A rush of relief coursed through me when I saw Ms. Benitez sitting up in bed, bright eyed and smiling. She greeted each of us by name.
“I’m so glad to see you girls!” she exclaimed, spreading her arms wide.
Without hesitation this time, I ran into them, squeezing her tight. Maybe it was weird of me to hug a teacher—not to mention a goddess—as if she were family. But she kind of felt like family to me now. “I was so afraid you’d never wake up,” I confessed, my face still mushed into her shoulder.
“Thank goodness you did, too,” said Shani. “Because have we got a million questions for you!”
Lin entered bearing a bouquet of flowers and a “Get Well Soon” balloon. She gave Ms. Benitez a smile and immediately went about finding something to use as a vase and arranging the flowers perfectly on the windowsill.
“We’re so glad you’re okay,” said Doli. “You look pretty good for a woman who’s been in a coma for more than a week.”
Ms. Benitez grinned, sitting up taller in her hospital bed, where she lay under a crisp white sheet. “Thank you, Doli,” she said, glancing into the hallway and dropping her voice. “Of course, my recovery is thanks to the four of you defeating the first Chaos Spirit.”
My mouth dropped open. “How did you know?” I said.
“Only that could have woken me from my coma,” she explained. “When you destroyed Anubis’s minion, his powers diminished and he released his hold on me.”
So I was right. Anubis’s powers had weakened, thanks to us. That made everything we’d gone through worth it. I quickly told her about how we had defeated the demented bat and escaped the temple. “We brought a gift for you too,” I said. I pulled the green jewel out of my pocket and placed it in her hand.
She wrapped her fingers around it, took a breath, and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, I saw that their color had changed to a dark purple, like fresh plums. Looking into them was like swimming in a deep well. They were Ixchel’s eyes. “You’ve done better than I ever imagined,” she said. “You’ve found the first jewel.”
“First?” Doli said, lifting her eyebrows. “So there really are more? Anubis didn’t get rid of them?”
Ixchel turned to her. “The sacred gems are enchanted and indestructible. They cannot be destroyed, and if they were thrown to the bottom of the ocean, they would rise to the surface and float until they were found. However, they can be hidden in the darkest corners of the world, places mortals rarely go.”
“You mean like the creepy temple we were in last night?” Lin suggested. “Blegh. No thank you.”
Shani nodded in agreement. “I have to say, I second that ‘blegh.’ I was hoping that taking out the bat would send Anubis a message. You know, scare him straight so that he would just give up his evil plans and go home?”
Even as she said the words, I could tell that she knew it was wishful thinking.
Ixchel regarded her with serene eyes. “Your victory over the bat spirit was impressive. But what you killed in the temple was the Chaos Spirit’s physical form. While by destroying that, you have weakened it immeasurably, given time, it could recover. This was only the first battle of many to come.”
“Rats,” said Shani, slumping against the windowsill.
“But what about the vase?” I asked. “I know Anubis pulverized that. Even if we find the jewels, don’t we need a new vessel?”
Ixchel nodded sagely. “Yes. In order to defeat the Chaos Spirits—and Anubis along with them—once and for all, we must find the jewels and trap them in a powerful vessel. I created the first vase, I will make another. Until then, the war rages on. Only you can help me put an end to Anubis’s evil.”
“Well, that’s a bummer,” said Shani, moving to stand beside me. “Want us to destroy some horcruxes while we’re at it?”
I nudged Shani’s arm to tell her to knock it off, but Ms. Benitez, or Ixchel, regarded us with compassion. “I know this is a daunting task,” she said, “but you would not have been chosen if you were not capable of completing it.”
“How were we chosen, anyway?” Lin asked. “And do our parents know? Because mine have never once mentioned that I was half tiger.”
As we watched, Ms. Benitez slowly began to transform. Her skin glowed with a supernatural light and her hair turned a shimmering black color. “Allow me to explain,” she said with a voice that sounded like many voices and one at the same time. “Hundreds of years ago, Anubis, the Egyptian god of death, called forth the darkest elements of every ancient civilization in order to form the Brotherhood of Chaos. Their goal was to sow discord and confusion, leading humanity to embrace its basest nature. Death and destruction would follow and chaos would reign.
“To do this, he planned to use the Chaos Spirits to bring the other gods and humans to heel. But those of us who used our powers for good fought against him. We chose four warriors from powerful ancient peoples—Mayan, Egyptian, Anasazi, and Chinese—and created the Wildcats. The great cats have always been regarded as protectors and fierce warriors on their own. But united, they were nearly invincible. With their help, I was able to build the vase that trapped the Chaos Spirits within.”
“I still don’t understand,” I said. “Where do we enter this story?”
“I knew that though the Chaos Spirits were confined, there could be a time when they escaped their prison. So I used my powers as a Mayan goddess to infuse the vase with strong magical protectors—the cat engravings you saw on each side, representing the four warriors. If the Spirits were ever released, a new generation of Wildcats would rise. That, Ana, is where you, Lin, Shani, and Doli come in. You are all descendants of the very first Wildcats, and each of you has answered the call. I’m very proud of you.”
Shani blinked as if there’d just been an earthquake in her head. “Mind—blown,” she said, perfectly capturing how I felt at that moment.
We were descendants of Wildcats? Did that mean my mom may have been one too? And were the dreams I’d had of hunting Anubis in the jungle really me seeing through the eyes of past Wildcats?
Two sharp knocks sounded and the door creaked open. The nurse in the pale blue scrubs poked her head in. “Time for lunch, Yvette.” As she came in carrying a tray of food and a blood pressure machine, my heart raced at the thought that the nurse would see Ixchel lying there in all her supernatural glory, but when I glanced back at the bed, I saw that Ixchel had gone. Ms. Benitez smiled up at the nurse as if we hadn’t just been talking about the end of the world.
When the cabdriver dropped us off in front of the Temple Academy entrance, I thought back to my first cab ride to the school. I knew my way around now, but in most ways, the place was even more foreign than it had been before. It turned out that the earthquakes weren’t the only things that made me feel like the ground was constantly shifting beneath my feet. Thankfully, the friends I’d made were the real deal.
As we entered the lobby, Shani and Doli walked ahead and I lagged behind with Lin. Suddenly my phone buzzed in my pocket. When I looked at the screen, I saw a text from Jason, asking if Ms. Benitez was all right. I smiled. He was so thoughtful. Lin craned her neck to peer at my screen. Too late, I closed the text and stuffed my phone back in my pocket, feeling guilty.
“Another text from Jason?” she said.
I shrugged, not knowing what to say.
“You really like him, don’t you?” Lin asked in a small voice that was almost a whisper.
I chewed on my bottom lip. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I can’t help it.”
Lin nodded sadly. “It’s all right,” she replied. But it didn’t feel all right.
I let a moment of silence pass before I said, “You know, if the rest of the year is as crazy as the first part has been, I’m going to need all the friends I can get—especially ones like you.”
Lin glanced up at me in confusion. “Why would you need me?”
“Are you serious?” I answered with a grin. “You’re the girl who scared Nicole so badly that sh
e turned into a hyena. Who wouldn’t need a friend like that?”
Surprising even herself, I think, Lin let out a burst of laughter at the memory, and I smiled from ear to ear. Taking a chance, I looped my arm through hers and together we followed Shani and Doli through the doors. Maybe things weren’t completely all right between us yet, but for the first time I had hope that someday soon they would be.
“This is the last of it,” I said as I dropped a box of my things onto my new bed in Lin’s room.
A couple of days before, I’d filed all the paperwork for a room reassignment, as Mrs. O’Grady instructed, and Jason got his mom to fast-track the request for me. Turns out it pays to be close friends with the principal’s son, not that I wouldn’t have wanted to be his friend anyway. We’d been spending a lot of time together and I think he really liked me. I could tell that my friendship with Jason still stung Lin a little, but she seemed more okay with it now that we were all better friends. I was almost as relieved about this as I was about that fact that I didn’t have to live with Nicole anymore. In fact, when Lin heard that I was filling out a room-change request, she suggested that I be placed with her. She’d arranged to have a room to herself since she’d come to Temple, but now she welcomed having me as her first roommate.
“Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said you didn’t bring a lot of clothes with you,” Lin said, eyeing my tiny suitcase.
“Nah,” I retorted. “Just the essential pieces. Like this one.” I held up the Cookie Monster T-shirt. “It’s the must-have item of the fall.”
Lin laughed and moved to help me put the last of my things away. Just then my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and gasped. Aunt Teppy! Finally.
I hurried to pick it up and shouted, “Aunt Teppy? Where have you guys been? I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for weeks. Where are you? Why haven’t you called? I’ve got about a million things to tell you.”
“Ana,” my aunt said in a cool, detached tone that I’d never heard her use before. “We’re fine. But we can’t spend every waking moment catering to you, you know. We have our own lives.”
I rocked back on my heels. Where did that come from?
“I know that,” I began hesitantly. “It’s just . . . I was worried. Why didn’t you tell me where you were going?”
“Because I wasn’t aware we needed your permission,” she snapped. “We’ve taken care of you for a decade. Aren’t we entitled to some alone time?”
Tears stung my eyes. Why was she being like this? The Aunt Teppy I knew could make me feel like I was being hugged even over the phone. I didn’t know the woman talking to me now. She’d always told me that adopting me after my mom and dad died had been the best decision she and Uncle Mec had ever made, that they loved being my parents. But maybe she’d only said that to be polite, and really they couldn’t wait to get rid of the burden of taking care of me. I choked back a sob.
“Can you at least tell me one thing?” I pleaded. “Where are you?”
“We’re in Cancün.” Again with that stilted, tense voice—so unlike the Aunt Teppy I knew. “I have to go now.”
“What? We haven’t talked since I got here and you have to go? Tell me what’s going on, Aunt Teppy. Please.”
She sighed coldly. “As I said, we’re fine. It’s time you grew up and looked after yourself. And do me one more favor.”
“Anything,” I said in a broken voice.
“Don’t come looking for us! ”
Abruptly the line went dead and a dial tone blared in my ear. I stared at my phone in horror. I teetered on my feet like a tree caught in a hurricane, on the verge of having its roots ripped from the ground.
“What’s going on?” Lin asked, concern etched into her face.
I turned to my new roommate. “My aunt yelled at me,” I said, still in shock.
“Oh,” said Lin, her eyes sympathetic. “I’m sorry. Family can be like that sometimes.”
I shook my head. “Not mine,” I told her. “She never yells at me. Never! ”
“Well, why was she upset?” Lin’s eyes grew wide. “Did she find out about, you know”—she hooked her hands into claws and bared her teeth—“and couldn’t deal?”
“No. She would never reject me for that. I know it. Lin, something is wrong!”
I told her the things my aunt had said to me, things she’d never said before. I began to pace the room, wildly looking around for something—anything—that would help. Finally my eyes landed on my empty suitcase. They were in Cancün, she’d said. Not too far from here. Close enough for a jet to get to . . .
Without another thought I pulled the suitcase onto my bed and flung it open, frantically tossing in my clothes.
“Um, what are you doing?” Lin said, rising to her feet.
“I have to go find them!” I shouted. “There’s something my aunt wasn’t telling me over the phone. And I think . . . I th-think something’s happened to my aunt and uncle. I think they’ve been kidnapped!” I burst into tears then, my shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
Immediately Lin flew to my side, moving me toward her bed and sitting me down. “Shhh, shhh . . . ,” she cooed, doing her best to calm me.
Just then there was a knock on the door, and Doli and Shani swept into the room, giggling. “All right, we’re ready to get our Vampire Diaries marathon on!” said Shani. But she stopped short when she saw that I was sobbing in Lin’s arms. “What did you do?” she said. “Two minutes as your roommate and she’s already in tears?”
Lin shook her head at her. “Shani, this is serious.”
After I calmed down a little, I told my friends about the phone call with my aunt and her last words to me. “I don’t know what to do,” I moaned.
“You’re jumping to conclusions,” Doli offered. “Isn’t it possible they really did just go on vacation and they’re okay?”
“If they were okay,” I argued, “why would they say something like, ‘Don’t come looking for us’? You have to trust me; I know my aunt and uncle. They’re in some kind of trouble. I know it!” More tears streamed down my face.
“All right,” said Shani. “That’s good enough for me. We’ll help you find them. Right?” She looked at Lin and Doli.
“Of course we will!” Doli exclaimed.
“And I’m sure Jason will help too,” Lin added.
“And don’t forget you happen to know a freaking Mayan goddess!” said Shani. “That ought to come in handy.”
I nodded gratefully. “Thanks, you guys. It means a lot to know I have you Wildcats on my side.”
“Looks like you might have one more wildcat who’s willing to help too.” Doli nodded to my bed.
I looked over to find a purring black figure curled up on my pillow. The green-eyed cat had returned! I was too torn up inside to feel happy, but it felt right that the cat was here with us. “Lin,” I said, “would it be all right with you if I kept her? I mean, if she’ll let me.” If there was anything I’d learned from becoming a jaguar, it was that all cats were a little wild, even house cats. Though I suspected this one was no ordinary cat.
“Definitely,” Lin agreed. “She can be like our mascot.” I knew she was trying to lighten the mood, and even though that would be impossible until I knew what was wrong with my aunt and uncle, I appreciated the effort.
“Great, now that that’s settled, let’s get down to business,” said Shani, reaching for my laptop. “Why don’t you tell me your aunt’s phone number so I can look her up. And if you’ve got one of her credit card numbers, even better. I can see if they’ve been used. Did she mention where they were in Cancün? Because hacking into hotel guest registries is easy. . . .”
As Shani started typing, Doli called Jason and asked if he could come by, and Lin brought the cat over and dropped her in my lap. I felt a wave of gratitude so strong it almost set me crying again. I wasn’t alone anymore. My world had been turned upside down in a matter of weeks, and nothing would ever be the same. But at least I had
friends I could count on . . . and one wildcat. I had no idea where my search for my aunt and uncle would take me, but Ixchel had told me to have faith in my powers. I would have to let them lead me to Aunt Teppy and Uncle Mec and hope that I reached them in time. I took a deep breath. Whatever came next, I was ready.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I WOULD LOVE TO TAKE all the credit for this book, but like Harry Potter said, I must not tell lies. The truth is, there were many people without whom the Wildcats would have never come to be. First and foremost, I’d like to thank the team of incredible editors who worked their magic on Hunters of Chaos: Brendan Duffy, Stephanie Lane Elliott, William Severs, and Ali Standish at Working Partners, Ltd., and Fiona Simpson at Simon & Schuster. Thank you all for your creativity, your great ideas, your knack for knowing what to cut and what to keep, and—most important—your patience every time I said I needed “just one more week.” Thanks, also, for showing so much interest in and support for diversity in children’s literature. Seriously, you guys are brilliant, and I am so, so lucky to get to work with you. I would gush more, but I don’t want to embarrass you.
Huge thanks to publicity assistant Kelsey Dickson; designer Laura Lyn DiSiena; production editor Kayley Hoffman; production manager Kara Reilly; everyone in sales, marketing, and promotion; and the entire Aladdin team at Simon & Schuster. Special shout-out to Wylie Beckert for creating such an awesome cover. (Which features a young girl who bears a striking resemblance to my niece, Jasmine. How did you do that?) Thanks to my good friend Jeannie Ng, I’ve been a freelance proofreader for Simon & Schuster Children’s Books for years, so I know firsthand how hard everyone there works on each book—even while juggling a million other things with intense schedules. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you do and for showing my book (my first hardcover!) so much love.
Thank you to all the librarians, teachers, bookstore owners, and bloggers who have supported me over the years or who helped get the word out about this book. Just to name a few, Betsy Bird, Darren and Theresa Androsiglio-Fitzpatrick, Christine Freglette, Kathy Gerber, Wendi Pela-Giuliano, Tonya Johnson, Latricia Markle, Arlene Sahraie, Bina Valenzano, Ron Ventola, and Tanya Manning-Yarde. Also a big thanks to Latinos in Kid Lit, who mentioned me in their round-up for this year. I’m honored to be included!
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