Page 205 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

“Sorry. Too many months of the easy life have me a little out of shape. You called me Coco.”

“What?” I squeaked, moving around Chris, who wrapped his arm around my waist and deposited me back behind him, with a warning grunt.

“Don’t worry, Chris. After everything she did for me, I would never hurt Violet, or your pup. Congratulations by the way.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Chris growled. “Who are you?”

“I’m a guardian,” she explained, making Chris tense further.

Bells gave us the rundown on the origin of the chupacabra and Uncle Helios’ theory.

“I’m not supposed to talk to anyone from this realm, but I felt you needed an explanation after everything that’s happened, and a warning.”

“A warning on what?” Chris asked.

“On what’s happening in your pack.”

“Crescent Moon?” I clarified.

“No, sorry. The pack that was here.”

‘Should I call Bells?’I mind-linked Chris.

‘Not until I know she won’t attack. I can’t protect you both at the same time.’

“So, the reason why the chupacabra was never dealt with is because I had you in the cage?” I asked, peeking over Chris’ arm again.

“Yes. That night you found me was the night it escaped. I followed it through the portal to bring it back or kill it, but something went wrong, and I was alone. They are the easiest creatures to catch, so I hadn’t called for backup.”

Chris snorted at her words, and I thought he might be feeling a little annoyed with her saying it was simple to catch, when it took four of them to catch the thing.

“What happened, then?” I prompted since Chris was being grumbly.

“Usually, I transform into a rabbit. They love rabbits—I don’t know why they call them chupacabras. They should becalled chupaconejos—anyway, I transformed, stepped through the portal, and ran around, so it could sniff me out and come running. I was supposed to transform back once it was nea—”

“Are you a bunny shifter?” I asked with a lot of curiosity, never having met one or known they existed.

“No. I don’t have an animal spirit. I simply use the magic given to me when I took the post.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. It’s the neatest perk of my job.”

“So, what went wrong?” Chris asked, trying to pull us back to the point.

“Right. I couldn’t transform back. There’s a spell over the entire pack grounds. I tried it in the cage several times. All magic is blocked.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t transform back. I couldn’t pull on my magic.”

“How did you do it now, then?” Chris asked, suspicion dripping from his voice.

“Because, the portal is still open. I couldn’t close it until I stepped back through or I would have been stuck on this side. I’ve been in Violet’s room for the last few months.”

“OH. MY. GOD!” I squeaked, making Vesta and Chris look around for a threat, but I was too mortified to put them at ease.

“What’s wrong?” Chris asked me.

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