But the birds didn’t leave, which couldn’t be good.
I picked up my oar, then turned to shore. The city spread out before us, beckoning. The jungle had long since reclaimed the side streets, growing rampant around the buildings. But the avenue in the middle was still mostly clear. Perhaps a spell.
We paddled to shore, beaching our small boat at the edge of the river and climbing out. Mud squelched under my boots as I climbed onto firmer ground.
“Now what?” Nix asked.
“That way.” I pointed down the main avenue through town. A massive pile of white stone rubble lay at the other end.
Nix didn’t normally come treasure hunting with me, but she’d wanted to get out of the shop. I also had a feeling that Roarke had asked her to watch my back. My sorta-boyfriend/Warden of the Underworld was off dealing with some problem on his home turf in hell, so for the first time in two weeks, he wasn’t glued to my side.
Nix scuffed her foot over the packed-dirt road, which was firm despite the recent rains. “Has to be a spell.”
“Yeah.” Supernaturals had used all kinds of magic to keep the city looking nice.
Magic prickled on the air as we set off down the street. On either side, white limestone houses stood empty. They stretched all the way toward the mountains behind. A monkey peered out from the window to our left, chattering at us.
I waved at him, then continued on.
Pain lanced through my skull as a blue light flashed in my eyes. I stumbled, blinded, and crashed to my knees. For the briefest second, the blue flash brought with it a sense of familiarity. Then it vanished.
“Del!”
Woozy, I blinked, struggling to my feet.
Nix gripped my arms, her concerned gaze glued to my face. “What the hell was that? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. Fine.” I looked left and right, checking for danger, but the only threat was coming from within my own head.
“What was that? A seizure?”
“No. I don’t know what it was. It happened last night, too, right as I got in bed.”
“Why the heck didn’t you tell me?”
“Didn’t seem like a problem.” I shrugged out of her grip. “We gotta get going.”
“Yeah, sure. But if that happens again, tell someone. It can’t be normal.”
I laughed. “Nothing about us is normal.”
“True.” Her grin turned serious. “But there’s quirky not normal and you need a brain scan not normal. So if it happens again, tell someone.”
“Yeah, yeah, Mom. Let’s go.” But she was right. There was something weird about that blue light. Once might be a fluke. Twice…
“Get a move on,” I said.
She punched me in the shoulder, then turned and started down the street.
We walked for another five minutes before we reached the end of the street.
“Oooh, that’s not good,” Nix murmured.
The destroyed temple loomed in front of us. “Sure isn’t.”
A wide moat stretched out before us, dotted in a hundred places with small slabs of stone. Prickly magic emanated from the pond, indicating some kind of protective spell. It surrounded a massive pile of rubble that had once been this society’s high temple. Like most supernatural temples the world over, this temple had once contained enchanted artifacts. The problem with enchanted artifacts was that the magic within them decayed over time. Once it reached the tipping point—boom.
“Definitely not good,” I muttered. “We’ll have to cross using the stepping stones. But there are so many that I bet you have to step on certain ones if you don’t want trouble.”
“This isn’t the kind of trouble I’m interested in.”
“Same.” I studied the moat, unable to figure out a pattern, then glanced at her. “Any ideas?”
“Nope.”
“Then let’s hope for the best.” Gingerly, I poked the nearest stone with the toe of my boot. When it held firm, I stepped on it. My muscles relaxed slightly when the thing didn’t sink, but tension still tightened my skin. I’d never walked on a frozen lake, but I’d bet it felt something like this.
“Follow me,” I said. “And if shit goes south, get out of here.”
Nix laughed. “Like I’d leave you.”
Slowly, we made our way across several stones. The fifth stone I stepped on vibrated the moment my toe touched it. Before I could pull back, the thing exploded, throwing me backward. I surged toward Nix, stumbling. She grabbed me, but not before my boot dipped into the moat. The rubber sole sizzled and melted.
“Shit!” I yanked my foot up, balancing with Nix on one stone, and bent my knee to peer at the sole of my shoe. The rubber had been eaten away almost to my sock. At most, there was a sliver left.
“The moat is full of acid.” Nix’s voice wavered.
“Yeah.” I tightened my arm around her waist as my skin chilled. “I don’t even want to think about what that would do to skin.”
“Eat it. Immediately.”
I swallowed hard, then jumped when a growl ripped through the air.
No.
Slowly, I turned my head. A jaguar crouched on the shore ten feet away, its gaze riveted to us.
“Oh, hell.” Nix’s arms tightened on my waist.
Trapped. We couldn’t go back to shore or we’d become Kitty Chow, and we couldn’t go forward because we didn’t know which stone would explode and chuck us into acid.
“He looks hungry,” Nix said.
“He looks like he’s never tasted human before, but has heard good things and is interested in trying it.”
Nix choked on a laugh before her gaze turned serious. “Turn into a Phantom. He can’t hurt you in that form, and maybe you can kill him.”
I flinched as the jaguar prowled forward. “I’d really rather not kill him.”
He was beautiful, ravenous yellow gaze and all. I really didn’t like killing animals. My deirfiúr Cass had once run into demon jaguars. It was okay to kill those, since they were technically demon shifters. But this guy was just a giant cat.
“Niiice kitty,” Nix murmured.
The jaguar growled.
“Shhh! He doesn’t like that.” I could draw my sword to be on the safe side, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t like that either.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a dusty footprint on a stone to the left. It was so pale that I hadn’t seen it from shore.
“I’ve got an idea,” I said. “Conjure a steak. A big one.”
“Okay.” Nix’s magic swelled as she unwrapped an arm from my waist. A moment later, a raw steak appeared in her hand. It had to weigh at least ten pounds.
The big cat’s yellow gaze snapped to it.
“Toss it to him,” I said. “Then conjure another.”
Nix tossed the steak. It landed with a thud on the ground next to the jaguar. He scooped it up in his jaws and chomped on it.
“You’re a handsome guy,” I said. “Smart, too, I bet.”
His gaze met mine like he understood me as his white teeth tore into the meat. I might’ve liked him, but I couldn’t help but imagine what it would feel like to have those fangs chomp into me.
When he swallowed the steak, Nix tossed him another. It went down the hatch faster than the first.