His Darkest Salvation (19 page)

She knew there was a tunnel that led to the unearthed portion of The House of the Eagles, which was part of the temple. She needed to gain access to what lay beneath—because it was there, in the very heart of these ruins, that Toniella had charmed the fallen, Azaiel, from the upper realm.

It was there that he’d made the portal, there that he’d been cursed. And it was there that she was hoping to find answers, anything that would help her not only to find the elusive duo but to destroy them both when she did.

She slipped inside the tunnel, avoiding security, and it wasn’t long before she stood inside one of two adjoining ancient rooms. Her eyes allowed her to see clearly at night, but even she was having problems so far below the surface. The shadows were different here. They were menacing.

Jaden grabbed a flashlight from her bag and felt the enormity of history unfold before her eyes as she gazed around. It was impressive.

Two large statues guarded the far wall. They were amazing replicas of eagle knights, and as she slowly walked toward them, she felt her heart begin to accelerate. She felt a presence, like she was being watched.

She shined the light onto the faces of the statues and hissed softly as they came into focus. The eyes looked real, and the effect was freaky.

Jaden stilled, letting her senses fly out once more as she scented the air; but as far as she could tell, there was no one there.

She was alone, yet she knew that she wasn’t. The ancient magick that inhabited this place was potent, and she knew she needed to tread lightly. One wrong move, and her ass would be fried.

Cool, damp air licked at her heated flesh, and she shivered as she gazed upon the walls before her. Intricate, beautifully done etchings of eagles and nature were abundant, and she shook her head at their beauty. It was incredible, really, that these people, the Aztecs, had been so bloodthirsty in battle yet so refined and talented when it came to the arts.

But enough of that.

She sidled up to the walls, walking along low-slung benches as she eyed the interior closely. Her hands fell along the cool stone, and she felt the vibration of power that lived deep within.

She walked the entire area, twice, and stopped in frustration. As far as she could see, there was no way to get to what was below. She knew the sacred temple was there. Hundreds of years earlier, the jaguar warriors had hunted and killed the eagle knights, because of their knowledge. They’d made a point of knowing every detail about the shifters.

It was a dark time in her world. A time when several of the jaguar clans had fragmented off into the darkness. She hung her head in shame and felt a wave of anger rush through her. The DaCostas had aided in the bloodletting, and it was only by the strength of Skye Knightly’s family that the portal had remained hidden.

Safe.

Until Cormac O’Hara.

The son of a bitch had ruined everything.

Jaden shook her limbs out and pushed all thoughts of Cormac and the portal away. She needed to concentrate and find her way inside, or she was no further ahead than she’d been last week.

She wracked her brain for several long moments and cursed softly as she circled the room once more. She should have brought Finn with her. The eagle knight would surely have more knowledge than she.

Tiredly, she rubbed her temples and tried to shrug off the weariness that crept into her bones. Maybe she’d been at this too long. Maybe it was time to accept that her brain was dead, and she was fast losing focus.

She turned back toward the entrance and was about to take a step forward when a whisper caressed her cheek like the faintest touch of a feather. Her flesh erupted in goose bumps, and she stilled as her heart beat once more in earnest.

A touch at her hand made her jump, and the flashlight went flying, sending a distorted array of light to dance across the walls in a macabre display of shadow.

She whirled around, but there was no one there.

Jaden exhaled slowly as she forced her heart rate to steady, and she shifted her energy, welcoming the flood of power from her jaguar as the burn rushed over her skin.

The ghosts hidden in the shadows were powerful indeed, and she felt malice in the air as she stood there, light on her feet and ready to rumble.

“Show yourself,” she whispered hoarsely. “I don’t have a lot of time.” She snorted. “What with the end of the world and all that.”

“What is a jaguar doing in our sacred house?”

The whispered words were stronger now, cracking inside her skull and reverberating around the room. She winced at the sensation, like someone was speaking underwater, and turned in a circle, grabbing the dagger once more as she did so.

“Stupid cat. You think that will stop me?”

A tingling flash of energy hit her on the back, and Jaden stopped. Her breaths fell in pants, the sounds sharp, as her lungs expanded to force them out. Her chest felt tight, but it was all good. Her body was primed for battle.

She rolled her shoulders and turned around.

And that was when everything went dark.

Chapter 14

I
t was like a sheet of obsidian had been pulled over her eyes. Suddenly, Jaden was off balance, her equilibrium gone. She couldn’t see a thing and bit down hard as a wall of panic threatened.

When the smash to her face came, she had no chance to react or to defend herself because she couldn’t fucking see.

She went flying backward and barely held on to the dagger as she hit one of the stone benches,
hard.
She was winded for a few seconds and groaned as pain exploded along her frame. The pain vibrated out from her shoulder, and spread along her bones as they absorbed the brunt of the impact.

Her shoulder was still tender from the demon bite only two nights earlier, but she ignored it as she rolled to the side. Another flash of heat blasted the bench where her head had just been, and stone erupted into deadly shards that flew everywhere.

“How dare you darken the door of our sacred temple?” The voice was incredibly angry, and Jaden was beginning to think she’d made one hell of a mistake in coming alone.

She shook her head in an effort to clear the shadows from her eyes as she sharpened her senses, trying to figure out where the invisible man was.

“Technically, I’m not in your sacred temple, though I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t mind a point in the right direction.”

She felt a whisper of energy in the air and jackknifed her body, but wasn’t able to evade the hit entirely. This time the asshole did manage to connect with her face, and pain erupted along her cheekbone as her head snapped back. Blood spurted inside her mouth, the coppery taste spilling over her tongue in a rush that enraged her animal.

She growled loudly, enjoying the fire of power that erupted from deep within her gut as she snarled.

Son of a fucking bitch! The bastard wasn’t playing.

She whirled around and ducked just as a flash of heat came at her. She felt a ripple of energy as it passed by, inches from her limbs, and twisted her body into an arc.

She was successful in avoiding the hit and moved fast, her speed and strength pushing her forward. But she skidded to an abrupt halt, barely able to keep her balance, as she spied the entity that stood several feet away.

Shit! Her bad luck wasn’t improving any as she eyed the tall creature that stood between her and the entrance. His massive frame effectively blocked her only means of escape.

The shadows fell rapidly from his form, and she took a step back as the full range of his power became apparent to her. This was no regular eagle knight.

Her eyes strayed to the large statues that stood tall and silent. He was nothing like them.

His power was palpable.

And at the moment, she happened to be the focus of every scrap of his dark energy.

Jaden’s jaguar itched beneath her flesh, and she felt her canines break skin, her nails elongate, as her animal began to make noise. She forced it back. Now was not the time. She needed to keep a cool head.

The man who stood before her was not wholly corporeal, yet his power was such that she had a nagging suspicion he was of a much higher order. Like near the top.

“I am Nanauatl. Do not trifle with me, Jaguar.”

Jaden swallowed tightly but held his gaze
.
Okay, so he was
at
the top
.

Unbelievable.

Only she would get trapped inside an eagle temple with Nanauatl, their sun god.

Bet Castille would love to see this.

The thought snuck into her head, and she grimaced. How the hell did he manage to intrude on her thoughts, even now, when she was about to get her ass kicked.

Jaden forced the image of Julian from her mind and exhaled slowly, wincing, as pain lashed across her cheekbone.

The blood inside her mouth had stopped flowing, and she spit out the last remnants, hesitating as she heard him make a harsh noise.

Her mind was racing, searching for a way out. Would the sun god listen to her? She decided it was worth a try to play nice.

“Look, I’m sorry if coming here is a big no-no, I mean, me being a jaguar and all, but seriously, I’ve got a good reason.” She paused, encouraged at his silence. “Surely you know what’s going on out there. The darkness that’s invading the human realm needs to be stopped, and I’m thinking the answers are here someplace.”

She exhaled slowly and cocked an eyebrow. “You know, like in the secret temple that we all know”—she pointed to the ground—“is down below.”

Nanauatl’s eyes narrowed, and an unholy light emanated from deep within his body. The effect was eerie, and the incandescent shimmer made him more sinister and definitely more threatening.

He shook his head. “It is your people,
your kind
who orchestrated all of this. You hunted my warriors mercilessly, killing them when they were at their weakest, when the sun was in hiding. All in an effort to steal the portal for your own ill gains.” His voice began to resonate, and his anger was an invisible force that hurtled through the air at her. Jaden opened her mouth to reply, but then closed it. What the hell could she say? He was right.

“If humanity fails to recover from the darkness that will most surely overtake them, the jaguar warriors will be solely responsible.”

A spark of anger erupted inside Jaden, and she took a step forward. She so wasn’t willing to take the blame for everything.

“It wasn’t a jaguar who tempted Azaiel from the upper realm but one of your own.”

He hissed at her impertinence, his eyes blazing, his face a macabre grimace of fury. “You will not speak his name!” the sun god bellowed, but Jaden rushed on, needing to speak the truth and make him understand.

“Azaiel made the portal for the betrayer, and she would have used it to destroy the earth.” Jaden paused, chest heaving. “That has nothing to do with the jaguars; that is all on you.”

Nanauatl roared his anger and hissed as fire burned through his eyes. The temperature inside the chamber rose quickly, and Jaden struggled to breathe as the intensity of it infiltrated her pores, sending scorching flames across her flesh.

“I will kill you,” he snarled, showing an even row of deadly, serrated teeth.

“Again with the killing.” Jaden’s eyes searched in vain, but she couldn’t see a way around him. “Seems these days I’m either going to get killed or fucked.”

If she launched her body upward and twisted just so, she might have a chance to clear the temple.

A flash of light, or rather, a shift in the shadows caught her attention. She stilled, her eyes watching the sun god warily.

“I suppose both are possible.” The sun god ignored her words. Jaden took a step back while her belly ached from the tight muscles that pulled at her abdomen.

An eerie glow began to slowly build. Something was happening, and the hair on the back of her neck tingled.

That was never a good sign. She just might be screwed.

Jaden swallowed slowly and cleared her mind, her stance loose and ready to fight. And she’d be fighting, of that there was no doubt. She just hoped she’d be giving more than receiving.

Shadows pulsated against the stone walls, the eerie glow now resembling some kind of otherworld aurora borealis. The shimmering beams of light slithered along the dark surface, invading every nook and cranny and spreading the energy of Nanauatl over the sacred etchings.

The etchings of eagle knights.

Jaden balanced on the balls of her feet, not really believing what she was seeing, and she’d seen some weird-ass shit in the last few months.

But the shifting shadows and light began to hum, to vibrate, and she opened her mouth in astonishment as the eagle knights that had been encased in rock began to move and take form.

“Motherfu . . .” she whispered, ignoring the soft laughter that fell from the sun god’s lips as he interrupted her train of thought.