They're bound to be waiting for us.'
'I don't have any intention of going down there,' Donovan said. 'I only meant that I need something better than these to see what I need to see.'
'I may be able to help with that,' she said. 'Can I see those for a minute?'
Donovan handed over the binoculars and watched as Anna examined them. She checked the lenses carefully. After a moment, she smiled.
'It's a good thing you like old things,' she said.
'What do you mean?'
'The lenses — they're leaded glass.'
She held the glasses out in front of her and glanced up at him.
'You get one chance, I think. I'm feeling a little drained. Pick one thing, or one person, that you want to see. Tell me what you need.'
Donovan thought about it for a moment, and then nodded.
'The girl,' he said. 'I need to know what the girl is doing. What is happening inside that circle is not out of the ordinary. Nothing there is worth Martinez getting up in arms, and it couldn't cause what we've been told has happened to Los Escorpiones. The only thing that is out of sync down there is that girl, and whatever it is she's doing. Either we learn that now, or we get the hell out of here, and take our chances with whatever comes next.'
Amethyst turned to the binoculars. She closed her eyes and concentrated, and then, very quickly, she breathed on each of the two lenses. Before that fog could clear, just as she'd done with the quartz, she whispered a single word.
'Kim.'
She handed them quickly to Donovan, and he didn't hesitate. He leaned up over the edge of the shovel and aimed the glasses at the circle. Kim came into focus instantly, and clearly. He could no longer see the greater circle, but only the ground beneath the whirling mass of smoke, and the girl Kim, kneeling at the outer edge of the circle. He watched as she pulled a long, slender wand from her robes and drew it across the ground. There was a second circle outside the first. It was narrower and shallower, but there were symbols between the concentric rings, and she was on the verge of closing the second, merging one line with the next.
Donovan studied the symbols and frowned. Once again, they had nothing at all to do with Voodoo, or the Loa. The outer circle was a ring of binding, the type that might be used if one was summoning a demon — or an angel. Anya Cabrera had none of the implements within the circle to perform such a ritual, and yet.
It hit him very suddenly, and he dropped the glasses, turning back to Amethyst, who was watching him patiently.
'Damn her,' he said. 'She's formed a ring of binding. The spirits were summoned while there was only the single ring, and the ritual itself — there's nothing different about it. If there had been, the Loa would have known. They would not have come. Now they will be trapped. She is doing exactly what we were told — she will bind them into the bodies they've inhabited. They will try to break free, but they will not be able to return to their own realm. The longer they are here, the more tenuous their own control of their power will become, and she will have them. They will be forced to do as she bids on the promise of one day being returned.'
'That is a very dangerous game,' Amethyst said. 'These are not weak spirits one can bend to simple tasks — they are very nearly gods. If there is any flaw in her spell — any weakness in her binding.'
'I know,' Donovan said. 'I know. They will be free, and they will be here, and there will be nothing to control them.'
He was about to say something more when a loud cry rang out from the clearing below. It was a scream of rage, a battle cry, barely human and loud enough to shake the walls and send cross-currents through the music. Everything stopped, just for an instant, and then there were screams and cries all over.
Donovan brought the glasses up again — just binoculars again. The circle remained intact. Nothing had changed within that ring. Outside, he saw that there was a skirmish of some sort near the gate to the small courtyard. Two large figures in black jackets had burst into the outer ring. They fought like demons, and any who tried to stand against them fell.
'What in the names of the Gods?' Donovan said.
'Martinez,' Amethyst breathed. 'Donovan…those two are dragons.'
They stared down, passing the glasses back and forth, as Jake and Enrique fought their way toward the circle.
'We'd better get down there,' Donovan sighed. 'Things are about to get very, very ugly.'
'You sure know how to show a girl a good time,' Amethyst said.
They climbed down from the shovel and dropped to the ground. Donovan didn't bother with the pendulum, they'd seen the way from above. He only hoped they wouldn't be too late.
Chapter Twenty-One
Kim leaned down, drew the stout, oak wand she held across the dirt a final time, and stood. The last of the symbols had been carefully completed, and now the final seal had been set. The entire ceremony was double ringed, once for protection from outside forces, and once…this last…to keep other forces in. She stood back and contemplated her work.
She didn't try to penetrate the smoky haze and see what was taking place within the circle. It wasn't her concern. She had duties, and she had fulfilled them. Now all that remained for her was to see to those remaining outside the circle, like herself, and to watch for the culmination of the ritual. She didn't know if Anya Cabrera would exit that circle alive; she didn't know if what they were attempting was possible. Soon, she would know. If they failed, she would remain, and there would still be work to do. If Anya were to suddenly disappear, someone would have to tend the business. She had always known it would be her.
As she turned away, the silver caskets dangling from her hair jingled and the sound blended with the music. That blending made her smile, and she danced as she made her way around the circle, past the braziers, and back toward the small storage room.
She'd only gone a few feet when a sound like the tearing of the very veils between worlds erupted behind her. She spun and pressed herself into the outer wall, obscured by the smoke and watched the entrance to the small courtyard, her eyes wide.
~* ~
Jake and Enrique reached the end of the entrance tunnel very suddenly. With the smoke swirling about their feet and obscuring even the shadows, it took a moment to realize that the walls to either side had dropped away, and they were in the outer ring of the central court. The middle area was completely obscured by smoke, and the music, which had been loud before, was overwhelming here near the source of whatever dark power was afoot.
With a scream of rage intended to catch their enemies by surprise and fuel their own courage, the two hurled themselves into the mist. They didn't see Kim huddled against the wall, and they were unaware of the two guards rushing around the perimeter of the circle. Their goal stood directly ahead, and that's where they launched.
Jake struck first. He hit what seemed to be a solid, shimmering wall. Sparks shot up in all directions, green and gold sparks, and he struck with a solid crash into what had looked like nothing more than smoke. He bounced back hard and reeled into the outer wall of stacked cars. Enrique struck that same barrier a second later, reacted to Jake's motion and, instead of slamming head-on, he managed to jump andget his feet in front of him. He was moving so quickly he literally ran up the wall of smoke, kicked off, and flipped, landing back on his feet.
Jake, who'd seen this from where he stood rubbing his shoulder, gaped in amazement. It was like something out of a science fiction movie, or a bad Kung Fu flick.
'Jesus,' he said.
Footsteps pounded toward him through the mist, and he had no more time to wonder how his friend had pulled that particular stunt off. One of Anya's tall, bald servants came around the circle with a short club raised over his head. Jake leaped to meet the charge, dropped, and whipped his leg across the other man's ankles. The big man
