Beth nodded. “Katia led Coronado, his men, and their families to Quivira in 1541.”
“Katia led them?” I asked. “I thought it was Coronado.”
“When Coronado saved Katia from the Spanish prison, she agreed to bring him here and make him her immortal mate. They claimed they were looking for the land of gold, but Katia can make all the gold she needs. She was searching for Aiyana.”
There went my theory that we could buy my mother out of this. I glanced down at the briefcase full of gold ingots at my feet, wondering if Katia gave it to her or if my mother stole it.
“Aiyana had appeared to Katia in a dream, told her if she came to Quivira she would teach her to commune with the Great Spirit—and how to take an immortal mate.”
“How would Aiyana know about any of that?” my brother asked.
“Aiyana was another immortal like Katia, and while Katia used alchemy to achieve immortality, Aiyana was granted immortality from the Great Spirit herself. Aiyana taught Katia everything she knew—they were like sisters—she even taught her Caddo.”
Beth dug the oar deeper into the water. “When Coronado killed Alonso, Katia was heartbroken, but when he killed her daughter, she was devastated. Marie’s soul couldn’t be saved, but the Great Spirit agreed to bring Alonso’s soul back to her once their vessels had been found.”
“Wait.” My breath hitched in my throat. “You said the Great Spirit agreed to return Alonso’s soul?”
“Yes.” Beth skimmed the oar on top of the water for a moment and studied my face.
I looked out over the corn in the distance. In my vision, I’d seen Katia turn to the Dark Spirit—and Aiyana tried to stop her. This was a part of the story the community didn’t know about.
I couldn’t get Aiyana’s face out of my mind. That haunted look in her eyes when she realized she couldn’t enter the sacred circle.
“What happened to her . . . to Aiyana?” I asked.
Beth continued rowing. “Aiyana couldn’t bear to stay after all the blood that had been shed here. She took her tribe out west to start anew, leaving Quivira in Katia’s care. They returned briefly in 1861 when they found out Coronado and the Arcanum planned to attack. But there was a great battle in the corn, most of the tribe died trying to protect us. That’s when Katia enchanted the corn.”
Something didn’t feel right. I guess Katia and Aiyana could’ve patched things up. I mean, five hundred years is a long-ass time to hold a grudge, but it was hard to believe Aiyana would help Katia with anything that had to do with the Dark Spirit.
“I can’t believe I’m asking this.” Rhys leaned forward, raking his fingers through his hair. “But if the ritual takes place . . . if it’s real . . . what will happen to our mom? Will she still be our mom, or will it just be Katia in our mother’s body?”
“I guess she’ll be a mother to all of us.” Beth smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “It’s an honor.”
Her words hung heavy in the air. I remembered my mother saying the exact same thing to me in her studio when she gave me the last protection mark.
I couldn’t imagine anything worse, living forever, watching everyone and everything die around me, but maybe for Mom it was an honor, being able to spend eternity with the one she loved.
“Ahoy.” A man’s voice called out across the water.
“Hi, Henry.” Beth waved as she eased the canoe alongside a long, crooked wooden structure that looked like it was about to commit dock suicide. If the Larkin lodge looked anything like this, we were in for a treat.
A man picked up the lantern resting at his feet, illuminating a ravaged pockmarked face arranged into a scowl.
“Henry’s the caretaker of the Larkin lodge.”
“This gets better and better,” Rhys murmured as he heaved our bags onto the dock.
I slipped my boots back on and climbed out after him.
“Oh, and, Ash?” Beth called from the boat. “Your markings are really beautiful.”
All of the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. Slowly, I turned around, running my fingers against the last tattoo on my collarbone. “You see them?” I whispered.
“The circle with a dot in the center,” she said as she struggled to hold up the heavy briefcase. “That’s the symbol Katia uses on her gold bars.”
I reached out and took it from her, clutching it against my chest.
“Don’t worry,” she said as she pushed away from the dock with her oar. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
She knew about the protection marks. She knew about the gold.
“Beth, wait,” my brother yelled as he rushed to the edge of the dock. “You’re just going to leave us?”
“I’ll pick you up at dawn,” she said as she turned the canoe around and started rowing back toward the Grimsby lodge. “There’s something you need to see.”
18
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