Chasing Power

  “You think I am the stones’ keeper? Hah! Oh, no, no, dear boy. So naive, so sure of his wisdom and knowledge and power when he has none of those things.”

  Kayla noticed Daniel clench and unclench his hands. He tried again, keeping his voice smooth and even. “Can you tell me where the stones are?” All he wanted to do was help his mom. Still, Kayla thought, he shouldn’t irritate a voodoo queen. He might be gorgeous, but he was seriously lacking in common sense. He really did need Kayla’s help. Anyone with sense could see that underneath the tourist trappings and stereotypical “voodoo queen” act, this woman had real power and was surrounded by real magic.

  Groaning, Queen Marguerite lowered herself to the floor next to the candle. She waved the smoke toward her. “I am not the end of your journey, child. I am your beginning. Sit and learn. You too, fixer girl.” She shook the bones in her hands over her head, then to one side and then to the other. She rocked back and forth and began to utter words, flowing words that spilled into Kayla’s head, whisked around her thoughts, and then flew out, leaving no trace of themselves in her memory. Moonbeam’s kind of words. Magical words.

  Light flared so bright that it whited out the shop. Kayla’s eyes teared. As the light faded, she blinked fast. Streaks and dots flashed behind her eyelids, afterimages from the glare, and then her eyes readjusted to the normal, dimly lit shop.

  Daniel began to speak again, to ask what she was doing, and Kayla caused a slip of paper—a stray price tag—to fly up over his mouth. She put her finger to her lips and let the paper fall. He subsided and sat on the floor across from the voodoo queen.

  Queen Marguerite spilled the bones onto the floor. Leaning forward, she studied them. She then rocked backward. “Ah, me, you’re all going to die.”

  Kayla felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach. She tried to suck in air.

  Then Marguerite burst into laughter again. Laughing transformed her, making her look twenty years younger. “Oh, you should see your faces! Sorry, sorry, sometimes I can’t help myself. I have been under a lot of stress lately, you know.” Composing herself, she was again the regal voodoo queen. Her accent seemed to thicken, and her voice deepened. “Three stones; one death. But whose, no one knows.”

  Kayla swallowed. She wasn’t convinced that was so much better. She didn’t want to be involved in this mess at all if anyone was going to die. Maybe she should tell her mother the truth, and then Daniel wouldn’t have anything over her anymore. But she knew what would happen if she did that. Her mother would insist they run, change their identities, and start new lives. She didn’t want to leave everything and everyone she knew. That would be like a death too. And besides, what would happen to Daniel’s mother if Kayla ran?

  “You must find the stones,” Queen Marguerite said. “This, the bones know. Your enemies already have one. You must seek the two others. Or what was begun will be done.”

  “Where are they?” Daniel asked, hushed.

  “I will tell you a story. Centuries ago, a man named Fire Is Born was sent by his king to conquer the city of Tikal. He had with him three stones, powerful stones, that were given to him by a white man who appeared one day in a place no white man should be. This was centuries before the explorers arrived with their guns and their smallpox, but still, the white man found a way to bring his evil where it didn’t belong. And make no mistake about it—the stones are evil.” She poured herself a glass of tea, swirled it, but didn’t drink. “The stones had been used to found an empire, but now that empire was falling and the man wanted a new one built, far away from the old, and so he gifted Fire Is Born with the stones.”

  Daniel fidgeted as if he wanted to interrupt, but he stayed silent. Kayla watched him, wondering what he was thinking, wondering how she ever thought he was cool and collected.

  “Fire Is Born brought the young son of his king and the stones before Great Jaguar Paw, the king of Tikal, and offered him this: ‘Complete the incantation with us, and you may rule, you may live, or you may die.’ ” She ticked off three fingers as she said “rule,” “live,” and “die.” “Each stone carries its own power: of the mind, of the body, and of the earth. Combined, they promise ultimate power. Three cast the spell, and three faced their fate. One was granted invincibility, one was left as he was, and one died that very moment. Fire Is Born became an unstoppable warlord who created the Maya Empire; the son of his king became his puppet ruler; and the old king, Great Jaguar Paw, died and was tossed into a pit with the bodies of his slain wife and children. Several centuries later, the stones were separated and hidden by Fire Is Born’s descendants.” She then took a drink from her iced tea, set the glass back on the tray, and dabbed her lips with a napkin. Rising, she carried the tray toward the door to the back room.

  Daniel jumped to his feet. “Wait! What about my mother?”

  Queen Marguerite halted. “I have told you everything you need to know. And more. Make no mistake: if the stones are used, there will be a death, as there has been before. Your enemies have one stone. Find the other two, and you will find your mother. I’d wish you luck, but you already have her beside you. And she will change everything. Such a delightful surprise.” The voodoo queen smiled directly at Kayla, an unnerving smile—and then she vanished.

  Both Kayla and Daniel jumped to their feet. “Should she have been able to do that?” Kayla asked. She pointed to the spot where Queen Marguerite had stood a second ago. She hadn’t heard her say a spell, if there was even such a thing as a teleportation spell. She’d just disappeared, like Daniel did.

  “Never met another teleporter before.” He sounded shaken.

  “I’d never met any until today. Lucky me.” She scanned the shop, half expecting Queen Marguerite to reappear. The crushed skulls leered at her from the shelves, as did the dismembered dolls. She shuddered. “Can you take me home now? You promised, after we talked to the queen.”

  He took her hand, but he didn’t look happy about it.

  Chapter 6

  Daniel delivered her to the red gate. “I’ll be by for you tomorrow at dawn.”

  “Whoa, wait, no way. I can’t disappear with you again so soon! Moonbeam’s going to eviscerate me as it is. Besides, I don’t wake at dawn for anyone.” As soon as she said it, she winced at how pathetically shallow it sounded, in light of his problems. But it was a lot better than saying she was afraid.

  “I need you,” he said. “You heard her. You’re my luck.” He flashed her a smile that would have been charming if she hadn’t wanted to punch him in the mouth so badly for involving her in this. The smile faded, and he said softly, “We’d leave right now if I knew where to go.” As he looked away toward the unseen ocean, his expression was as forlorn as a homeless cat’s. But he didn’t give her a chance to decide whether to punch him or comfort him. He vanished, leaving her wanting to scream. She shouldn’t be wrapped up in this. It wasn’t her problem!

  Taking out her phone, she texted Selena, Here.

  She waited for a response, a hint as to Moonbeam’s mood or the lie that Selena had told, and she paced outside the red gate. A few cars drove up and down the street. A neighbor dragged trash cans to the curb and waved at Kayla. Pasting a fake smile on her face, Kayla waved back. Selena still hadn’t replied.

  Stupid to just wait here, Kayla thought. She stuffed the phone back in her pocket. Shaking out her arms and rolling her neck, she took a deep breath. She could do this. She’d weathered Moonbeam’s disapproval before. It wouldn’t kill her.

  She pinched her cheeks, then slapped them so they’d look pink, as if she’d been running. She opened the garden gate and dashed across the lawn, leaping over a bush and throwing herself into the house as she cried, “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I tried to call. My phone died. I’m here! I’m fine!”

  Moonbeam and Selena were perched on stools, seated at the kitchen table. Both of them twisted around to look at her in surprise. Skidding to a stop, Kayla looked at Moonbeam, then Selena, then back.

  Please, sa
y something, Kayla thought at her mother. Scream. Yell. Anything. Just get this over with.

  Rising, Moonbeam crossed to Kayla and kissed her on the cheek. “Just tell me you didn’t have unprotected sex, and I will forgive you for not answering your phone.”

  Kayla felt her cheeks flush even redder. Her mouth opened and then shut. She looked at Selena for help.

  “None of these charms work against pregnancy or STDs,” Moonbeam continued. “Plus you’re much, much too young anyway. Wait until you’re thirty. Thirty-five. Then you’ll have something to look forward to, after the novelty of voting and alcohol wears off.”

  Selena smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. Had to tell her about your date. How was that café? Did you get the calamari like I told you to?”

  Kayla felt limp. A plausible lie! “Had the shrimp soup. It was delicious.” She decided that Selena should be nominated for knighthood, and she took back every bad thing she’d thought about Selena’s ability to lie. Clearly, she’d been practicing.

  Moonbeam held Kayla’s shoulders. “I want you to know you can tell me anything. Really, I’d prefer everything, but I’ll settle for anything. You don’t have to hide your love life from me. You’re supposed to have a love life. Without sex.”

  “It was a first date! I didn’t sleep with him. And I can guarantee I won’t.” She couldn’t ever be attracted to a guy whose idea of asking for a favor equaled blackmail. But she supposed she couldn’t say that if she wanted to keep the lie going … Oh, God, this meant she was going to keep the lie going. She had no easy excuse to tell Daniel.

  Moonbeam broke into a smile. “Then you may have a cookie.” She put her arm around Kayla and guided her to the table. “Milk or iced tea?” Kayla noticed that there was a spread of food out: cucumber sandwiches, cookies, milk, and iced tea, as if Moonbeam and Selena had been having a full-out British tea party while Kayla was off cleaning a voodoo shop in New Orleans.

  “So, details, please!” Selena said. “Did you kick him to the curb? Swear to never see him again? Strike his name from your heart with a felt-tip marker?”

  “I … may have another date tomorrow. Early.” A tiny part of her wished she had been caught. She was about to get even more involved. And if she failed and the spell was cast, someone would die. Swallowing, she forced a smile.

  Moonbeam poured a glass of milk and set it on the table for Kayla. “Uh-huh, and what is this mystery boy’s name?”

  “Daniel.”

  “Last name?”

  “Mmm, I don’t know.”

  “You might want to bring that one up in conversation before you get too far into the smoochy-smoochy.” Selena puckered up her lips for extra effect. “Just a suggestion.”

  Moonbeam managed to look both disapproving and amused at the same time. “When do I get to meet this Daniel-without-a-last-name?”

  Never popped into Kayla’s mind. “Not yet,” Selena answered for Kayla. “Introducing a guy to Mom is a big deal. Has to fit into the strategy just right. Do it too early, and he’ll think you’re too serious. Do it too late, and he’ll think you’re not serious enough. Maybe after the fifth date. Unless you have my parents; then all bets are off. But for you, fifth date.”

  “Oh, no, I’ve seen sitcoms.” Moonbeam offered Kayla a cucumber sandwich. “I get to grill him and embarrass Kayla from the moment he drives up. Does he have his own car? Please tell me he doesn’t ride a motorcycle. I think my heart will stop if you’re on a motorcycle.”

  “No motorcycle.” Kayla nibbled at the sandwich. Now that she was sure Moonbeam wasn’t furious, she was hungry. “He’s mostly on foot.”

  “Bet he has nice feet,” Selena said dreamily.

  Kayla shot her a look, then devoured the rest of the sandwich.

  “What? Everything else looked nice, and feet are deserving of admiration too. Don’t worry. I’ll look and not touch. He’s not my type. I like nonbroody.” Selena hopped off the stool. “But speaking of feet, there are shoes that need purchasing. Moonbeam, can I steal Kayla for an hour or two, if she’s not grounded?”

  Moonbeam frowned. “Parenting teenagers should come with a manual. She should be grounded, but I want her to know she can trust me with the truth.”

  “Manual says let her go with a stern but loving warning,” Selena suggested. Kayla found it disconcerting to be discussed in the third person when she was right there, but then again, Selena seemed to have the situation in hand. She owed her for this.

  Moonbeam laughed. “Your friend is incorrigible.”

  “That’s why I like her,” Kayla said.

  Moonbeam wagged her finger at Kayla. “I want you home and asleep by ten o’clock, especially if you have an early morning date tomorrow.”

  “Come on, Kayla, those shoes won’t walk themselves onto my feet.” Selena hooked her arm through Kayla’s. Kayla waved over her shoulder at her mother and headed out the door with Selena at a brisk walk. Arm in arm, they crossed the yard and pushed through the garden gate. “Okay, all the details,” Selena said.

  “Need beach privacy.”

  “Really? That serious?”

  “Seriously serious.”

  They got into Selena’s car, and Selena shot down the street. She parked at the beach, took off her shirt and shorts so she was only in a bikini, and fetched two beach towels and her beach bag—designer brand, of course. Kayla left her chiffon shirt in the car so she was just in shorts and her bikini top—the picture of two girls with nothing serious on their minds. Pretending to laugh, the two of them sauntered down toward the waves as if they were just hanging out, enjoying the end of the day. They spread their towels a few feet from the wettest sand, away from everyone else. In the distance, the sky was turning a rosy pink as the sun teased the horizon.

  “I owe you,” Kayla told Selena when they’d finished setting up their tableau. “I thought I was dead for sure. You were brilliant in there.”

  “Clearly. I’m a genius with every mother but my own. But we aren’t here to talk about me. Now spill.”

  Kayla told her every detail, from the state of the shop to the story of Fire Is Born to the queen’s vanishing trick at the end. She concluded, “So, it’s not over.”

  “Of course it’s not over. Don’t you know how these things work? The wise old woman gave you cryptic advice to start you on your quest. Now the trusty sidekick, who is far smarter than the heroine, finds the pertinent information our beloved lead needs. Or she at least checks Wikipedia.” Selena pulled her tablet out of her beach bag and flipped the cover open. “So we know Fire Is Born had all three stones in Tikal in … AD 378. Hey, he was a real person! Siyaj K’ak’, Fire Is Born, formerly nicknamed Smoking Frog, which is pretty much the least sexy nickname ever. Heartily approve the change. He conquered Tikal on January 16, 378. Wow, that’s specific. Oh, it’s the day the old king died. Or was killed. Also, it’s the same year the Roman Empire fell, and probably lots of other stuff happened that didn’t make it into Wikipedia.”

  “Any mention of the stones?”

  “Nope. But maybe we can find you a treasure map or a video that depicts them being hidden.” Her fingers hovered over the keyboard. “Just for the record, I’m kidding. Seriously, Her Majesty couldn’t give you any more specific info?”

  “I think she thought she was being helpful enough.”

  Selena snorted and continued to type. She squinted at her screen, tilting it to avoid the glare of the sunset. Across the ocean, the sun dyed the clouds a burnt orange. It deepened to molten gold as it touched the water. Its reflection stretched like a path of gold coins on the blue-black surface. Kayla thought it was appropriately dramatic for a conversation about ancient death magic. “No record of his death,” Selena reported. “Ooh, maybe he didn’t die. That would be übercreepy. But she said invincibility, not immortality, right? So never mind. You won’t have to face a millennium-old Maya. Hello, silver lining!”

  She appreciated that Selena was trying to cheer her up, but Kayla didn’t feel like smiling
. She thought of the disaster zone in Queen Marguerite’s shop. If their enemies were so strong that the voodoo queen’s magic couldn’t stop them, what was Kayla doing wrapped up in this? She was a pickpocket with a few fancy tricks, not a fighter. “I shouldn’t be facing any of this. She said someone would die.”

  “If they use the stones, which you’re going to prevent. Come on, Kayla, you have never wimped out of a challenge in your life. And this is way bigger than shoplifting a few blingy trinkets. You have the chance to save a life, stop evil, and be a superhero without Spandex.” She paused. “Seriously, don’t wear Spandex.”

  Kayla hugged her knees to her chest. Everything about this felt out of her control. She didn’t have nearly enough information. And she was dealing with a boy who had trust issues. “This is too much. Too serious. I should tell Moonbeam, and we should run. He can’t teleport to someplace he doesn’t know. He’d never find us.”

  “And I’d never see you again! No. No. Absolutely no.”

  The sun spread into the horizon as if it were melting into the water, an act that, while poetic, would not have been appreciated by the fish. “How do we even know he’s telling the truth? Maybe his mother wasn’t kidnapped, and he wants the stones for himself so he can become invincible and conquer the world.” She felt guilty even saying it. She’d seen that lost look in his eyes and heard the desperation in his voice, even though he’d tried to hide it. Also, the very premise was absurd. Who even wanted to conquer the world? The world was way too messy.

  “Then let’s spy on him!”

  “You can’t spy on a guy who can teleport.”

  “Virtually spy.” Selena typed quickly. “University of Chicago, right? Anthropology professor. Missing.” She hit Enter with a flourish. Wordlessly, she pointed at the screen. There were local Chicago news articles, dated less than a week ago, about an anthropology professor who was reported missing by her son. Her name was Dr. Evelyn Sanders. There was a quote from a colleague talking about how she was on the verge of a breakthrough and how everyone expected great things from her, and so forth, so this was a double tragedy, for her family and for academia. “Come on, Kayla, do this. It’s the decent thing to do. Plus it means I can live vicariously through you. Quit it with the reluctant hero crap.”