“I guessed it would come to something like this. Why would you come to Oc Ajal otherwise? And I figured I was the best one to stand guard, both over you and against you.” She paused. “Besides, I think I need to do this. It’s one thing to say I can handle myself and another to actually prove it.”
Phee’s ghost had nearly killed both of them. Anntah’s wouldn’t get the same chance. Not if she had anything to say about it.
He hesitated, then blew out a breath. “Shit, Myr.”
“You can do this,” she said, and heard the words echo back to her old self, the one who’d had his back no matter what. “Just remember whose side you’re on, okay?”
For the first time in days, she caught a flash of his grin. “Okay.” Then he sobered. “Okay. Let’s do this.” Turning to face the fire pit once more, he pulled his combat knife from his belt and used it to cut his palms.
Red blood welled and flowed, the air stirred around them, and Myr’s heart stuttered. Oh, hell. They were really doing this. Reminding herself that she had asked for it, argued for it, she held her ground as a faint rattle hissed to life, as if a giant snake had been disturbed. Her heart thudded, but where the other day the syncopated beat had sounded like I’m-alive, I’m-alive, now it sounded like oh-shit, oh-shit, oh-shit.
She stayed put, though. Not because there wasn’t anywhere to run to, but because she wasn’t going to leave Rabbit behind.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Chichen Itza, Mexico
Anna’s mind raced as she stared at the child and tried not to let Dr. Dave see how thoroughly freaked out she was, or how sudden sharp hope flared through her, making it hard to breathe. “Tell me what to do,” she whispered in the ancient language.
The little girl—or whatever entity was speaking through her—said, “There is a ruby skull hidden within the chac-mool at the center of your home. It holds the key to your powers and the secret of the true gods.”
Anna fought not to gasp. According to the archive, thirteen life-sized crystal skulls had come out of the sinking city with the earliest of the Nightkeepers, the ones who had built the barrier to contain the demons in Xibalba. Four had been sacrificed to the underworld, four had been sent into the sky, and four had been given to mankind. The last and final one had been split into thirteen smaller amulets, one for each of the itza’at bloodlines. As far as she knew, hers was the only one left.
What if there was another? What if it could awaken her powers? Excitement whipped through her and her voice shook as she said, “Who are you?”
But Rosa’s expression didn’t change and she didn’t answer. After a moment, she said, “Greetings, seer.” And Anna’s heart sank as she repeated the message, word for word.
“She just keeps saying the same thing, over and over,” David said. “What does it mean?”
Anna jolted at the doctor’s question. Keep it together, she warned herself. Don’t let him guess what’s really going on. How could he, though? The truth was so far out of normal reality that it wouldn’t even compute for most rational humans. He’d think she was insane.
She chose her words carefully. “It’s ancient Mayan, sort of. But it’s gibberish, like someone taught her a few words, but not their meanings or syntax.” There was no reason for her to feel guilty about lying. It was for his own protection.
“You’re sure?” Behind the face shield, his eyes were too perceptive.
“I’m sorry.” That was no lie. “What were you hoping for?”
“Something . . . more.” Expression going rueful, he shot a glance at the now-dozing child and said in an undertone, “The way that woman was calling her the devil and blaming her for the outbreak and all . . . Intellectually, I know she was raving, that both cases are just atypical presentations of the virus. But after reading the stuff you sent over, about bloodletting, rituals, sacred incense and gods and stuff, when one of the volunteers told me she thought Rosa was speaking an old Mayan dialect . . . well, I guess I was hoping she might tell us something useful.”
She did. Thank you for calling me. “Like what?”
“More herbal remedies, maybe, or an incantation.” At her startled look, he shrugged. “The station where I grew up put the ‘out’ in outback. I was making potions long before I learned about chemical drugs, so you’re not going to get any guff about traditional medicine from me. Some of the other doctors, maybe, but not me.”
Rosa was murmuring in her sleep. The same thing, over and over again. There is a ruby skull . . .
“It’s not a cure,” Anna said softly. Worse, the message was specifically for her, which meant she was the reason the child had been chosen. The gods had seen her as a way to get to Anna. Why not just send me a damn vision? she thought viciously. But they couldn’t, of course, because her subconscious was blocking her magic. Her fault. Swallowing, she asked, “What will happen to her?”
“If she lives? Foster care, probably.”
Anna knew she couldn’t afford to get any more involved than she already was—not with Rosa, her aunt, or any of the other motionless figures bound to their beds in rooms nearby, and certainly not with the handsome doctor. They were part of the larger fight, not its focus. But she said, “I’ll keep looking for cures.”
He grimaced. “I didn’t mean to put this on you. It’s not your fight.”
Oh, yes it is. “I’ll call you if I find anything.”
“Do that. Or, hell, just come to the main entrance and have someone track me down.” His hazel eyes locked on hers through the shield, going suddenly intent. “How much longer are you going to be here?”
“I don’t know. A few days, maybe longer.”
“Where are you staying again?”
“I don’t . . . I can’t . . . shit.” She didn’t want to lie to him. He was a good man. Faking a look at her wristband, she said, “I’ve got to go. I’ll call you.”
She was through the door before he could say anything else, heading up the corridor at a fast walk as the panel thunked shut.
Moments later, it wonked back open. “Anna, wait!”
I can’t. Pretending not to hear, she ducked through a makeshift decontamination area that led from the inner area to the outer ring of buildings. There, she shucked off her protective clothing and sailed through a half- assed monitoring station, giving a vague wave when the guy called after her in Spanish.
Outside, she dodged around a ragged knot of shell-shocked-looking locals she guessed were the family members of a newly made xombi. “Sorry,” she murmured as she got around them, apologizing for far more than crowding them, though they would never know it.
“Wait, damn it.” A hand grabbed her arm and swung her around, and she found herself with her back against the wall, staring up at David, who looked frustrated and grumpy, and as flustered as she’d yet seen him. He had shucked off his gear, too, and his bare hand on her forearm seemed suddenly very naked, as did his bewilderment. “Anna, seriously. What’s going on here?”
She tried to edge around him, but he didn’t budge. “This isn’t a good time. I really need to go.” Her mind raced, but even though she’d spent an entire career—and an entire marriage—playing human, with all the lies that had entailed, now she couldn’t come up with a damn thing.
“What aren’t you telling me? Are you in some sort of trouble? Damn it, I told you to watch out for the cops.”
“It’s not . . .” She trailed off, because she didn’t know what it was or wasn’t anymore, couldn’t wrap her head around anything with him touching her.
When was the last time she’d been this close to a man who wasn’t one of her teammates? When was the last time someone other than Strike had crowded her overprotectively, trying to make sure she was safe? How sad was it that she couldn’t remember? The answer should’ve involved her ex, and maybe it did, but she couldn’t remember how it had felt to have Dick’s body this near hers, and he’d never been one to get big and protective, at least not over her.
She had told herself she liked that he respected her independence, and maybe back then she had. Now, though, she was badly tempted to lean into David’s warm, solid strength.
