Accidentally in Love with…a God?(Accidentally Yours #1)(32)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

I swooped down the stairs and struck Cimil square in the face with my closed fist. She instantly released Tommaso, who collapsed on the floor, and flew back.

“Are you okay?” I bent over him, unsure exactly what to do. He was still breathing, but unconscious. From the corner of my eye, I saw Cimil rise from the floor. I braced myself for a fight, a fight I was sure I’d lose. But instead of charging after me, she was laughing again.

“You pack quite a punch, little girl,” she said rubbing her jaw. “That’s a damned good thing because they’re here.” She swiveled her head, taking stock of the stunned men. “Get up you idiots. You’re not going to leave us ladies to fight them alone, are you? The gods only know what surprises they’ll be bring for us today.” She plucked a gun from the floor.

The guards got up, shaking off their shock, and reached for their weapons.

Was I missing something? She’d just broken into Guy’s house to kidnap me, beat the pulp out of a dozen rather deadly-looking men with her bare hands, almost broke Tommaso’s neck, and now, she was giving orders and they were listening? Not to mention, readying to fight at her side?

What planet were these people from?

Then I remembered I’d just nearly gotten myself killed, defending one of my captors. What planet was I from? Everything felt so messed up.

Cimil took several steps toward me and then glanced down at unconscious Tommaso. “Put him into the closet; he’ll be out of the way there until this is over.”

“What’s going to happen?” It was a stupid question, I know. Those Maaskab were coming for me and were, apparently, bad enough that Guy’s men preferred to fight at this crazy redheaded demon’s side than take them on alone. It felt like a competition for the evil, eviler, and evilest. I just hoped my team was the evilest. Go team?

I grabbed all two hundred plus pounds of Tommaso by the wrists and clumsily slid him across the tiled floor to a large closet on the far end of the room. I folded his legs and used the door to scoot the rest of him inside. He barely fit.

The other men, all brandishing various guns and swords, gathered around Cimil in a circle. She pointed at the individuals, giving each tactical instructions. Then she pivoted toward me. “You, girl. Come here.”

She didn’t snap this time. Smart move. But even if she had, I might have listened; I was scared out of my mind, and she seemed like the only person who knew what to do.

She flicked her thumb over the blade of a hunting knife in her hand, testing its edge. “The Maaskab are exceptionally unpredictable and dangerous. So, stay behind us. Understand?” She handed me the knife handle first.

“I can take care of myself,” I declared confidently and took the weapon. And I’m not even hiccuping!

“If they’re dangerous for me, they’re deadly for you. Don’t argue, you naïve child.”

This lady was unbelievable. “Who are you?”

She paused and puckered her lips before answering. “Some call me Yum-Cimil, others Ah-Puch,” she rolled her eyes then planted one hand on her hip, tapping her fingers in a wave pattern. “I hate that name. Why couldn’t they name me Kitty? Or Bubbles? Damned Mayans were so dismal. And, anyone can see I’m a magnificent female. Not a man!” She shrugged. “Anyhooo, you can call me auntie, or…oh, oh, I know!” She jumped up and clapped. “Sister!”

“Huh?”

Her smile melted away into a frown. “Do you know how to braid hair? Cuz if you don’t, I’m not going to sleep over no matter how many strippers Ix Chel invites,” she scowled.

Bat-shit crazy did not do her insanity justice. I’d have to come up with an entirely new definition for her. Later, of course. Because there was a pack of evil priests coming.

Suddenly, I couldn’t think; the eleven voices filled my head with blood-curdling screams. I resisted falling to my knees and instead cupped my hands over my ears, which did absolutely nothing, because the Maaskab were here.

As best I could, I pushed the howling voices to the back of my mind. I needed to focus if I wanted to survive.

With a potency ten times stronger than Cimil’s, an unsettling static fill the air. The hairs on my neck stood up like porcupine quills and goose bumps covered my body, even in the unmentionable cracks—a new one for me. Then the house filled with a smell so vile, I retched. “What the hell is that? Month old road kill?” I asked, pinching my nose.

Cimil didn’t turn to face me as she spoke. “Try centuries old. They never bathe; they believe it weakens their powers.”

Yuck. I hoped I wasn’t going to have to touch any of them. And “centuries old?” What the hell were they? Again, I found myself asking what planet I was on. Yes, my grandmother had spoken of other worlds, but did this have to be what she meant? Why couldn’t I get something more like Willy Wonka’s candy playground with the chocolate river and gummy grass? This world sucked.

The few remaining unbroken lamps flickered off, and I felt the trickle of nervous sweat channeling down the small of my back. My eyes darted around the disheveled room, trying to anticipate which crevice these monsters would spring from.

There was the enormous fireplace directly behind me, the floor-to-ceiling windows occupying the entire left side of the room, and a small triangular half-wall to my right where the stairs were. Directly in front, across the room, were two open doorways and the closet where Tommaso “snoozed.” My money was on the window, but Cimil and the men formed a line, facing the doorways.

“Here they come,” one of the men whispered as the air in the room began whipping around us with a brutal chill.

Then, the first of the Maaskab appeared.

“What…the…” I took several steps back. Hiccup! Hiccup!

The almost na**d man—if he could be called a man—materialized like an apparition, occupying the entire space of the doorway.

His hair, made of long black ropes, hung to his waist and was caked with the same black mud that clung to his entire putrid smelling body. Foul vapors rose from his powerful shoulders like steam from a subway manhole in winter. He was wearing nothing but a black animal-hide loincloth, and in each hand he held a machete covered with what looked like…dried blood? His eyes were pits of black and crimson, and a dark shadow hugged the air around him as he stood calmly surveying each person in the room.

It looked like he was trying to figure out who he’d kill first.

“Holy….” Hiccup! Hiccup!