MayanCraving (10 page)

“Are you ready, Geof?”

“I guess.”

“I’m going to get really low. We only get one shot at this
and then those dragons are coming for us. Make sure you get all the fuses lit
and make them long enough to give us time to climb out of harm’s way. Got it?”

“Got it.” Geoffrey worked on the explosives and fuses stored
behind the pilot’s seat. “Here we go.” Asher dove toward the ground. As the
plane dipped lower, they could see that the demons were all still focused on El
Castillo. Whatever trance the beasts were in kept them from paying any
attention to the small airplane overhead.

“Open the hatch,” Asher commanded.

He felt the small craft shudder and heard the rush of air as
Geoffrey complied. He even thought he heard the sizzling of fuses behind his
head.

“Ready?”

“Yeah!”

“Now,” Asher yelled.”

Heart in his throat, Asher pulled up on the yoke. “Close the
hatch.”

The hatch closed with a “womf” of air just as the ground
below erupted with the pyrotechnics of the first detonation. Regaining cabin
pressure made maneuvering much easier. From the right, he saw one gargoyle had
taken flight. Geoffrey’s description that they looked like gargoyles was accurate.
Grayish black twisted faces pulled taut over oversized skulls and long bony
bodies with enormous wings.

Anyone who said these things didn’t scare the hell out of
them was lying, and Asher was no exception. Every time he saw one, he broke out
in a sweat. The flying demons could get inside your head and convince you of
things that you knew were lies. They were capable of ripping a plane out of the
sky. It would be foolish not to be afraid.

Asher watched the sky. A second explosion rocked the plane
and must have hit the gargoyle. He saw it go tumbling through the air, past the
nose of the Piper. It disappeared into the darkness while he struggled to
regain control of the craft.

“Get in the seat, Geof.”

Geoffrey strapped himself into the seat next to Asher.

Something darker than the night moved toward the airplane.

“Asher.”

“I see it.”

“Turn.”

“I can’t.”

A second later, the winged demon collided with the plane.
Flames licked at the monster’s wings while blood gushed from the mouth and
eyes. The leathery appendages were ripped to shreds. Asher’s eyes locked with
the demon’s.

When it spoke, Asher heard the voice in his head.
“Foolish
little humans. You don’t have any hope of success. You will die, even if today
you are victorious. The master will always come for you.”

The dragon’s eyes rolled up into its skull, it’s voice
leaving Asher’s head as the flying thing began to die. It dragged razor sharp
claws through the fuselage and pulled off a big chuck of metal, before tumbling
through the sky. The monster exploded into a ball of flame that shook the
damaged craft.

The pressure of the blast sent the small plane reeling to
the right, but the missing piece of metal made it impossible to regain control
or maintain altitude. “We’re going to crash.”

“Shit.”

“You got that right. This is my second crash this week. Hold
on.”

He tried to find an updraft to help him glide in. The plane
was nearly out of fuel, and if they were lucky, it wouldn’t blow up.

The ground grew bigger in the window. Asher had no time to
examine his fear. He pulled hard on the yoke and thought of Nancy. His teeth
snapped together on the first impact. Then the Piper bounced once and again
before taking a slow spin and skidding nearly a thousand feet across the sand.
The left wing caught on a boulder, ripping it from the body of the airplane.

Once the forward motion stopped, so did the thunderous noise
that had filled Asher’s head. Suddenly silent in the cabin, Asher didn’t waste
any time before unbuckling his harness and checking on Geoffrey, who lay
slumped over in the copilot’s chair. The cabin filled with smoke, but only
plastic burned from the coating on the electric wires, not fuel.

“Geof, you okay?”

He heard only a moan in reply.

“Come on, big guy. We’re out of here.”

With very little help from Geoffrey’s wobbly legs, Asher
managed to get them both out of the Piper with several weapons he always kept
to the left of the hatch.

Once out, Asher dragged the bigger man a safe distance and
eased him down onto the sand. Blood trickled from the side of Geoffrey’s mouth.
He didn’t move.

While his friend lay bleeding to death in his arms, Asher
felt helpless. “Come on, Geof, don’t do this. Hold on.”

He looked toward the pyramid in the distance and could see
the top had been blown to bits by explosives and Aileen’s lightning. If she
were here, maybe she could help, but as the life spilled from Geoffrey, Asher
realized no one could help.

Chapter Eight

The group of humans ducked behind what used to be the walls
of the city, while Nancy watched the air. Very faintly, she could hear the
engines of Asher’s Piper in the distance.

“Nancy, where’s the fuse?” Aileen asked.

All but Aileen were armed with automatic weapons at the
ready.

“Asher’s getting closer,” Ian said.

Nancy sidled up close to Aileen. “There.” Nancy pointed to
the rock on the last step of the pyramid, exactly where Asher placed it earlier
to mark the end of the fuse. “And if that fails, the charges are just to the
left of the temple on top.”

Aileen dipped her chin and kept her eyes focused on the rock.

Nancy returned to watching the sky and listening to the
approaching engines. In the firelight coming from the ball court, the white
plane stood out against the dark-red sky as Asher flew over. The explosion that
followed shook the earth.

“Now,” Ian said.

But they heard human screams and people ran from behind the
pyramid. Thin and stumbling into the courtyard, these humans were bound by
their wrists.

A second explosion jolted the ground, nearly taking Nancy
off her feet as she and several others ran forward and started calling to the
disoriented prisoners. She approached a middle-aged man and screamed into his
bewildered face, “How many more?”

The man took a moment to recognize that she was human and
not demon. “I don’t know. Behind the pyramid.”

“Get behind that wall,” she ordered.

Nancy ran toward where he’d indicated. Ian and several
others followed.

The image that met Nancy when she arrived behind El Castillo
would haunt her for the rest of her life. Fifty or more humans had been
strapped to the back side of the pyramid. Withered bodies were all that was
left of these people. Nancy could not help thinking of photographs she had once
seen of World War II concentration camp victims. These prisoners had not been
fed in weeks.

Twenty demons stood waiting to slit the humans’ throats.

“Hey, you forgot about me, morons,” Nancy called out at the
top of her lungs. “The ball court has been destroyed. You better get the hell
out of here.”

Roaring in fury, the closest demon charged at Nancy. The
female demon looked almost human. Nancy’s momentary surprise cost her. That
hesitation gave the demon needed time to jump on top of Nancy and press her
teeth into her healing shoulder.

Nancy squeezed the trigger. The rotting body collapsed,
covering her. Gunfire rang in her ears and then the weight disappeared. An
enormous black hog skewered the female demon with its tusks and shoved her
aside. It turned back to Nancy. Dark saliva hung from its tusks and blood
poured from a wound on its head. It reared back and Nancy held down the
automatic trigger on her weapon until nothing remained of the animal’s head.

Ian’s hand reached down toward her. “We got them. Let’s get
these people out of here.”

Aileen waited for them with the group of prisoners who’d
escaped. Some of them had to be carried behind the wall. Ian and Nancy were the
last to jump over the barricade. As soon as they crossed that barrier,
lightning flew from Aileen’s fingertips, across the yard to the rock holding
down the end of the fuse. Electricity crackled around them, making the hair on
Nancy’s skin stand up. The stone flew in the air, while sparks climbed the fuse
to the top of the pyramid. Nancy and her companions waited, not daring to
breathe, until the explosion sent bits and pieces of stone showering down on them.

Ian roughly pushed her to the ground before covering both
she and Aileen with his body, shielding them from the shrapnel. When the
cacophony died down, she heard the sputter of Asher’s plane and crawled out
from under Ian’s protection.

Nancy could see the demon clutching the plane and watched as
it tore a piece from the fuselage. Then the flying creature exploded into bits
and pieces that burned as they fell to the ground.

Nancy would have sworn that her heart stopped beating or
that time stood still. All she could do was watch. Helpless.

When the craft hit so hard that it bounced like a pebble on
the water, she let out the breath she’d been holding. “Asher!” She took off at
a run toward the wreckage.

Ian called for her to stop. She heard the surviving demons’
earsplitting screeches as they attacked the humans. She ignored it all. Nothing
else mattered but getting to that crash and finding Asher. What if he’d been
hurt and needed help? Her legs pumped harder.

It was probably a mile to the crash site. Ignoring the
burning muscles in her arms and legs and the pain in her shoulder, she pressed
on. She couldn’t see anyone near the plane. “Asher,” she shrieked.

Then she stopped. Directly in front of her stood the image
of Mictlantecuhtli, dressed like an ancient Mayan king in a long tunic and
eagle headdress. He had a massive serpent draped around his shoulders. “Nancy,
my love, you cannot help the little pilot. He is with me now.”

“No.” The sound was small and hopeless. Every thought she
had turned to sorrow. Death would be preferable to the pain closing in around
Nancy’s heart. Regret for the years she’d wasted flooded her mind. Tears
coursed down her cheeks and she prayed that her heart would explode.

“Oh yes. You shall be with me too, but in a different way.
The other girls were sufficient to bring power to me and the beasts of old, but
for the final raising I require someone special. I didn’t know where I would
find such a woman until you touched the tree of life. Your talents are
extraordinary, as were your sister’s. Robyn has been essential, but she is
tired and worn. You will replace her.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lied.

“I think you do.” His mouth turned up in a sneer. “I know
you, Nancy Jones.” He changed his voice so that he spoke in a perfect Southern
drawl. The serpent’s long tongue lashed out toward her. “I know what you need.”

He glided forward until he stood directly in front of her.
She wanted to run, but her legs would not obey. Her feet felt as if she were
glued to the spot. Mictlan’s hand grazed her face, and surprisingly, she felt
the stroke of his fingers.

“You will come with me,” he said.

“I will come with you,” she heard herself reply before
following the Lord of the Dead into the desert.

His voice pulled her toward the cave. She could no more stop
herself from following Mictlan’s summons than she could stop her own breathing.
She knew she should turn and run, though she could no longer remember why. An
eagle cried from above the cave and a large cat growled so deeply she felt it
in her own stomach. She wanted to look for the beasts, but the desire passed.
Her focus switched to getting inside the cave to touch the tree of life.

Something niggled at the back of her mind. She was supposed
to do something, but she no longer cared what. She touched the column and felt
the energy course through her body. The shock went to every nerve and settled
between her legs. Juices gushed from her as her bud pulsed with the memory of
what was to come. Her other hand reached out to touch the stone tree that fed
energy to the world and she became part of that cycle. Nothing else mattered
but the need for more.

Part of her knew that as it gave pleasure, it also took
something, but the addiction pressed too strongly. She threw her head back and
cried out as the first orgasm overtook her, leaving her quivering against its
hard mass of stalagmite and stalactite.

Aileen, Ian and two others ran toward Asher. He had been
running full out since dragging Geoffrey from the plane. He gasped for breath,
clutching his knees, and waited for his friends to get to him. As soon as they
reached him, he saw that they were covered in dirt and black demon blood.

Aileen spoke first. “Geoffrey?”

Asher shook his head. “We crashed pretty badly. He didn’t
make it.”

Ian cursed.

“Where’s Nancy?” Asher demanded.

“Nancy ran off toward the crash. Didn’t you see her?” Ian
asked.

“She never came to the site.” The small meal Asher had eaten
hours earlier suddenly felt like it wanted to come back up. “I think I know
where she is.”

He took off running in the other direction and heard
footfalls of the others following closely behind. They stopped and kept out of
sight behind a large outcropping of rocks. An eagle the size of a small jet
plane guarded the entrance to the Cave of Balankanche. They all heard the growl
of a jaguar perched somewhere high in the rocks above the caves.

“Ian, can you and Aileen blow up the cave entrance?” Asher
asked.

“I guess so. What about Nancy? Is she inside?”

Asher narrowed his eyes at his friend. “I’ll worry about
Nancy. Give me an hour. Once tomorrow dawns, I think it will be too late. Just
give me an hour and then blow up the damn cave, no matter what.”

“Asher,” Aileen cried. “You can’t do this.”

He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “I have to do it and you
and Ian have to blow up that cave or we’re all doomed.”

“I can’t.” She looked wounded, staring up at him.

He reached around her and shook Ian’s hand. Then he looked
down into her blue eyes. Aileen was like his big sister. He admired the way she
always did the right thing, just as he knew she would now. “You can and you
will, because you know this is the only way to stop him. We destroyed the
temple, this is the energy source. I’ll blow up the pillar and get Nancy out.
Once the pillar is gone, these things should disappear.”

“You don’t know that,” she argued.

“It’s best I can do. Without a power source, the three
beasts can’t survive long in our world. That’s what Robyn told us. We have to
try.”

With a nod to Ian, he took off running toward the smaller
cave entrance that he and Nancy had used the last time.

Minutes later, Asher found himself in the cavern with the
giant pillar. This time there were no demons on guard. Only he and Nancy were
inside. Nancy’s back was pressed against the pillar. Her arms reached back,
clutching the stone. Her eyes were glazed over. She didn’t even know he’d come
for her. He could see no sign
his
Nancy was anywhere inside the woman
before him. His stomach tightened to a knot. He couldn’t lose her now, not
after all they’d been through.

He crossed the cave to look down the larger opening and
found no demons on guard there. Turning back to Nancy, his heart ached so
badly, he clutched his chest. The fear he’d experienced in the crashing plane
paled in comparison to what he felt standing helplessly as she succumbed to an
orgasm. He was losing her.

“Nancy.” He spoke only an inch from her face.

No response.

“She is mine now, little pilot.”
An all too familiar
voice spoke inside Asher’s head.

He ignored the Lord of the Dead’s taunts.

“Nancy, we have to go now.” Now that he knew Mictlan could
see him, Asher leaned into Nancy’s body before slipping a dynamite charge in a
crag of the column. Still holding the fuse in his hand, he pulled her shoulders
toward him and away from the damn pillar.

Immediately she began to weep loudly. As soon as her body
came away from the source of her pleasure, she convulsed violently in his arms.

He let her go and she fell against the column again. Her
eyes rolled back in her head and she shrieked with renewed pleasure.

“You see, she wants me. Nothing you can ever do for her
will compare to the acts of a god,”

Asher ignored Mictlan’s boast. This time he tried to ease
her gently off the thing. Every muscle in her body stiffened and she shook with
a seizure of grand mal proportions. Her eyes rolled back into her head and foam
spilled from her mouth. Asher eased her to the ground and she became completely
still. He felt her throat.

No pulse.

“Nancy, don’t do this to me.”

Nothing.

“I will not give her up, little pilot. She has chosen.”

“Shut up, asshole, and stop calling me that.” Asher lifted
her up and pushed her, firmly but gently, back against the pillar. She gasped
for breath and another orgasm racked her body. As it passed, she sighed in
satisfaction.

Asher thought he might vomit. His stomach literally lurched
at the idea that Mictlan was touching Nancy.

He heard Mictlan’s laughter in his head. The Lord of the
Dead had won.

Half of his one-hour window had passed. He couldn’t take
Nancy out of the cave and he had to set the charge before he could leave the
cave. Who was he kidding? He’d never leave her behind. He sat down on the
ground in front of her with the end of the extra-long fuse in his hand and
pulled out his lighter from his jeans pocket.

He didn’t light the fuse right away. “Do you remember when
we first started building the settlement, Nance? You and I were like oil and
water. You wanted everything done your way. I think you would have built an old
Southern mansion if Ian hadn’t convinced you that an adobe was more practical.”
He laughed.

“You yelled at me all day, every day, until we finally got
your little place built, and then you immediately started sweeping that dirt
floor.” He looked up at her. “I already loved you then.

“Of course, you wouldn’t give me a second look. I was a
scrawny kid and Ian seemed like a god to you and all the other women. I didn’t
mind, though. I still got to watch you go through all those silly rituals of
cleaning things that would never be clean.

“The day we got the aqueduct working, you looked like a
little girl splashing in all that fresh clean water.” He looked around at the
empty cave as if someone might be watching. “I can tell you this now. I had a
huge hard-on watching you in that water.”

He shook his head. “I never thought I would hear you say you
loved me. The last few days have been the best days of my life, Nancy.” He lit
the fuse and looked up at her.