Aztlan: The Courts of Heaven Read Online Free Page B

Ichtaca, he was all for the idea.”
    It was unusual for an owner to share his plans with a player. I said as much.
    Xochipilli smiled. “Coyotl is not just any player, Investigator. I think you know that as well as I do. And I did not give him veto power over the move. I simply shared my thoughts with him.”
    “What about his contract?” I asked. “Any disappointment at all on Coyotl’s part?”
    “Coyotl’s contract reflected—and will continue to reflect—his value to the Eagles, which is considerable.” It was the kind of statement I could have gotten from the team’s fan affairs director.
    “So your relationship with Coyotl has been a good one?”
    “As good as any between owner and player.” Xochipilli’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “If you don’t mind my asking, what has this to do with his abduction?”
    “People do things when they’re unhappy that they wouldn’t do otherwise. They talk to people they wouldn’t normally talk to. If Coyotl was doing that, I need to identify those people and see if they can shed some light on what happened to him.”
    Xochipilli nodded. “I see.”
    “But you didn’t get the idea that Coyotl was disgruntled in any way?”
    “None.” He smiled again. “Sorry.”
    “Don’t be,” I said. “I couldn’t have been happier when I played for your father. It’s good to see that Eagle players can still feel that way.”
    I thought I saw a shadow fall across his eyes at the mention of the elder Xochipilli. Apparently, I had probed a sore spot.
    “What else can I tell you?” asked the nobleman.
    His tone had changed. It told me that he had devoted as much time to me as he cared to.
    “Nothing else,” I assured him. “You’ve been a great help.”
    “I’m glad,” he said. “If you’re hungry, my kitchen slave can provide you with a snack for your trip back to the city.”
    “Thanks, but I ate before I left. Gods favor you, Your Excellence.”
    “And you, Colhua.”
    The words had barely escaped his mouth before he turned and went back to his Mirror unit. At that point, I might as well have been a mote of dust floating on the air as far as Xochipilli was concerned.
    I didn’t hold it against him. Most noblemen were more like him than like his father.
    • • •
    When I emerged from Xochipilli’s house into the bright, early afternoon sunlight, I saw my auto-carriage waiting for me in the courtyard. But the driver wasn’t alone. Someone in a blue tunic was standing next to him, leaning on the vehicle.
    As I approached, he stood up and turned to face me.
    “Colhua,” he said.
    Acama, I thought.
    He looked every bit as powerful as when he played for Yautepec in the Sun League. And every bit as arrogant if the turd-eating grin on his face was any indication.
    The rumors I’d heard were true, then. He had been hired as Xochipilli’s new bodyguard.
    For nine cycles Tez Acama had played for Yautepec, wreaking havoc with opposing players—Xochipilli’s Eagles among them. In fact, he had played some of his bloodiest games against Aztlan.
    A fan would have remembered that and held it against him, but not a nobleman.
    “Get what you needed?” Acama asked, his grin widening.
    I wanted to wipe it off his face, but I couldn’t. Not in the courtyard of Mictlan Xochipilli. And as an Investigator for the Empire, I knew that smirking wasn’t a crime.
    “His Excellence was most helpful,” I told him.
    “How’s your knee?” he asked.
    “How are your teeth?” I replied, knowing they’d been kicked in by a vengeful center in Malinalco.
    “Better than ever,” he assured me, and tapped one of the new ones with his fingernail. It made a tik-tik-tik sound.
    I opened the door to the auto-carriage, got in, and let my driver know I was ready to go. But as we pulled out of the courtyard, I felt a familiar twinge in my knee and knew that, once again, Acama had gotten the best of me.

 

Chapter Three
    C uetz Oxhoco was Coyotl’s agent. When I buzzed him