Mayan Afterglow (6 page)

Ian got up and lifted the boy to his feet. He turned him
around to assess the damage.

Aileen struggled to her feet and moved closer. The back of
Asher’s down coat was ripped to shreds. Fiber and feathers were torn and
spilling out everywhere. The hood of the coat had a huge gash but only exposed
the first of two more hats the boy wore. His jeans were torn but she could see
long underwear poking out through the fresh holes.

Ian was laughing. “I guess a few extra layers of clothes
will keep you safe in the winter,” he said slapping the boy on the shoulder.

He turned to her again. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Just bruised. They couldn’t reach me,” she said keeping an
eye on the boy who had just risked himself to save her for reasons she could
not imagine. “Thank you, Asher Dove.”

He blushed and shrugged.

Ian squeezed his shoulder. “Do you think that’s enough
runway for you, Kid?”

Asher inspected the broken windshield of the truck and the
gashes in the hood. “Those were no ordinary crows. I think we need to get the
hell out of here,” he said.

Chapter Seven

With barely enough runway, they managed to get the small
plane in the air. Climbing to just below the red clouds, their pilot explained
that the GPS could no longer find a signal. They had to be able to look for
landmarks like rivers and remnants of cities.

Ian watched the land below with nauseating results. His
stomach churned and jumped with each bump and dip of the small aircraft.
Looking at the glaring red sky only increased his discomfort.

“Why Mexico?” Asher asked.

Ian turned his eyes away from the ground and felt
immediately better. He twisted around to see Aileen watching out the windows
from the backseat.

When she didn’t answer, Ian said, “Aileen has to save what’s
left of the world.”

She frowned at him. He smiled back.

“Oh,” Asher said.

“You make it sound like some magic trick I’m going to
perform.”

“I’ve seen you use some pretty awesome magic.”

She turned away from him. “I don’t know what will happen in
Mexico. The only thing I know is that I have to try.”

“And if you fail?” Asher asked.

She turned back toward the front of the plane. “Then the
Earth will plunge farther into Hell and mankind will perish.”

She said it like a recitation. Ian didn’t argue with her.
Somehow she knew these things. Just like he had been drawn to Lake George and
Asher had waited in western New York, Aileen knew of two possible futures.

“What happens if you succeed?” Ian asked.

Her eyes met his clear and unblinking. “If mankind survives
the End of Days then they shall flourish for millennia. As above, so below.”

“I still don’t know what that means, Aileen,” Ian admitted.

She shrugged. “I’m not really sure myself,” she said in a
small voice.

“What the hell?” Asher asked, squinting his eyes.

“What?” But before their young pilot could answer, Ian saw
what. Something large was coming. It was not a flock of crows. Whatever it was,
it was solid and black and headed straight for them.

“Get down,” Aileen screamed.

Ian’s stomach flipped as the nose dipped down and started
for the ground. Wisps of red clouds zoomed past the windows. He fought to keep
the little food that was in his stomach down.

The plane leveled out.

“I think we lost it,” Asher said.

The force with which the creature slammed into the nose of
the plane sent them flying back in their seats. Aileen screamed and so did
Asher who pulled up, lifting the vessel higher.

With no way to shoot at it, Ian felt helpless. He searched
for other attackers. Then he looked back to see the red eyes of this thing. It
almost appeared human though only in a distorted way. Nearly skeletal, its body
was covered in sinew and stretched tight with dark grey flesh. The open mouth
bared long, pronged teeth and a serpent-like tongue. Its cry pierced the air
above the noise of the passing wind and engines, but Ian felt that he could
hear it in his head. He felt the pain of this beast in his soul.

Asher took them up into the clouds and then went into a
nose-dive trying to shake the demon.

Bile rose in Ian’s throat.

“Hold on,” Asher said before taking them through a series of
rolls.

“Ian,” Aileen called.

He barely heard her. His focus was entirely on the beast
clinging to the nose of the airplane. He heard its voice from within. His hand
reached forward.

“You can stand at the right hand of the greatest god of
all,” it told him. “You need not perish with the rest, Ian Scott.”

“Asher, do something,” Aileen said in a voice that sounded
far away and desperate.

“I can’t shake it,” Asher said.

The engines coughed and choked against the added weight and
insufficient fuel.

“I’ve got to take it down.”

“Wait,” she said. “Can you stop this thing in flight?”

“What?” He was shaking his head. “I can slow down.”

”Good. When I say so, do it.”

Her hand reached out between the front seats and light
filled the cabin. Energy pulsed around them.

The pain Ian had felt in his head in the house in Lake
George returned. He blinked his eyes realizing he had nearly accepted what the
demon offered. Fury filled him followed by a shame so deep he cried out,
gripping his head.

The light erupted from her hand. “Now,” she screamed.

They were pushed forward in their seats. The demon fell from
the front of the craft and spiraled toward the earth. Ian could still hear its
cries until it hit the ground. He closed his eyes against the pain of impact,
half expecting their plane to meet the same fate as the creature whose mangled
flesh littered the earth below. When he opened his eyes Asher had righted the
craft.

The young pilot was covered in sweat. He wiped his eyes with
one hand as white knuckles gripped the yoke.

“Ian, are you okay?”

Her voice brought him back to reality. “I’m better now. It
was like that thing was talking to me. It was in my head.”

“We need to find a place to land,” Asher said. “We need
better fuel and it will be dark soon. We could get really lost up here in the
dark.”

* * * * *

Stepping out of the plane was better than Ian had expected.
The solidity of the ground settled his churning stomach and his mind began to
clear.

After leaving the plane in the small hangar, they carefully
made their way through the cavernous building. They climbed up a steep
staircase leading to a catwalk and the tiny airport’s offices.

“Where do you think we are?” Aileen asked sitting down on a
small couch in the dusty office above the hangar bay.

Asher sat down next to her. “I think Tennessee. Maybe
Kentucky but I think Tennessee. At least it’s warmer and not snowing.”

Ian looked down at the gun in his hand. It shook slightly.
I
could have done it,
he thought.
I could have gone the other way, left
Aileen, betrayed them.

The shaking worsened. “I’m going outside to build a fire,”
he said.

Smashing an old wooden chair and part of a wooden desk felt
disturbingly good, and the fire burned easily enough. It was still colder than
it should be for October in Tennessee but the boy had been right. At least
there was no snow.

He knew she was there before she spoke. Her presence eased
his mind, but not enough.

“I know you think something terrible has happened to you,
Ian, but you’re wrong. Whatever that thing convinced you of was not real. It
was an illusion meant to scare you and make you doubt yourself.”

“It worked,” he said.

She touched his arm. “You’re stronger than you think.”

Thunder rolled across the sky and in the mountains. Ian
gazed across the horizon at the dark red of a dying world. He turned toward
her. “I would have done what that thing wanted if you hadn’t used your magic.”

“No,” she insisted.

He grabbed her by both arms.

She cried out.

“Yes, Aileen. I would have joined the other side. I would
have betrayed you and Asher and helped Mictlan kill you. I was this close to
doing it.” He showed her an inch between his thumb and forefinger.

“Ian, it’s not true. He wants you to believe that, but
you’re too good for that. It was a moment of weakness during a ride that made
you ill. Mictlan took advantage because in that moment he could read you.”

He shook her. “Don’t you see? That’s the point. He can take
advantage of those moments, and I could kill you or the boy.”

“Look at me.”

His gaze had been off in the distance but at her command he
turned. Dark circles marred the skin under her eyes, which appeared dimmer than
usual. Her exhaustion was evident. Using the magic had done this. He was sure
of it.

He loosened his grip on her arms.

Her smile was weak. “He can take advantage of any of us
during those moments, Ian. It is you who must see. When you’re weak I’ll be
strong. I don’t know what the boy’s role is but he held up pretty good up
there. We need him, and I need you.”

“I think it might be best if you went on without me.” The
pain of saying those words burned his chest. “I got you away from Mictlan.
Maybe that was my part in all this. Now I should go.”

“No, I need you.” She reached up and touched his cheek. “I
can’t do this without you.”

“Maybe what we want doesn’t matter anymore, sweetheart.”

Her anger was palpable. “If that’s the case then what’s the
point of saving this world? I lost everything just like you, Ian, and from what
I can tell I had a lot more to lose. My parents and two sisters were all gone
in an instant with no chance to say goodbye. If at the end of it there is
nothing else worth living for then why should I do this?”

“I don’t understand,” he said though it was half a lie. He
wanted to hear her say the words.

She took his face in both her hands. “Love is the only
reason to risk everything. You are my only reason for making this journey, Ian.
I was ready to let Mictlan have me. I had given up. Then you risked everything
to save me and all of that changed.”

“You make it sound like I made a conscious decision, Aileen.
I only acted instinctively when I ripped you from the lightning.”

She smiled up at him. “And what about since then? You saved
me from the crows and that creature in the lodge. Was that instinct, too?”

“No,” he admitted. “The idea of losing you…” He shook his
head.

“I know,” she said. “We go on together or we do not go on.
Do you understand me?”

He pulled her close.

“Ehhhhhem.”

Both Ian and Aileen turned toward the sound of Asher in the
doorway.

“I thought we might eat something before it gets too late,”
he said holding up three cans of soup and an opener.

“Then I can take the first watch.”

After a few minutes spent telling Asher exactly what to look
for and how to handle different situations, Ian stepped into the dusty hangar
office. Aileen stood at a small window looking out into nothingness. Her
shoulders were slumped with exhaustion. She looked deflated. Had he done this
to her? Had his own fears and insecurities pushed her over the edge? A
half-hour ago she had been giving him a pep talk. She hadn’t actually said that
she loved him but that she needed him. His stomach clenched with his own need.

If she knew he was in the room she gave no indication. His
arms slipped around her tiny waist and she sighed contentedly.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Just tired,” she admitted folding her arms in with his.

“Let’s get some sleep then.” He nuzzled her neck.

She allowed him to lead her over to the large, worn, leather
couch on the far side of the office. He stretched out and pulled her down. She
curled up in front of him. Her firm, round butt fitted perfectly against his
crotch. Immediately his cock responded to the contact, but he knew she was tired
so he concentrated on suppressing his desires.

It took him several minutes but his erection was beginning
to fade to the point where he might be able to get some sleep.

Aileen’s body pressed against him and her ass wiggled.

He grabbed her hip. “Do you know what you’re doing to me,
Aileen?”

“I hope so,” she said in a soft, seductive voice that was
nearly a growl.

Without releasing her hip from his steadying grip he said,
“I thought you said you’re tired.”

The room was dimly lit with the red glow of the night sky.
He saw her shoulders rise and fall as her hand slipped around behind her and
she touched his now completely rigid shaft.

He groaned deeply. “Aileen, I’m trying to be a gentleman.”

She rolled toward him until her breasts were pressed hard
against his chest. “Don’t,” she said, her voice at once serious and playful.

He immediately grabbed her ass with both hands and pulled
her hard against his erection.

She hummed low in her throat and her hand lightly feathered
across the crotch of his jeans. He could barely feel her touch but the sight of
her small hand flowing gently across him was so erotic that the skin around his
groin tightened painfully pressing against the rough denim.

With one clever tug, the first two buttons of his fly
released. Her fingers brushed over the V of hair that disappeared below the
elastic of his briefs. He couldn’t stop the moan that escaped his lips as one
delicate finger slid beneath that elastic. Another tug at the fly of his jeans
and the rest of the buttons gave way. Before he had time to think, her hand was
inside his underwear and her fingers were wrapped around his cock. She held him
lightly, barely touching his taut skin. Her feathery touch created aching need
and he moaned her name through clenched teeth.

His head lolled back and his eyes closed as she teased and
tickled him from base to crown, circling the broad head with one teasing
finger.

“Aileen, you’re killing me.”

“I know,” she said and he could hear her arousal in the
tightness of her voice.

He was surprised when she moved away from him but when he
opened his eyes she was standing in front of him and lifting the edges of her
tunic. She tossed the garment to the edge of the couch and did the same with
her jeans and underwear. In an instant she was before him completely naked.

Her curves were marred by bruises that pained him to see.
Reaching out, he touched a large bruise under her left breast. Her eyes only
left his when he leaned forward and lightly kissed the dark blue smudge. A few
inches away another darker mark bloomed and he kissed her soft skin there as
well. He tongued the delicate underside of her breast before coming around and
pulled the tightly pearled nipple into his mouth and sucking hard.

She called his name and he released the bud. Immediately his
tongue swirled around the pink areola.

“Ian,” she cried.

When he looked up she was watching him intently. Her eyes
glazed over with passion and she held his head, pulling him toward her. He
could smell the musky scent of her arousal. She cocked her head to one side
when he moved away to sit back on the couch. She was adorable. For a moment, he
was tempted to allow her to wonder what was happening just so he could admire
her. Unable to wait, he reached forward and taking her by the hips lifted her
to stand astride him on the worn cushions placing her pussy directly in front
of his mouth.