Jaguar Sun (16 page)

“Okay,” she said, “now, the card at the top, or north, is called the White World Bridger.”

“Ah,” Adriana said knowingly.

“The White World Bridger means that your purpose is to bring harmony to peoples of different races, cultures, ideologies, religions, and so on.”

I swallowed hard, not wanting to look up from the table, because I knew what I would find. All three of them would be sharing looks of understanding. I was pretty sure that what was suddenly occurring to me was no doubt dawning on them as well. That card represented what I was supposed to do on the December, 2012, winter solstice.

Selena laid the card down. “The third card is placed at the bottom to represent the south.” I noticed this one had a yellow marshmallow on it. “The Yellow Human card tells us that you have very strong psychic abilities in addition to your spirit magic.”

“Huh?” I looked from Selena to Adriana.

“Don’t worry, Maya,” Adriana said. “It isn’t like we’re just finding this out right now. You’re working on controlling your powers. You’ll be fine.”

I threw Lyssa a glance, and she looked back at me as if to say
no worries
. But as I kept looking at her for a moment, I saw the look fade quickly. Then I realized she might be thinking about her own psychic powers. It was just now dawning on me that Lyssa might be as unsure and nervous about her powers as I was about mine. I mean, sure, she had Damian, but still…. I made a mental note to not get so caught up in my own stuff.

Selena took another card from the top of the deck. “The card on my left is the Blue Hand. That tells us that you are destined to become a healer.”

“That makes sense with her sun sign being the Jaguar,” Adriana said, smiling. “Selena is also a wonderful healer, Maya.”

Selena flushed slightly and continued. “Remember, Maya, bad memories can weigh us down and keep us from developing healthy self-esteem. We all need to release our own pain so we can continue to progress on our paths.”

“So you’re saying that the thing I need to work on most is—”

“Yourself.”

Was she kidding me? Suddenly, this whole wax on, wax off approach was starting to give me a headache. I mean, dealing with past issues could only mean one thing, my loser-mom. And my brief life history had taught me that the less I thought about her, the better. I refused to give her any power over me.

“What’s the last card?” I asked, eager to move things along.

“The last card is placed to the right, representing the east.” Selena slid the next card off the top of the deck, flipped it over, and laid it on the table.

Suddenly, I heard Adriana suck in her breath. I looked up at her. The look on her face was one of pure shock. Then I glanced at Selena, who was just staring at the card in silence. I gazed back down at the card. Red marshmallow.

“Are you sure that’s the right card?” Adriana almost whispered.

“Yes,” Selena answered, “I’m positive.”

“What’s going on?” Lyssa asked in a nervous voice.

“This is the Red Serpent card,” Selena said.

“Er, what does that mean?” I asked.

“Well…just like every card, it is interpreted based on what it is and where it lands.”

“But what does it mean in the east position?” Lyssa asked impatiently.

“In this case, the meaning is one of duplicity,” Adriana said.

Wha—?

“Someone that we believe is an ally is actually working against us,” she explained.

My thoughts went immediately to Cesar. He and Matt were outside the stone wall in the surrounding jungle. Was Matt in danger? Were we all?

“There’s more,” Selena said, “the sign is a serpent. Victrixa’s second form is
Kan
, the snake.”

“Wait, what? No. She told me that it was a deer!”

Adriana shook her head. “I’m sure she told you that because she wanted you to feel safe. She needed you to trust her. But the cards clearly show a double meaning here. Someone that we think is working with us is spying on us. Or possibly worse.”

“Do you think it might be Cesar? Like Matt thought?” I asked.

“I’m not sure, Maya. But we’re going to find out,” Adriana said, pushing away from the table. “I need to go find Richard. Selena, thank you very much for your help.”

“Of course,” Selena said, still looking worried as she picked up the cards and her chart.

Adriana paused at the door. “You know, perhaps you could help in another way too,” she said. “Would you be willing to take over working with the twins while Richard deals with this?”

“Absolutely,” Selena answered with a kind smile.

Alyssa and I hadn’t moved an inch when Matt came through the kitchen a few minutes later. He looked beat and ready for a shower.

“What’s going on?” he asked us. “You two look like ghosts.”

“You were right,” I said. “There’s someone here who is working for Toltec.”

“Are you sure? Did something happen?”

“It’s all based on this Mayan divination thingy,” I said.

“What?”

“Come on,” I stood up and took his hand. “I’ll explain it on the way.”

“I’m gonna see if I can surgically remove my brother from Richard’s laptop so I can fill him in,” Lyssa said. “See you guys at dinner.”

“Okay,” I answered, following Matt into our room. “Why don’t you jump in the shower first?” I told him. “I really should try to call my dad.”

He gave me a quick kiss. “I’ll be right out.”

Whoa
—suddenly I had the overwhelming urge to follow him. And when I say follow, I mean like chase him down and jump on him. (Talk about your mating call,
jeez
.) Sighing, I took my cell phone out and carefully dialed the international codes. Dad wasn’t home, which I had pretty much expected. He probably hadn’t even left campus yet. It was just as well. What was I supposed to say to him? I could barely hear his voice on our voicemail without choking up. I managed to swallow the lump in my throat and leave him a quick message that I was fine and that we were having a fabulous time.
Fa-bu-lous
. Yeah, right.

I needed to deal with my ever-increasing stress level, so I sat in the middle of the bed and crossed my legs and closed my eyes. I evened out my breathing and started following my breath as it flowed in and out of my body. Slowly, my mind let go and I felt the tension in my body begin to ease. Adriana and Richard’s room suddenly came into focus.

“…but, who could it be, Richard?” I heard Adriana saying, her voice cracking with emotion. “Who could it possibly be? Half of them have been with us since the beginning.”

“That’s true,” he said. “And there’s another fourth that have been here for almost that long. Ten years or so.” He paused. “But I’m not even sure that we’re looking at it the right way.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, does it follow that the shifters who have been with us the longest are necessarily the most loyal?” Richard asked.

“Oh, God, I don’t know. I just don’t know.” Adriana sighed. She sat down on the edge of the bed with her face in her hands. “Let’s think. No one knows about this except you, Selena, Matt, Maya, and me. And none of us would say anything, right? Selena is completely loyal.”

“There’s no doubt,” Richard said. “I’m sure the twins know by now, too.”

“That’s not a problem. They won’t say anything.”

“Right,” Richard said. “After dinner, we’ll make sure that everyone in our little group understands that no one else is to know we’ve got a visitor. In the meantime, I think Matt and I are going to do a little investigating. We need to figure out who it is and what information they have given to Toltec.”

“We’re just so close, Richard.”

“I know,” he answered. I saw him sit down on the bed next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. “We knew this wasn’t going to be easy—”

“Maya?”

Holy bejeezus!
I almost jumped out of my skin.

Matt touched my shoulder and I jumped again. “Sorry, babe. I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said.

“It’s okay,” I said, “I was just trying to de-stress a bit.”

“So, what’s the deal with the Tarot cards?” (Deal? Cards? Ha!)

I brought my focus back to him and our room. “Well, they’re pretty much used like regular Tarot cards, except the pictures on the cards are Mayan glyphs. Selena was doing a reading for me while I was waiting for you to get back. Anyway, she and Adriana think the last card showed that there’s a traitor here…som—someone…” Out of nowhere, my eyes blurred so much I could hardly make out Matt’s face. I started to feel weak. I began to lose feeling in my legs, like they were going totally numb. I couldn’t hold myself up.

“Maya? My? Jesus, My, you’re white as a sheet! Here, just lay back on the pillow. I’m gonna get help.”

“What the hell happened?” I heard Richard ask as he came into the room.

“I don’t know.” Matt’s voice was filled with panic, “One minute she was talking, and the next she looked like she was about to pass out.”

“Adriana?”

“Someone get Selena.
Now
.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“Well, is it related to what we found out with the reading today?”

I could hear Adriana’s voice, but I felt too weak to open my eyes. All I wanted to do was lie there…forever.

“I’m not sure yet,” Selena answered. “It’s too soon to tell. It’s not just physical, though. Her energy is way, way off.”

All of a sudden my eyes popped open.

Matt was kneeling next to the bed. He took my hand, and I was able to slowly turn my head and face him.

“Hi,” I said.

“Hi,” he said, smiling in relief. “She’s coming back,” he said to the others, trying to wipe away a tear with his sweatshirt without me seeing.

Selena came closer. “Maya, how do you feel?” she asked.

“Still kind of weak,” I managed.

Then I saw Richard step forward. “Why don’t we let Maya rest,” he said. “We’ll bring you some dinner in a bit,” he added, and then he ushered the twins away from the door. He and Adriana followed them out.

“I’ll stay with her,” Matt said to Selena.

“Okay. Just call if you need me.” She walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Matt slid into bed next to me and gently pulled me into spoon position. “Just rest, babe,” he said, stroking my hair.

And just like that, I fell asleep.

~ ~ ~

I didn’t wake up until the next morning. Surprisingly, I felt just like myself. Letting Matt sleep in, I hopped in the shower. Suddenly I realized that I was starving. I brushed my teeth, put on shorts and a tank top, and threw my hair in a quick ponytail. When I got to the kitchen, Alma was starting breakfast.

“Good morning, Maya,” she said. “You are feeling much better?”

“I feel great,” I said, grabbing a can of diet Coke from the fridge and popping the tab.

“I’m so glad,” she smiled.

“Would you like some help?” I asked.

“No, no, I’m fine. Ana helps, but she is on duty right now.”

“That’s okay. Let me help you. I’m actually not a bad cook.”

“Okay,
gracias
,” she said sweetly.

Together, we made enough scrambled eggs and browned enough ham to make about a hundred breakfast burritos. Ana made it back in time to squeeze the fresh orange juice.

“
In Lak’ech
,” I said to her.

“Here,” she said brusquely. “I’ll finish that. It’s my responsibility.”

“I don’t mind helping out.”

“I’ve got it.”

Feeling in the way, I pretty much hightailed it out of there. It wasn’t long before everyone came piling in. I noticed that Richard, Adriana, and Selena seemed to want to keep the events of the night before on the down-low. Matt and the twins followed suit, so no one asked me how I was feeling around the other shifters, but they all seemed relieved to see me at breakfast.

After we ate, we met in Damian’s room.

“Now,” Adriana asked, as she shut the door behind us, “how are you feeling?”

“Normal,” I said. “It’s weird. It was so overwhelming at the time, but now it’s like it never happened.”

“Well, it did,” Richard said. “So try to take it easy and let us know if anything feels off. That goes for everyone. We aren’t sure exactly what’s going on yet, but as we continue to get closer to the solstice, we need to be more vigilant.”

“And we’re going to have to keep everything between us,” Adriana added. “Richard and Matt are working on figuring out who’s working for Toltec. But they can’t do that if the spy thinks that we’re on to anything.”

Richard started for the door. “Matt and I are going to head out now. Everyone else, just go on as usual,” he said.