Chapter 64

"What do you think?"I had done a new series of paintings and my friend Sommer had come over to see them before we did some spellwork together.
"They're the most beautiful things I've ever seen,"Kai, Sommer's middle son, stared up at my artwork as if he were viewing the Mona Lisa.
His mother stood behind him with a slightly different expression.
"They're a little dark."Sommer looked over the first in the series; studying the pile of corpses laid out before the Aztec temple. "What inspired you?"
"I've been doing some research."I chuckled at her struggle to come up with something positive to say. "This one is based on the Aztec myth of Huitzilopochtli. The dead men are his brothers. They murdered his parents and his sister so he killed them all and sent their bodies into the sky to become the stars."I gestured at the next painting which showed the corpses turning into bright points of light.
"That's amazing!"Kai was practically jumping up and down with excitement. "What's this one about?"He pointed at the third painting.
"That's Blue's, um, I mean Huitzilopochtli's sister."I looked over the painting critically. I was happy with the resemblance I'd been able to achieve from Blue's memory of Coyolxauhqui. The severed head looked peaceful, beautiful even, as it glowed in place of the moon. "He put her head in the sky and it became the moon."
"Wow,"Kai breathed. "And these?"He was already on to the next.
"This is what Huitzilopochtli became."I took a deep breath as I looked into Blue's blood-colored eyes. It was a close-up; his intense gaze matching the blood that dripped down his face. "He's the God of War and the rush of battle inflames him. He can't be stopped until he's drenched in blood."
"That's the most awesome and wonderful story I've ever heard!"Kai's eyes were focused intently on Blue's. "Can we try some Aztec magic today, Auntie?"
Kai was the only one of Sommer's sons who had any aptitude for magic. She started bringing him with her to our little spell sessions when he was three, and he'd been instantly hooked. A gifted natural. Now, at the age of ten, Kai could hold his own with the grown witches. He also had a knack for stumbling onto brilliant ideas. He probably had some psychic abilities we didn't know about yet.
"Aztec magic,"I whispered. "Kai, you're a genius!"
I should have been researching Aztec magic as soon as I began battling an Aztec. Fight fire with fire and all that. Why the hell hadn't I thought of it?
"Uh-huh."He grinned up at me as if I was telling him something he already knew.
"And so modest."His mother gave him a reproachful look.
"Yep; that too!"Kai grinned wider.
"I don't know any Aztec spells off hand."I led them out of my art room and into my magic room. "But I'd love to do some research if you guys are up for it."
"Sure!"Kai made a beeline for the shelves of books on the far side of my altar room.
"Vervain."Sommer stopped me with a hand on my arm. "What's going on?"
"What do you mean?"I blinked innocently at her.
"The paintings."She frowned. "They're not your usual style and now you have an interest in Aztec magic? You're not even interested in shamanic practices, and you're part Native American. But now you want to study the Aztecs?"
"Race has nothing to do with it."I gestured over at Kai, who had found a huge book and already had it open on the floor before him. "Just because Kai's part Filipino, it doesn't make him better at their magical practices. Is there Filipino magic, by the way?"
"I don't know, I'll have to ask Alex,"Sommer said distractedly as she flung a blonde lock out of her face.
"Auntie V look!"Kai shouted as he held the book up to me. "Aztecs could become animals."
"Let me see that."I took the book from Kai and examined the passage. "Nahualli, Aztec sorcerers who could use their animal twin, a Nahual, to collect other Nahuals and use their powers. This is fantastic, Kai, just what I was looking for."
"Do you think we could do it?"His little dark eyes were glazed over with intensity. "Could we become animals?"
"I don't think it's literal"-I winked at him—"but I bet with some meditation, we could visualize them. They're supposed to be a twin spirit that everyone has."I continued to scan the page as my mind raced with possibilities. "Created at the same time as your birth. So, just discovering what animal you have may be interesting."
"Sweet!"He pumped his fist into the air before dropping to the floor. "I'm gonna start right now."
"Vervain,"Sommer took my arm again. "We've practiced magic together for years. I know when something's up with you, especially when it has to do with witchcraft. What is it you always say? Don't get crafty with a witch."
"There are things you wouldn't want to know."I sighed. "Things that, if I were to tell you, you'd think I was crazy for saying. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss."
"I'm a mother and a witch."She gave me her mommy face. "I don't have time for bliss. Just give it to me straight."
"Fine."I sat down on the carpet and patted the ground next to me. "You may want to get comfortable for this."
So, I told her. As I spoke, I felt a tightness in my chest ease. Confiding in someone human, sharing the struggle I'd been facing alone for so long, was cool water on my parched soul. You don't realize how much you need to speak about your life until you're unable to do so. Years of hiding things from the people I loved the most had taken its toll, and I was so relieved to let it out finally. I didn't even care if she thought I was crazy.
As it happens, she didn't try to have me committed. She sat quietly for a bit, staring at Kai, who had been so immersed in his research that he hadn't heard a word I'd said. Then she took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"Well, that explains a lot,"she huffed.
"That's it?"I pushed her shoulder. "I tell you that I kill Gods, and you say it explains a lot."
"Well, religion makes people stupid,"she stated blandly. "It makes sense that it's all a plot created by a bunch of power-hungry Atlanteans."
"Okay then."It felt a bit anticlimactic that I didn't have to defend my sanity. I'd expected a bit more of a fight out of Sommer.
"So"-she smiled and cocked her head at me—"you need any help?"
I may have started to cry.