Page 287 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

“Remember we’re attacking in six months. That’s how long we have to be ready. Train and for all of our sakes, recruit.”

It was another hour before everyone left, and I could leave my hideout. I found Vesta waiting nearby, the look of relief on her face making me feel a little guilty. She worried too much.

“Anything useful?” she asked as we walked back.

“They’re attacking in six months. We need to get more inside information and we need to find a way to help,” I told her.

I wasn’t going to be on the sidelines for this. Tezcatlipoca and his minions hurt my family, and kept me away from them for twenty years. I was going to fight back.

We arrived back at our house less than an hour later, but Vesta kept walking, dragging me along before I could ask where we were going. We went into an old shed behind one of the abandoned houses near the fringes of the guardian neighborhood, if you could call it that. She closed the door behind us, plunging us into darkness.

“What are we doing here?”

“It’s time for you to know what’s happening,” she answered but didn’t elaborate.

Thanks to my wolf’s enhanced abilities, I saw her walk toward the edge of the small shed and knock rhythmically near the floor. A click and a hiss sounded, and a handle popped up. She opened a trap door and climbed down, and I followed her without question, curious to know what I would find.

We walked for almost fifteen minutes down a dirt corridor without a word uttered between us. I was just about to ask where the hell we were going, when I saw light filtering from under a door in the distance. Three other tunnels converged into this one a few hundred feet later. We finally arrived at the door and she pushed through, keeping it open for me to follow her in.

Twenty guardians were seated around a massive table with parchment and maps.

“Why did you bring him, Vesta?” Marvin, one of guardians from this quadrant asked.

I recognized another two of Vesta’s coworkers, and one from the quadrant next to us, but the rest were strangers to me.

“We have a deadline, now. Six months. It’s time to bring him in.”

“Are you sure? The battle isn't prophesized for another year?”

“Perhaps the battle, but they are making their move in six months, and so must we.”

“Vesta, what is this?” I asked.

“You’re not the only one trying to fight back, Adam. We’re just not as reckless about it as you are,” Marvin mocked.

The man hadn’t liked me in years because I refused to treat him with respect. I did respect him, but he was also a bit of an idiot who had a thing for Vesta, and he thought I was what was standing between them. I wasn’t. Vesta didn’t care for the man.

“We’re careful because we have to be. We’re guardians. We’re not supposed to meddle in any of this. He isn’t. He can push more than we can. I would be doing the same if I didn’t think I’d bring the wrath of the gods on my head,” Mickey replied from the side.

“Fine. He can stay, but he better be more careful.”

“It’s not like they haven’t noticed,” I muttered, pausing whatever else they were going to say. “They were talking abouthow recruitment numbers are down because guardians are meddling.”

The rest of the table started murmuring among each other, worried looks on their faces.

“Do they know who?” one of them asked. I shook my head.

“They talked about this quadrant being the lowest in recruits, but didn’t mention names.”

“We’ll have to be careful. We need to remain under the radar. If they’re planning to escape in six months, they’re going to be more paranoid than usual. Send out messengers to the rest. Tell them to keep their ear to the ground and heads down. We need to be ready when the day comes.”

“How many are you, exactly?” I asked Vesta.

“About ninety or a hundred, the last I checked,” she answered.

“Shit. Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” I asked.

“I made a promise to your mother to keep you safe. The work we’re doing isn’t just spying on the local meetings, and beating a few rogues to stop them from joining his ranks. We’ve been hitting their armories and their food supplies. We’re targeting the higher-ups.”

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