by Mel Odom
“Who are you?” Dolphin asked.
“I am Nagual,” the cat growled.
Even while fending off the security program, Dolphin’s curiosity made her bring up a quick search utility. “Nagual? The being that can change himself into many animals in Mesoamerican folklore?”
The green powder settled over the big cat and searched for weaknesses in the program. Bright points lit up, marking areas she could exploit.
“I am Nagual,” it insisted. More of the jaguar emerged from the deck as it surged forward, preparing to attack.
“Well, Nagual, I’ve got things to do.” Dolphin readied a hammer utility designed to smash software, then opened her other hand and hit the jaguar with it. In the Matrix, the utility flashed like a splintered laser beam, striking all of the opposing program’s marked weaknesses.
The cat yowled and tried to clamp down harder on Dolphin’s arm, but the sec program was already losing power. Angrily, it sank back into the thinning fog disappearing from the desk top. A heartbeat later, it vanished.
Dolphin brought up the computer and pulled up the file index. None of the names made any sense to her. She called the Erinyes into the building, and once they marked the files she was looking for, she started downloading them.
She’d barely gotten started when the building’s firewall found her, letting her know the guardianware had a final trick up its sleeve. Keeping calm, knowing she had a little time as the ice started hardening around her, she grabbed the marked files and jacked out.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
“Twitch!” Hawke yelled as he snap-aimed and shot.
The gunslinger fired instantly, not even bothering to acknowledge hearing him. The bullet struck the rocket launcher operator’s left thigh a moment after the rocket’s release. The warhead leaped forward, spitting a fire-studded, smoky contrail.
Four meters out from Hawke, a shimmering fog spread out in a thin layer from wall to wall. The rocket detonated against the invisible barrier in front of the team.
Hawke’s audio system filtered out most of the blast, but the explosion trapped inside the hallway was still deafening. Enough of the concussive wave came through to knock Twitch from her feet and even rock Hawke back.
“You can thank Paredes for the save later,” Nighthorse said. “Right now you need to get gone, omae. He about emptied the bottle with that shield. He can sustain it for a bit, but you need to hurry.”
Rolla already had one leg over the window’s edge. He grabbed the bottom pulley, held on tight, cursed, and pushed himself out into empty space. He zipped down the line, barely controlling his fall with hard braking on the screeching pulley.
Before the street samurai reached the pavement, Twitch followed, dangling from the pulley with one hand and holding a pistol in the other. Sec men charged out from the building. Before they could get their weapons up, Twitch fired around Rolla, who howled a challenge as he dropped to the concrete.
Two sec men went down with wounds to their legs and arms. The others tried to pull back and return fire at the same time, but before they could, Rolla released the smoking pulley and hit the ground a couple meters away, lashing out with his huge fists. Sec men flew in every direction.
With lithe grace, Twitch landed atop the troll’s shoulders, looking incredibly small against Rolla’s bulk. Pistols in both hands, she turned and twisted like a tank turret as she fired at their opponents.
Hawke turned to Nighthorse. “Go.”
She looked like she might object for a moment, then grabbed a pulley and dropped.
The magical barrier blinked a couple times and looked less solid.
Lunging out the window, Hawke grabbed the last pulley with one hand. He worked the controls, freeing the brake, and started to drop. Bullets cut the air around him and one smashed into the pulley, tearing it from its tracks.
Still eight stories above the ground, Hawke fell.
“Dani!” Dolphin yelled. “Above you!”
Below, rushing up way too fast, Dani Nighthorse turned her attention up to Hawke, who had instinctively tried to assume a parachutist’s five-point spread to slow his descent. She raised her arms and spoke something he didn’t quite grasp as he passed her, mostly because his mind was still trying to come to grips with the fact that he was falling to his death.
Two stories above the street, Hawke saw a whirlwind rise from the sidewalk and stretch toward him. In the next moment, a cushion of force wrapped around him, feeling like a warm blanket. He didn’t stop falling, but his descent slowed appreciably. He landed on his feet and immediately dropped and rolled.
Dazed, not believing he was still alive, Hawke pushed himself to his feet and was even more surprised to find he hadn’t released his weapon during the fall.
The whirlwind hovered protectively over Nighthorse, and just for a moment, Hawke saw a large face with ballooning cheeks appear in the spinning debris that had been picked up by the air spirit.
“Thank you, Morshyu,” Nighthorse said.
The whirlwind dissipated, and debris flew out from it. Whatever had been there was gone. Hawke felt the vacuum of its passage.
A GMC Bulldog screeched to a halt in the street, its automated side doors and rear cargo door opening. Paredes sat behind the wheel and waved at them.
“Get in!”
Twitch vaulted from Rolla’s shoulders and hit the ground running. Reaching the van, she leaped into the passenger seat and brought her pistols to bear on the Ngola sec men, who weren’t in any hurry to defend the structure from a departing assault force.
Rolla sprinted to the back of the van and pulled himself inside, making the vehicle rock heavily.
“I still don’t know how you caught that one,” Paredes called from the driver’s seat as Hawke followed Nighthorse into the vehicle’s cargo area behind the seats. “He almost breaks the van.” The combat mage leaned across Twitch and threw out his arm.
In front of the Ngola Building, a wave of fire bloomed on the concrete and rolled over the sec men. Temporarily blazing, the guards retreated.
Paredes hit a button, and the doors closed as he put his foot on the accelerator. The powerful motor roared, and Hawke rocked against the momentum.
He glanced at Nighthorse. “Thanks for the save.”
“Of course, omae.” She shot Rolla a stern glare. “I was busy finding an air spirit on top of the parking garage. Never question a professional.”
Rolla wrapped his arms around his knees and sat with his back against the side of the van. “So, when I almost fell out of the window, why didn’t you save me?”
“Because Hawke had you. Be glad.”
Leaning back, feeling the soreness from rescuing Rolla sinking into him, Hawke knew he’d be suffering the aftereffects for a while, med suite or no med suite. He opened his comm. “Dolphin? Tell me you got something.”
“I do. I don’t know what it will tell us yet, but it’s definitely about Rachel Gordon and Guatemalan artifacts. I’m going to have to work on the files to break the encryption, but at this moment, it’s just a matter of time.”
“Wiz.” Hawke sighed in relief and didn’t allow himself to dwell on the possibility that everything Dolphin had grabbed might be worthless.
He closed his eyes for a moment, just as Flicker reached out to him.
“Hawke.”
“Yeah?”
“Whatever we’re going to do, we have to do it fast. Rachel’s vitals are now in a steady decline. We’re losing her.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
Rachel tried to speak, but her voice caught in her parched throat, finally coming out in a weak rasp. “I’m . . . dying?”
“You’re under a doctor’s care,” Bordelon said. “They’re giving you glucose and other necessary fluids through an IV. But that’s not enough. Whatever’s keeping you here is burning through your body’s reserves. You’re using yourself up just to stay alive here. That is why we must find a way for you to escape.”
Trying to focus, Rachel m
ade herself take a breath and let it out. Then she took another one. That was how she was going to stay alive. One breath at a time, for as long as she could keep breathing. “How long do I have?”
Looking sad, Bordelon shook his head. “We don’t know, cher. A lot of that depends on you. On how bad you want to live. And how fast Hawke can find the answers he’s looking for. Time doesn’t run in here the same as it does in the physical world.”
Dizziness swept through her. She wasn’t sure if it was the fatigue, or the sudden knowledge of how dire her predicament was. She swayed, and would have fallen if Bordelon hadn’t caught her around the waist and steadied her.
“Careful, cher. I got you.”
Rachel focused again and tried to remain standing. Her legs trembled and her knees threatened to go out from under her. “I’m just so tired. I need to rest.”
“You can’t go to sleep,” Bordelon said. “Not till you’re outta this place.” He paused, shifting until he had one of her hands in his. “Let me try to assist you.”
“With what?” As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt the sudden connection to Bordelon. Something inside him twisted and turned, trying to escape. But the feeling coming from him was warm as sunlight, and took away some of her weariness. Her senses sharpened and whirled at the same time.
Bordelon sang. The words were melodic and unfamiliar, but Rachel felt like she almost knew them. Energy spread throughout her, and her brain seemed to open up till she felt more connected than ever to the world around them.
As her strength grew, she took more of her weight back until she was standing on her own again. A shadow crossed above her, temporarily blotting out the sun, and she knew without looking that it was one of the winged horrors constantly searching for her.
Glancing up, she spotted the flying lizard streaking down at them. It was three meters long, and had four wings that somehow functioned together, even while being only a little wider across than the thing was long. Pebbled scales the color of bruised plums covered the creature from snout to tail. Three rows of serrated teeth filled the long beak that looked as wide and as powerful as a crocodile’s. Its eyes were orange coals, with black rot at their core.
Unable to move, Rachel watched helplessly as Bordelon figured out too late there was a threat. Eyes widening, lips already moving in song, he pushed her behind him, maybe thinking whatever defensive spells he’d woven would protect him from the predator. He held up his walking stick in his free hand.
Ignoring whatever Bordelon was doing, the flying lizard screamed, the shrill cry echoing around the gurgling creek. The mage struck with his stick, shoving it into the lizard’s face. Slowed to a crawl but not stopped, somehow hanging suspended in mid-air, the creature knocked the walking stick aside with its blunt snout and came through Bordelon’s defenses. Although it had been slowed, it was still coming, it was still going to tear them to pieces—
“Kill it!” the voice inside her head commanded. “You cannot be the victim in this place! You must unleash the predator within you! Teach these monsters to fear you! You were not born to die in this place if you have the courage and the power!”
Rachel’s fear and anger knotted within her, and she felt unbridled energy course through her. Whatever Bordelon had been doing was only a drop in the bucket to what she felt now. There was nothing she could do to avoid this world, so she would embrace her place in it. Instead of running, she chose to claim her ground and fight. At least it would be some kind of end.
Instinctively, she reached around Bordelon and slapped her hand atop the lizard’s head as it came closer, despite the mage’s barrier, as if moving through invisible quicksand. The rough, pebbled scales pressed against her palm almost hard enough to cut her flesh. Pain shot up her arm, and she nearly yanked it away, but she felt certain that if she did, she and Bordelon would be killed.
Instead, she pushed back against the lizard and screamed, “Die!”
Pale blue fire crackled across the creature’s skull. Orange eyes bulging, rolling in fear, the lizard beat its wings frantically and tried to pull back.
But it couldn’t break her connection to it.
“Cher!” Perhaps thinking the lizard had gotten hold of her, Bordelon pushed back against Rachel and tried to pull her hand away.
Maintaining contact with her opponent, Rachel used her other hand to push Bordelon aside. The man flew sideways like he’d been hit by a moving vehicle. He lost his hat, but he rolled with the force, and was quickly on his feet again.
“Stay there,” Rachel ordered him.
Confused, staring at her in disbelief, the mage obeyed.
The lizard obeyed her as well, quitting its efforts to escape. The creature snarled and trembled as it tensed to fight back. Rachel felt its strength through her touch. If it got away, it would rend her to pieces with its fangs and claws. She picked up those thoughts from its mind.
The pale blue fire continued spreading down the lizard’s body like an infection. She realized it was dying only because that thought registered in its small, rapacious brain.
In the next moment, the lizard disappeared in a blaze of blue fire that left a pattern of smoking cinders across the blackened ground. The stench of burned meat filled the air.
CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
Scarcely able to believe what had just happened, Rachel drew back her trembling hand and tried not to be sick. Frightened of what she would discover, she turned her hand over and looked at her palm, certain she would find it charred to the bone. Instead, her flesh was intact, as if nothing had happened. As she watched, the slight cuts she’d received from the scales closed, leaving small white scars.
“Cher?” Bordelon called.
“I’m . . . I’m all right.” Rachel wrapped her arms around herself, willing herself to wake up, but knowing that wasn’t going to happen because she was still here, even though she didn’t want to be.
Slowly, Bordelon picked up his top hat and walked back to her. “What just happened?”
“I . . . killed it.” Rachel didn’t even like saying that out loud, but a small, savage piece of her that she hadn’t even known existed was also exulting in that fact.
“How did you do such a thing?”
“I don’t know.”
Several of the smaller flying lizards suddenly darted within a few meters of Rachel, but none came any closer. None of them dared. One tried to land on Bordelon’s shoulder, and he swatted it away with his walking stick.
“Come on,” he finally said. “We can’t be hanging around here. That smell’s gonna draw more of those ill-tempered things.” He took her arm and gently pulled her along. She followed, still dazed by what had happened.
Rachel and Bordelon walked along the creek, following it upstream. Negotiating the climb had been difficult, but Rachel discovered her strength was returning. Once they gained the top, Bordelon kept walking, urging her to keep moving. Surprisingly, when they had to stop a while later, it was because he had gotten winded.
The mage leaned against a tree, both hands resting on his walking stick as perspiration dripped down his bare face and arms. “Something has changed for you, cher. In you, perhaps. What is it?”
Rachel stood in front of him and looked up at the sky. Winged lizards flew by now and then, but none seemed to notice her. She knew it was because she didn’t want them to. Somehow, she was preventing them from finding her.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “But I feel better. Stronger. Does that makeany sense?”
Bordelon shook his head. “I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see. Usually with magic, there is always a cost. Nothing comes for free.”
“Do not listen to him. He knows nothing about you, or what you can become. You cannot allow him to stop you before you become what you were intended to be!”
“I am who I’m supposed to be.” Rachel turned, searching for the source of the voice. It couldn’t be coming from nowhere. Whoever was speaking had to be somewhere nearby.
; “Cher?” Concerned, Bordelon came toward her, but she noticed he kept his distance as well.
Closing her eyes, Rachel blocked him out of her mind, ignored the gurgle of the creek, the cries of the leather-winged hunters overhead, the susurrating buzzes of insect wings. Instead, she focused on the voice.
“You are stronger now. Good! You are getting closer! Come . . .”
She searched for whoever was talking to her, struggled to pinpoint where the voice was coming from.
Then she felt a pull. It was gentle but steady, and she was certain the answers she sought lay in that direction. Slowly, she turned in a tight circle until she was certain she was facing the right way.
Rachel opened her eyes and stared into the jungle, at the unending trees and brush. She also saw that the direction she needed to go was farther up the creek. Somehow, unconsciously, she’d been headed the right way all this time.
“Rachel?” Worry chewed into Bordelon’s voice.
“It’s okay,” she replied softly. “I know which way to go now.”
She started walking again, still feeling the pull, which grew stronger with every step.
Although she didn’t know how much time had passed or how far she’d walked, Rachel knew the day was ending. Finally. It had gone on forever, perhaps waiting for her to get her bearings. Now the sun was setting in the sky behind her, and darkness was spreading in her wake as though it were chasing her.
Panting and limping, Bordelon stumbled along behind her. He’d tried to talk her into taking occasional rests, and sometimes she’d allowed it. She no longer needed those respites. She felt energized, as though she could walk forever. His harsh breathing rattled in her ears.
At the top of the latest rise, she waited for him because he’d started getting panicky when he couldn’t see her. Finally, taking advantage of the fact that she wasn’t moving, he climbed more slowly, cresting the hill long after she did.
The terrain around them was even more primitive than before. The jungle had grown so dense she knew she’d be hopelessly lost if she hadn’t known where she was going. Boulders cropped up now and again, huge, jutting monoliths that soared ten and twenty meters above her, challenging the height of some of the trees.