Sail With Me (A Discovery Series Book) (26 page)

Charlie,
Tizoc’s voice gently warned.
Focus on the good.

I shook my head and pictured the day Daniel found out I was a female. I
would never forget the look on his face. I wasn’t sure if he was angry with me,
and then that slow half-smile of his set everything right. Since that moment,
my life had been so much better, so much more.

You have to live,
I thought for Daniel’s ears only.
We have so
much more to do together.

The heat that rushed to my fingertips was so fast and hot that I yelped
aloud but kept my palms on Daniel’s chest. Raw, untamed sunlight passed through
my hands directly into him. For a moment, I was so utterly connected to Tizoc
and Daniel, could feel them both somehow. The radiance was coming from Tizoc,
and it siphoned his strength to do what he was doing for Daniel.

For me.

When my hands could no longer take the heat, which had risen to a near
scorching level, Daniel’s eyes snapped open. His heart jumped in his chest. His
lungs filled with air. Tizoc’s mind faded away from mine as the heat left my
hands.

“It worked!” I shouted around more tears, joyful ones this time.

Daniel clasped my hand with his own and fixed his bright blue gaze on
mine.

“What happened?” he croaked wearily, furrowing his brows.

“You died…” Salazar interrupted, and I spun my head around to look at
him, his voice startling me. “And she… she brought you back.” His face was as
white as a ghost’s as he shakily stepped toward Daniel and me.

I kissed Daniel’s forehead and brushed the hair off his temple. The gash near
his eye and his broken leg were completely healed as were the scrapes on my
hands. “I had help.”

Nodding, Daniel propped his left arm up underneath him to sit up.

I stared into Daniel’s eyes. “I’m so… I can’t believe it worked.” I threw
my arms around Daniel’s shoulders and squeezed him to me. “I thought you were… oh,
Daniel!” I tightened my hold on him again and breathed him in, making him such
a part of me. I didn’t ever want to let go of him.

Cupping my chin in his hand, Daniel brushed his lips across mine, but
hands clamped down on my shoulders. I was ripped away from Daniel, my own feet
dragging on the floor. Two Spaniards reached down and hauled Daniel to his feet
as well. I tried to go to him, but Salazar’s men held me back.

“If you hurt her…” Daniel began.

“If I hurt her, there will be absolutely nothing you can do about it,
boy
,”
Salazar shot back, some of the color returning to his face. He had evidently
recovered from what he had witnessed, though he kept glancing at Daniel’s leg
and temple. Shaking his head, Salazar waltzed over to where Daniel was
restrained and slapped his empty sleeve. He let out a mocking chuckle and
turned to face me.

“Females and one-armed warriors… what are these savages thinking in
choosing their allies? You’re not doing them much good now, are you?”

The Spaniards in the room joined in with Salazar’s laughter, enjoying a
hearty round. I wanted nothing more than to unloose arrows into each of them.
It was the most violent I had ever felt in my life.

What was happening to me?

“Throw these two in with that yellow-eyed native,” Salazar roared. “We’ll
deal with the two males when we get to it and…” He stepped back over to me. “You
have healing power, which is as intriguing to me as the prospect of riches. I’ve
heard of fountains of youth, but what you just did could be useful too. I’ll
send for you, my lovely girl. Right now, however, there’s more gold to amass.
Fortune first, pleasure later.”

Daniel lurched forward as Salazar fingered the ends of my hair, but the
Spaniards had too tight of a grip on him to let him free. As Salazar snickered,
we were led out of Dimazuno’s private chambers and marched down the darkened
hallway to the lower levels of the palace.

I was behind Daniel and the Spaniards hauling him. I couldn’t take my
eyes off him. He had almost died in my arms, but there he was, walking in front
of me with all his injuries healed. I still couldn’t believe it.

What had Tizoc done? What had it cost him to do it?

We arrived at the palace’s dungeon, dark and windowless. Only the small
glimmer of a row of torches along the wall illuminated the dank area. A guard
opened the first cell and threw Daniel in.

“Ladies next,” one of the Spaniards said, sneering at me.

I braced myself to be tossed inside as Daniel had been, but the guards
holding me simply let go of my arms and pushed me forward. Stumbling into the
cell, I managed to keep my balance and turn around as the stone door slammed
shut. Two of the Spaniards remained to guard the door while the other two left.

“
Cihuapilli
?” Tizoc’s voice whispered.

“Where are you?” My eyes struggled to adjust to the dim light of the
cell.

“Against the wall, to your right.”

Chains clinked from that direction, and I took a few steps closer, my
hands out in front of me.

When my palms hit the stone wall, I lowered myself to a crouch and inched
forward until my knee touched skin. Moving my hand down, I discovered a hand, a
wrist with a thick iron ring around it, a muscled forearm intertwined with
chain links, a smooth bicep, and finally a shoulder.

“Tizoc.” Touching him comforted me somehow. “Are you hurt?”

“Just weak and bruised. They chained me because they’re afraid of me.” He
pressed his cheek into the hand I had rested near his face. He sounded
exhausted.

My eyes had grown accustomed to the lack of light, and I scanned the
small cell. A dark mass moved along the far wall.

“Daniel…” I scurried over to him.

“I’m fine. Thanks to you both.”

I helped Daniel scoot over and lean his back against the wall next to Tizoc.
My hands shook as I touched Daniel, the reality of him still being alive
overwhelming me.

“We’ve got to get out.” Tizoc coughed raggedly, as if he couldn’t take in
a deep breath.

“There are guards everywhere,” I said.

Tizoc shifted and groaned at the movement.

“Are you sure you’re not seriously hurt?” I placed a hand on his shoulder
again. He was warm—too warm.

“Yes,” Tizoc said. “I’m just tired and uncomfortable. My hands are numb
from being chained above my head like this.” He looked up to his hands.

“We have to get free,” Daniel whispered. “That has to be our first step.”

“Agreed,” Tizoc said. “The guard has the keys.”

All three of us looked to the two guards outside the cell door.

I got up before Daniel or Tizoc could stop me. I walked to the cell door,
smoothing down my disheveled hair.

“What is she doing?” Daniel said to Tizoc.

“I honestly don’t know,” Tizoc said. “I can’t get a link. I’m too weak to
be in her mind right now. Too weak to heal myself too.”

“Excuse me,” I said. Both of the guards whipped their heads around to
look at me. “Sorry to bother you, but I refuse to stay in here with that… that
native. I am a wealthy English woman and should be treated like one. I demand a
separate cell if you’re going to keep me locked up. This savage frightens me.”
I thrust up my chin and narrowed my eyes at the guards.

One of them walked over to the cell door.

“I thought you were fighting
with
the brutes.” He checked me over
with a mix of suspicion and interest. A slow smile formed on his lips as his
eyes traveled the length of me.

“Why would I fight with them? Doesn’t that seem the least bit odd to you?
More likely they forced me to fight with them or they’d kill me, don’t you
think?” I pressed myself up against the cell door.

The Spaniards looked at me then at each other.

“You’d do the same,” I said. “Look, I’m not asking you to free me. I know
your leader would be upset with you if you did that, and I don’t want to get
you into trouble.” I pouted my lips a bit. “I’m just asking you to put me in that
cell over there.” I motioned to the dark cell across from the one I was in.

I lowered my voice to a whisper, and the two guards leaned in closer. 
“Please. I’m afraid of him. Look at his eyes. He’s not human.” I shivered for
dramatic effect, and the two guards bristled as well.

“No harm in moving her over there,” one guard said to the other, casting
me an understanding smile. I could hardly keep my stomach from lurching.

“Guess not,” the other one said with a shrug.

“Go open that one,” the first guard ordered as he maneuvered his key into
the lock of my cell door.

“You go open it.”

“I’m going to let her out, so I can’t open it. You do it.”

“I could let her out and you could open the other cell.”

Cripes. We didn’t have time for this nonsense. I cleared my throat while
they bickered with each other. Finally the second guard folded and shuffled to
the cell across the way.

When my cell door was unlocked, I shot my arm out of the bars and grabbed
a fistful of the guard’s tunic. He sputtered something but never got the chance
to finish. I pulled him up to the bars so fast and with so much force that his
forehead collided with the stone. He let out a wail before dropping in a heap
to the floor. The other guard spun around wildly at the commotion, dropping his
keys, but he was too slow. I already had the cell door open and aimed his
partner’s pistol at him.

“Turn around and get in that cell,” I ordered.

“Now, missy, I don’t think—”

“No, you don’t, and that is your downfall,” I said. “Get into that cell
in one piece or get into it with holes in your gut. The choice is yours.” My
whole body wanted to shake. I had never held a gun in my hands before, but
somehow I kept it and my voice steady.

Daniel came up behind me. “I’d do as she says. She’s a good shot, which would
be a bad shot for you.”

Glancing down to his unconscious partner, the other guard let out a huff
and walked into the unlocked cell. Daniel closed the cell door, locking it
shut. While I aimed the gun at the guard on the ground, Daniel took the keys and
freed Tizoc. Within moments, they were both beside me and dragging the downed
guard into the cell we had vacated. Securing him inside, I loosened my grip on
the pistol and focused on it in my now trembling hands.

“I’ll take that.” Daniel pried the gun from my fingers and drew me into
an embrace. I collapsed against him, burying my face in his chest. “You’re full
of surprises,” he said into my hair as he rested his chin atop my shoulder and
squeezed me closer.

“Good thing I couldn’t get into your head.” Tizoc rubbed at his raw
wrists. “I never would have let you do that, Charlie, if I’d known.”

“It worked, didn’t it?” I lifted my head from Daniel’s shoulder.

Tizoc flashed his eyes at me. “You’ve outshined many of my warriors with
that one,
Cihuapilli
. I’ll not forget that you called me a savage,
however.” He raised his eyebrows. “Come. We have to get out of the palace,
regroup with the other warriors, and decide our next move.”

“We haven’t lost to Salazar yet,” Daniel said.

We moved ghostlike through the streets after leaving the palace
unnoticed. Tizoc’s movements were labored so we stopped a few times for him to
catch his breath. His eyes were a dull yellow. He’d used so much of himself
helping Daniel.

 On one of the stops, as Tizoc sat on a stone wall, Daniel looked to him.
“What did you do back there for me?”

“I’m… not sure… exactly. When I felt Charlie’s grief wash through me, I
only knew something had to be done. I wasn’t certain we could bring you back,
but we had to try.”

My throat stung as I thought about almost losing Daniel. His death would
have left a hole too big to patch. Looking to Tizoc, I struggled to find the
right words to thank him, but how could mere words express the depth of my
gratitude? By saving Daniel, Tizoc had saved me. Words didn’t have enough power
for something like that. I stared at Tizoc, trying to send him my thanks, my
strength, my love. He smiled, some of the honey color returning to his eyes.

“I know,
Cihuapilli
. But we are even. You freed me.”

Daniel reached for Tizoc’s hand, and I caught Tizoc in a tight embrace.
We stayed linked as a trio for a few moments, gathering strength from each
other.

When Tizoc stood, ready to continue on to his house, Daniel and I flanked
either side of him in case he needed to lean on one of us.  

“Tizoc,” a hoarse whisper sounded from the darkness before we’d traveled
a few steps.

“Zolin?”

Tizoc’s cousin appeared in the dim moonlight. He gripped Tizoc’s
shoulders in a show of relief.

“I was afraid you were lost to us,” Zolin said. “That all of you were
lost. How did you escape?”

Tizoc flashed a quick smile to me. “We may not have had guns, but we are
not without our secret weapons.”

Zolin’s gaze slid over to me, smiling briefly before turning back to
Tizoc. “Some of our people have sent a request to the Spanish leader. Word is
out that Dimazuno is dead, and the people want to honor him at Adanitupachi’s
temple. Salazar has granted them this request and wishes to attend.”

I sensed Tizoc’s uneasiness right away. “Why does he want to attend?”

Zolin shrugged.

“What time is it?” Tizoc asked.

“Nearly dawn.”

“We haven’t much time. We must go to the temple.”      

****

Carrying the daggers and spears Zolin had supplied and the two guns we
took from the guards, we scurried along in dawn’s fading shadows to the central
temple. From the ground level, the sounds of ceremonial preparations could be
heard, and we climbed the temple stairs.

The first thing that caught my attention when we arrived at the temple
patio was an enormous statue erected in its center. It had been dressed in
colorful feathers. Turquoise earrings adorned its ears and a gold arrow was
fastened through its nose. A headdress of feathers fanned out from the statue’s
head while yellow parrot feathers encircled its neck. A black cape decorated
with white feathers was draped over the figure’s shoulders. In its strong
hands, the statue carried a bamboo shield and four arrows.

“Adanitupachi, the Sun God,” Tizoc whispered to me. His strength had
returned the moment we’d set foot on the temple patio.

“We need to blend in,” Daniel said. “The Spaniards have no doubt been
instructed to hunt us down in particular.”

Tizoc slipped like liquid to a cache of gear nearby. Extracting three
wooden helmets, he passed two of them along to us. Both he and Daniel had a guard’s
gun hidden at their waists. Donning the helmets, we mixed with the rest of the
Sunal. The sound of my heartbeat echoed off the sides of the helmet, sending
nervous vibrations coursing throughout my entire body. The carefree days in
Ezenoch seemed so far away to me now.

Drawing in a deep breath, I scanned the crowded temple patio. Lines of
Sunal brought offerings to the statue of Adanitupachi, placing them at the
figure’s feet. The robe Dimazuno had been wearing when he was killed was hung
over the statue’s shoulders. Torches, arranged at the four compass points,
blazed at the base of the figure. Song and dance quickly followed, and soon the
gathered Sunal were engrossed in their ceremony. Their voices were raised in such
harmony, their bodies moved in high praise to the Sun God and in mourning for
their lost emperor.

An emperor who had ignored the warnings and had invited the Devil himself
into Ezenoch.  

“This is not right.” Tizoc motioned to our left where a group of
Spaniards stood, armed and watching. They pointed and talked amongst
themselves. “This is a sacred time. The outsiders are mocking us.”

The Spaniards had moved in closer to where the Sunal sang and danced. The
smug look on their faces clearly displayed their inability to respect the
ritual, the deities, the symbolism of the dance, and the grief over a lost
king.

In the mere seconds it took me to scowl and look back to the statue, the
Spaniards pulled out their weapons and charged forward. One of the Spaniards
attacked the drummer keeping the rhythm of the song and dance. With one precise
swoop of his sword, the Spaniard cut into the young Sunal boy, severing his
head. It rolled along the stone patio to rest at my feet, and my breath got
trapped in my lungs.  

As I choked out a shriek, Daniel pulled me back from the head. The
guard’s confiscated gun was suddenly in his hand, ready to fight off anyone who
came our way. A spear was also at Daniel’s feet.

Tizoc leaped into action, wielding the other gun in one hand and his
spear in the other. Surging ahead to help protect his people, Daniel and I did
the same.

The Spaniards had closed off the stairs leading to ground level. The attending
Sunal had no choice but to fight the Spaniards at their holiest of places.
Salazar had executed another perfect plan—collect as many Sunal as possible in
one spot and obliterate them.  

Gunshots sounded from the Spaniards, Daniel, and Tizoc, but it did not
take long for ammunition to run out and for swords and spears to be drawn
instead. Blood fell like rain onto every corner of the temple patio as the
Spaniards ruthlessly slaughtered the scrambling Sunal celebrants. Limbs
dropped, bodies fell, voices screeched in death.

Though everything happened quickly, it was in slow motion to me. I
somehow had time to think about all my movements. Could sense an oncoming
Spaniard before he was upon me. Was ever aware of where Daniel and Tizoc were
as they fought.

I whirled my spear around in time to stop a Spaniard from slashing me
with his sword. His eyes popped open as his blade sunk into the shaft of my
spear. He had expected to meet my flesh instead. Daniel took my attacker’s
surprise as an opportunity to bury his spear tip into the Spaniard’s thigh. As
he howled in agony and dropped to his knees, the Spaniard released his sword. I
scooped it up and tucked it into my belt. Daniel retracted his spear with a
revolting spray of blood following it.

I swallowed the nausea and used the blunt end of my spear to bat away
another oncoming Spaniard. Daniel fought off his own opponent, and Spaniards
encircled Tizoc a few paces away, all of them wanting a piece of an experienced
warrior.

Summoning every bit of strength I had, I gripped my spear like a club and
swung it around so the shaft cracked into the jaw of the Spaniard in front of
me. The sound of spear hitting bone echoed throughout my entire body. I cringed
in empathetic pain but had to continue my assault if I had any chance of
living. Quickly, I repositioned my weapon and, as my attacker recovered from my
first blow and raised his sword to me, I drove the spear tip deep into his gut.

It went in soft and wet, a look of horrified astonishment flitting across
the doomed recipient. A gurgle bubbled from his throat as he spit up blood and
brought his hands to the wooden shaft of my spear extending from his abdomen.
Slowly, he slid himself free of the spear. My first victim staggered back. His
eyes hadn’t blinked since I had impaled him. When his legs crumpled, I shook
uncontrollably. He heaved his last breath, and I would never forget that
moment. Ever.

I had killed.

In the moments that followed, I instinctively defended myself against
advances, receiving only minor scratches and bruises in the process. I wasn’t
sure how this was possible but thanked whatever gods were watching out for me.
The same gods that were allowing me to take lives, horribly wound other humans,
and walk over the bodies of the fallen to take down more.    

Some Sunal struggled to climb over the temple walls to escape the
massacre. Everywhere I turned, bodies fell to the ground in a red haze. For
every Spaniard I fought off, two more appeared, slaying Sunal innocents around
me. The temple floor was slick with the blood of the fallen. I choked down my
own screams, intent on remaining among the living.

Charlie,
came Tizoc’s voice in my mind.
We have to push the
Spaniards back.

Cripes, there are so many of them, and we’ve lost too many to count.
I
shuddered at the gruesome scene. I had soaked in so much beauty during my time
in Ezenoch, but these horrific moments atop the temple made it difficult to
remember the serenity.

More warriors are on the way. Zolin has called them.

As Tizoc broke the link with my mind, a flood of Sunal warriors crested
over the side of the temple walls. They rushed in with such force the Spaniards
were quickly outnumbered and overpowered.

“Retreat!” hollered one of Spaniards. The outsiders scrambled for the
walls, tossing themselves over the tops and disappearing back to the palace. As
the sounds of warfare diminished, all that was left were the grunts and moans
of the injured. 

The dead lay silent.

Sure that all the Spaniards had followed the retreat order, I ripped off
my helmet and searched for Daniel. I found him off to my left. He set down his
spear, the tip dyed red with Spanish blood. Pulling off his own helmet, he
caught both of my hands in his one.

“I’m all right, Charlie. Are you hurt?” He took in the scrapes on my
skin.

I shook my head, the rush of what we had endured catching up with me as I
stood in front of him.

“Salazar is full of suprises,” Daniel said as Tizoc approached.

Tizoc’s right shoulder had bloodied, claw-like marks dug into it. His
eyes were the darkest I had ever seen them. His lips formed a hard, grim line.
Before he could speak, a young warrior stumbled over, dropping to his knees
between the three of us. He spoke softly in his native tongue, the life seeping
out of him as we watched helplessly.

Why didn’t our gods protect us after all we have sacrificed to them?
Why did they allow us to be slain on holy ground?
Tizoc translated for me.

I could barely hold it together now that the fight was over. The warrior
searched Tizoc’s face with his coal black eyes, then, with a strained gasp, his
maimed body dropped to the ground. Tizoc bent down and closed the eyes that had
remained opened.

“Why indeed,” he whispered, crouching over the warrior’s body, one of
many strewn haphazardly about the temple. He looked at the other fallen. “Why
am I not strong enough to bring you all back?” Guilt weighed heavily on him. 

Daniel allowed me to hide from the macabre scene in the warmth of his
embrace. I didn’t want to have to think about what had happened. Didn’t want to
remember I had driven my spear tip into the flesh of other humans with the intent
to kill. If I let these thoughts, these realizations, creep into my mind there
would be no denying what I had done and seen during this ceremony turned
bloodbath.

****

As the pyres roared to an angry orange, Daniel and I helped Tizoc hoist
the bodies of his people into the flames. Voices raised in lament as the Sunal
grieved for their lost brethren. By the time we had finished, we were covered
in more blood than we could comprehend. Tizoc stood beside me, resting his hand
on my shoulder. He was about to speak when a sudden flare up of the funeral
fires had us both turning to look toward what remained of the statue of Adanitupachi.

The figure held us both transfixed as the reddened flames rose higher and
higher. Tizoc’s mind opened to my own. We were so linked I swear his heartbeat
pulsed through my veins.

I squinted at the statue of the Sun God, and my mouth dropped open as its
eyes widened, giving the illusion that it looked directly at me. I couldn’t
move from my spot in front of the figure. I could only watch the image that
unfolded before my mind’s eye like a dream.

In the vision, Adanitupachi stepped from his pedestal and over the raging
flames at his feet. When he kneeled before Tizoc and me, the urge to run was
overwhelming, but my legs were useless. The Sun God set down his feathered
bamboo shield and turned his fiery, golden eyes—eyes like Tizoc’s—upon us.

The time has come, my Son,
Adanitupachi began in a voice deep like
thunder.
You must protect your people.

I have tried… and failed, O Great One,
Tizoc thought humbly.

I turned to look at him, and his eyes were full of tears. I pushed past
my fear and reached out to him. I wasn’t sure what else to do. All I could do
was hope my touch brought some comfort to Tizoc.

You have not failed, Warrior,
Adanitupachi said.
Your people
are those closest to you. Your parents, your sisters, your friends…

Adanitupachi arrowed his gaze at me, and all the power of the Sun God
surged through my body. A hand rested on my shoulder as Daniel stood behind me.
His eyes were trained forward, focused on the now living statue. He saw what
Tizoc and I saw. Heard what we heard. This was much more than a simple vision.

These are the ones you are destined to save, Warrior. True, you cannot
save all the Sunal. You were not meant to. I would not charge you with such a
task, mortal as you are.