The Bloodgate Guardian (20 page)

The demon snarled, blackened blood dripping from his mouth, but didn’t dare approach. Wary, he knew very well what the blade in her hand could do to him.
So I will hurt him in a different way.

She slammed the point of the knife into the stone wall of the cave. A bone-deep shock vibrated up her arm. With a clatter of claws and snapping teeth, the demon charged. Ignoring the shattering pain in her arm, she slammed the knife again with all her strength, grinding the tip into the rock, frantic to break the damned blade before the demon could kill her.

Screeching like a demon himself, Sam leaped to his feet and threw himself at Blood Gatherer. He tore at the white flesh and those red burning eyes, screaming, “I hate you! Look at what you’ve done to me!”

Blood Gatherer fisted his hand in the human’s hair, peeled him twisting and clawing away, and bashed him into the stone wall until Sam crumpled to the ground.

Blinking tears away, Jaid redoubled her efforts, using the time Sam had bought her. The tone of the knife changed, rising brittle and sharp. Voices shrilled so loudly in her head that her skull ached. Taking one last deep breath, she crashed the sparkling blade against the stone with all her strength.

The White Dagger exploded, flinging her backward with a turbulent wave of power. Dazed, at first she thought the spots swimming in her vision were the beginning of a concussion. Energy hummed in the air, a dizzying rainbow glowing and swirling over her head.

Her breath caught in her throat. Souls. So many.

They ranged from a sweet liquid gold like honey to fiery red and sky blue. Some were darker, a bruised violet that made her involuntarily wince. They carried such pain and rage. Many of the lights flooded toward the Gate; some of the souls raced up the tunnels toward the surface; and others flooded Blood Gatherer, tiny battering lights of fury.

Swiping at the vengeful souls, the demon howled at her, even as he fled toward the tunnel. “There are other priests in this world! Other Gates! When I forge a new Dagger, your soul will be the first to empower it!”

Her body ached, stiff and brittle as though she’d broken something deep inside, but she forced herself upright. Someone touched her shoulder. Numbly, she raised her gaze to Ruin’s brother.

The horrible scar that once had run from Wrack’s breastbone to his pelvis was gone, and the flat look of death in his eyes had been replaced by new emotions: sympathy, forgiveness, and love.

“Thank you for bringing my heart out of Xibalba.” He sighed heavily and squatted down beside his brother. “I wish he’d lived to see us free and happy.”

“He knows,” Jaid whispered, her throat aching. “He always loved you. Everything he did…” She swallowed hard, unable to continue. Everything he’d done had been for love, even if he’d broken his oath to his gods.

Wrack stood. Now healed and returned to her beauty, his woman stepped closer and wrapped both arms around his waist. He smiled down at the brother he’d been trying to kill for centuries. “I shall sit in the shade beneath the Great Ceiba and tell him how you saved us.”

Jaid’s heart screamed with rage and grief.
I don’t want to lose him. Not so soon.

Together, Wrack and the woman walked into the water. “When you destroyed the White Dagger, something changed. The Gate feels…”

He turned back once again, his face twisted with grief yet alight with wonder. “I hear the sweetest music I’ve ever heard in my entire life. It’s so golden. So bright.”

It might make her a cruel bitch, but his sorrow made her feel a little better. This man had killed Ruin before her own eyes, yet now he was happy and reunited with the love of his life, while she was left alone to grieve. “I don’t hear anything.”

They waded deeper into the water. He smiled down at Butterfly Star with such a look of love that Jaid had to turn away. It hurt too much.

A flood of light made her jerk her head back around in time to catch a glimpse of the inner world through the Gate. A gleaming black pyramid touched the sky with a brilliant sun blazing at the apex, spinning rainbows down the obsidian slopes. Jade-colored feathers flickered like a wing brushing the world, and the pair disappeared into the void.

While the man who’d died to free them lay crumpled in a forgotten cave beneath a crumbled, insignificant ruin.

Smoothing Ruin’s hair out of his face, she forced herself to face the truth.

He was really gone this time.

Even when he’d been shot in the head, she’d quickly felt a sense of his returning spirit. She’d
known
, deep down, that he was coming back. Now, his body cooled and the prowling jaguar had melted away into mystical jungles where she couldn’t follow.

Behind her, the Gate pulsed with light that felt warm upon her back and shoulders like a toasty fire. A deep sense of peace beckoned, offering not a Place of Fright, but a place of rest. Heaven, First Five Sky. Wrack and his woman had gone to peace. Now it was his brother’s turn.

She swallowed the hard, cold lump of grief in her throat. He’d suffered for so long. He deserved his paradise for everything he’d done to save her and this world.

Forcing a smile, she whispered, “Go home, Ruin. You will always be Yax-Balam, precious jaguar, to me.”

Panic and rage still shrilled through Ruin’s consciousness. He didn’t feel dead, or at least no different from the many other times he’d died. Yet this time he felt a deep compulsion from the Gate. A rich voice rumbled through his mind.

“Well done, my jaguar son.”

Flying through a night sky, he followed a sparkling trail of stars. Blue-green feathers fluttered around him, bearing a bright, sharp scent of magic. Sorrow choked him. Jaid had smelled like magic, too.

“Forgive me for my failures, Great Feathered Serpent. I used the Gate once more for personal gain in defiance of my oath. The Lords of Xibalba have escaped.”

“There is no sin in following your heart.”

Even without a corporal body, he felt numbing shock. All these lifetimes, he’d believed his greatest sin had been using the Gate to save his brother, a sin he’d repeated by allowing Jaid to continue learning and ultimately using his magic.

He’d carried the guilt of his failure and the death of his people for centuries.

“There is nothing to forgive, my son. Your heart led you to accomplish my will.”

“But my people, my city, all destroyed…”

“The Lords of Death conspired to capture the great king and his priest to use as puppets of Xibalba. My dark brothers have always coveted the gates and the worlds within. You kept them from succeeding. Now you may have the rest you deserve in my shade.”

Centuries of guilt tumbled away. Eagerness filled him. At last, he could cross to First Five Sky. He could sit beneath the Great Ceiba with his brother with all the other great warriors of their age.

Yet there were demons loose in this world. They would ravage the face of the earth until the Return. Jaid, the brilliant woman with knowledge of his magic and the sweetest soul, still lived.

His heart.

At the thought of her, he saw her beside his empty body. She cried for him, but she smiled, too.
Yax-Balam
. It might have been his name, but only she had ever thought to call him precious. She wanted him to have peace.

How could he leave her? He’d never again see her brow furrowed in thought, her teeth nibbling at her lip as she puzzled out a glyph. Never hold her against his heart and feel her courageous spirit.

“The choice is yours.”

After a lifetime of suffering and death, he wanted a single life with her. It would make the centuries worthwhile if only he could see her face once more and touch her hand and see her eyes light up with excitement.

“It is done.”

As a jaguar once more, he prowled through a darkened jungle. Scents of loam and fresh green things filled his nose. A cacophony of monkeys and quetzl sang in giant trees with pearly trunks and jeweled leaves. The moment he caught a female scent, he knew it was Jaid’s delicate magic. He streaked through the night, beneath the earth into the caves of Iximche, to hover over his empty body. Glowing with light and love, he studied her a moment, waiting for her to look up and acknowledge him.

She had not escaped unscathed from the Gate’s magic, for her cacao eyes glimmered jade green and her mouth fell open with shock.

He dropped into his body. His eyes flew open and he sucked in a deep, rattling breath. Choked. Took another breath. He wanted to touch her so badly, but his arms moved jerkily, as though they were disconnected. Words formed in his mouth but couldn’t pass his lips.

Then her hand cupped his cheek and she leaned down over him. Tears dripped on him, each splash soaking into his skin, filling him with such emotion. Such love.

“I thought you were gone.”

“I was,” he finally whispered, his voice raw and hoarse. “After the countless times I have died, this price I was more than willing to pay. I never wanted to live so very much—until you.”

Water glistened in the torchlight, neither the strange swampy, noisome Gate to Xibalba nor the black pyramid home of Kukulkan.

Shivering, Jaid huddled against Ruin, her arms tight around his waist. Deep inside, she felt changed. Different. Magic pulsed through her body and the water rippled in answer. Glyphs from the stone rings burned in her mind like a brand. His power through the bond? Somehow, she didn’t think so. Her heart quickened, and magic rushed through her veins, making her voice shake. “What do we do now?”

“When I used the White Dagger to take my life, I hoped the Gates would fall shut, but they didn’t. We must assume that more demons escaped along with Blood Gatherer and the other two that disappeared as soon as you released them from Lake Atitlan. Wrack killed One Death, but we must burn the body and scatter the ashes to be sure.”

At the mention of his brother, she felt his shoulders tense and a cold, gloomy rain flooded their bond. “He passed through the Gate with Butterfly Star. He was…happy. Very happy.”

Ruin sighed softly and rubbed the top of his head against her head. “Thank you. At last, he’s found peace.”

“He told me he would sit beneath the Great Ceiba with you and tell you everything that had happened.”

“In time, I will do so, but only if you enter the White Road with me.”

“We have to reclaim our world.” Her father joined them at the pool. “How do we stop the demons?”

Ruin gave him a narrowed, considering glance, weighing his earlier reckless acts against this new urgency. “Did Blood Gatherer make off with the White Dagger?”

“No,” Jaid answered. Loosed demons were bad enough; the thought of them wreaking havoc by capturing souls to empower that awful blade made her stomach tighten with dread. “I smashed it.”

“So that’s why the magic is still so volatile. I’m surprised the entire place didn’t crash down on our heads.”

“Most of the souls went through the Gate, but some of them attacked Blood Gatherer as he escaped through the tunnel.” At her words, Ruin’s forehead creased with concern. “What?”

“The ones that stayed, were they darker in color? Red, or even black?”

“Mostly, yes,” she answered slowly. “What does that mean?”

Turning away from the pool, he gripped her hand as though he wasn’t going to let her out of his sight ever again. “It means we have our work cut out for us to restore order to your world. The Lords of Death found great power in taking the souls of sorcerers.”

“Did they have powers like you?”

“Some. Many had darker gifts they gained from dedicating themselves to other less pleasant gods than Kukulkan.”

Shivering, she could only imagine what horrors might be happening in the world above.

It wasn’t easy to watch Ruin gather her notes scattered about the Temple of Days and stack them on the stone altar, along with Sam’s body and the demon’s remains. Reverently, he placed the codex on top.

Jaid touched the fragile bark cover and traced the gorgeous glyphs hand-painted in brilliant colors. Below the glyphs, an illustration showed a priest holding his offering up to the heavens. A lump strangled her throat. He’d made this with his own hands. The thought of destroying it—

“You know it must be done,” he said in a gentle, low voice.

“I know.” She didn’t look at the codex as he set fire to the stack. Instead, she reached up and traced her fingers over the proud, arrogant slant of his forehead, his full, sensual lips, and traced the spotted tattoos down his cheeks. His eyes glowed gold, the jaguar peeking out at her. His bond hummed within her, blending with the magic of the Gates until she heard the distinctive call of the holy quetzl echoing in her mind.
“Your
Heart of Blood
is written on my soul.”

“And my heart beats for you alone, Lady Jaid. You are my First Five Sky forevermore.”

“It’s my fault,” her father whispered, his face lined and gaunt. His eyes were hollowed and dark in his face, and his hair, which she’d sworn just a month ago had been lightly sprinkled with gray, gleamed a stark white in the dim torchlight. “I hunted for these secrets my entire life. I lost my wife in this search and my best friend. I hope…” His trembling hand reached toward her, hesitating above her arm without touching her. “…I haven’t lost my daughter too.”

“Oh, Dad.” Hugging him, she didn’t try to stop the tears. “If you’d died…”

He squeezed her so hard she couldn’t breathe, but she welcomed his embrace, until he whispered low and rough in her ear. “You remember every symbol, don’t you? Did you read the entire Codex?”

Her heart felt like the mighty temple of Chi’Ch’ul had collapsed on top of her. She’d faced demons and walked the White Road to save him, but in the end, all she was to him was another translation. Without answering, she pulled away and pressed close to Ruin’s side. “We have to find a way to stop Venus Star, too. Sam thought they had a replica of the temple and said something about stone rings. Could they build a new Gate?”

A low, threatening rumble rolled out of Ruin’s chest at the thought. “Indeed, they could.”

“We’ll hike to the nearest village,” Dr. Merritt said, his eyes gleaming. She hated that look in his eyes. He’d been proved right, survived Xibalba, and now had a new insurmountable challenge to draw his interest. Hopefully he hated Mr. Franklin’s Venus Star too much to help them create a Dallas Gate. “Patzun’s not far and we should be able to find transportation to Guatemala City. Once we’re home, I’ll make a few calls. We’ll figure out where to begin.”

“I can’t come with you.” The Gates tugged at her consciousness. She closed her eyes, and she felt them all. She knew them by name, from Chi’Ch’ul to Chich’en Itza, El Mirador to Tikal. She also felt the demons like a black stain of spreading ink, so clearly that she could point to them. Her bones ached with the need to stop them and keep the magic safe. “The Gatekeeper is tied to the Gates.”

“I’ll bring help,” her father promised. “I’ll be back as quickly as possible, assuming I can find anyone to believe me.”

Wryly, she nodded, not voicing her suspicions. If he came back, great. Perhaps they could start anew. If he didn’t…

We’ll know immediately if he’s tampering with the Gate magic again.

Ruin didn’t say anything as they walked up the tunnel toward the ruined city of Iximche, but she knew he understood the true reason she didn’t go for help with her father, and it wasn’t simply because she loved Ruin too much to leave, even for a short while.

Sunlight, blue sky, and riotous green jungle had never looked so good before.

She clutched Ruin’s hand, staring up into his gleaming eyes, and she felt the answering pulse of magic in her blood. “Hurry, Dad. We’ll work on a plan while you’re gone. I texted Callie for help already, so Grandmother already knows I’m in trouble.”

“That old dragon,” he groaned. “She’s probably already called the President and every General in the country.”

She leaned against Ruin and waved one last time as her father disappeared into the jungle. No words were necessary between them. Even if he’d passed through to First Five Sky, Jaid knew she wouldn’t have made it far from Iximche without using his magic.

The Bloodgates had claimed a new Gatekeeper.

Even though she had no idea how horrible the coming months would be, her heart still leaped with joy. She could deal with anything, even Lords of Death and sorcerers, if she had Ruin by her side.