Sun Kissed

18. Maria (EDITED)

18. Maria

The storm helped drive Sofi and Toni somewhere safe.

Now. Time to take care of that pirate.

Julio followed the smell of swamp water to the thicker, darker parts of the jungle.

Yasmin, as brave as she was, would never advise him to do this. This pirate, Alonzo, could be retreating into an entire fleet. It could very well be a trap. But it was either chase after him or risk him returning to the Encante with something even more dangerous than swords or venom – knowledge.

~

"Master, you're hurting me!"

Finally, he let go of her arm. Citrus stumbled to the floor of the courtyard, nursing her bruised bicep. She knew he would be mad, but –

"Rafael told me that you were trying to give an anti-human-enslavement speech in the Plaza? Maria, are you out of your mind? We don't enslave humans!"

Citrus made herself look him in the eye. "You took away my memories, my choices. What is that if not stripping someone of their basic rights?"

Master smashed something decorative off the wall of the courtyard. "Our people are being slain in the streets and this is all you can think about?" He glowered at her with his dark, fathomless eyes. "We are at war. Everything I do is to protect you from that."

Citrus had never seen him this angry.

"Oh," she breathed, "I know all about it. You're talking about the war that you started, right?"

Master's shoulders rose and dipped as he steadied his breath. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

Her eyes stung. "You've hurt people, Master."

"Where did you hear this nonsense?"

Citrus shook her head. "I didn't hear it anywhere. I saw it. With my own eyes. My dreams took me there."

Master was so used to having all the answers, the key to every door, the map to all the buried treasure. Citrus could tell that this was the first time he was at a loss.

~

Julio followed the scent of swamp water. This was madness. The inside of his skull was taking a beating from a sledgehammer – his punishment for his indulgent dream walking. Amancio, Sofia, Antonio. What was he thinking?

And now he blundered into uncharted jungle, probably straight into a trap. What if this Alonzo was in fact a denizen of Val's fleet? What if he was waiting for Julio to show up and he wasn't alone?

The dark haired Encantado contemplated that moment when Alonzo's cutlass would bite into his gut. Was it the delirium of the excess dreaming that made him dauntless?

He thought of a girl with a serious, acidic gaze.

Who smelled of citrus.

~

"You can dream walk?" Master looked helpless. Somewhere mixed in with all the confusion was a sense of pride.

"Is that what it's called?" Citrus tilted her head. "Well then I walked through all of the history books on you, Master. And after what I saw, I refuse to blindly follow you like the rest of your disciples."

~

Julio was spent. Yet when he targeted the pirate, he moved in. Whether or not Alonzo was alone, Julio would fight. Weaponless, exhausted, out of magic.

Szzzrp!

Julio caught the dart before it skewered through his jugular. There was no time to check the direction. Something landed on him from above. He rolled, reminding himself that ambush was a gambit of fear. Perhaps his fatigue had unintentionally granted him some acute sobriety because he picked up on every panicked breath from his attacker.

"What the hell are you doing?" Alonzo had managed to unlatch himself from Julio, holding his cutlass between sweating, quivering palms.

Julio took his time getting to his feet. "What, serpent? Don't want to sink your blade in me? Afraid my blood will be too handsome?"

Alonzo's grip on his sword suffered. The blade continued to wobble. If only he knew how practically helpless Julio was.

"That storm," the snake said, "that was you. Sorcerer."

Julio rolled his eyes. Witches. Charmers. Gypsies. He was well aware of the names the other clans had for him and his people.

The pirate took a step back. "You came after me . . . unarmed."

True, he had taken the same oath as all the Jade warriors. Weapons were forbidden. Julio fixed his eyes on the sword. Then he lunged at it.

~

"You disappoint me, Maria."

Citrus had heard those words before, but they didn't seem to hold as much weight now. She shook her head. "No, Master. You are the disappointment. You've failed me. You've failed our clan."

Master's eyes became dangerous again. "You will not talk to me this way."

The sun inside of her refused to stop growing. "Or what? You'll electrocute me? Just like you did–"

Citrus shrieked as lightning blasted inches from her nose. She stumbled backwards and landed hard. It was impossible to catch her breath with the Master slamming his weight on top of her. An unnatural wind kicked up the hedges just beyond the courtyard's perimeter. Thunder crashed so close to her ears. She bit her lip, fighting to hold back a whimper.

Two more bolts eclipsed her vision. She coughed on the stench of her own hair burning.

"Do you have a death wish?"

"No!" she sobbed.

The Master's eyes were black wells of madness, rage, and deep, deep pain. He leaned more of his weight on her, bowed his head until their noses kissed.

"Then what do you want, Maria? To provoke me? I know what I've done!"

Citrus wanted it to stop. She never asked to see her Master's skeletons. But now that she had, she could not unsee them.

"I want you to get better!"

She thought that another bolt would take her breath away for good, but the storm died in almost a blink. Master released her and got up. Citrus rolled over and became fetal. Her sobs broke through as she explained, "I see good in you, Master. You don't have to trick and manipulate to be a strong leader. There is another way."

Master was standing at the edge of the courtyard, using the wall to hold himself up. His voice was like a slip of thin, featureless paper. "You see with the eyes of a child."

Citrus had many things she wanted to say, but she held onto them.

"Maria, you stay here and keep talking like this . . . you're going to get yourself killed."

He ran his palm over his face several times. Through his hair. Citrus didn't say a word.

Finally, he came out with it. "You're leaving the Encante. Tonight."

~

Alonzo lay dead at Julio's feet because it was the only thing that made sense. It didn't matter that Julio didn't carry weapons or that he was physically sick from dream walking. He was a killer. He killed his enemies. He was responsible for even the death of his own kind.

He dropped to his knees and unloaded his guts onto the forest floor.

Maria . . .

It was impossible to speak her name aloud.

"You were right."

You were right about everything.

"I failed you."