Page 125 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

I also had to tell Chris about her new job change after he barged into my office in a panic, stating Violet was nowhere to be found. I guess he must have not noticed when we left the pack house this morning. The relief on his face after I told him I knew where she was, and the look of pride that crossed his features when I explained what she was doing, told me all I needed to know about how much the man loved my little sister.

If he didn’t figure his shit out soon, he was going to lose her, though, because Violet and Elim were spending a lot of time together. Violet insisted that Elim was okay with just being friends, but I wasn’t so sure he’d given up now that Chris was out of the picture.

Things settled down a little after that. Violet was enjoying being in charge of the daycare, and I was still trying to crunch numbers on the loss of the grapes when I got a surprise call from Uncle Helios.

“Hi, sweetie. Do you have a minute?” he asked when I answered.

“Sure, Uncle Helios. Is everything okay?”

“I hope so. I got the drawing you sent from Cory. Are you sure this is what you saw?”

“I’m sure. Both Elim and I saw it. Do you know what it is?”

“I do, but I have no clue what it’s doing in Montana or in this plane, to be honest,” he answered with a nervous huff.

“That doesn’t sound good. What is it?”

“Well... the name will sound silly, but... it’s a chupacabra.”

I blinked, trying to figure out if I heard him correctly.

“I beg your pardon?” I asked when I determined I must have heard him wrong.

“I know, but it’s what people call it. I don’t name things,” Uncle Helios chuckled.

“You’re talking about the goat-sucking demons from Mexico?” I wanted to make sure we were both talking about the same thing.

“Yes.”

“I don’t even have goats, Uncle,” I answered with the only thought in my head that wasn’t laughing at the idea that my woods were the home of a goat-sucking demon legend.

At least the words made Uncle Helios chuckle.

“It’s not a creature that discriminates. If it has blood, the chupacabra will try to drink from it.”

“You said it wasn’t from this plane?”

My question made him sigh.

“No. There are several planes that exist essentially on top of each other.”

“Like the multiverse?” I asked, trying to understand.

“Yes and no?” he answered, his voice lacking confidence. “Each plane is nothing like this one. It doesn’t have a separate version of you that lives out a completely different life based on decisions or anything like that. The plane this creature came from is roughly translated to The Forsaken Plane in English. It’s one of the planes that was created after the gods decided to hide themselves, and their creations from the world of men. It’s a place for the creatures that couldn’t be tamed or controlled. It’s... not a nice place.”

“How did it get here?”

“That, I don’t know for sure, but I have a theory.” His words were slow and measured, and I got a sinking feeling.

“Am I going to like this theory?” I asked warily.

“No.”

I took a deep breath at his answer, wishing Cade was around to hear this with me.

“Alright, lay it on me,” I answered, bracing myself for impact.

“One of the things this plane houses are irredeemable rogues. My sister is a kind woman. She loves her children, but she gave them free will.” He paused, almost for dramatic effect, and I just needed him to continue. “Just like with humans, there are good and bad. The problem is that when magic is involved, when creatures go bad, it is usually disaster not just for the magical world, but for humans.”

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