nasty.”
I could only imagine.
Fabian sat up and shook his head to clear it. “What happened?”
“We just took a ride through the nine purgatories.”
“That explains the smell.”
We did reek of sulfur.
My mate gave Xero the stink eye and helped me up.
Xero morphed into her cute puppy form. “You mad?”
“No, sweetie. It’s just… Uh, humans aren’t built to travel through the purgatories.”
“Grams needed help. Said bring you fast. Took shortcut.”
One very scary shortcut. I sucked in a startled breath as screams of the long dead
echoed through my mind.
My mate wrapped a comforting arm around me. “You okay?”
I shuddered. “Hundreds died in this place.”
“The ridge was used as the Aztecs’ sacrificial platform. They tore out their victims’
still-beating hearts and offered them to the Sun God.”
Evil resonated from the mountain. “Those monsters deliberately bound their souls
to this place,” I said.
Fabian stroked my back. “It’s okay. My cousin, Zelda, freed their souls. All you’re
sensing is the residual terror of those who died.”
Relief flooded me. “Good. Wait a minute. What are Aztecs doing in Arizona?”
“Montezuma sent them here to hide his gold from Cortez.”
“Are you talking about the Seven Cities of Gold?”
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“I am.”
Was Fabian pulling my leg? “Did you find it?”
“We did,” Fabian said grimly.
“And you’re what? A zillionaire now?”
Fabian nipped my nose. “The gold is cursed. We left it where we found it.”
“Smart move.” Unease knotted my stomach. “Grams, you do know this is sacred
grounds?”
“I’m well aware of that fact,” Grams snapped.
Crap. That hadn’t come out right. “I’m not trying to piss you off, but the last time I
checked, the Apache Thunder God had claimed the Superstition Mountains as his territory.”
“Asmoday ate him last year,” Fabian informed me.
“Oh, lucky us.” Now I felt stupid. “Well then, I guess the only thing we have to worry
about are the dragons.”
Xero yipped and danced around. “Me eat dragons.”
“Your tummy isn’t big enough, sweetie.”
“Is too.”
The stony, horseshoe-shaped ridge began to glow a hellish orange.
“That can’t be good.” I summoned my sword.
Presto! Heavy gold shields appeared on our left arms.
Her voice full of urgency, Serafina cried, “Get ready. Our containment field is failing.”
Fabian tensed and raised Excalibur.
The ridge pulsated and bowed outward.
“Shit! It’s going to blow.” I grabbed Xero, and we retreated to a safe distance.
Fabian pushed us under an overhang of rock.
Boom!
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Boulders and rocky debris rained down, smashing the cacti and mesquite trees
into itty-bitty pieces.
A Hasai stuck its head out of the gaping hole and bellowed its defiance.
“Time to kill the bloody bastards,” Fabian said, his voice low and lethal.
“A man after my own heart.” I stepped to where the dragon could see me and
yelled, “Is that the best you’ve got?”
A thick stream of fire shot from the dragon, golden and greedy and unbelievably
hot. It raced along the desert floor, eating its way toward me.
Ducking behind my shield, I chanted, “Transferam nec facile utaiunt.”
Whoosh! The flames blew back and engulfed the Hasai. It disintegrated into ash.
Another dragon crawled out of the hole, and another and another. Their amber
gaze fixed on me and as one, they roared in fury.
“I think I pissed them off.”
Fabian chuckled. “Tesoro, you could piss off the Pope. It seems that talent now
extends to demons, dragons, and things that go bump in the night.”
“Good, then they’ll think twice about messing with the Judge again. ‘Cause now
they know I can send them back to hell.”
“You are definitely one of a kind.” Fabian gave me a smooch. “And you’re all
mine.”
“You’re such a sweet talker.” A sudden feeling of impending doom slammed into
me. Something bad was heading our way. “Does it strike you as a bit odd that the
dragons aren’t attacking?”
“It does.” Fabian mentally scanned the area. “I’m not sensing any more hostiles.”
“It’s almost like they are waiting for Rossi. There’s no way that fucktard could
escape from purgatory, is there?”
Fabian shrugged. “He’s stolen a slew of magical artifacts that can be used to
escape from all nine levels.”
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“Now you decide to tell me?”
“I tried to before, but I was interrupted.”
“Uh-huh. So every time I send him to the underworld, the bastard can come
back?”
“Unless we can find a way to strip his magic or kill him.”
Grams appeared beside me.
I raised an eyebrow in concern. She was beat all to hell, and her caftan was a
charred mess.
She raised a finger. “Not a word.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Serafina popped in. She reminded me of a crispy-fried crow.
Fabian’s worried gaze surveyed her. “Are you okay, Nonna?”
“I live. It is enough,” Serafina rasped.
“Ah, would you like a healing potion? I held out the bottle.
She eyed the bottle like it was a nasty bug. “You made it?”
“I did.”
Grams plucked the bottle out of my hand and swallowed half of its contents. Her
injuries vanished. She handed it to Serafina. “I taught my granddaughter potion
making.”
“Take the damn potion, Nonna. You need to be in fighting shape,” Fabian
growled.
With a grimace, Serafina downed the potion.
The ground trembled beneath our feet.
I looked around warily. “That can’t be good.”
“Did Rossi summon another demon?” Fabian tightened his grip on Excalibur.
Grams laughed. “Not demons.”
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Bony fingers poked through the desert floor.
I giggled. “Aw. Would you look at that? Rossi summoned an army of the dead to
take care of us.”
A cold smile formed on Fabian’s mouth. “Guess he forgot you’re one hell of a
ghost whisperer too.”
“What a shame.” Serafina cackled.
Dozens of mummified Aztec warriors crawled from their graves. Their petrified
features peeked out from jaguar skulls, and their bodies were covered in rotted panther
pelts.
How many jaguars had they slaughtered to make their swell outfits? If they
weren’t already dead, I’d want to sic PETA on their asses.
Each warrior gripped a round wooden shield with a few tattered feathers still
attached and a curved obsidian sword. They banged their blades against the shields and
advanced on us.
Summoning my powers, I chanted, “Gallice material transferm est quaedam.”
Turquoise blue fireflies danced over the Aztecs, and they stopped.
I could feel their rage and fierce desire for vengeance. “Grams, can you and
Serafina drop them on top of the dragons?”
Poof! The Aztec warriors suddenly rode the Hasais.
“Kill the dragons,” I commanded the warriors.
Their obsidian blades sliced through the dragons’ flesh like butter.
Shrieking, the dragons took to the air, dipping and diving in an attempt to lose the
Aztecs.
For dead guys, the Aztecs were pretty damned nimble. They rode the bucking
Hasais like professional bull riders and kept on hacking them to bits.
One by one, the dragons fell. The earth shuddered from the impacts. An instant
later they crumbled to dust.
CATCHING DRAGOS | 113
“Dominus unus morellus vindolan,” I chanted, freeing the Aztecs’ souls.
Glowing blue orbs shot from the battered remains of the warriors, whizzed
joyfully around us, and shot into the sky.
Grams hugged me. “Nicely done.”
“Thank you.” Some days I really loved being a ghost whisperer.
“Mariah, behind you!” Fabian called urgently.
I spun around and gaped in disbelief. Rossi didn’t know when to stop.
A column of shriveled-up, arrow-riddled conquistador soldiers sat astride
mummified horses.
I eyed their oddly shaped helmets, rusty shields, and rotted crossbows. “I guess
Cortez found the gold.”
“They did, but an Apache raiding party slaughtered them before they could take
it,” Fabian added grimly.
That explained the arrows. I focused my power on them. “Gallice material transferm
est quaedam.” Nothing happened. I tried again. “Gallice material transferm est
quaedam.”
Grams announced angrily, “Rossi controls them.”
“Fuck,” Fabian and I said in unison.
A big fanfare of bugles sounded.
The demonic voices from the Cavern of the Damned wailed, “He comes. He
comes. The master comes.”
“Oh, my God, the pompous ass brought the demon king with him,” I groused.
With a thunderous cracking boom, Rossi appeared. A badly mutilated snake hung
around his neck. “Did you think you could defeat the greatest sorcerer that has ever
lived?”
“Yeah, we kinda did,” I muttered.
Fabian’s gaze froze on the snake. “Is that Asmoday?”
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