Page 13 of Queen Takes Rook
:Huitzilopochtli’s main pyramid was in Mexico City, but it’s long gone now, only a crumbled ruin beneath the city.:
One of her other Blood, the big dragon, spoke to us.:He’s circling around a small body of water, like he’s waiting for you, my queen.:
Realization shot through me and I drew on every ounce of power she’d given me to surge faster through the sky.:The cenote. We must hurry.:
:Why? What is it?:
:Our ancestors thought the cenotes were portals to the otherworld. If he takes her through the portal, we’ll never get her back.:
Shara’s urgency matched mine and she blurred with a sudden burst of speed.
:It’s a trap,:the dragon growled.:He’s baiting you.:
:Doesn’t matter,:she retorted.:He’s not taking her from us.:
A massive fist tightened on my heart. It took me a moment to realize it was our alpha’s warning.:You and Mehen are the only ones close enough to protect her until I arrive. No harm will come to her, or I’ll rip this organ from your chest and feed it to you.:
:Understood, alpha.:
I managed to gain enough speed to hover at her flank. The eagle circled lazily over the cenote. When he saw us, he let out a triumphant screech.
:Enough of this bullshit,:Mehen growled.:I’ll just bite the bastard’s head off and catch the child before she hits the water.:
He didn’t wait for our queen’s approval and dove at the smaller bird.
Light blazed from the eagle, a sweeping flash of painful brilliance that seared my eyes even at a distance. The mighty dragon howled with agony and tumbled down, crashing off the limestone wall to splash into the water. The eagle made another circle, and then tucked his wings and plummeted toward the surface.
:Mehen’s down,:she told Rik.
Our bonds vibrated with the force of his fury, and an image filled my head of the big man leaning lower over the straining hell horse’s neck, willing him to gallop harder.
Light sparkled upward from the cenote like someone had turned on a brilliant spotlight deep below the surface. Rainbows sparkled in the air. As we swooped down closer to the shining circle, I felt its incessant tug like the moon on the tides. It pulled me closer, and irrational fear or not, I didn’t think I’d be able to turn my path aside now that it had locked onto me. The portal was activated and eager to allow us to pass, to gods only knew what on the other side.
Steep limestone cliffs clogged with trees, roots, and vines passed as we raced down after the eagle. A black shape lunged up and caught the eagle before it could sink into the water. Mehen, the dragon, roaring with rage as he tore the golden eagle apart.
Xochitl screamed and hit the water, sinking like a stone.
:Can she swim?:Shara asked me.
:Yes, but it won’t matter. The portal has her.:
:Rik, I’m going in after her. Tlacel, you’ll have to pull me back out. I’ll tell you when I have her.:
She tucked her wings tight and dove into the water, shifting back to her human shape as her body moved through the water. She stretched her hands out ahead of her, straining for Xochitl. Seconds later, I broke the surface too. Cool water flowed over me. I kept my eyes wide open, straining to keep sight of my queen. Still in my winged serpent form, I sliced through the water, my muzzle touching her calf. I ought to be able to seize her ankle in my jaws and drag her back out of the water. As long as I stayed close and didn’t sink too far through the portal myself.
The water suddenly heated, like I’d jumped into my sister’s favorite bathing pool. Golden light flooded the water, so bright my eyes would have been streaming with tears in my human shape. I fought my instinct to turn aside, avert my gaze and protect my eyes. I had to see. I had to be ready to grab my queen and haul her back out.
:She’s gone too far,:Rik rumbled in my head.:You have to pull her back out. Now.:
:Not yet,:she whispered, straining harder. I felt her fingertips brush Xochitl’s hair.:Almost… Fuck. I missed. She’s through.:
Through my queen’s bond, I saw Xochitl staring up at her, eyes wide, mouth open on a scream as she fell out of water into blue-green sky. The world tilted crazily, my equilibrium struggling to right itself in the inverted new world. Shara broke through the water too and flung her hands out to snag Xochitl’s hair. She tugged the child up against her and wrapped her arms around her protectively.
:Now!:
I sank my jaws around her lower leg and flung my wings out, arching backward, struggling to stop our momentum through the portal. My wings provided drag against the water, and definitely slowed our progression, but we still slipped deeper into the otherworld. Shara was through to her waist, pulling me closer and closer to the inverted world. The world of Huitzilopochtli. Through my queen’s gaze, I saw a golden pyramid rising up so high that it pierced the sun. Streams of crimson ran down the pyramid’s sides and trickled across the ground to feed a dark-red river.
A river. Of blood. So many sacrifices. So many deaths.
