Evan

  Sovs? Here? Shit. Evan quickly backtracked up the trail. “Tozi,” he said in a hushed voice. “Sovs!”

  Tozi now a few paces from the path, turned back. “So? What’s wrong?”

  Evan waved her back frantically. “Get back here.”

  “Quit being so weird. These guys are harmless. Watch.”

  Evan held his breath as she marched up to one of them. “Hey, can you tell me which way to town?”

  Evan squatted lower as Zarg tucked in behind him and started to grumble. “Easy boy. We need to stay hidden.”

  The Sov stopped and looked Tozi over thoroughly before pointing down the path the way they had come and moved passed her without saying a word.

  “Thanks.” Tozi turned towards Evan, still hiding. “Come on, Primo!”

  Evan and Zarg remained motionless until the Sovs had rounded the trail out of sight.

  Tozi backtracked to find Evan stepping out of the bushes. “Quit being such a Coyón.”

  “What are you doing?” Evan raged. “They’re killers.”

  Tozi cocked her head. “You’re just as weird as the Sovs. They don’t even talk to people, let alone kill anyone. They just wander around like they’re looking for something, but never say anything.”

  Evan swallowed, his throat dry. Should he tell her? No. That would just potentially involve her in things that could hurt her and her mom. They had enough problems not to involve them in this too. “Look, just tell me you if ever see another Sov, okay?”

  Tozi laughed. “Okay freak.”

  Evan squeezed her shoulder. “I’m serious.”

  Tozi smiled at the touch and leaned in, inches from Evan’s face. “Okay.” She tilted her head to the side and sniffed Evan’s neck. “You know what? You smell nice.”

  With her face this close he could feel her warmth and her own sweet scent, like faint flowers and clay. His face went hot as he blushed.

  She spun, giggling. “Come on, Primo.”

  Evan stood motionless for a moment. This constant back and forth around Tozi took its toll. Nearly having a run in with Sovs, followed by her closeness, spun his insides like a washing machine on max. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to kick or kiss her. Probably both. Kissing might be nicer. It would be nice. Her lips looked soft and very kissable. He imagined what they might feel like on his. The tender pressing, the warmth of her face next to his. The wonderful—

  Zarg nudged him from behind, snapping him out of it. Evan shook his head. “Yeah, yeah. I’m going.”

  The trail followed the creek which had an odd green hue to it which turned out to be a very specific algae that only grew underground. It fed off nutrients in the water, purifying it while also providing a soft glow of light and some oxygen. Apparently, it had been designed for life down here or evolved; Tozi wasn’t sure of the details. Too bad Adelfried wasn’t here. He would have loved this, too. Hopefully he was okay. He was a wizard, and of course he was okay. It was Kae and Nina he had to worry about.

  The tunnel opened to a towering dome stuffed full of multi-story buildings, with one tower in the middle of town that reached the top of the dome. A sign at the entrance indicated the town was called Arcilla. Small roads lined with a few trees and scatterings of people separated the buildings. The creek split to circle the town forming a moat around it, broken up by the occasional foot bridge. Outside the moat, a marsh solidified into firm land with trees and shrubs that grew up to the edge of the dome. It made the town feel like it was nestled in a forest, rather than deep underground. Topaz tinted light covered the ceiling of the dome, lighting the town.

  Tozi smacked her neck. “Damn mosquitos. They never spray out here.” She swatted the air again. Evan shivered involuntarily. Even down here they couldn’t escape mosquitos. Tozi grabbed Evan’s hand. “Come on, they’re worse outside of town. This way to where Tia works.”

  Tozi towed Evan through town while keeping a watchful eye out for more Sovs, but luckily no grey eyes or cloaks, just seemingly normal people going about their business. People’s clothes down here didn’t even seem that different than what he was used to in Houston. Maybe a tad more colorful with fewer blue jeans and more floral patterns. The biggest difference was the feel of the material. The clothes he wore on loan from Tozi’s brother, and like most people down here, had the feel of a smooth heftier linen. No doubt derived from mushrooms.

  They passed through the town and arrived at the hospital, that turned out to be more of a large clinic compared to what Evan was accustomed to. The two-story white building featured a big red cross on the front. Evan was to wait on a bench, at the back of the hospital, across the street from a park, and not to talk to anyone while she spoke with her Tia Maria. Hopefully she knew something about Kae.

  Evan sat on a bench with Zarg at his feet. The small park, dominated by a large pond fed by the creek they had followed in, was mostly well trimmed green grass punctuated by small clumps of trees. Opposite the creek was the small forest that lined the edge of the dome but with no buzz birds and flowers unfortunately. The whole scene felt so normal compared to what he had known above ground. Even the topaz lit dome above him already started to feel like a sky.

  After the idyllic scene started to bore him, Evan did what he had always done in situations like this and pulled his phone out. After turning it on he found no bars of course, but…there was a Wi-Fi signal. Wi-Fi. Here. Underground. Should he connect? Would that be risky? Tozi’s mom had said connections were cut off to his world. Just trying couldn’t hurt, right? Could it? Would they be looking for his phone? Would they be looking for him? Too many uncertainties. Maybe best to just wait.

  A group of teenagers, in matching long-sleeved, white shirts and grey pants, poured out of a building to the left of the park. Judging by their eagerness and uniforms, school was in recess. They bustled into a small shop covered in brightly colored ads promising the best fizzle pops and real American Sodas at the lowest prices. After a few minutes they bubbled out, drinks in hand, and went to the park where they took turns hopping around rocks clustered around the edge of the pond. General rowdiness turned to shoving and pulling each other over onto the grass, but luckily not into the pond, although there were some close calls. It looked all in good fun, mostly. No one was crying or punching at least. They didn’t look friendly, but then again, they weren’t bothering Evan, which was fine as far as he was concerned.

  Evan shut his phone down to save its battery and tucked it back in his pocket and noticed the teenagers were now pointing and staring at him. This couldn’t be good. Where the hell was Tozi?

  A group of about ten boys and girls, started over towards him. Should he leave? Like how much did he need to avoid talking to anyone?

  One with spiky black hair and rolled up sleeves showing off muscled arms, lead the group to the edge of the park across the street from Evan. “Hey vato, is that your dog?”

  Evan nodded. What else was he supposed to do?

  Spiky hair asked, “So…is he a ratter? Can he do tricks?”

  That was a relief. Of course, they’re only interested in Zarg. That’s all anyone down here is interested in. “Yeah, he’s a ratter. He doesn’t do many tricks though.” Of course, Evan had taught Zarg loads of tricks that he did, maybe once, but then he simply chose not to do anymore. That was an odd realization. Evan did a double take. Why did he know that? The connection with Zarg was getting stronger every day. Evan whispered to Zarg. “Are you saying you know how to roll over and play dead but choose not to do it?”

  Zarg picked that moment to look down the street in the opposite direction, like a building two blocks away had suddenly caught his attention.

  “Not a good boy.”

  Zarg yawned.

  “Carlos, leave my primo alone,” Tozi said defensively marching up next to Evan.

  “Calm down, paleta,” Carlos replied in a way that was clearly meant to be an insult. “How was I supposed to know you’re related to a ratter?”

  The rest of his gang snickered.

  Tozi’s face turned a shade of red and Evan immediately didn’t like Carlos.

  “What brings you into town, mushroom girl? Let me guess, you ran out of power out in the tubes.”

  Tozi turned to Evan. “Come on, let’s go.”

  Evan got to his feet quickly followed by Zarg.

  Carlos changed his tone. “Oh, come on. Don’t be like that, Tozi. You’re finally interesting, you have a dog in your family. Stay for a minute.”

  Tozi spun back around “You’re always such an asshole. I’d rather eat the pond scum than hang out with you.”

  Carlos put his hands in the air. “Okay, okay, look, how about I buy you and your primo a fizzle pop as an apology.”

  Tozi narrowed her eyes. She must really want what ever a fizzle pop was because she was clearly interested.

  Evan put a hand on the small of her back. “Let’s just go.”

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  Tozi stepped towards Carlos. “Fine, you buy us each a fizzle pop, but then me and you are fizzy hopping across the pond. And if I make it, no more of this poor paleta mushroom girl crap?”

  Carlos lifted his chin. “And what if I win?”

  “Then you get to pet the dog.” She scratched Zarg behind the ears. “And he’ll catch a rat for you.”

  “Deal.” Carlos handed a few glowing ESH stones to one of his friends, who went into the store, while the rest of them headed to the pond. Across the pond, a trail of stones, a couple of feet apart from each other, took you from one end to the other. Other than a larger gap in the middle, the path didn’t seem that hard to cross.

  When the friend returned, he handed Tozi, Evan, and Carlos a black can of what looked like normal soda. Written across it, in big electric yellow letters was, “CRACKED! Fizzle Pop Extra Strength.”

  Tozi immediately started the fidget with it anxiously. “You didn’t say extra strength. That’s like three cans.”

  Carlos smirked. “Yeah, that’s probably too much for you. Fine, we can do it on the stones around the pond, or you can call it off?”

  “No,” she said in a very unconvincing tone. “We’ll do it around the pond.”

  Evan traced the stones around the pond, much less chance of falling in, but it didn’t seem that hard.

  Carlos handed his can over to the tallest of the group who looked like he could play professional football without pads on. “Oh, and Ricky here will be taking my place. This one has apple in it and unfortunately, I’m allergic to apples.

  Ricky smiled, taking the can and popped it open and took a large slug.

  Tozi’s face crinkled up. “That’s not fair. He’s way bigger than me.”

  “You want to call it off? Fine. But then I think it’s fair I still get to pet your dog since I bought you fizzle pop.”

  Evan motioned Tozi to step away so they could have a quick whisper. “What is this stuff?”

  “You’re so stupid. You really don’t know anything do you?” She sighed and breathed out slowly. “Sorry, you wouldn’t know. It's magic soda. It makes you…you know, drunk for a few minutes. Like really, really drunk. But that asshole’s cheating by having his meathead friend do the challenge. He’s at least twice my weight. This is strong enough to knock a grown man down unless he has a tolerance. For you, I can’t imagine what it would do. You’d probably throw up or something if you drank the whole can since you don’t have any magic at all.”

  Evan grinned. Sure, she had called him stupid, like so many times before. But, she had apologized immediately. That was progress. He gave her arm a soft squeeze. “I got this.”

  “No, but wait. You don’t understand—”-—”

  “No, you don’t understand.” Evan stepped towards Ricky and Carlos. “I’m closer to his body weight. I’ll take her place. Besides, Zarg is my dog. I’m the one who says who gets to pet him. Oh and, we have to do it across the pond, or no deal.”

  Carlos held his hands up. “Aye vato, you sure? That’s extra strength. It’s going to put you on your ass. You know how to swim?”

  Evan held his hands out casually. “If you or Ricky here want to back out, that’s up to you. I wouldn’t want you to get your uniform all wet.”

  Carlos harumphed. “Whatever you say, vato.”

  Evan popped the top on his can and took a sip. It had a sweet fruity flavor with heavy carbonation. When he swallowed, other than a distinct zip in the aftertaste, it was no different than soda.

  Tozi opened her can and hesitated. She took a slug. “Whew. That’s strong.” She burped.

  Evan took another big drink. “Yeah, but it’s really good.”

  Not to be outdone, Ricky took another drink to match Evan’s.

  After another drink each, Tozi was already slurring her words. “Okay…Aven, bedder to go now before you get too, you know…fizzed.”

  Carlos took Ricky and Evan’s cans to weigh them in his hand. “One more drink to put them at half a can each.”

  Ricky staggered and held his hand out, shaking his head. “No. That’s enough.” He wasn’t cashing the check Carlos’ bravado was writing.

  Evan held his can in the air. “Fine by me.” He took another sip, still feeling absolutely nothing.

  Ricky rolled his eyes and took one more tiny sip. “No more.”

  Tozi leaned on Evan’s shoulder. “Look. I serial. You don’t has to do this.” She hiccupped. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry I called you stupid, but you don’t have to do this you know, you know that right?” Her lips, brushing against his ear, was sending tingles down his side.

  Evan put an arm around Tozi and brought her close. “It’s fine. I feel great.” And as soon as he said it, he felt his chest tighten. Would he be raising suspicions if he did this? Better to act a little drunk.

  He staggered forward to the edge of the pond taking one last drink before putting his can down. “Ready?”

  Ricky now had uncertainty all over his face. He took a slow breath and steadied his sway. He handed his can to Carlos. “I’m going firss though.”

  Evan waved his hand dramatically “By all meansss.” Intentionally dragging out his words for effect.

  Ricky took the first two steps surprisingly fast and with little issues. The group started to clap and whoop at each step. The third and fourth hop, he slowed to catch his balance. But each step was met more cheers. On the fifth he stopped, nearly falling sideways much to the group’s chagrin. The next stone had the biggest gap of all of them. Ricky knew it. Evan knew it. Hell, even Carlos knew it.

  Tozi giggled. “He’s going down.”

  Carlos snapped back. “Well, whoever makes it the farthest wins the bet.”

  Tozi leaned into Evan’s shoulder rubbing her chest against him. “You just keep changing the bet, don’t you? Your word must not mean much, huh.”

  Evan felt his chest flutter as she moved slowly back and forth. “It’s fine.”

  Ricky jumped. His outstretched foot hit the stone, followed by his back foot which skidded off, sending him twisting awkwardly. He landed with a mighty splash of jeers and cheers from the group.

  Carlos poked Evan hard in the chest. “Your turn, ratter!”

  “And so, it is.” That was it. Time to show up this punk. Screw caution. He had it coming. Evan took his can and chugged the rest of it and threw the empty can at Carlos. “Here, hold this.”

  Someone gasped. Tozi grabbed his arm. “What are you doing? Don’t crash out because of me. I shouldn’t have let you do this.”

  Evan pulled himself free and let out a long burp. “I’m just showing this asshole what’s what.”

  “But you drank the whole can…”

  Evan smiled. “And?” He staggered once for dramatic effect and then ran across the stones like a bunny rabbit, even jumping over Ricky who was still floundering around in the water. The crowd whooped. He turned to yell back across the pond, “Hey Carlos, in case you missed it.” He ran back across the path, ending with a dramatic jump at the end.

  The group cheered.

  Carlos fumed but didn’t have anything to say.

  Evan put an arm on his shoulder like a friend about to tell a secret. “Tell you what. If you apologize to Tozi for being a jerk and stop calling her names. I’ll let you pet Zarg. Besides, he doesn’t like people who are mean to his people. And Tozi is his people. You aren’t. Well, at least not yet. But a friendly scratch goes a long way.”

  After a mostly sincere apology, lots of scratching of Zarg, and a million questions about him, the group rushed back to school when the bell rang. Hopefully Carlos wasn’t in too much trouble, he ended up being friendly enough.

  After dumping the cans in a nearby trashcan, Tozi still wore big grin on her face. It was the longest Evan had ever seen her smile continually. Something about her smile filled Evan with a warmth. She still had a little stagger in her step as she came back to the bench and plopped down next to him. They were going to wait a little longer for their heads to clear. Even though Evan’s was fine, he didn’t bother telling her that. Apparently fizzle pop hit you fast but didn’t last long. Too bad, because this fizzed version of Tozi was very pleasant to be around. He hadn’t been called stupid even once.

  “I need to tell you something.” Tozi slid down the bench to get closer to Evan. Her eyes were red, catching him off guard. “I’m…sorry I’m always being mean to you. I…you don’t deserve it, and I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t help it.”

  Because that made a lot of sense. Evan folded his arms. “Honestly, I’m just glad you’re aware of it. I don’t understand. It’s like half the time you hate me. Can at least tell me why?”

  Tozi rubbed her eyes and dragged her feet on the ground.

  Evan leaned down to make eye contact with her. “Did I say something to piss you off? I mean, I don’t know your customs down here. If I did something rude, just tell me.”

  Tozi held a frustrated hand up in Evan’s face. “No, it’s nothing like that.” She huffed. “It’s just…this is going to sound so stupid and immature, but you’re going to leave, okay?” Her voice started to crack. “You’re going to leave, and I’ll never see you or Zarg again. You’re going to go back to your wonderful topside world, and I’ll still be stuck down here, a stupid paleta, growing mushrooms with my mom, barely able to make ends meet. Ever since they took my Papi and Mano, life has sucked. Okay? And now, finally, someone makes me happy and you can’t wait to get out of here.” Tozi sniveled. “And I don’t blame you. I don’t want to be here either, but you at least have somewhere to go. I don’t. I’m just stuck here, forever.”

  It all kind of made sense now. She’d lost so much. She had to move out to the edge of the kingdom where no one was friendly, after losing her dad and brother and to top it off, they were poor. Something about having to pay extra taxes for their speaking against the empire. Running a family farm with two people couldn’t be easy. Evan’s heart hurt for her. And what could he really do? Nothing. “Well, maybe someday when this is all worked out, I can come visit you or you can come visit me. Technically, I don’t live that far, after all. Well, I used to not live that far. I don’t even know if I have a home now.”

  Tozi rubbed her eyes, trying to hold tears back. “Oh, that reminds me. My Tia said your sister is the hospital right now.”

  “Wait, what?” Evan sat up straight. “And you’re just now telling me?”

  “Sorry with all the…you know, I just kind of forgot. Yeah, she’s healing up. She’ll be fine, but the Jaguars have her guarded, and without papers there’s no doubt she’ll be questioned and turned into a Tlacotin.”

  Evan’s chest knotted up. No one was going to make a slave of his sister. Not if he could help it. “Did they say anything about anyone else?”

  “Just that someone dropped her off and disappeared before they could ask her anything. Even the Jaguars couldn’t find her.”

  Evan pumped his fist, his chest easing a little. “Yes! That means she was here, somewhere.” But where? Where would Nina go? Where would she hide? Could she hide?

  Tozi took a deep breath. “I’m glad your friend is free, even if it means you’ll probably be leaving soon.”

  “I…I mean, your family doesn’t need the trouble I bring, and I don’t want anything bad to happen to you because of me.”

  “Yeah. Yeah.” Tozi nodded, waving her hand dismissively before standing up, still a little wobbly. “Come on. I still have one more errand before we head back.”

  Evan got to his feet. “Are you sure you don’t need to want to sit for a bit longer to let the fizzle wear off?”

  “The store is going to close soon, and I can walk.” She swooned a little and giggled. “I shouldn’t have finished that can off, but I feel good. Real good, actually.” She took a step and abruptly stopped and faced Evan. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

  Was this some kind of trap? It felt like a trap. “Okay…”

  Tozi leaned in, closely, like she had a secret to tell him. Her sweet clay scent now had hints of fruit and nectar. Her lips brushed against his ears. She whispered. “Would you kiss a mushroom farmer?”

  Evan swallowed. His mouth suddenly dry and his body numb and buzzing at the same time. “I…uh yeah.” His chest thumped.

  Tozi swept her cheek across his, bringing her lips inches from his. “So, what’s stopping you?”

  She tilted her head back. Her deep chocolate eyes met his. Evan felt his arms wrap around her waist, bringing her in close. Her body softened to his touch as her chest pushed gently against him like he was holding a bonfire in his hands. Their lips met in a pulse of pure bliss like what he always thought magic would feel like. Her tongue awkwardly teased him as she pressed deeper into him. The magic moment suddenly broken by something wrong. Very wrong. Fear. Anger.

  Zarg growled. His anxiety was dumping ice on this perfect moment. No. It was grey-eyed freaks. Only overwhelming fear could have convinced Evan to take lips away from Tozi and unfortunately, there he was. He pulled back and peered over her shoulder. Across the park, a pair of Sovs marched down the street as if searching for something, or more likely, someone.

  Tozi’s voice was panicked. “What? Did I do something wrong? I’m sorry that was stupid. I never should of asked you. Please—”

  “Shit. No. No. No. Zarg, get behind the bench.” Evan hid his face from the Sovs behind Tozi so if they did look over, they wouldn’t see his face. “No, it’s not you. You did absolutely nothing wrong. I could kiss you all day.” And he did kiss her one more time in a moment of joy that was too short as he pulled away again. “It’s just that there are two Sovs across the street.”

  Zarg did as instructed and hid behind the bench. He really understood Evan now.

  Tozi turned her head around to see. “You really don’t like those Sovs do you? Why are you so afraid of them?”

  “Trust me. They’re bad.”

  Tozi turned back around. “I think they’re coming this way.”

  “Shit.”

  Tozi gave him another kiss on his lips that didn’t last nearly long enough. “We’re not done here. Now come on.” She dragged Evan by the arm back towards the hospital where they ducked into a back door with Zarg on their heels.