The Bloodgate Warrior (12 page)

“I don’t know what to do.”

“Close your eyes.” Whispering, he eased behind me so he could cradle me against him. All that heat and muscle made me moan. “Do you feel the pulse of her magic? It should have a sense of life to you. If you brush it with your consciousness, it’ll leap with excitement. Magic wants to be used for its purpose. You are that purpose now that Alvarado is gone.”

I stretched out my hands, hoping they weren’t trembling too badly. Even with my eyes closed, I sensed a faint glow, a tendril of something that I couldn’t see with my naked eyes. It brushed against me, and my body tightened even more. I couldn’t help but moan again, louder. My breasts ached and my clit felt like it’d caught on fire.

“Take it.” Sliding his big, powerful palms down my arms, he helped me make a scooping motion, drawing the magic to me. “Gather all you can find.”

The magic didn’t stay in my hands, though. It gathered in my mouth like a decadent truffle slowly melting on my tongue. My throat heated, my skin flushed and dampened and my arousal grew even worse. Like I could shag from here to Dallas and back again and never ever get enough.

I pulled in all I could find, until my jaws ached and sweat trickled between my breasts. My trembling knees gave out, and I leaned fully against Técun, which didn’t help at all.

“Now give it to me. I need to taste what she did so we can send Alvarado back.”

He cupped my chin and twisted my head around toward him, bending down to press his mouth against mine. The molten candy on my tongue suddenly swelled until it poured like thick, sweet molasses into his mouth. He drank it down, his hands clamping tighter. He pushed harder against me, his erection like a steel rod against my buttocks, his arms locked around me.

My breathing came quicker, my body entirely focused on the magnificent man holding me. Even with Xicoténcatl’s sexual magic pouring out of me, I managed to be surprised at how close I was to coming.

I pushed back the feeling, running unsexy things through my mind, like this nasty damp cave, the moldering bodies, the other men surely watching avidly. But it didn’t help. Pleasure rose in me, cresting and swelling higher like the Mississippi River in full flood stage.

So close to busting the dam…

Técun wrenched his mouth from mine on a low curse. He dragged me up against him and ran for the surface, shouting to his men.

I clutched his neck. “What’s wrong?”

The man hadn’t run at the thought of zombies or his greatest enemy lying in wait in the pit of a cave, but he ran now. He didn’t stop until we stood in sunshine once more, but he didn’t put me down. His chest heaved and his arms quivered, so I tried to get down, but he wouldn’t let me go.

“Técun, what’s wrong? What happened?”

“Her blood,” he panted, looking about him wildly, as though he expected danger to pour out from every shadow and rock. “Her blood bound him. Your blood will set him free.”

“But he’s already free.”

“Free forever. Free with all the foul powers of Xibalba at his fingertips. Right now, he’s limited in strength. He rolled from the grave with as much power as the creature I killed last night. But if he manages to sacrifice you…”

Técun shuddered, his arms holding me so tightly that I couldn’t breathe.

“He will have your magic and mine, twisted and corrupted to his use.”

My teeth chattered so badly I doubted he could understand me. “But you can send him back first. Right?”

“If he hasn’t made many sacrifices, yes. But I don’t possess my full strength. If he has the time and knowledge to perform his own rituals, his strength will far outstrip mine. It’s much easier for him to slaughter his way to power than for me to increase my strength.”

He’d mentioned rituals to increase his power before. “Do it, then. Do whatever it takes.”

Averting his gaze, he shook his head. “You don’t know what you suggest. You don’t understand the ramifications.”

I imagined him standing on top of pyramid with a bloody heart in his hand, and my stomach heaved.

He laughed, but it was a harsh, wry sound that made my eyes burn. “Exactly. Although the kind of sacrifice I require would not involve pulling your still-beating heart from your chest,
noyollotl
.”

Chapter Ten

1519 Xicoténcatl Tecubalsi
Translated into Spanish by Leonor de Alvarado y Xiotenega Tecubalsi
Translated by Carla Guzmán Gonzales, 1970

Sacrifice comes to the top of the pyramid.

Though I am no conquered warrior or untouched maiden, I am the willing sacrifice. My love is strong. The great pyramid will tremble with the force of my sacrifice.

My priest waits, but not with his obsidian blade. My heart is safe this night. My heart will always be safe with him.

It’s my body, my soul and my love that he wants. Not my death or my pain.

I am the sacrifice and I go willingly to save my people.

Without reservation or fear, I give him everything I am. He lifts me up on golden fountains of power. The sun burns in my heart, shining in my eyes. I am the rising sun searing away the darkness. His touch makes my body sing and dawn breaks early with my cry.

Oh, my lover, my mighty priest. With our power rising, you are like a god of old.

Goodbye, my love. Remember my pleasure when you stand on this pyramid before our people and see the backs of the white men glinting in the distance as they ride to their next conquest.

I will see your face when I’m given to the white man.

I will smile as I use our power and dream of the great works you achieve with the magic you wrought from my passion.

Remember my love atop the pyramid.

Remember your sacrifice.

And smile.

* * *

Even my favorite spot by the fountain in the courtyard at the
Palacio de Doña Leonor
couldn’t dispel the grim nightmare we faced. Técun and his men had argued and discussed their options for hours, but we were no closer to making a decision on what to do. None of us knew where Alvarado might be hiding. Short of listening to the news and waiting for reports of unexplained murders or disappearances, we had no leads.

“If I had a drop of his blood, I could track him to the ends of the earth.” Even now in the relatively secluded privacy, Técun stood alert, head moving, eyes tracking every little movement. Both of the Rojases stood behind me, while José sat beside me on the bench. They’d all been on the phone this afternoon, likely calling trusted friends and family to come stand guard with the others around the hotel.

It made me feel strange to have so many people hovering about, worried about me. I’d been on my own for so long, except for Natalie. I hadn’t seen her since she’d so wisely left the cathedral, and she’d refused to answer my calls this afternoon.
She must really pissed at me this time.
“Have you heard from your brother?”

“No, lady.” Without my request, Marco Rojas pulled out his phone again and called Angel. Long moments went by, and he raised his gaze to Técun’s. “He doesn’t answer.”

“Check her friend’s room. If they’re not there, we must begin a search.”

My heart rose up into my throat, choking me. I jumped up, but Técun’s steady, dark eyes calmed me. He strode over and took my arm, and we followed the Rojases upstairs. I could only hope she’d stayed in her rooms in a fit of pique. Or maybe she’d gotten lucky with her guard. The Rojases were a handsome bunch and they were descended from kings. Or maybe she’d gone shopping. She’d been threatening to drag me to the local markets ever since we’d checked in.

I knocked on her door, the sound reverberating through my skull. “Natalie? It’s me, hon. Open up. Or at least curse me out through the door. Come on, tell me I told you so. Curse me out with every dirty word you can think of. Nat?”

“Go down and persuade the concierge to open this door,” Técun ordered one of his men. “We have an emergency.”

Endless moments went by while we waited. I fought back tears. We didn’t know for sure that anything was wrong, but my instincts screamed with urgency. She wouldn’t have stayed mad at me for so long, even though she’d thought I was taking an unnecessary risk by searching the catacombs for Alvarado’s body.

Sweat chilled my skin and I felt light-headed. If José didn’t get back with a key…

Finally. My fingers were shaking too badly, so I let him use the key and throw open the door.

“Nat?”

Nothing seemed out of place. Well, for her, that is. Where I kept my things orderly, folded and neatly tucked away, neatness wasn’t exactly Nat’s style. Her clothes were piled in a heap on the floor and the bed looked like she’d had a wild romp with all of the Rojases. Her tote was gone, but she’d had it with her this morning. I called her cell again to see if she’d left her phone in the room, but I didn’t hear her ringtone.

“We’ll check around in Antigua.” Técun assured me, drawing me into his embrace. “I’m sure she’s fine.”

“No, she’s not.” I fisted my hands in his T-shirt. “I don’t know how or why, but she’s not okay.”

He pressed his mouth to my hair in a gentle kiss and led me back to my room. “Your magic may be warning you. Marco is calling everyone he knows to come help search for her.”

I felt worse outside my door. I didn’t want to go inside for some reason. My feet dragged, freezing me in place. Técun immediately went on the alert. He tucked me back against the wall and quietly unlocked the door. Throwing it open, he darted inside.

My heart thudded, my ears ringing with the sound of the door crashing against the wall. Was he okay? I didn’t hear any scuffles.

“Cassie, it’s safe. There’s no one here.”

I tried to step inside, but my stomach revolted. How could he not feel that heavy, foul air pressing against my lungs?

“Where is the trouble,
noyollotl
? Point to it so I can eliminate it. Close your eyes if you need to. Remember how it felt in the crypt. Whatever’s happened here is keyed to you and your magic. I sense nothing.”

Closing my eyes, I tried to listen and feel with whatever part of me had sensed the magic my distant ancestor had used to bind Alvarado. But I was far from aroused. Just thinking about that blood-thumping sense of melting heat made me want to heave. I lifted my hand, shaking so badly I could barely control my own muscles. I moved my hand, aimlessly feeling for whatever phantom danger might lurk inside.

There. The foulness rolled from that place. Pointing, I opened my eyes.

My bed looked neat compared to Nat’s but there was no way that slightly rumpled coverlet had been left by me. I’d tidied everything this morning before leaving the hotel.

Técun slid the spear head out of his pocket, gripping it like a knife. Edging to the bed, he carefully folded the top comforter partway back. “Nothing. Are you sure?”

“Take it all the way off. I have to see the sheet all the way to the foot of the bed.”

He grabbed a handful of covers and threw them off toward the foot.

A red mass lay on the sheets down at the bottom of the bed. Bloody chunks. I couldn’t even tell what it was. Then it moved.

I screamed, shrill and high and loud. The entire hotel would be running out to the streets now. The police would come. They’d lock me up somewhere when I started babbling about Alvarado and demons and a mythical quetzal god who woke up because I called him…

Técun whipped the sheet lose and wrapped the bloody thing into a bundle. “Grab what you absolutely must have. We have to get out of here, Cassie.”

His calm, low voice goaded me to action. I grabbed a pair of jeans, a few pairs of underwear and socks, my toothbrush, and jammed it all into my smaller carryon. I already had my pack that I used instead of a purse.

My life, reduced to two little bags. It almost made me cry, until I realized what that bloody, thumping chunk of meat had to be.
And whose
.

Then I vomited into the toilet.

We strode out of the beautiful historic hotel at a composed but determined pace. Técun held my arm, supporting me when my feet didn’t cooperate. He’d draped my jacket over the bloody bundle in his other arm. In the distance, I heard police sirens. Someone must have called them after my scream.

There was a crowd of people by the fountain in the courtyard. Hotel employees in white were trying to keep the gawkers back. I didn’t want to look but my eyes were helplessly drawn to the trauma. A body lay broken, torn apart, blood staining the water where I’d played with Técun. Last night? The night before? I couldn’t remember.

“Keep walking,” he growled with just enough force to keep some steel in my knees. “Alvarado must have remained close, watching and waiting until we left the fountain so he could leave us a present. It’s Angel Rojas, not her.”

Fear hollowed me out into an empty shell. “Where are we going?”

Evidently, he didn’t either, because he tightened his hold on my arm and pulled me closer to him. A dark car waited for us at the curb. I was so happy to see José that I gave him a hug and then slid into the backseat with Técun. I curled against him, drawing my feet up into the seat, not bothering with my seat belt. “We’ll stop at the Rojas hacienda first, but I don’t think we’ll stay the night.”

He dropped his chin against my head and tightened his arms around me. His heart beat strong and steady against my cheek, his sweet tropical scent filling my nose, easing some of the horrendous emotion and guilt tearing me up.

I’d brought Natalie to this place and now… Tears spilled from my eyes and I allowed myself to think through the implications of what had happened. “That was her, wasn’t it? Her heart.”

His breath was a soft sigh of regret. “Yes.”

My throat ached. All I wanted to do was throw my head back and scream and scream, beating my fists on his chest, tearing my hair. But how would that help? “It moved. It’s still…beating.”

“She’s not dead, Cassie.”

Hope made me lift my head, but seeing the grief in his eyes made my tears pour faster.

“You must understand that only the Lords of Xibalba have such power, demons of death and disease that rule the underworld. They call it the Caged Heart and have perfected how to remove a still-beating heart from a sacrifice and keep them living, bound in suffering to feed the demon power. Alvarado deliberately hurt her to hurt you in order to draw you out. He needs you to break the Tecubalsi curse. For him to manage this type of ritual means he’s gained so much power he might as well be a Xibalban lord and not a Spanish conquistador. How he accomplished it I don’t know. He’s no risen corpse, but a high-ranking demon.”