from the sun very soon. He tightened his hold on Gretchen.
They had to banish the Demon tonight. He couldn’t rest knowing Gretchen was alone and unprotected all day if Camalotz hunted somewhere in the jungle. She had to be stopped.
…
Marguerite guided the Guardian’s steps as they made their way to the remote altar. Mulac had finally ceased his futile struggling, and the unnatural silence embraced them. He did not know if all the animals were dead, or if they escaped to find safer habitats. If Camalotz truly had an offspring growing in her womb, it was likely there would not be enough life in the jungle to sate her hunger.
The Guardian glanced down toward his guide. Her mental shields were weakening with the tide of her emotions. She tortured herself with visions of Kane holding another woman, with the thought that another carried his child. A child she would never be able to bear. And now Camalotz might carry the offspring of the only man Rita had ever loved.
He cleared his throat, aching to comfort her. “We will finish this tonight. There will be no child.”
She gave his arm a gentle squeeze. “I never dreamed I would know pain such as this.”
“Kane believed he had found you. Do not let that thought escape you. His loyalty and love for you has never been in question, has it?”
“Love is a fool’s dream,” Mulac growled from the Guardian’s arms. “Kane had an urge and satisfied it, as any man is entitled. He should be honored that Camalotz chose him to sire her child.”
Marguerite slapped Mulac hard enough to draw the attention of the others. “Keep your sour mouth shut.”