X and Nick looked at Rome, who waited a few seconds before asking, “Is everything all right, Elder?”
Alamar shook his head solemnly. “There has been trouble in the forest. One of our cherished curanderos has been taken. No one has seen her for two days now. There is great concern from her family.”
Curanderos were imperative to the tribes’ survival in the Gungi. They were considered saviors to the shifters, providing remedies—be they medicinal or spiritual—to the infected. Without curanderos the tribes would almost certainly be near extinct. There were only one or two within each tribe, and they usually carried on from their parents’ training, so losing a healer was not a good thing for Shadow Shifters.
But for the three shifter friends, this announcement held a different message—a much more personal one.
The air in the room crackled with tension as they each sat up just a little straighter, listening intently.
“Which one?” Nick asked, ignoring the fact that Rome should have been the one speaking first.
Rome and X were perfectly still as they waited for Alamar’s answer.
“It is Aryiola.”
“Nick,” Rome said, immediately standing from his chair. But it was already too late. Nick was up, wrenching the door open and letting it slam against the wall.
“I’m on it,” X said with a slight bow to the Elder before going after Nick.
Rome sighed. “She was his first love.”
Elder Alamar only nodded. “She is his companheiro. I have known this for some time. Go to him,” he told Rome. “This will not be easy for him or his cat. I will leave for the Gungi in the morning.”
Rome bowed to the Elder and moved to the door himself, stopping to add, “We’ll be going with you.”
Chapter 29
The Gungi rain forest, Brazil
The scents hit her first. From the moment they stepped off the boat that carried them from the village where two jeeps had taken them after picking them up at the airport, Kalina had been inhaling deeply. It was the euphoric scent from her dreams, the one she’d sworn was heaven. It was here, in the rain forest.
A seemingly small boat had carried her, Rome, Nick, Elder Alamar, Eli, and Ezra and all their luggage smoothly down a river with gurgling water and jutting rocks. Everywhere she looked was green, fresh, and filled with vitality. It was such a contrast to the smog-filled city and the hustling and bustling of people.
Rome helped her out of the boat, his hands sliding from her hips the minute her feet hit the ground. She heard it then: birds, lots of them. She looked ahead, down a hill of grass, to trees as tall as her neck could stretch. Above, the sun beamed as humidity rose to an almost stifling rate. But she didn’t feel hot, she felt exhilarated.
Her breath came in short quick pants, her eyes moving here and there trying to take in everything as quickly as she could. It was surreal, this feeling overwhelming her, this sense of immediate acceptance in a land that for all intents and purposes should feel foreign.
“She’ll want to get loose, to run free. Stay with me for now. She’ll have her chance later,” Rome said, taking her hand and leading her down the hill.
He was talking about the cat within her—that’s how he referred to it, as if it were another person inside her. He referred to his own cat the same way. Kalina wondered if she’d ever become that comfortable with the two parts of herself.
Anxiety swamped her the minute they entered the deep foliage of the forest. It was unlike anything she’d ever seen except in books or on documentaries on television. Vines and mosses roped through the terrain like some intricate road map that only the natives would understand. Eli and Ezra were in front of the group carrying packs on their backs and bags in their hands. They knew exactly where they were going. Beside her Rome’s breathing seemed to change, his eyes drinking in the sights just as she did.
Elder Alamar walked with a regal air, his feet lightly touching the thick vegetated lining of the forest floor. X moved agilely, which was something of a mystery for a man built as he was. And Nick—Kalina’s heart went out the man and the beast. He was a solemn form of anger, walking but not experiencing this lush forest.
He’d lived here for eight years of his life, so there was no doubt that he’d walked this same path before, had seen the wonders that Kalina was just experiencing. But there was pain here as well. It all but emanated from his body and was etched over his face. This woman, the curandero whose name was Aryiola—pronounced ah-re-olah, as Baxter had informed her—had once been very important to Nick. Baxter, who was quickly becoming a great reference guide for all things Topetenia- and rain-forest-related, had told her a little about Nick and his first love. Her heart had broken at the what sounded to her like the jungle version of Romeo and Juliet.
Now Aryiola was in danger. They believed she’d been kidnapped. Rome and X had even discussed Sabar’s possible involvement last night. Kalina still wasn’t clear on the Rogue’s intentions. She knew the thirst for power and money well but was having a harder time digesting the rule-the-world mentality. Then again, she’d only known of her heritage for a matter of days. There was still so much she had to learn.
Her mind was so deep in thought Kalina hadn’t been watching where she was going, and she tripped. The downward descent was halted when Rome grabbed her around the waist, lifting her up then setting her down again.
“Sorry,” she said, feeling as foolish as she possibly could when she looked down to see she’d tripped over a tree root. But this wasn’t any tree root, it was gigantic, as big as the entire trunk of a tree back in DC. The spidery-looking limb stretched upward beside others just like it, sprawling above to one mammoth tree that branched out hundreds of feet above.
It was then that she noticed how dark it had grown. She wondered where the sun had gone.
“It’s okay, take a few minutes to get your bearings,” Rome said, pulling a bottled water from the backpack he carried. “The jungle’s a tricky place when you’re here for the first time.”
“Tell me about it,” she said, taking the bottle he offered and drinking. “Where’d the sun go?”
Rome chuckled as he nodded to the others to keep moving ahead.
“The trees branch out at the very top, forming a canopy of sorts that allows a minimal amount of sunlight onto the forest floor. These are called buttress roots,” he said, stomping his booted foot on the root she’d tripped over.
“Guess I should watch where I’m going, huh?” She smiled, handing him back his bottle.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he said seriously. “I know you’re worried about all this and still trying to figure out your place, but I need you to trust me.”
Looking up into his eyes, she couldn’t help but feel the love she had for this man swelling in her chest. “You’ve been telling me to trust you since the first time I met you.”
“You’d think you’d get the hint by now.” He smiled.
She loved his smile, loved the way it put a light in his dark brown eyes. She’d seen that light much more often in the days since the weight of finding his parents’ killer had been lifted from his shoulders. He still had other worries, she knew, as a leader of his people; that was justified. But he definitely seemed happier now. Kalina liked to think she’d played a part in that.
“I trust you, Rome. I trust you with my life.”
He kissed her hard and quick. “Good. Now let’s go before they get to the Gungi ahead of us.”
“We’re not in the Gungi yet?” she asked holding his hand and trying to keep up with his gait.
“No, this is the rain forest, but it’s not the Gungi. Our land is concealed deep within the recesses of the forest so that tourists and poachers can’t easily find us.”
She nodded. “It’s hidden well. I have absolutely no idea where I’m going.”
Rome chuckled. “Then I’ll have to bring you here more often so you can get to know your homeland.”
Her homeland. Kalina wasn’t so sure about that.
That night with the sounds of the jungle echoing around her, Kalina lay on a cot next to Rome. They were in a hut, one of the larger ones in the village with as many of the modern amenities as one could expect in the middle of a rain forest.
