just wander, lost, until I find you again. If you follow the path, I’ll find you even more easily.”
With that he shifted shape and took to the skies.
I had little hope of actually escaping, but I still wasn’t going to give up the first real chance I’d had. I returned to my quetzal form, but this time I didn’t go higher than thetree line. At first I fluttered from tree to tree, following the road toward—I hoped—Midnight’s market. I quickly realized that such a method of travel was even slower than going by foot, so I returned to human form and started out at a jog.
I came up short as a large, spotted beast emerged from the trees in front of me. I stumbled back, only to run into Malachi, who must have dropped down just behind me.
“It’s okay,” he whispered as the massive feline moved closer, then changed form. “She’s one of the pochteca I mentioned.”
As the woman who appeared in the jaguar’s place looked up at me, my chest tightened. I knew that skin, that hair, those eyes. We didn’t actually look
alike
, but the high cheekbones, the shape of the mouth … Except in the mirror, I had never seen such familiar features.
She must have noticed the resemblance, too, because she smiled warmly. She reached out, and I returned the gesture in kind. She didn’t shake my hand but grabbed it instead and held it tightly as she spoke to me rapidly in a language I had never heard.
Malachi interrupted for me. “My friend doesn’t speak Nahuatl,” he said. “He says he was separated from his parents when he was young. I found him lost in the woods.”
“Poor boy,” she said in heavily accented English. “And I can sense power in you, too.”
“That’s what
he
said,” I replied, trying in vain to take back my hand. “But I don’t have magic.”
“No, of course not, if you haven’t been trained,” the pochtecatl replied. “We are born either with or without the power, but we aren’t born knowing it.”
Malachi pulled me back, reaching forward to disconnect me from my overjoyed new would-be friend. “Vance, let me speak a minute.”
Not likely
, I thought. He had found this woman in the market. That meant she was more likely to be on my side than he was. I told the Azteka woman, “Don’t trust him. He’s kidnapped me. He threatened to—”
The sudden rage in her gaze as she looked up at Malachi was enough to silence me. He, on the other hand, quickly protested. “Yaretzi, I’m glad it’s you. Your magic will show you I’m telling the truth.
They
had him. He ran away. They don’t know yet where he is, or that we’ve seen him. If he’s really a bloodwitch, you know we can’t let them have him back.”
“Are you mad, Obsidian?” Yaretzi demanded. “Boy, who do you belong to?”
“I don’t
belong
to anyone,” I protested. Why did everyone keep expecting me to be a slave?
“Vance,” the pochtecatl said, “do you want to stay with Malachi or me, or do you want to go home?”
“I want to go home,” I answered. I didn’t need to think about it.
“Where is home?” she asked.
“Back with Lady Brina and Taro,” I answered, eventhough I knew the greenhouse probably wasn’t an option. My attempt to travel through the woods had been a poorly planned disaster, but the reason I had left was still valid.
“Then come with me.” Yaretzi grabbed my arm and started leading me up the road.
“You don’t need to do this,” Malachi hissed, pulling the pochtecatl away from me. “He’s a kid.”
“He’s
theirs
,” she snarled back. “I won’t take that risk any more than you will.”
“So you’ll let Jeshickah keep a bloodwitch?” Malachi demanded.
“He’s no more dangerous than the blind girl they keep, Itzli’s spawn Celeste. This boy’s probably just another one of that traitor’s by-blows.”
“I’m standing right here,” I objected.
They both ignored me.
In a soft, pleading voice, Malachi said, “You know as well as I do that he will die in
With that he shifted shape and took to the skies.
I had little hope of actually escaping, but I still wasn’t going to give up the first real chance I’d had. I returned to my quetzal form, but this time I didn’t go higher than thetree line. At first I fluttered from tree to tree, following the road toward—I hoped—Midnight’s market. I quickly realized that such a method of travel was even slower than going by foot, so I returned to human form and started out at a jog.
I came up short as a large, spotted beast emerged from the trees in front of me. I stumbled back, only to run into Malachi, who must have dropped down just behind me.
“It’s okay,” he whispered as the massive feline moved closer, then changed form. “She’s one of the pochteca I mentioned.”
As the woman who appeared in the jaguar’s place looked up at me, my chest tightened. I knew that skin, that hair, those eyes. We didn’t actually look
alike
, but the high cheekbones, the shape of the mouth … Except in the mirror, I had never seen such familiar features.
She must have noticed the resemblance, too, because she smiled warmly. She reached out, and I returned the gesture in kind. She didn’t shake my hand but grabbed it instead and held it tightly as she spoke to me rapidly in a language I had never heard.
Malachi interrupted for me. “My friend doesn’t speak Nahuatl,” he said. “He says he was separated from his parents when he was young. I found him lost in the woods.”
“Poor boy,” she said in heavily accented English. “And I can sense power in you, too.”
“That’s what
he
said,” I replied, trying in vain to take back my hand. “But I don’t have magic.”
“No, of course not, if you haven’t been trained,” the pochtecatl replied. “We are born either with or without the power, but we aren’t born knowing it.”
Malachi pulled me back, reaching forward to disconnect me from my overjoyed new would-be friend. “Vance, let me speak a minute.”
Not likely
, I thought. He had found this woman in the market. That meant she was more likely to be on my side than he was. I told the Azteka woman, “Don’t trust him. He’s kidnapped me. He threatened to—”
The sudden rage in her gaze as she looked up at Malachi was enough to silence me. He, on the other hand, quickly protested. “Yaretzi, I’m glad it’s you. Your magic will show you I’m telling the truth.
They
had him. He ran away. They don’t know yet where he is, or that we’ve seen him. If he’s really a bloodwitch, you know we can’t let them have him back.”
“Are you mad, Obsidian?” Yaretzi demanded. “Boy, who do you belong to?”
“I don’t
belong
to anyone,” I protested. Why did everyone keep expecting me to be a slave?
“Vance,” the pochtecatl said, “do you want to stay with Malachi or me, or do you want to go home?”
“I want to go home,” I answered. I didn’t need to think about it.
“Where is home?” she asked.
“Back with Lady Brina and Taro,” I answered, eventhough I knew the greenhouse probably wasn’t an option. My attempt to travel through the woods had been a poorly planned disaster, but the reason I had left was still valid.
“Then come with me.” Yaretzi grabbed my arm and started leading me up the road.
“You don’t need to do this,” Malachi hissed, pulling the pochtecatl away from me. “He’s a kid.”
“He’s
theirs
,” she snarled back. “I won’t take that risk any more than you will.”
“So you’ll let Jeshickah keep a bloodwitch?” Malachi demanded.
“He’s no more dangerous than the blind girl they keep, Itzli’s spawn Celeste. This boy’s probably just another one of that traitor’s by-blows.”
“I’m standing right here,” I objected.
They both ignored me.
In a soft, pleading voice, Malachi said, “You know as well as I do that he will die in
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