Chapter Six #2
Behind us, a creature that appeared to be a multiheaded, man-sized bird was bearing down on us, screaming what I had a horrible feeling were promises of death, agony, and destruction.
“Holy shitsnacks!” I dropped Hunter’s hand and raced ahead, trusting that the dragon with the big-ass sword would be safer than me in the rear.
“Left!” he yelled when the road split into a Y.
“But that’s the jaguars,” I started to protest as I turned to the left, running full out to the one-story stone building that loomed up, surrounded by what had to be an eight-foot-tall brick fence.
“I’d rather deal with them than whatever that bird thing is,” Hunter replied, and I couldn’t dispute his logic.
In a matter of seconds, I wrenched open the door and dashed inside it, glancing around quickly to ascertain how many jaguars would be waiting, but to my surprise (and relief), the entrance area was empty of anything living.
In fact, it looked more like the waiting room of a pet shelter than anything else, with a reception desk, a couple of heavy stone benches, and posters all over the walls of various jaguars.
Hunter slammed shut the door, then immediately dragged one of the benches over to brace behind it.
I helped him with the second one, pushing it up tight to the first so that whoever tried to get in would have to shove through both of them.
“Do you think that’ll stop the bird monster?” I asked, feeling a bit shaky from the rush of adrenaline.
“Stop? No. But it should slow it down.”
“Hullo. Can I help?” a voice asked from behind us.
We both whirled around; I adopted a half-crouching position from a long-distant self-defense class, while Hunter had his sword in one hand as the other was starting to draw a spell.
A woman about six inches shorter than me stood smiling at us. She was dressed in what I thought of as a zookeeper’s khaki ensemble, had dark blonde hair piled high on her head like she was a beauty queen, and was holding a bucket of what very much looked like finely chopped fresh meat.
“Who are you?” Hunter asked, his eyes narrowing on her.
She gestured toward her chest, where a small badge was pinned.
“I’m Sip. Are you here to see Bitey? We’d normally require you to book an appointment to see him, but what with the twins being off trying to get their latest skateboarding titles, we tend to go into shut-door mode.
It’s just safer that way, you know?” She smiled and held out a hand.
Hunter just looked at the hand. I shook it, introducing myself. “I’m Mabel, and this is Hunter. We were being chased, hence the sword, and our unexpected entrance. Is Bitey one of the jaguars? I’d love to see him, although not if I’ll get hurt.”
“His name is actually Twelve-Bite, but since he has only three teeth left, and is a lazy old man, you don’t have to worry about getting hurt. I was just about to take his dinner in to him. You guys can help, if you like.”
And that is how, about ten minutes later, Hunter and I could be found dressed in disposable clean suits, which Hunter objected to until informed that the jaguar’s health came first.
“So this is really, what, a jaguar sanctuary?” I asked, squatting next to a large, fat jaguar while Sip doled out bits of meat. “The cats don’t attack and kill people?”
“They used to, back in the before times,” she said, smiling when Bitey pounced on a bit of meat she was wiggling in front of him. A glint of black in her hair caught my eye, and I realized that what I’d thought of as barrettes were actually black-and-yellow jeweled bees stuck into her updo.
“Before the Hero Twins?” Hunter asked, still looking disgruntled, but his expression faded as he stretched out a hand to run it along the jaguar’s back.
“Yes. Once they cast out their older brothers, then everything changed, and we got to switch over to protecting the jaguar population in Xibalba rather than using them as a means of vengeance. We have a highly successful breeding program now, so successful, in fact, that we exchange animals with other breeding centers in the mortal world to ensure healthy gene pools.”
“This is not what I expected,” I told Hunter.
“Nor me,” he agreed, looking thoughtful before asking Sip, “Are all the houses like this? Not harmful, that is?”
“Sadly, no,” she said, scratching Bitey behind his ear. He had evidently eaten enough, because he rolled onto his back, baring his big belly.
“Oh goddess,” I said, overwhelmed with a desire. “Is it ... will he let us touch his belly? Or is he like my old roomie’s giant Norwegian Forest Cat who liked to trick you into thinking he wanted belly rubs but then went full four-feet claw trap on you when you fell for it?”
She laughed, loudly patting his belly. “Bitey is a sweetheart and would never set you up that way. He loves being petted, so knock yourselves out.”
Hunter knelt next to me so we could give the big kitty belly rubs, ear rubs, and neck scritches before saying, “As enjoyable as this is—and I will admit, it is very satisfying petting him—we should probably find a way out that will allow us to avoid the bird beast.”
“Bird beast?” Sip asked, frowning a little. She held a hand about a foot over her head. “Tall as you? Couple of heads that never shut up?”
“That’s it,” Hunter said, standing. “He was chasing us.”
“Yeah, that isn’t a bird—it’s one of the vision serpents that One-Death brought back to the Hour.
” She made a face. “It’s good you avoid them.
They used to be integral in bloodletting rituals, but now just like to tear visitors apart in One-Death’s name.
If one saw you come inside here, he’s probably lurking around waiting for you to leave. ”
I held the paw Bitey had put on my hand, obviously wanting more pets, worry claiming me again.
“Great. Nothing like having a murderous vision serpent lurking around outside waiting to tear us to shreds. Do you have any good ideas on how to avoid that?” The last was asked of Hunter, who was looking thoughtful.
“Just one—I kill him, and we go find Sally’s friend.”
“You can’t do that,” Sip said, standing and scratching the mound of hair piled on top of her head.
“This is an underworld. The denizens here are already dead, and you can’t really destroy them.
But you’re welcome to stay here tonight.
We’re fully into night mode now, and that means everyone’s powers are enhanced until the sun rises.
You’d be at a tremendous risk if you were to try to move around without encountering one of the gods who roam around.
We have rooms in the back, and since I’m on duty here by myself tonight, there’s plenty of space. ”
“I wish I could, but it’s not possible,” I started to say, but stopped when Hunter said, “That will work well for us, thank you.”
“I can’t stay here that long,” I told him, getting to my feet. Even clothed in the clean suit, he was an impressive man, and memories of a few of the erotic thoughts I’d had about him since we helped free Desi came foremost to mind.
“Why?” he asked.
A night together, the smutty part of my brain said with much enthusiasm. A steamy, long night where I could indulge all those many fantasies that haunted my dreams.
“Mabel?”
I eyed his chest. There wasn’t much definition that I could see through his clothing and the clean suit, but I had the memory of him fighting in the Thirteenth Hour, particularly how his shirt had stretched over the thick muscles along his arms and chest.
“Mabel!”
I could just imagine him wet and soapy in the shower, my hands gliding along all those smooth, long sweeps of chest and arms and legs. And butt. My brain went into overtime imagining cupping his delicious ass cheeks.
Hunter frowned at me. “Are you having a stroke of some sort? I didn’t think reapers could have such things, but it’s that or you’ve been bespelled, and Sip doesn’t seem like the sort of person to do that.”
“Oh, I’m not,” she said, scratching at her head again, then, with a tsking noise, fumbled with her hair before removing the elaborate coiffure, leaving her with a jaw-length bob in a ponytail.
Two small antlers emerged from the top of her head, where the hairpiece had hidden it. She scratched at the antlers with a sigh of relief.
My inner self wanted badly to go back to its contemplation of Hunter’s butt, but the distraction of Sip startled me out of the reverie. “Er,” I said, looking at the antlers.
“Sorry. They get itchy this time of year,” she said with a smile, fluffing her bob once she was done with the scratching. “So, what do you want to do? Stay for the night or risk death and dismemberment?”
“I can’t stay,” I repeated, wondering why a jaguar caretaker would have antlers, but unable to think of a way to ask without sounding nosy.
“I have to be back to Papi by morning. If he doesn’t hear from me .
.. well, I don’t know what exactly he will do, but I do know it will not be anything beneficial to me or my future. ”
“I don’t relish spending a night here, either, and we only have Nika for about eight more hours unless she can extend her time.
Given our options, staying here overnight is preferable to running into any of the beings outside who want to kill us so we’d be bound to this Hour,” Hunter told me, his pale green eyes studying me in a way that had the stomach bees going nuts.
Dear goddess, the man was so handsome, he made my legs feel like they were made of gelatin.
“This way,” Sip said, giving Bitey a final belly pat.
She led us through a confusing maze of rooms, several of which contained lounging jaguars who barely looked up when we passed by, eventually exiting the building to what I thought of as a southwestern US garden, made up of desert plants, tall, spiky grasses, sand, decorative rocks, and cacti everywhere.