The flare hit the dark-haired intruder square in the chest, knocking him on his back right outside the tent, followed by a woman’s scream.
Gretchen’s hands trembled, but she didn’t drop the flare gun. She shoved the door open, eyes widening when she saw the man’s chest on fire.
“Gretchen, I need your help!” The woman screamed over the rain. “Please, help me.”
Gretchen lowered the gun, firing up her father’s lullaby in the back of her mind. “How do you know my name?”
Before she could answer, a huge horned owl swooped through the doorway. It landed directly in front of Gretchen as a man. Lukas. Gretchen dropped the flare gun.
“Calisto is my maker.” Lukas rushed to the fallen man, calling over his shoulder. “Gretchen, get my leather gloves.”
“Leave me,” Calisto gasped, staring up at Lukas. “I will heal. Save Kate.”
“I’m not leaving you.” Kate piled mud onto his chest, trying to smother the chemical fire feeding on his immortal flesh.
He remained focused on Lukas. “He recognized her.” He winced, gasping. “Called her Ch’en.” His eyes darkened. “Get Kate out before they find her. Protect her, Lukas.”
Gretchen handed Lukas his gloves, and faster than the human eye could see, he donned them. He ripped the core of the flare free from Calisto’s chest and tossed it out into the storm.
Kate stared at his wounds and choked on a sob while Gretchen’s stomach wretched. Calisto lifted his head, pain lining his features. The fire had burned through his skin, leaving his sternum exposed. Hot rain pelted bone and muscle tissue. Calisto dropped his head back and clenched his jaw, obviously struggling not to scream.
Gretchen watched them, feeling sick with guilt and uselessness. She should have stuck with the plan and driven to Cancun.
Calisto opened his eyes again. “I have never asked you for anything, Lukas.” His breath wheezed, air seeping out through a hole in his lung. “Take the women. There is another Night Walker, an ancient. Black hair, black eyes. He is hunting Kate. Chasing us. No doubt they have”—Calisto winced, fighting for the breath to continue—“seen the fire here.” He coughed, growling in pain. “Please, Lukas. Take Kate and Gretchen and go.”
A silent moment passed between the two men, and Lukas rose to his feet. Taking Gretchen’s hand, he reached for Kate.
“Don’t touch me!” she screamed over the bellowing storm. “I won’t leave him here.”
“He will live.” Lukas held his hand out to her. “It’ll take time, but his body will heal.”
“Not if the others kill him first.”
“It is you they want, Kate,” Calisto whispered. “Do not waste time. Go.”
Kate cradled his head in her lap, her wet hair covering both their faces in a shroud as she wept. “I love you. You don’t leave someone you love when they need you most. I won’t go.”
“No.”
Gretchen snapped her gaze up when the deep voice cut through the storm. A tall, broad-shouldered man with dark skin and long, black hair stepped into the clearing. His gaze was locked on Kate, snapping Gretchen’s trip wires as he walked straight toward them.
“You will not be going anywhere.”
“We make a good team.” Marguerite pulled his hand, guiding him around a low-hanging tree branch. “You are the map of this jungle, and I am your eyes.”
The Guardian nodded, leading her deeper into the thick of the rainforest. Even without his eyes, he felt confident he could lead her to the ancient pyramid, to Kane. The God of the East would protect her from the Demon.
“Should I tell you what I see? Do you know where we are?”
He heard the uncertainty in her voice. “Have faith in me. It is not my eyes that make me the Guardian to the mortal world. They are but one sense.”
“My mind was shielded. How could you—”
“I am not like you,” he interrupted. “I hear and sense many things that you cannot.”
The corner of his mouth curved up. He knew without seeing that her cheeks were flushed with color, but he would keep that knowledge to himself.
After another hour, her concern had blossomed into hopelessness.
“We are not walking in circles.”
She squeezed his hand. “My lack of confidence is showing?”
“He’le.” He couldn’t prevent his smile that time. A foreign sensation. “But you will see our destination is right through these trees.”
When he heard her gasp, he stopped, giving her a moment to take in the massive monument. The pyramid had been hidden away, forgotten by humanity for over a thousand years. Nature had reclaimed it for herself, keeping modern man far from her secrets.
“Come. Help me find the entrance.” The Guardian walked without assistance toward the stone base. “We cannot remain in the open while Camalotz still wanders the jungle.”
Once he touched the walls, his large hands searched the ancient limestone seams for the one that would yield the opening. When he found the spot, he reached for her hand. “This way.”
Marguerite followed him into the thick, stale air. He heard her fingertips brushing along the edge of the moist walls.
“I see a light.” She pulled him faster, and gasped when they rounded the corner. “Colin?” She dropped the Guardian’s hand. “You’re injured.”
“Marguerite?” The God of the South’s voice sounded weak. “Kane thought you were—”
“Is Kane here?”
The Guardian could feel Colin radiating pain from the center of the room and moved closer.
“No. He and Issa are searching for Ch’en.” He paused. “We need her to cage the Demon. Her sacrifice.”
“Did the Demon do this to you?” Marguerite’s voice carried a cold edge.
The Guardian followed the sound of her voice and stepped to her side. She took his hand, holding it tight.
“Kane was in trouble.” Colin coughed and growled in pain. “He and the Demon were battling as humans, then as jaguars. Kane was insane with rage and losing the battle. I flew in and took her eye. I could not kill her, but I knew I could blind her. If she could not see, Kane could escape, aye? But when I dove for her other one, she caught me in her paws, and I have no memory after that moment.”
“You saved Kane from the Demon…and himself.” Marguerite’s voice trembled. “Thank you, Colin. I owe you more than I can ever repay.”
“He would do no less for me.”
She lightly laid her hand on his skin. “Why have you not healed yet?”
He took a deep breath. “I may never heal. Not completely. Not this time.”
“You need blood.” The Guardian stepped forward, thrusting his wrist toward the sound of Colin’s voice. “I offer mine. Drink.”
Colin took his wrist, but before his teeth broke through the flesh, he paused. “She took your eyes.”
“Yes.” The Guardian stood still, an ageless centurion, but deep inside he felt an unfamiliar current of emotion.
“Camalotz can see once more?”
The Guardian nodded slowly in reply. Colin sighed and sank his sharp teeth into the Guardian’s wrist, drinking deeply of the proffered blood. Through their blood connection, Colin shared his frustration that he sacrificed his arm in vain.
The Demon was whole again. Something he would never be.