Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Ancient Souls
We didn’t talk much during our flight the next morning, and as the road began to slowly wind its way up the mountain, we fell silent.
Mindy could’ve been thinking anything, but I had something specific on my mind since the flight.
As we had neared the Knoxville airport for landing earlier, I noticed something new and unusual happening inside me.
A sort of internal tracking sensor buried deep in my center was tugging me in my Monster’s direction.
It was as if my body wanted to close the distance between us.
Almost as if he had installed a hook behind my breastbone, painlessly urging me to find him, growing stronger as we landed, and stronger still with the rental car pointed in his direction.
So, while I paid attention to the road signs, I wasn’t worried about finding his lair.
My body told me I was going the right way, and some small part of me was excited to see my Monster again.
Mindy gave me a couple of strange looks as I navigated the mountain roads without guidance, but I remembered the path so clearly, I didn’t check my phone for directions or explain what I was doing. If she thought this was weird, then she wasn’t adequately prepared for this trip.
I even knew exactly where to turn up his long gravel driveway, despite it being completely hidden from the road.
Driving it in daylight, I wondered how I had ever thought this was the right way to go.
It looked so isolated, the road rutted and in disrepair.
Branches grew over the path, making it difficult to walk, much less drive.
Using the front of the car to push through the vines, I maneuvered us up the steep path, parking about twenty feet up the driveway, just far enough that the car couldn’t be seen from the main road, if it could even be called that.
The rental would never make it up the incline, never mind being able to back it down the path if we did get stuck somewhere.
I turned the engine off, and Mindy looked at me, strangely calm, her dark eyes bright with excitement.
“You ready?” I asked, willing to turn around if she was having second thoughts.
“Yes. Let’s do this.”
“You, my friend, are scary brave.”
She let out a nervous chuckle, and we got out of the car, each grabbing a light carry-on.
I locked it out of habit, not because anyone would be wandering by anytime soon, and we began our trek up the side of the mountain.
The higher we climbed, the more I could sense Mindy’s fear.
Strangely, mine was fading. The tug in my chest, the need to be near him, grew intense, and I stopped to catch my breath.
Instead of being frightened, my blood hummed with excitement.
Why had I involved my one friend in this craziness?
I stopped, waited for her to catch up, and turned to her.
“Why don’t you take the car and come back for me tomorrow?
The GPS will get you back to the airport once you’re down the road a little bit.
Just follow the switchbacks down the mountain.
You should have service by the time you need to make any critical turns.
” I had checked it was fully functioning before we left the airport lot and periodically during the trip.
Too little too late, but I had learned my lesson.
“No, I’m good. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
“Ha.” None of this was easy.
So we kept hiking. When we cleared the last ridge, and the stone wall came into view, I stopped again. “Last chance, Mindy.”
She just shook her head and took a curious step forward. “I want to see the house.”
I hurried to get ahead of her, to at least pull his attention to me, in case he was upset I had come back. With a friend.
Now, with him nearby, the urgency to get close to him had eased. I looked around but didn’t see him anywhere. The granite boulder was missing. Even the crows were quiet. Or maybe they had moved on. The rough, rock-filled courtyard looked barren without his giant boulder standing guard.
Hello? I asked silently, pushing my thoughts out in the direction I thought I sensed him.
Corvus? What are you doing here?
He was angry. That came through loud and clear.
I’m sorry, but my transformation, well, it needs a little adjustment. People don’t recognize me.
I’d know you anywhere.
Mindy gasped next to me, and I turned my head. He stood in the shadow of the doorway, nine feet tall, horned, and wearing only a dark, ragged kilt.
Yes, but you knew me as a crow.
Exactly. Who is with you?
My friend. She didn’t want me to come alone. Can I introduce you?
He started toward us, and my heart beat wildly.
I didn’t want to give up his real name but wasn’t sure what to call him.
Monster was my private name for him. I didn’t think he’d appreciate it.
And calling him Camazotz seemed like revealing a big secret.
One I had kept from Mindy when I told her everything else.
The few legends I had turned up about the ancient Mayan death god made me think twice.
And I trusted him. Mostly. But maybe that had been a mistake.
He covered the twenty feet between us in a few long strides. Mindy took a step back, but I was oddly happy to see him.
He held out his hand toward Mindy. “Hello. I am glad to meet you. You can call me Benjamin.”
“Melinda,” she squeaked, tilting her shoulders back to look up at him.
“Welcome, Melinda. Come inside. I have mead.”
I must have been gawking at his gentlemanly behavior, for he looked over his shoulder at me with a grin. “Coming, Corvus?”
“Corvus?” Melinda asked, looking at me.
I shook my head, but my Monster, no Benjamin, answered instead. “It is Latin for crow.”
I rolled my eyes, resisting the urge to flip him off.
“Her name is Freya.”
“Don’t bother,” I said when it was clear he was ignoring us both. Mindy and I followed him into the large, empty room. He turned to the left. I had been down that wing before. What was to the right, behind that big locked door? I stopped even though Mindy kept moving across the large room.
My Monster, no Benjamin, stopped at the end of the room and cleared his throat. “Something wrong, Corvus?”
“No, everything is perfect.” He watched as I walked toward him. What were we doing? This entire interaction was so bizarre. He was being so nice, so normal, if one didn’t actually look at him.
When I caught up with Mindy, he turned and led us down the long hallway. All the doors on the right were closed, guarding their secrets. Having seen the building a few times from above, I could guess they were rooms with windows looking onto the central courtyard.
We came to the end of the hallway, and I glanced up at the rafters.
There was the spot where I had watched him twice before as a crow.
I shook my head free of the memory and walked into his den.
The room looked so different now that I was tall again.
But I recognized the pewter goblets and the decanter full of golden liquid.
The whiskey bottle was missing. Shards of glass sparkled from the fireplace.
He poured us each a glass of mead. “Please, have a seat by the fire.”
I took the seat left of the fireplace and looked at my friend.
Mindy took in the medieval setting with her usual poise, choosing the chair across from me.
My Monster took his time before joining us.
First, he lit the candles around the room, and then he knelt next to me, setting the kindling and the logs carefully.
The fire blazed hot in the chilly room. Was he trying to impress us?
Doubtful, but why go to all this effort?
Then again, it was the same effort he went to for his friend.
He is not my friend.
Why are you reading my thoughts?
Because you think loudly. And I want to know why you came back.
Instead of answering, I dug through my bag.
My fingers sorted the detritus of my old life until they found my phone.
I pulled up the photograph of my face Mindy and I deemed good enough to model me after.
I held it out to him. He stood, glanced at it, and then walked away, leaving me holding it out toward his back.
He finally sat down in a chair across from us, facing the fireplace.
Mindy leaned toward me. “Did you guys just have one of those silent conversations you told me about?”
“Sort of. He’s been listening to my thoughts.”
“Oh.”
Yeah. Disconcerting.
“Melinda, would it be acceptable if, after we get you settled into a comfortable room, Corvus and I have a private chat?”
“You have comfortable rooms in this ruin?” I asked.
He actually laughed, a deep sound resonating in my core. I didn’t know he was capable of genuine laughter. And what was more disturbing was how much I liked it.
“I’ll get your room ready,” he said to Mindy. And then he was gone.
I tasted the mead, which up until this point I had just been holding, the goblet growing heavy in my hand. The liquid inside was cool and spicy, with only the slightest hint of sweetness. I turned to my friend.
“Wow,” she said. “I mean, I know he has horns and wings and all that, but he is seriously hot. You forgot to mention that part.”
“I told you his features were well-defined.” Had I been ashamed to admit my attraction?
Oh god, I was attracted to him. Somewhere deep down lay buried the truth I hadn’t been willing to face.
Wasn’t it wrong to be physically drawn to someone outside my own species?
To an ancient god? Or was it a normal reaction?
She shook her head, eyes laughing. “Not the same, and you know it. You also forgot to mention he seems to like you a lot.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, I do. Come on, Freya. It’s obvious. He likes you.”
I shook my head and then took another drink of mead. “He’s being a hundred times nicer to you…”
“My point exactly.” She raised her eyebrows.
“But why would he like me?”
This time, she was the one who looked surprised.