Dawnbreaker (27 page)

“Well, Mira,” Stefan started, breaking the silence that was punctuated by only the rough breathing of the humans. “We’re here. What is it you wished to see?”

Turning in my seat, I looked back at the naturi huddled as close to the door as she could get, putting as much distance as possible between her and Stefan. “Cynnia? Is there anything you can tell me?” I asked, ignoring the nightwalker for the time being.

“Nothing. I’ve never been here. I’m not quite sure why it would be viewed as important other than the fact that there is a great deal of energy in the air right here.”

I couldn’t argue with her there. The air seemed thick with energy, as if it were moisture on a hot and humid day. The energy within the area had become an entity that seemed to demand its presence to be recognized. Well, I was about to.

“We go to the top,” I bit out, goaded on by Stefan’s insolent tone. If the nightwalker had any special skill, it was his ability to instantly get under your skin like a tick. “The humans stay here and guard the van.”

“Mira?” Shelly’s voice softly broke the quiet of the van.

“You stay close to Cynnia. Don’t let her out of your sight. Don’t let her anywhere near the ruins where she might be able to escape us,” I commanded, more for Stefan’s benefit than for Shelly’s. I didn’t expect Cynnia to make a mad dash for freedom here, not if she was afraid of the allegiance of any naturi she found. For now, she was actually safer in my hands.

“Are you sure she can handle—”

“She can handle it,” I snapped, interrupting Stefan’s question.

Without waiting for any additional comment or argument, I shoved open the door and stepped out. I had to get moving. A flock of nightwalkers would be arriving in less than an hour to fetch us and carry us back to the lodge at the base of the ruins. This would be my only chance to see this place. Yet, all well laid plans are nothing without the occasional stumbling block.

The moment my booted foot touched the gravel-covered ground, my knee buckled beneath me. Luckily, I had yet to unwrap my fingers from around the armrest on the door, saving me from landing on my butt. The weight of my body pushed the door all the way open, pulling me out of the van. My other foot touched the ground and a second shockwave of power surged through my body, pulling a soft whimper from my throat. I tightly locked both hands around the armrest and leaned my head against the door, waiting for the feeling to pass. I couldn’t get my legs to work. They remained limp, useless noodles beneath me. Pain filled me in massive, endless waves as the power from the earth pushed and pummeled my body from head to toe.

“Mira?” Stefan laid a hand on my shoulder, his voice questioning but without its usually cold indifference. I hadn’t even heard the side door slide open when the nightwalker alighted from the van.

“Don’t you feel it?” I choked out as I unclenched my teeth.

“Feel what?”

The question startled me enough to force my eyes open. I twisted my body to look over my shoulder and find Stefan standing just behind me, appearing perfectly fine. Then I lifted my head to see Danaus walking around the van. He also appeared unaffected. There was so much energy in the air it was positively suffocating. How could either of the two men manage to be completely oblivious to it?

“Shelly?”

“I feel it, but it’s not painful,” she said, coming to stand by me. “It feels like a lot of energy just flowing by me, sort of like standing in the middle of a fast-running stream.”

“It’s not running by her like it should,” Cynnia said as she walked toward me. “It’s trying to push its way into her. Even with the manacles, I can feel the energy swirling around Mira, swamping her. It wants in.”

“What’s going on?” Stefan demanded over the buzz of conversation and contemplation. “What energy are they talking about?”

“The energy from the earth,” I muttered when no one seemed willing to talk directly to him. “I can sense it.”

“Is it going to make you useless to us?” he continued in his usual less than cheerful manner.

“Danaus?” My eyes fell shut again as I concentrated on holding onto the armrest. I didn’t need to worry about Stefan and his attitude at that moment. I had to worry about finding a way to function like this. If we were attacked right now by the naturi, I would be useless to the group, a liability.

I listened to the crunch of gravel beneath Danaus’s feet as he stepped closer. His broad hand rested on my back and a surprised grunt escaped him. He drew his hand away and I opened my eyes to find my dark companion staring at me in confusion.

“What is that?” he growled.

“The earth,” I whispered. “Pick me up.” My grip on the door of the van was beginning to weaken and I didn’t have the strength to crawl back into the van. It also wasn’t an option. We had to get to the top of the ruins before the other nightwalkers arrived.

Without a word of argument, the hunter lifted me up into his arms. Instantly, the surge of energy was gone. For a moment my limbs felt weak and shaky, but even that quickly subsided. Laying one arm around his shoulders, I rubbed my temple with the heel of my other hand, trying to clear the fog from my brain. I didn’t have a clue why the energy was so strong there. This wasn’t where they would make the sacrifice in order to open the door. We all knew that was going to be at Machu Picchu. But for some strange reason this place was a maelstrom of energy, and I had to know why before we continued on to the lodge. If this place was of value to the naturi, I needed to know why before we left it at our backs.

“Let’s get going,” I sharply said, feeling awkward giving commands while being cradled in Danaus’s arms, but I’m sure I accomplished it with my usual aplomb. “How long until the others arrive?”

“They’re already on their way,” Stefan stiffly said. Danaus had started walking, and the nightwalker was forced to take a couple jogging steps to catch up. “You can’t have him carry you to the top.”

“I can’t touch the ground here just yet. There’s too much energy in the area. It’s either Danaus carrying me or you flying us both to the top,” I snapped. I didn’t trust Stefan. I wouldn’t put it past him to fly me to the lodge and leave Danaus to catch up in the morning. I didn’t want to be separated from the hunter. Not until after the sacrifice was stopped. He was the only one I knew that shared the same goal: stop the naturi.

“We haven’t time for this nonsense,” Stefan grumbled, his pale gray eyes flaring with frustration.

“Why are we here?” Danaus smoothly interjected as if sweeping the nightwalker and his concerns under the rug. “What do you remember?”

“Nothing.” I shifted my gaze from Stefan to the path ahead of as we wove our way up the mountain. The very air seemed to tingle about us.

“Did they mention this place?” Danaus continued.

“No.” I started to shake my head, but something caught my eye. “Stop!” Reaching out, I touched one of the huge stones that comprised the wall. The gray stone had three straight lines scored into the rock. Two lines ran parallel, cutting diagonally across the stone, while the third line slashed through the rock in the opposite direction, running through the other two lines. It wasn’t a naturi symbol, but it also definitely wasn’t natural.

“Put me down,” I said in a hoarse voice, already pushing against Danaus’s chest. Slowly, he let my feet touch the ground. Again the power surged into me, causing my legs to buckle. My knees hit the ground, jerking a soft cry from me as I continued to cling to the stone.

Clenching my teeth, I reached out mentally and touched any creature that had a soul within the immediate area. If earth magic was going to push and hammer against my body until it found a way in, then I was going to fill my body with as much blood magic as I could find to keep it out. Around me, I could feel the energy flowing from Shelly and the humans down at the van. More important, I had fired up the connection between Danaus and me. I could feel his emotions so clearly now, as if they were my own. With very little effort, I knew I would be able to hear his thoughts as well, but I was careful to keep that door shut.

The wellspring of power flowed cool and soothing into me, helping me fight back the intense energy that was trembling in my limbs. Pain still filled my joints and caused a heavy throbbing in my temples as the two energies fought for dominance within my slender frame. But at the moment, the pain didn’t matter. I finally remembered why Ollantaytambo was so important.

“It’s their gateway,” I announced, struggling to my feet.

“What do you mean?” Stefan asked. Standing close, he cupped my elbow with one hand, helping to steady me now that I was standing again.

Instead of answering him, I twisted around so I could look at Cynnia, who seemed to shrink from my gaze, shifting so she was partially hidden behind Shelly. “You can travel through the energy, can’t you?” I demanded in a harsh voice.

Cynnia nodded to me, her brown hair falling forward to obscure her face. “It’s how we can quickly get from one part of the globe to the other part. It takes some practice and a lot of control, but most naturi can manage it, from what I’ve been told.”

“Can you?”

The young naturi snorted at me and took a step away from Shelly. “Of course not. I’ve not been on earth that long, and no one has bothered to tell me how they work. I’d probably get myself killed in the process.”

“I’d stay away from it,” I warned. “We would hate to lose you.”

“So, there’s a gateway up here?” Danaus interjected, cutting short my ominous threats. He really did have a knack for ruining my fun.

“There are great energy flows through the earth like massive underground rivers. The naturi can ride these rivers to travel around the world,” I explained, my voice gaining strength as I continued up the path. One hand slid along the rock wall face in an attempt to steady myself. “But there are only a handful of openings to these flows. The closest one to Machu Picchu is here in Ollantaytambo. It’s why I’ve been here; why I remember it.”

“It’s a way for them to get reinforcements to Machu Picchu,” Stefan said, his hand tightening on my elbow. “We have to destroy it.”

A bitter laugh escaped me before I could grab it. “You can no more destroy it than you can stop the coming dawn,” I sneered. “It’s the very life of the earth and all the things that grow upon it.”

“Can we block the opening?” Danaus demanded, drawing my eyes back to his face. He stared at me, his cold blue eyes seeming to glitter in some stray starlight. “At least temporarily block it. Buy us some time.”

“Maybe. Are they here?” My concentration had been so completely focused on the energy pouring from the earth and the opening that was at the top of Ollantaytambo that I almost forgot that the naturi were on their way there.

“Not yet, but getting close.”

Looking over my shoulder, I found Stefan intently listening to our conversation. “How much longer?” I asked him.

“Bertha and a few others should be here soon,” he replied.

“Then we have to move now. We won’t have another chance at this,” I said, picking up my pace a bit. My legs were trembling beneath me and it was hard to keep focused on gathering the energy I needed to fight back the earth magic that was desperately attempting to force its way into my body.

A soft sound of frustration escaping Stefan was my only warning, and it came nowhere close to providing me with enough time to react. Wrapping one strong arm around my waist, he pulled me back so his chest was pressed to my back, and then we were in the air. I envied his ability to fly, to have the freedom to escape the coming dawn whenever he so chose. And under most circumstances I might have said something nice about the feel of the cold air rushing past us. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in the mood. He was being an overbearing ass, and I had enough creatures in my life trying to control me.

The second my feet touched the ground I tried to shove my elbow into his stomach, but I hadn’t thought about the well of power waiting for me when we reached the top of the mountain. My legs immediately crumpled beneath me, leaving me leaning heavily on Stefan’s arm.

“It’s worse up here?” he asked.

“Yes,” I choked out as I struggled to fight back the power that left my knees knocking. I reached out to every living creature I could find. My mind stretched out to the village of Ollantaytambo and its sleeping population. Their energy swirled around me and swam through my body, seeming to cleanse me once again.

“Why can’t I feel it?”

“Because you have not traveled in the flow,” I replied, getting my legs beneath me so I could step away from him. It was a lie, but one he would buy for now. I had no idea why I could sense earth magic beyond the fact that I had the ability to manipulate fire. Unfortunately, I had a dark suspicion that my ability to manipulate fire and my ability to sense earth magic had little to do with each other. There was something else that would one day step forward to haunt me on that front, but for now I thought the lie might make everyone a little more comfortable.

Stefan slowly slid his hand from me, as if expecting me to fall to the ground the second he pulled away.

“The flow in the earth is how the naturi were able to get me from Spain to Machu Picchu in a single day,” I explained. “It’s the only way they could have done it.”

I didn’t go on to explain that I now remembered our arrival in Ollantaytambo. I could vaguely recall the sun and my body burning as the naturi raced to find a way to protect their prize before it was reduced to a black pile of ash. I remembered screaming and thinking I had finally descended into Hell. But there was no explaining how I came to be awake during the day, beyond the theory that it was just a side effect of the flow.

Yet those delightful contemplations were pushed aside. “The naturi are here,” I announced to the cold night air.

“Are you sure?” Stefan demanded, frowning. Before I could answer, a single gunshot shattered the silence. Hesitantly, the earth seemed to take another breath before a barrage of gunfire from an automatic weapon resounded in the valley below.

“Yeah, pretty sure,” I said, sarcasm slathered over every syllable. Before the first gunshot rang out into the night, I had felt a disturbance among the humans. They felt uneasiness wash over them, as if something was watching them out in the darkness. Pulling in their energy, I was also attuned to their emotions. I had felt their fear instantly grow to terror when they realized they faced a creature they could not beat.