Mayan Blood (23 page)

“Well,” Renato said, smiling. “I would say London has done wonders for you.”

Arwan smirked. “You don’t look bad either, old man.”

“Why don’t you two get a room?” Jayden walked past them, out the door.

Arwan and Renato exchanged glances. “I still don’t trust the seeker being here,” Arwan said.

“We don’t have a choice.”

They followed the seeker out of the suit shop and onto the streets. This time, rather than averted gazes and turned down top haps, Arwan was greeted with stares of admiration. “Do you think Hawa and Zanya are finished?”

“My experience with women is not to rush them. They may take a bit longer to dress, but their beauty is worth every moment spent in waiting.”

Arwan nodded, making a mental note. His attention was stolen by a girl in a canary yellow dress and matching satin gloves loitering in front of the dress store across the street. He stepped off the sidewalk, onto the street. A laced, corseted top accentuated her waistline, and her hips were made wider by the fluffy bottom of her gown. She fiddled awkwardly with the caplet hanging over her shoulder.

She was like an angel.

Arwan nearly forgot he was standing in the middle of the street. A carriage barreled behind him. He stumbled to the other side of the road and onto the safety of the sidewalk where she stood…where Zanya stood.

Jayden was already there. “You are seriously hot in that dress.”

Arwan tried not to curl his lip at the comment.

“Thanks. This dress is…” Zanya smoothed down the thick fabric. “Heavy.”

Renato bowed, tipping his hat. Zanya curtsied in response. “Absolutely lovely.”

“Why thank you, good sir. You’re looking pretty great yourself.” She turned to Jayden. “And you. I haven’t seen you so sharp since the snowball dance in tenth grade.”

“Yeah?” Jayden tugged at his collar “This thing is killing me.”

“Stop that.” She straightened out his tie. “You’ll make it crooked.”

He grinned and flicked a bobbing quail feather on her hat. “Nice hat.”

Arwan stood patiently, admiring the shimmering crisscross patterned veil that cast a delicate shadow over her face. Her eyes were like two storm clouds peering from behind it.

“Ahem.” Hawa spun a white sun umbrella shielding fair skin from the heat. Arwan’s eyes grew wide at the sight of her cardinal red dress, embellished in lace around the bust and trim.

Jayden crossed his arm over his body and bowed. “Good morrow, Miss Jezebel.”

“Jezebel?” Hawa gasped and stuck her nose in the air. “Don’t be envious, Jayden, it’s unbecoming.” She stepped off the sidewalk. “Maybe I’ll do some shopping before we go back to Moscow. I wouldn’t mind having a few more of these dresses in my wardrobe.”

Finally, Zanya's gaze found him. “Arwan.” She pressed her gloved fingers over her lips. “You cut your hair!”

“Yeah.” He slicked it back. “It’s…different.”

She walked toward him. “I like it. It suits you.”

Arwan touched the butterfly bracelet fit over the outside of her satin glove. She smiled.

“It matches the dress, don’t you think?”

“Absolutely.” He kissed the back of her hand.

Jayden coughed. “I think we should get going.”

“Agreed,” Renato said.

Jayden snorted. “Apparently it was the first right thing I’ve said all day.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Zanya

Renato took the hotel keys from the front desk. “Thank you.”

The concierge smiled. “Have a pleasant stay at Queen Victoria’s Auberge.”

Renato turned and handed Zanya a heavy metal key with the number fifty-two engraved in it. “The elevator is over there.” He gestured to the far end of the room.

The pudgy elevator attendant slid both sets of doors open. A Fu Manchu twitched above his lip. “Watch your step.”

They were joined by a mother and her young son before the doors slid shut.

“Can you believe it, Mother?” the blond-haired boy squealed in a British accent, tugging on the woman’s dress. His eyes beamed with excitement. “We are in an ascending room! I cannot wait to tell Matthew about this when we return home. He will be green with envy.”

She took her son’s hand. “I’m sorry. This is his first time in an elevator. All of his schoolmates have been quite stirred up over David’s boasting about the matter.” The boy rolled his eyes. His mother noticed, and tugged on his arm. “You mustn’t boast about your advantages, David. There are many people far less fortunate than we.”

His shoulders slumped forward. “Yes, Mother.” The car jerked and rose upward. Zanya grabbed onto the railing with a tiny gasp.
Please don’t stop working.

The young boy leaned close. “Did you know, miss, that this elevator was installed in the honor of Prince Albert’s passing, just after the one at the Grosvenor Hotel?”

“David!” His mother’s scolding tone startled the boy. “We shouldn’t talk about such things.” She turned toward Renato. “Her Majesty was very much in love with the prince. It’s a terrible misfortune he left the world so early. She has even refused to attend the ball.” She sighed. “Her heartache is just too heavy a weight to bear.”

Renato tipped his hat to her. “I’m sorry, madam. But what ball are you speaking of?”

“Surely you’re being facetious.”

“We’re not local to London. Just visiting on holiday.”

“Oh. I see. I assumed you were here for the ball, considering you are escorting the young ladies. It is in honor of the Princess Helena, and her recent engagement. The queen hasn’t come out of seclusion, and has declined to attend. Word of the event has reached as far as New York.”

The elevator joggled to a stop at the third floor.

The boy stole a glance at his mother, then shielded one side of his mouth and whispered, “My mother is rather disappointed that Her Majesty isn’t going. It was a sore topic at supper last night. Mother was hoping to meet the queen.”

Zanya nodded and mouthed, ‘
oh.
’ He nodded in return, puffing his chest out as if proud of his extensive knowledge on the matter.

The elevator stopped, and the attendant slid open the set of double doors. “Watch your step.”

The boy glanced over his shoulder while following his mother into the hall. He waved, and then turned the corner out of sight.

Zanya smiled. “Cute kid.”

Hawa scoffed. “You’d think so.”

“What? You don’t like kids?”

“They’re dirty and high maintenance.”

“And you’re not high maintenance?” Jayden said, grinning.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

The elevator stopped at the next floor, and the attendant slid open the doors. “Watch your step.”

“Watch your step,” Jayden echoed in a baritone voice. He tipped his head and saluted him on his way out.

Hawa rolled her eyes. “Idiot.” She passed the attendant and smiled curiously. “Thank you.”

Zanya followed the others into the hall. She examined her key and read the sign mounted to the wall. “I guess I’m down here.” She gestured to the right.

“I’m this way,” Arwan said as he stepped left.

“I’ll watch after her from here.” Renato tipped his hat.

Arwan nodded. “Then I’ll get some rest.”

Renato escorted Zanya to her room. “I ordered some food,” he said. “I hope you’re hungry.”

She found her room and unlocked the heavy wooden door, then pushed it open. “Yeah. I’m starving.”

“Good. It should be here very soon.” He followed her inside and sat in a chair in the corner, removing his top hat. “We have quite a task ahead of us.”

“Yeah.” Zanya kicked off her shoes and wiggled her toes. She slipped the vial Contessa had given her out of her bust and placed it on the nightstand. The elixir swirled and churned, shimmering in the light that poured from the windows. “Do you think we can do this? I can’t stop thinking about what Contessa said. About us being unprepared.”

“She may be right, but that can’t stop us from making every last effort to recover the stone. We have fought too long and too hard to give up now.” There was a knock at the door. Renato stood and smoothed down his coat. “That must be the food.” He opened the door and pulled the room service cart inside. “Thank you.” He tipped the server, who glanced at her, and then back to Renato.

She cringed at what the server must have assumed.

Renato shut the door and pushed the cart toward the bed. “Take a seat, Zanya. Have some brunch. We didn’t have dinner last night. I’m sorry if you’ve been hungry.”

She yawned. “It’s fine. Things were pretty hectic.”

“Indeed. Well…enjoy.” He inched toward the door, glancing back every few steps.

Zanya examined the various covered plates. “Do you want to keep me company?”

He turned with a smile. “Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?”

“No, of course not.” She sat at the table. “There’s too much food here for me, anyway.”

He sat across from her and tucked a cloth napkin into the collar of his shirt. “I usually have breakfast with Marzena at the house. I’m not used to dining alone.”

“Yeah, I like the company too.” He lifted the covers off of each plate, one at a time, releasing aroma into the air. “Oh. My. God.” A smile spread over her lips. “This looks so good.”

Eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, tomato, mushrooms and some kind of dark toast. It was like heaven.

They sat for what seemed like hours, dining on a proper English breakfast. Zanya was glad to have family to talk to, and listened eagerly while Renato told stories about his childhood and her mother.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding.” She giggled.

“No, no. On my word of honor, I’m not. And if that wasn’t enough to scare him away indefinitely, when she swung the bat, it flew out of her grip and hit him straight in the gut.”

Zanya laughed so hard her stomach ached. She dabbed the corners of her eyes with a napkin. “So what happened? I mean, how did they manage to fall in love after that kind of introduction?”

“Well, your mother fled the playing field and returned home. Later that evening, he came to return the bat.”

She slapped her knees. “No he didn’t!”

“He and your mother sat on the patio for hours. By the time Ellie returned inside, it was nearly midnight. I waited for her, peeking out at them every so often to make sure she was safe.”

“Aw. You’re such a good big brother.”

“Ellie was my life. She and I were very close. It took me years to warm up to the idea of her wanting to be with your father.”

“Really? Why?”

“It was just difficult to face that my little sister was all grown-up. It happened so fast, it seemed. One moment we were children, playing in the creek behind our parents’ farmhouse, and the next…” His features saddened.

“Well, she was lucky to have you.” She would have given anything to have had a brother while she was growing up.

He smiled softly. “Once your father came into her life, I realized she didn’t need me anymore. He gave her everything she wanted. She was happiest when they were together. He always made her laugh.”

Zanya traced her finger around the rim of her coffee mug. “What was he like?”

“Your father? Well, let’s see.” He removed the cloth napkin from the collar of his shirt and dropped it on the table. “He was inquisitive and smart. A very hard worker, holding two jobs for the first few years he and your mother were dating. He was saving up to buy a small house in the country, something he shared with me when he asked my blessing to marry Ellie.”

“Really? He asked permission?”

“He did, and I said no, at first.”

“Why did you do that?”

Renato sat back in his chair. “I suppose I was being selfish. I didn’t want to lose her. Plus, a marriage between a Riyata and a human is rare, and tend to end badly. We live indefinitely, unaffected by time. Humans…” He sighed. “They age, become ill. It’s not easy to watch the one you love slip away into death.” He sat silently for a moment. “But he loved your mother. Anyone could see that. After he asked for my blessing the third time, I realized he was not going away.”

“So then you said yes.”

“No. I said no again.” He laughed lightly. “But your father, he would not take no for an answer. He came back again and again, until finally he wore me down. I believe it was the fifth time he asked.” Renato paused. “Or perhaps the sixth. He was an honorable man. There is no doubt he was your mother’s soul mate, and I am honored to have called him my brother-in-law.”

“So…what happened to him?”

He exhaled. “That is a question that has gone unanswered to this very day. We know he was captured by one of Sarian’s henchmen, and by now, there is no doubt he is dead. How his life really ended, though, has never been made clear.”

Zanya sat back in her chair. She picked apart her biscuit, discarding the crumbs into her plate. “Wow. It’s too bad. I would have liked to meet him. I’m sure if my mom loved him so much, I would have too.”

“Indeed you would have. Indeed you would.”

Zanya heard pounding coming from the hall. Renato jumped to his feet, flung the door open, and ushered Jayden into the room.

“I sought Sarian and found him. I think now that we’re in the same time era, the block is gone.”

Zanya stood up. “Where is he?”

“In some kind of mansion, if I had to guess.”

Renato nodded. “Keep watching him, but I would bet my bottom dollar I know where he’ll be.”

***

An image formed in Zanya's mind. At first she thought it was a dream, but after only a few moments, it was clear it was something else. When she dreamed, her senses were heightened. She would taste, feel, and smell everything around her.

Instead, this time she was an audience member sitting in the back row. The sounds were muffled, indiscernible. She peered into the wavering picture until it finally stabilized.

Sarian mumbled. He held the stone, which was pulsing with dark shades of purple and blue.

He tapped his index finger over his tightly pressed lips. When his expression grew sinister, Zanya's heart sank. He picked up a thick book—a book Zanya recognized. Sarian scanned through the pages until he settled on one, and read aloud.

Every nerve in Zanya's body seized with electricity. Her mind spun into a frantic state of panic. She forced herself to wake up, but when she did, the pain spiked and became nearly unbearable. A horrific scream broke out of her, one that echoed through her room and into the halls.

The door flung open and Renato sprinted inside. “Zanya!” His voice was muffled while electricity surged through her body. “It’s her power. It’s turned on her,” Renato shouted at Arwan, Jayden, and Hawa as they scrambled in.

“Stay away from her; she’ll kill you!”

“We have to do something.”

She could hear their voices, but wasn’t sure who was talking.

The agony intensified when another wave of electric shock seized her muscles. Her chest rose toward the ceiling, arching her back off the bed. She screamed.

“We can’t just stand here. She’ll die.”

Renato knelt beside her. “Zanya, we cannot help. You will have to do this alone. Focus, concentrate on controlling the energy inside of you.”

Even with Renato’s encouragement, she was left helpless. All she could do was grind her teeth and pray the waves of electricity would soon subside.

“Focus. You are the Stone Guardian. Command your powers. Your mother trusted you with the responsibility of protecting the stone. You will not fail.”

The memory of her mom cradling the stone and gazing at her with such hope brought her strength. She couldn’t fail, and wouldn’t. Not if there was even a chance she could succeed. She would fight until her last breath.

Zanya bore down and fought from deep inside, calling on all of her power to control the surges. She pushed the pain away and detached her mind.

Even as the sparks and currents filled her ears, she took an inner hold of her abilities. She had never brought it forward on impulse, but if she were to survive this, she would have to learn fast.