Page 211 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

“I thought—”

“That it was impossible to leave and stay out of going back? It is, usually, but in trying to find a way out, I stumbled across him and a sect of his followers. I made a deal with Tezcatlipoca. He taught me blood magic to keep Brandon and me hidden from the guardians and the Moon Goddess, and then found a tear he could open big enough so that I could escape with my son. He sent me to Nickolas when I got out, and then Nickolas sent me here to implement his plan.”

“Why here? How did Tezcatlipoca know Brandon would be my mate?” Could all the gods tell? Uncle Helios never mentioned gods having that ability.

“Renly was the alpha furthest away from Crescent Moon who was widowed. I seduced him, and had Brandon named heir.” Martha shrugged.

She stepped into the circle, and I was wracking my brain on what to do when I heard a branch cracking in the forest to the left. Twenty seconds later, another branch cracked to our right.

“Who’s there?” Martha called out while I tried to check on Adam.

I brushed his hair off his face. His little face was full of pain, and he looked pale. The back of his shirt was soaked in blood.

“I’m cold, Mom,” Adam whispered, forcing tears to drop from my face.

“Just hang in there, Monkey. I’ll get you some help. Okay?”

Adam nodded and grabbed my hand. I squeezed it, trying to figure out if I could lift him and run. That blade was in all the way, though, and I couldn’t move him fast without causing him more damage. Adam was only five years old. He could die if I wasn’t careful.

Suddenly, someone threw something from behind me, making Martha and I turn our heads to look for the intruder.

“Get over here!” Martha grabbed me by the hair and tried to drag me, but I kicked my foot out, and she fell to the ground, her back landing on the rocks. I wasn’t fortunate enough to have her spine break, however, so I reared back and tried to punch her. She moved deceptively fast and felt my knuckles crack on the cold ground. Ignoring the pain, I tried to punch her again, but heard her murmuring under her breath, and then I flew back, just out of the circle.

Chris’ wolf, Titan, jumped out of a corner of the woods to charge Martha, figuring the same thing I just did. She was running out of steam or blood. Something. Whatever her power was, it was less than when she flung Hugh away. I scrambled up, prepared to grab Adam and run, but suddenly our assessment was proven wrong because Titan, Adam and I were all flung back a few steps, my little boy crying out in pain as he landed on his back, while I felt my foot snap under me as I landed. I crawled over to Adam, flipping him over to give him some relief.

Martha stood and charged toward Titan, her knife lifted to strike.

“NOOO!” Violet’s screamed from my right, and I suddenly felt the air stop flowing around me.

Martha bounced against an invisible barrier two feet away from Titan.

“What the fuck is this?” Martha snarled, trying to push against it.

“It’s a fucking shield,” Violet snapped.

I looked at my sister, who nodded at my silent question. I was impressed that she could project her shield not only on Chris, but on me at the same time. As far as I remember, she could only ever bring it down on herself.

Martha turned from Chris and stalked over to me, but I smirked when she couldn’t penetrate Violet’s shield. A frustrated scream left her when she tried the same with Violet.

We were at a stand still, until Martha and I both realized at the same time that she had a source of power she could reach. She turned toward Hugh’s impaled body, grabbed a bowl at one end of the circle and started toward it. I glanced at Titan and Violet to see if they had any idea on what to do, only to see them already mind-linking. Violet looked more and more anguished as they appeared to argue. I realized why when Titan stalked toward Martha as she began to bleed Hugh.

I didn’t know what to do, but I was prepared to shift and fight with my broken foot. But, Martha turned and snarled at Titan, lifting his wolf and suspending him in mid-air, when someone very fast slammed her against Hugh’s limp body.

“I knew you’d slip up eventually, and we’d be able to find you,” the woman hissed at Martha. Martha snarled and tried to push back, but Chris shifted and helped keep her in place.

“I thought you were leaving?” he asked the woman, who was dressed in some weird armor and had long brown hair braided down her back.

“I was closing the portal when I sensed her again. She’d been hiding from the guardians for years, and I couldn’t resist coming to find her.”

“What’s going on? Who is she?” I called out, cradling Adam in my arms. He was unconscious, and his heart was beating very slowly. I wasn’t sure if he would make it to the emergency hospital, and the thought was breaking my heart now that the adrenaline was leaving my body.

“This is Vesta. She’s a guardian of the Forsaken Plane,” Violet explained. “She was also Coco.”

“Coco,” I said with some confusion. “You mean your rabbit?”

“Yeah.”

“She’s good, then? We can trust her?”

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