Page 45 of Queen Takes Blood
Tecuani lifted his wrist to his mouth and tore open his skin. Itzcoatl cut his palm open on a blade. Hands down at their side, they stared straight ahead up the tiers.
“We walk as one,” Tecuani said in a flat, even voice. “Whoever reaches the altar with you is your sire. He’ll take it from there.”
They didn’t say it was necessary, but I made a fresh cut on my hand so that I was bleeding again too. Mentally, I did a quick tally of my weapons—and theirs. I hadn’t noticed a blade on the alpha. Itzcoatl wore a leather belt around his waist but only one sheath. Neither carried a larger macuahuitl. I was lighter than either of them but not significantly so. Hopefully I was faster.I might actually have a chance if it comes to a duel, even against the alpha. Itztli prepared me well.“I understand.”
Together, we began climbing the first steep flight of stairs. Five square tiers marked the bottom portion of the pyramid, but there were at least two additional flights of stairs above the first platform. It was hard to tell for sure how high the steps ran into the dark. Steep and tight, the stairs were treacherous, making my thighs burn. I focused on each step, letting my thoughts tumble away with each drop of blood.
Calm. Centered. No matter how I had been fathered, I carried the blood of Coatlicue, Mother of the Gods. Jaguars prowled in my spirit. Life-giving water flowed in my veins. The powerful rage of a thunderstorm boomed in my soul. I would be victorious tonight. For Mama.
Itztli’s whispered warning reverberated through my head.:Beware.I don’t think the queen has a human form.:
A queen’s power often manifested in her bloodline, so a spider wasn’t surprising. Though I’d never seen Mama or Grandmama shift into jaguars. There was much of their lives as queens in which I didn’t participate.
Breathing hard, I took the last step onto the platform midway up the side of the pyramid. I lifted my head and realized the man on my right was gone. Making Itzcoatl my sire.
“This isn’t the altar,” he said gruffly, refusing to meet my gaze. “We must keep climbing.”
I didn’t reply but concentrated on breathing deeply, keeping my pace measured as we started up the next flight of steps. I’d hoped that knowing which man had sired me might give me some closure or deeper understanding into my own nature, but I felt the same. No, I felt worse. Numb. I couldn’t—didn’t want to—comprehend what these four men had done to my mother. Rape and torture didn’t even occur to me as a viable option, even to my worst enemy. Even Itztli, who hated everything about his vicious nature, would never voluntarily rape or torture an innocent.
Let alone a queen, a precious daughter of a goddess.
It seemed to take hours to reach the top of the pyramid, though it wasn’t the highest structure in Teotihuacan. Even the air felt thin and insubstantial, as if we were climbing into another dimension. Pressure built in my ears, a high buzzing drone. If Itzcoatl said anything else to me, I couldn’t hear his words. Mist swirled around my feet as if we’d climbed into the clouds. I couldn’t see the steps any longer. Cold fog seeped through my leathers, damp and chill on my skin. Darkness blotted the sky.
I reached for Itztli’s bond, but the humming vibration echoing in my head dulled my senses. I couldn’t feel him. I couldn’t even be sure that he was still alive.Please still be alive. Take care of yourself, brother. We need you. We love you.
The air changed again, still damp but heavy. Close. Dank with the smell of earth and roots and stone so old it might have been the bones of the Creator-gods. Sweat chilled on my skin. I couldn’t see anything but complete darkness. No stars or moon in the sky. Not even the creeping mists or the man who’d sired me.
I heard a harsh clank and sparks blazed in the darkness. Another flash as Itzcoatl struck the flint again and a torch caught the flame, illuminating some kind of cave. Correction, a tunnel made from perfectly cut stones placed tightly together. Gray, red, and beige blocks of varying minerals covered even the floor and ceiling.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“The Great Goddess’s realm. We lost its name. We lostHername. All we have left is Her daughter, Queen Tocatl.” He stared at me a moment, eyes tight, lips a harsh slant. Sweat trickled down his forehead. A lot of sweat.
Yes, it’d been a hard climb and I still breathed deeply, my heart thumping, but his simple shirt clung to his chest. He was absolutely drenched.
It dawned on me.He’s afraid.Of his queen. If she’s a spider…“How did she take you as Blood?”
Wheeling on his heel, he strode down the tunnel without another word. Which was an answer in itself.
I followed him, trying to keep my mind clear, my senses sharp. Could we be inside the pyramid itself? Beneath the ground and a mountain of stone? I’d sensed a tunnel beneath the other larger pyramid but had been too absorbed with meeting Seti to see if the Pyramid of the Moon had the same access.
Itzcoatl swung the torch from side to side, casting wild shadows on the stone walls. Sparks flew down the tunnel, zapping and sparking with vivid flames though they quickly burned out. At first, I thought he was trying to illuminate the corners or ignite other torches. I lengthened my step to catch up, so I could see what he was doing.
Cobwebs. Lots of them. And they were extremely flammable. They sparked quickly, flashing like blazing lightning.
Despite my best effort at remaining calm, my heartbeat quickened. I scrubbed my clammy palms on my hips but I didn’t unsheathe my blade. Something tickled my nape, the bare skin of my neck beneath my hair. My skin crawled with the prickle of a thousand insect legs. I couldn’t help a quick swipe to make sure a spider didn’t crawl on me. My fingers brushed through my hair, over my neck and shoulder, but I didn’t feel anything. Only my imagination. Though the crawling continued, making goosebumps flare down my arms.
Curtains of webbing thickened on the stone walls. Every few steps, we’d pause while he burned the next batch of cobwebs away. Our breathing was harsh in the silence. As much as I hated the man who’d sired me, I was tempted to press closer to him. Maybe even lay a hand on his shoulder, making sure I didn’t get left behind in the darkness.
The webs formed a sea of white flowing beneath a non-existent wind. Almost like the tunnel was breathing. Burned in a flash to leave black streaks on the stone.
Itzcoatl lit another torch braced in the wall, illuminating a circular room completely draped in white webbing. It billowed like clouds from the ceiling and down the walls, blanketing the room in white. He set it ablaze, and I had to whip my face aside, shielding my eyes as the cobwebs erupted into searing flames. With our backs against the tunnel on either side, we waited for the flames to die out. The smoke smelled like burning cloth mixed with copal, though perhaps bowls of incense had been left in the room to honor the goddess.
Once the flames died down, he went around the room, lighting other torches on the walls. A stone statue squatted in the center of the room. As he illuminated the chamber, I could make out more of the statue’s features. She wore a huge feathered headdress with a bird head on Her forehead. Her mouth gaped open with three protruding fangs. Stone spiders crawled out of her huge mouth and ran down her outstretched arms. Her palms faced up, ready to accept an offering—or, more likely, to offer life-giving water or blood to Her people.
Itzcoatl knelt before the statue, his hands gripping his thighs. Silently, I mirrored him, staring up at Her gaping mouth. Hungry. So hungry. Why did She have three fangs?
“Great Goddess, we honor you this night. I am Itzcoatl, son of Quetzalcoatl,Bloodof Queen Tocatl.”
