Heart of a Dragon

Chapter Twenty

Donovan and Amethyst settled in as well as they could. The old top loader was stable, but not designed for comfort. The rusty teeth rimming the front of the shovel were difficult to balance on and treacherous. Donovan pulled out a very small pair of brass binoculars and trained them on the clearing. He began at the entrance to the circular court and worked his way slowly to the right.

Amethyst only glanced down for a moment to fix the scene in her mind, then turned and slid down to sit in the old shovel, her back to the clearing. She pulled a pouch from an inner pocket and untied the straps. Donovan glanced down at her, and then returned to his study of the clearing.

"I take it you have something in mind other than watching the show?" he said.

"I want to be certain that we know what we're up against," she replied. "I'm going to take a reading. If they are aware of us, I'll know. If something out of the ordinary happens, I'll be able to warn you — probably. We're outside the circle, so there are limits."

Donovan nodded. He'd caught sight of the woman he knew only as Kim, working her way around the outside of the ring. She was doing something with the circle, bending down every few feet. He couldn't quite tell what she was up to, whether she was picking something up, repairing the circle, or placing something new.

Those inside circled the fire pit, leaping and whirling, some of them jumping impossibly high in the air, others, drinking from one of a seemingly endless supply of bottles. Anya Cabrera moved in and out of the group. More than once Donovan saw her caught in the grip of one or another of the mostly naked men surrounding her. Each time she danced, moved with them, and wound her way free before the moment could become more than what it was — part of the dance.

He thought, once or twice, that he saw something move in the smoke rising from the braziers, or in the hot coals of the fire pit. Each time, when he turned to focus on the motion, it was gone. Even so, there was nothing odd about the ritual. He'd witnessed several voodoo ceremonies over the years, once in Jamaica, twice in Haiti, and he'd even attended one here in the city, though not with Anya Cabrera running the show. He could detect nothing strange or different.

Anya's ways were westernized. The magic circle was a precaution that spoke of ritual magic, or the Kabala, not Voodoo, or Santeria. It was impossible for different disciplines to remain separate in the city. Things leaked. Those with power interacted, and they learned. If they didn't, they lost that power and someone else stepped up.

Amethyst had pulled a small ball of pure quartz from her pocket. It was flawless, and rare, and she held it cupped in the warmth of her palms. Softly, she blew on the smooth surface. While it was fogged, and while that fog slowly evaporated and cleared, she spoke a single word.

"Anya."

When the fog cleared, the crystal was no longer clear. Tiny flames flickered in its depths. Figures whirled and leaped. Amethyst leaned close and repeated the name.

"Anya."

Like a microscope zooming in on a drop of water, the image in the crystal focused on a single, smoothly gliding figure. Anya Cabrera was not young, but in the firelight, her hair dancing around her and her skin glowing and bare, she had a dark beauty that was undeniable. Those around her felt it and tried to catch her, to hold her. She evaded them easily, never missing a step. As she whirled, she faced in the direction of the old top-loader. In that instant, the image zoomed in again, and only the woman's face was clear. She winked once, and then, laughing, whirled away. There was no sound accompanying the image, but for just a second, Amethyst was certain she heard the woman's laughter through the music.

"She knows," Amethyst said. "She knows we're here, and she doesn't care."

"There has to be something we're missing," Donovan said. " Los Escorpiones are a lot of things, but I have never heard that they were particularly devout. All of those in the circle, with the exception of Anya, are Escorpiones. And…"

He hesitated, focused the glasses, and frowned.

"What?" Amethyst asked.

"I'm not sure. There's something — or someone — near one side of the circle. Whoever it is, they are standing very still, and I can't bring them into focus."

"I think you just found the other figurines," Amethyst said. "Someone else is in that circle. You can't quite see them, and the spirits? The Loa that Anya has summoned?"

"They act as if that portion of the circle doesn't exist," Donovan said. "They are paying no attention to them at all."

"That's not normal," Amethyst said. "They have no respect for anything when they come through to this world. They are seeking release, abandon, passion — they would not let anyone stand idly by and not participate in the moment."

"There's more," Donovan said. "The girl — Kim — Anya's apprentice. She's outside the circle. I can't quite make out what she's doing, but she hasn't been still since I started watching. She's been following the outer edge of the circle, bending down, rising up and moving on. Do you think she could possibly be sabotaging the circle?"

"There would be no point," Amethyst said. "You know they don't really need a circle for such a ritual. I'm not clear why Anya used it, unless she thought that drawing the symbols and setting up braziers, would impress Los Escorpiones. It could all be just smoke and mirrors, or a way of making what she does seem more dangerous than it really is."

"I need to get a closer look," Donovan said.

Amethyst tucked her crystal away and stood, peering over the edge of the shovel's blade.

"I don't think I'd go wandering down there," she said. "Particularly now that she knows we're watching. They're bound to be waiting for us."

"I don't have any intention of going down there," Donovan said. "I only meant that I need something better than these to see what I need to see."

"I may be able to help with that," she said. "Can I see those for a minute?"

Donovan handed over the binoculars and watched as Anna examined them. She checked the lenses carefully. After a moment, she smiled.

"It's a good thing you like old things," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"The lenses — they're leaded glass."

She held the glasses out in front of her and glanced up at him.

"You get one chance, I think. I'm feeling a little drained. Pick one thing, or one person, that you want to see. Tell me what you need."

Donovan thought about it for a moment, and then nodded.

"The girl," he said. "I need to know what the girl is doing. What is happening inside that circle is not out of the ordinary. Nothing there is worth Martinez getting up in arms, and it couldn't cause what we've been told has happened to Los Escorpiones. The only thing that is out of sync down there is that girl, and whatever it is she's doing. Either we learn that now, or we get the hell out of here, and take our chances with whatever comes next."

Amethyst turned to the binoculars. She closed her eyes and concentrated, and then, very quickly, she breathed on each of the two lenses. Before that fog could clear, just as she'd done with the quartz, she whispered a single word.

"Kim."

She handed them quickly to Donovan, and he didn't hesitate. He leaned up over the edge of the shovel and aimed the glasses at the circle. Kim came into focus instantly, and clearly. He could no longer see the greater circle, but only the ground beneath the whirling mass of smoke, and the girl Kim, kneeling at the outer edge of the circle. He watched as she pulled a long, slender wand from her robes and drew it across the ground. There was a second circle outside the first. It was narrower and shallower, but there were symbols between the concentric rings, and she was on the verge of closing the second, merging one line with the next.

Donovan studied the symbols and frowned. Once again, they had nothing at all to do with Voodoo, or the Loa. The outer circle was a ring of binding, the type that might be used if one was summoning a demon — or an angel. Anya Cabrera had none of the implements within the circle to perform such a ritual, and yet.

It hit him very suddenly, and he dropped the glasses, turning back to Amethyst, who was watching him patiently.

"Damn her," he said. "She's formed a ring of binding. The spirits were summoned while there was only the single ring, and the ritual itself — there's nothing different about it. If there had been, the Loa would have known. They would not have come. Now they will be trapped. She is doing exactly what we were told — she will bind them into the bodies they've inhabited. They will try to break free, but they will not be able to return to their own realm. The longer they are here, the more tenuous their own control of their power will become, and she will have them. They will be forced to do as she bids on the promise of one day being returned."

"That is a very dangerous game," Amethyst said. "These are not weak spirits one can bend to simple tasks — they are very nearly gods. If there is any flaw in her spell — any weakness in her binding."

"I know," Donovan said. "I know. They will be free, and they will be here, and there will be nothing to control them."

He was about to say something more when a loud cry rang out from the clearing below. It was a scream of rage, a battle cry, barely human and loud enough to shake the walls and send cross-currents through the music. Everything stopped, just for an instant, and then there were screams and cries all over.

Donovan brought the glasses up again — just binoculars again. The circle remained intact. Nothing had changed within that ring. Outside, he saw that there was a skirmish of some sort near the gate to the small courtyard. Two large figures in black jackets had burst into the outer ring. They fought like demons, and any who tried to stand against them fell.

"What in the names of the Gods?" Donovan said.

"Martinez," Amethyst breathed. "Donovan…those two are dragons."

They stared down, passing the glasses back and forth, as Jake and Enrique fought their way toward the circle.

"We'd better get down there," Donovan sighed. "Things are about to get very, very ugly."

"You sure know how to show a girl a good time," Amethyst said.

They climbed down from the shovel and dropped to the ground. Donovan didn't bother with the pendulum, they'd seen the way from above. He only hoped they wouldn't be too late.