Book Read Free

Effigy

Page 30

by Theresa Danley


  Mateo was admittedly surprised by the bold move. He could only admire such acts of courage, or was he merely appreciating a measure of stupidity? He didn’t have time to quibble over details for this courageously stupid boy had brought the effigy right back to him. He’d disrupted Mateo’s ritual and with the sky already dimmed by the approaching eclipse, there was little time to lose.

  A moan escaped from the boy’s bleeding lips. His nose was smashed against his face and the cuts around his chin were oozing with blood. A piece of the glass had imbedded into his cheek. Mateo grabbed him by the arm and drug him to the end of the temple wall crowning the edge of the sloping hill.

  “Stupid boy,” he said as he pushed the unconscious thief down the slope. “You cannot alter the forces of fate.”

  Mateo blinked up at the sun. Soon it would be darkened, altered, changed. He needed to return the effigy to the chacmool immediately if he was ever going to stop it.

  He started back to the temple wall but when he got there he found only remnants of his shattered mirror scattered across the ground. The effigy was gone!

  Footsteps echoed through the stone ruin. Mateo growled. He should have known there would be two pursuers!

  He charged after the retreating footsteps, weaving through temple walls and leaping through deepening shadows. He could just see someone breaking through the colonnade of giant pillars and running into the open plaza. He cursed to himself. If the effigy reached the police, all would be lost.

  Mateo bolted onto the plaza and found this latest quarry easy to catch. Perhaps it was the burden of the effigy slowing her down.

  Her.

  There was no doubting his opponent by the slender bare arms and the long blonde tail whipping behind her. The idea of a woman attempting to take the effigy was amusing. What was she doing out here? It didn’t matter. Within strides, Mateo caught up with her and hurled his weight through the air.

  Their bodies collided and tumbled across the ground. The girl was surprisingly light yet the effigy didn’t budge loose from the cradle of her arms. Mateo rolled her over and straddled her hips, pinning her to the ground.

  “You stupid thief!” he spat as he tried to tear the effigy from her arms.

  She stubbornly clung tight to it. “I can’t let you blow up the effigy!”

  “You’re putting the world at risk,” he growled, wrestling for control. “The demons of darkness will come!”

  The girl hung desperately to the effigy as Mateo tried to tug and twist it from her arms. “You can’t save the world by destroying a piece of its history,” she said.

  He’d had enough of her ignorance. “If you don’t let go, I’ll take you with it!”

  He punched her and the surprise in her face gave him pause. He’d seen that look before. He’d seen those persistent green eyes.

  It can’t be!

  Mateo punched her again, and this time the effigy came loose. He clambered back to his feet but as he tried to step away, the girl snagged the tail of his coat. To his surprise, she caught him off balance and pulled him back down. As he caught himself with the unoccupied arm, she reached into the inside pocket of his coat where the transmitter was flopping at his chest.

  Mateo watched in horror as her fingers curled around the trigger.

  “You won’t destroy that effigy!” she snarled to the sickening click of the trigger.

  Eclipse

  The handcuffs fell free from Peet’s wrists just as the wave hit them. There was no time to react. There was hardly time to realize it was coming. There was just a strange tingling sensation that made the hair along the back of his neck stand and in that moment of consciously feeling something gone awry, a tremendous force slammed into the van.

  The crushing blow sent Peet and John diving for the floor. The windows shattered and they covered their heads from the onslaught of glass showering down. The van rocked from the blast but then, just as suddenly as it had come, the eruption faded to a retreating echo that dissolved behind the ringing in Peet’s ears.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  John trembled beside him. He looked shell shocked, his eyes as wide as the rims of the glasses he now adjusted to his face. He nodded, his mouth gaping soundlessly like a fish out of water. Together, they slowly rose back to their seats.

  “What happened?” John gasped in a shaky voice.

  The hot Mexican air wisped through the gaping holes once occupied by the van’s windows. The rest of the AFI fleet had faired no better and it was while observing the vehicles that Peet noticed the black cloud rising from the far end of the ruins.

  “Dear God,” John whispered.

  “Get out!” Peet hollered as he lunged for the open window. He climbed out of the van, his feet finding their stride as soon as they hit the ground.

  “Where are you going?” John called after him.

  “Toward that cloud,” Peet yelled over his shoulder. “Eva must have found a bomb!”

  * * * *

  The first thing Eva Gaspar was aware of was the warm, coarse stone pressing against her cheek. She felt numb, she felt stunned and when she forced her eyes open it seemed like her ears finally opened with them. A low rumble vibrated through her entire body as though it was coming from the feet of the four stone warriors towering above her. It was as though they were stomping, trembling the pyramid platform that she’d been thrown across. When she chanced a look up at the severe, dark faces of the Atlanteans, they were trembling.

  That’s when she noticed the twilight.

  Like a cloud passing across the sun, the whole world was steadily darkening with the rumble’s fade. In a near dream-like state Eva rose to her feet. Her father’s voice came back to her again.

  Don’t let Reed One…Reed One…

  Those words had been rolling through her mind since the moment Lori read them off of the matchbook in Teotihuacan. She’d heard them in the abandoned farmhouse. They’d stayed with her as she led Agent Diego up each step of the pyramid. The words had been branded into her head, so much so that even the force of the explosion couldn’t jar them.

  Agent Diego scrambled to his feet as though ready to pounce upon whoever had knocked him down. He swiftly checked the cuffs around Eva’s wrists, scrutinizing them as though he expected the source of the explosion to lie within her hands. Only after he was satisfied she was still secure did he glance up at the sky. It was a brief check, as if to ensure the bomb hadn’t completely taken out the sun.

  Eva hadn’t actually expected to find a bomb when she led Diego and two of his officers to the top of the pyramid. She was merely looking for higher ground, a place where she might look over the entire site of Tula, driven by those persistent words—Don’t let Reed One…

  “There,” Diego barked to his officers, pointing out across the grounds of the archaeological park.

  Eva saw it too. At the far end of the ruins, now backlit by a spackling of Tula de Allende’s street lights flickering in the distance, was a giant plume of smoke rising into the ecliptic twilight.

  “Come,” Diego gruffed as he snared her arm. “It appears we found your bomb.”

  Eva didn’t need any prodding from Diego’s haste. They began to descend the pyramid and with each step, her father’s voice sounded more urgent now.

  Reed One. Reed One.

  * * * *

  The pillar of fire was greater than Mateo had expected. Even in a stunned state, lying flat on his back with the deafening noise blocking his senses, he watched the column of flame extend toward the gray sky. It was magnificent, the greatest New Fire ever to banish the end times, but it had been ignited too soon. Worse yet, the power of Quetzalcoatl had not been destroyed with it.

  His rage intensified in equivalent degrees to the fading brilliance climbing uselessly toward the heavens. He pulled himself up. The Jaguar Chacmool had been reduced to a fan of rubble and dust across the ground a short distance away. The old man’s heart had been obliterated with the jaguar box. The Mirrored One would be dis
pleased to receive them without the power of Quetzalcoatl. Mateo had to complete the offering, and this time he had to do it right. He had to do it fast and he needed a new heart.

  The girl lay unconscious just a few feet away, the effigy mere inches from her hand. She would have to do. In a hurry he threw her over his shoulder, swooped up the effigy and carried them to another chacmool tucked within the walls of the temple ruins.

  Beneath a protective steel awning that shielded the chacmool and the wall’s colorful frescoes from weather extremes, Mateo impatiently stretched the girl out on her back across the chacmool’s offering plate and with the rope he’d used to carry the effigy, he hastily bound her arms around the altar’s neck, just above her head. There was little time to spare. She’d begun to moan with regained consciousness. Her eyes blinked open just as Mateo placed the effigy beside her.

  She moaned again. “Where…”

  He rounded the chacmool to get a full view of the eclipse just beyond the reach of the awning. Only a sliver of sunlight remained beyond the encroaching shadow. Quetzalcoatl was within reach. But the New Age hadn’t started yet, and Mateo wasn’t about to let Quetzalcoatl dethrone the Mirrored One, not if he had any say in the matter.

  He reached for his belt. The mirror was gone, used and broken upon the boy’s face. Thankfully, the sheath was still at his hip from which he withdrew the black obsidian knife. He had to be quick. Not only was the sun nearly eclipsed by Quetzalcoatl’s presence, the bomb would have alerted the AFI who were surely charging this way.

  “Please!” the girl begged, struggling against the rope. “Please don’t hurt me!”

  “You’ve put us all in jeopardy,” Mateo said, watching her squirm helplessly.

  Rushing footsteps echoed through the colonnade of pillars and entered the ruin walls. Mateo was running out of time. He lowered the knife. As the girl screamed the blade ripped through the front of her shirt. The fabric fell away, revealing the smooth, heaving contours of her flesh.

  “Stop right there!”

  The command startled Mateo. He hadn’t expected to be discovered so immediately, and certainly not by an American half dressed in AFI uniform. The image was so startling and yet so perplexing that it gave him pause.

  The girl, bound half-naked to the altar seemed just as dumbfounded.

  “Doctor Peet?” she gasped in disbelief.

  Reed One

  “Drop the knife,” the so-called Dr. Peet demanded.

  Mateo’s hesitation didn’t last long. With the eclipse nearing its climax, he couldn’t afford any further delays. On the other hand, how would the world understand if he didn’t explain? How would humanity ever offer the appreciation he deserved if they were not aware of the peril they were facing?

  “It must be done,” he said, watching the intruder closely. “If the eclipse is complete, the world will be dark forever.”

  “It’s only an eclipse,” Peet tried to reason.

  Mateo shook his head. “No. Quetzalcoatl has come to destroy the world.”

  “The Age of Quetzalcoatl is one of peace, not destruction,” Peet implored, inching ever so cautiously forward.

  Mateo’s thumb stroked the edge of his knife. “Don’t you see? Tezcatlipoca is ruler of the fifth age. If Quetzalcoatl removes him, the fifth age will be destroyed. The demons of darkness will come!”

  “Killing Lori won’t stop that from happening.”

  Mateo glanced down at the girl. The silver Kokopelli pendant of her necklace was now nestled within the hollow of her throat. Her face was turned away, watching Peet approach.

  Lori.

  The name meant so little to Mateo, and yet, he felt it impact something deep inside him. Somehow, putting a name to the sacrifice made it more personal, more human. It created an uncomfortable effect, like he was suddenly given a terrible omen.

  “This isn’t about the girl. This is about saving the world,” he said.

  He ran a hand along Lori’s ribs, resting it just below the lace covering her breast where he could feel her racing heart pound against his palm.

  “We should all be as fortunate as her,” he said, now thankful she wouldn’t face him. “This girl is in a position to hold back the demons of darkness. She alone holds the honor of turning the power over to the only one capable of defeating Quetzalcoatl. The one who’d overthrown him before.”

  “Tezcatlipoca.”

  Peet’s voice was alarmingly close. Mateo glanced up at him, regretting that he’d not monitored his approach more closely. The man now stood just across the chacmool, within reach of the rope binding Lori’s hands.

  Watching Peet more closely, Mateo let his hand drift down Lori’s cool skin to the taught hollow just below her ribs. The knife would enter easily there, like cutting through the thin rubber membrane of a balloon.

  “The Mirrored One would have destroyed Quetzalcoatl by now if it weren’t for her,” he said. “Now her flesh is needed to deliver his power.”

  He raised the knife. From the corner of his eye he saw Peet lunge. The man flew himself over the chacmool just as Mateo thrust the knife downward.

  A pain-riddled scream pierced the air.

  * * * *

  Peet collided with the masked killer and rolled with his momentum as they crashed to the ground. He found his feet before the large man could gather his bearings. To his dismay, the knife remained in the killer’s firm grip, Lori’s blood now glinting from its translucent black tip.

  In all honesty, Peet was shaking in his boots. Just moments before he’d raced across Tula expecting to find Eva. Instead, he found nothing but the scattered remains of an exploded altar. Then movement beyond the ruin’s colonnades caught his attention.

  Still expecting to find Eva, Peet had wound his way into the maze of ruins, steeling himself against the injuries she must have suffered from the bomb. What he wasn’t prepared for was the shock of finding not Eva, but Lori. Not only that, he certainly hadn’t expected to find her tied down like a sacrificial lamb with the killer, complete in Zorro’s mask, standing over her with a knife. Peet was so stunned by the scene that his mind went blank, void of all plans and preconceptions, and comprehending nothing more than that knife threatening Lori’s life.

  Now, the tables had shifted and it was he who was being threatened by the knife. The killer lunged, wildly slicing the air. Peet dodged the assault and caught him with a right hook. He heard his knuckles crack, felt the pain surge up his arm, but the blow didn’t seem to phase his adversary. The killer’s eyes were blood-red with rage, a striking contrast from the black mask Peet now realized was painted, not worn, around them.

  “How much longer must the Mirrored One wait?” the killer asked in a voice laden in less Spanish than Peet had expected. The man landed a shocking blow of his own across his chin.

  Peet had not calculated for his opponent’s brute strength. There hadn’t been time for calculations. There was only Lori whose life depended upon his actions and he couldn’t idly stand back and watch her slip away from him—not this time. Now, with his head whirling, he realized it was too late for calculations. There was only time for survival.

  “I won’t let my student die for your gods!” he snarled as he attacked the man again.

  He made contact but this time the killer spun away from his momentum and Peet found himself slamming into the far wall. The giant of a man pinned him there, the knife cocked for the fatal thrust. Peet grabbed hold in a desperate struggle for control. The killer punched him in the ribs, then tried for the kidneys, but Peet refused to release his hold from the weapon.

  “She won’t have to die,” the killer growled, slowly twisting the knife toward his throat. “Not if you die first.”

  Peet’s arms ached under the strain. The man was too strong, his weight smothering him against the wall. He gasped for air as the killer pinned an arm across his throat. The knife was inching closer.

  “Dr. Peet!” Lori screamed, frantically tugging against the rope. She followed their stru
ggle in terror, blood streaming down her side.

  The tip of the knife pressed into Peet’s skin. Hot blood began to trickle into his collar.

  The masked man smiled victoriously. “Say hello to Tezcatlipoca for me,” he said and sneered.

  * * * *

  Diego could taste in the back of his throat the acrid tang of explosives still lingering heavily in the air. Little remained of the chacmool when he and his team reached the cavity left by the bomb. The statue had been reduced to a rainbow of painted rubble.

  He turned to Eva. “So much for your bomb at Pyramid B,” he growled, silently cursing himself for not having assigned some of his men to watch other areas of the ruins.

  “My God!” John gasped.

  The old man had joined them in their race toward the bomb’s smoky wake. How he managed to escape the van, let alone his handcuffs, was a detail Diego would have to sort out later. The mere fact that he hadn’t run away was puzzling enough, but Diego didn’t have time for that now. He had the aftermath of a bomb to worry about.

  He was considering his next move when a scream shattered the numb silence. The officers responded immediately, charging toward the nearby cluster of pillars and crumbling walls. Diego pulled Eva after them, the old man waddling close behind.

  When the team stopped they were lined up like a firing squad, rifles drawn, awaiting the order to shoot. None of them, however, fired a shot. Diego immediately saw the cause of their delay.

  Who should they fire upon?

  The young lady tied down to the chacmool wasn’t the issue, but the two men fighting behind her was. The blunt sounds of their struggle echoed toward them in waves of concentrated savagery. In the haze of the eclipse, further darkened beneath the steel awning, they looked more like two shadows dancing against a wall.

  “There’s your Equinox Killer!” John declared. “Do something!”

  “John!” Eva gasped.

  Diego hesitated, realizing the hour of ridding himself of the wretched case had come. The Equinox Killer. After this day they might as well call him the Eclipse Killer. It no longer mattered to Diego. Whatever the man was called, Diego was bound to end his murderous impulses right now.

 

‹ Prev