by Holly Hook
ANCIENT
Book 5 of the Destroyers Series
By
Holly A. Hook
SMASHWORDS EDITION
PUBLISHED BY:
Holly A. Hook
Ancient
Copyright 2013 Holly A. Hook
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All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Also by Holly Hook
Tempest (Destroyers, Book One)
Inferno (Destroyers, Book Two)
Outbreak (Destroyers, Book Three)
Frostbite (Destroyers, Book Four)
2:20 (Timeless Trilogy, Book One)
Rita Morse and the Sinister Shadow (Rita Morse, Book One)
Rita Morse and the Treacherous Traitor (Rita Morse, Book Two)
After These Messages (A Parody)
* * * * *
DESTROYERS 5
* * * * *
Chapter One
Things went downhill even before Janelle and her friends crossed the border.
Janelle had spent the past few days making sure nobody in her party had an excuse to turn back or otherwise delay. Passports? Check. Bottled water? Plenty of that, as she wasn't sure if the rumor about Mexico's supply had any truth to it. Changes of clothes? Lots of those. Working air conditioner? In the desert, that was vital. But things always had a tendency to go wrong.
That happened a lot when you led a race of human hurricanes.
But so far, quiet.
Janelle spent a lot of time pacing up and down the camper that had been her home on wheels for the past few weeks. Cacti, sand, and the occasional coyote flew past as her trusted driver, Mel, took it along the highway. A couple of pickup trucks zoomed past them on the opposite side of the road. Like they were fleeing, almost, from what she was headed to. It wasn't every day you were going to wake up an ancient Mayan storm god who might or might not decide to help.
Each crack in the dry ground looked deep and menacing. The mirages on the road ahead moved like amorphous monsters, waiting for the next car to fall into their traps. Every cactus promised a rattlesnake lurking behind it. The desert looked like such a forbidding place. But if it weren't for the hot desert sun and the cloudless Arizona skies, she and the others would all have something much worse to worry about.
"There's no possible way she can be around. Not in this."
Gary appeared at her side, so close that a single strand of his black hair tickled the side of her cheek. She loved his hair. Janelle hoped that he never cut it. Some things had to stay the same, and that was one of the few things any of them could control.
She kissed him on the lips, brushing her nose against his and not caring if anyone else saw. As Tempest High Leader, no privacy was her way of life. Things probably wouldn't be much different even if she wasn't. There was no point in complaining about the unfair hand life had dealt them. Not anymore, at least until they figured out how to get the insane storm goddess to stop pursuing them across the world.
Gary wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close. His kiss brushed the side of her temple, parting her hair with a tickle. "I'm glad you changed your mind. I don’t care how scary this Huracan god turns out to be. If he can take care of Andrina, well…"
…I won’t have to become a goddess and fight her, Janelle thought for him.
Heavy silence lingered between them as the highway whizzed underneath. It was something none of them wanted to talk about, and they hadn't since leaving Flint a few days ago. She was hoping. Praying. This was their last chance…her last chance. Life had already taken a normal teenage life away from her. If it took Gary, her father, and her friends, too--
The thought gave her nightmares every night.
The camper rolled over a bump in the road. How much longer did they have before they reached the border? Mel had a map lying on the dashboard, but she couldn't tell how close they were. There weren’t too many exits to go by out here, and the mile markers weren’t any help, their numbers meaningless.
Her driver seemed to read her mind. He faced her. The wrinkles around his eyes seemed as deep as the cracks on the desert floor. "I believe we're about fifty miles out, Ma'am. I don’t normally cross the border this way. Driving cross-country isn't my forte, so they say."
"Agreed. Flying would have been better. A lot better." Janelle couldn't say the rest, that the air was Andrina's realm now. Best to stay on the ground, but it felt like a waste of Mel's pilot skills to make him drive all the time. But they hadn't had any other choices. Driving was the fastest way they could have left. Janelle couldn't have her father come along for this. She just couldn't. A feeling deep down in her gut told her that this was her job. Hers and that of her friends. Her dad would try to follow them after finding them gone from the Flint campsite. He'd try to stop her from doing the one thing that could save her from going down the path of her biological mom since he had the best intentions.
That’s what good parents did, and she'd left him worried like she had so many times before. He deserved better.
She was lucky to have one good parent, unlike most of her friends.
Unlike most people like them.
"Come on," Gary said, leading her away from the window. "Why don't you relax and stop thinking about this crap for a few minutes? All the stress is going to make you get gray hair and wrinkles at the ripe old age of twenty-five."
Janelle let him. There wasn't anything to look at out there, anyway. They had another hour before reaching the border. Maybe two. Time didn't have much meaning anymore. "Since when are you the one telling us to relax?"
Gary managed a smile. "We'll have tons of time to freak out and worry when we get there, won't we?"
Leslie, Paul, Kenna, and Sophia sat around the table. Playing cards and phones lay scattered everywhere among an army of pop cans and fast food bags. Nobody else had taken Gary's advice. Leslie picked at her nails, watching her phone for the call from her mom that would never come. Sophia lay back against her seat, eyes closed like she was gazing within. Even Paul and Kenna sat slumped over, studying the carpet. Janelle couldn't even remember what they'd been playing. There was too much on their minds--all of theirs. Poor Leslie had spent most of the past few days quiet, which was never a good sign from someone who normally talked like an auctioneer.
"Any ideas yet?" she asked Sophia for the millionth time. "Right now, we don't have much in the way of leads. Mexico has way too many Mayan ruins. Huracan could be dormant in any one of them."
Sophia shook her head. "I haven't had a chance to talk to Hyrokkin today." Her gaze moved towards Kenna, which was enough to explain it. Sophia shared her body with a bad-tempered Norse winter demon. It could surface whenever it wanted, using Sophia as a puppet…so long as Kenna the volcano goddess wasn't very close. Hyrokkin disappeared like ice under a blowtorch when she was around, which, Janelle knew, was usually a good thing.
"We can stop at the next rest area and have Kenna get out of the camper," Janelle offered. Hope
fully Kenna wouldn't take offense. Lately, she'd been developing some of her mother's jealousy and attitude. She needed to save it for if they faced Andrina again.
Kenna shifted in her chair, a scowl brewing underneath. A hint of fire glinted in her eyes. They had better be careful. "That's fine. It's not like I'm going to burn up in the sun standing outside."
"You? Get a sunburn?" Paul asked, tying his long hair back. It was the first joke he'd made since they'd left the Flint campsite behind. "That's like Sophia freezing to death."
Nobody laughed. The mood in the camper plunged more and more the closer they got to their destination. Soon, it would hit the center of the Earth and explode. Janelle's skin prickled with the tension growing in their tight, cramped space. Never before had so many walking disasters gathered in one place like this. Something ugly was going to happen sooner or later.
Would Huracan be angry that they were waking him up? Probably, but this was the only thing they had. The only hope.
And if Huracan had turned all the Tempests and Outbreakers back in the days of the first Spanish explorers, he could be able to reverse what he'd done. If they asked nicely enough.
It was probably dumb to hope for that, but Janelle held onto it, mostly for Leslie's sake.
"Mel," she said, walking back up to the front of the vehicle. The air conditioning blew against her, bringing a chill that made her think for a second that Hyrokkin was about to throw one of her tantrums. She glanced back to make sure the demon hadn't taken Sophia over. Sophia was shuffling the card deck. She had never looked less dangerous.
"Yes?" her driver asked. The wrinkles on his forehead grew into canyons as he turned his head.
"We need to stop at the next rest area. Sophia needs some air, if you know what I mean."
* * * * *
I do not like Arizona.
Hyrokkin already complained from her perch in the back of Sophia's mind, intruding like the world's haggiest backseat driver. Great.
Sophia had only been off the camper for a minute. Things were guaranteed to get worse.
"Yes. I know. It's hot." She slowed down, taking her sweet time walking to the rest area building. The sun warmed her dark hair, her black shirt, her jeans. Even if they did have a truce now, Hyrokkin deserved this. The truce wouldn't last, anyway. As soon as Andrina was gone, the demon would go right back to her old ways and threats. "We're both going to have to live with it. There aren't too many other ways to get us all to Mexico. That's going to get even hotter, by the way."
We could have flown. At least airplanes have air conditioning. I'd know. I flew with your mother before I jumped to you.
That stung. Sophia sucked in a breath and kept her thoughts a blank easel. In the silence, she could almost hear Hyrokkin chuckling.
Sophia pushed open the door and slipped inside. Air conditioning and the smell of cleaners wafted over her. A dot on the Arizona map told her that they weren't far from the border. She did a quick check to make sure no one was around to see her talking to nobody. All clear. "Kenna's terrified of heights and going over water. You should know about the water fear she has. I think it's a volcano goddess thing. The sky's also Andrina's domain. It's not a good idea. At least, Janelle doesn't think it is."
Hyrokkin had nothing to say to that one, because it was true. Sophia might as well have put a piece of duct tape over her nonexistent mouth.
Sophia found a stall and ducked inside. It wouldn't be good for anyone walking into the building to find her standing there, letting Hyrokkin lull her into some kind of trance. At the same time, she wished someone would come in here with her to make sure nothing horrible happened while she was out. When the demon took over completely, Sophia remembered nothing of it.
Relax. I won’t attack anyone. Andrina is my target now.
"Until we get rid of her," Sophia said.
Hyrokkin had no answer for that one, either.
Sophia didn't want to trust her, not after she'd nearly frozen her new friends and dozens of people at the Flint airport. Hyrokkin had been all too willing to join Andrina until the goddess had found out she'd almost hurt Janelle. That wouldn't have been a big deal except for the fact that Janelle turned out to be Andrina's biological daughter. Now the crazy storm goddess wanted both of their heads on a pike.
But Sophia had no choice to trust Hyrokkin if they were going to find this Huracan guy.
Sophia sighed and leaned against the side of the stall. "Go ahead."
The cold spread through her limbs, signaling the start of the takeover. It flowed through her veins like water fresh from a melting iceberg. Soon her vision would go gray and she'd remember nothing until the demon let go. Then she'd have to return to the camper to let the others know what sleeping gods, if any, Hyrokkin had sensed.
That was provided she was even telling the truth. Every time Sophia did this, there was a chance she'd wake up to something much worse.
The gray slipped into her vision, fuzzy at first, but then it closed in tighter and tighter as Sophia slipped away into nothingness. She wanted to plead with Hyrokkin not to try anything to her friends, but showing her any weakness would not be a good idea. If she had to live the rest of her life with this other inside her, she had better find a way to be strong about it. Her grandmother would probably tell her the same thing.
The world snapped back in a second. Sophia blinked. Was it already over?
No. She hadn't even gone out completely. Kenna must be walking back to check on her. That by itself would keep Hryokkin from doing so much as make the temperature in the room drop a couple of degrees.
But there were no footsteps.
Sophia, Hyrokkin said.
"Did you feel anything? Any nearby deities? Other than Kenna?" She tried to keep her voice upbeat, but something felt off about the way the demon had said her name. It was almost worried. Scared, even.
Yes, she said. We need to leave right away. Andrina is approaching.
Chapter Two
Sophia couldn't move at first. Fear itself kept her glued to the floor.
"She can't be. Not in full sunshine." It was the storm goddess's one weakness and the desert was full of it.
She is. I can sense her. She's maybe ten, fifteen miles away and coming fast.
Maybe it was a lie to get her to run back out to the camper, but she had to get outside just to make sure. At last her feet came free. She bolted out into the lobby, past a vending machine, and out the door into the heat. She could feel Hyrokkin's strength melting away in it.
There were several cars pulling into the rest area as if they were about to take shelter there. Half the spaces were filled now and more cars, a whole line of them, pulled off the freeway.
Look around, Hyrokkn managed, weak and far away.
Sophia did just as Paul called for her.
Sunshine. Sand. Cacti everywhere. And to the west--
"Oh, no," she breathed.
A fuzzy brownish wall approached, towering up to the puffy clouds above and stretching as far to the sides as she could see.
A dust storm. She'd never seen one before, but there was no mistaking it.
Andrina had found a way around the sun problem.
"Sophia!" Paul shouted again.
Run, Hyrokkin sputtered.
She turned and ran back towards the camper. In the side of her vision, the brown wall loomed a little taller. They had minutes before the dust storm reached them.
Everyone stared out the window of the camper as she climbed the steps and shut the door behind her. "Mel, we have to leave," she pleaded. "Andrina's coming. Hyrokkin could sense it."
Someone, probably Paul, swore in the back of the camper.
Janelle's driver promptly turned on the ignition and gunned the camper forward, narrowly missing a minivan that was parking to ride it out. Next to him, Janelle gripped the dash of the vehicle as she stared out the window at the approaching storm. Her arms trembled. The shell she normally kept around herself was crumbling.
"S
he knows what we're trying to do," Janelle managed.
Mel punched the gas on the on ramp. The camper shook with the acceleration. Sophia had to grip the table to keep from falling back. Everyone else had already made their way to chairs and bunks. She staggered over and sat down on the floor next to Paul's legs as he and Leslie huddled close to each other.
From this angle, she could see brown and tan with only a tiny sliver of the blue sky left. Already the dust storm had towered closer. It was bearing down on them fast.
"We shouldn't have stopped," Janelle managed. "Mel, do you think we can outrun it?"
"I'll try."
Sophia raked her mind for any pointers Hyrokkin might have, but Kenna was only two feet away, holding the side of a bunk. Until they separated, she was on her own. Kenna couldn't protect them all, but she was already stiffening and facing the dust storm as if daring Andrina to come closer and fight her. She could have that opportunity. It wasn't one that Sophia wanted to have again. Even Hyrokkin knew better.
Mel reached the freeway and the motor died off some. Sophia could stand. She still couldn't see the edge of the dust storm. She wondered if it spanned the world, covering everything like the blizzard Hyrokkin had promised not too long ago.
It couldn't be. But she didn't put anything past Andrina.
"What's going on?" Leslie asked. "Is that a dust storm? I've never seen one before. What if---oh."
* * * * *
Leslie felt her insides dropping.
The leather on the seat squeaked as she and Paul huddled closer together. The scene outside the windshield and their own windows looked like the end of the world. For a moment she imagined a face in the front of that dust storm, a female face smiling at them both. It was everything but friendly.