Page 70 of The Lost Guardian

Ali looked impressed. “You’re the expert.”

Her words, though uttered simply, triggered Santiago’s anxiety.

Ali had saved them from Torres’s men twice now. José had opened the chakana and provided them with the resources for their journey. And now, he had solved the riddle.

Santiago needed to show them that he was a valuable addition to their team as well. That he was important to their endeavor and not just because of his connection to the Guardianes. He couldn’t mess this up.

The three of them followed the uncovered aqueduct upstream, moving against the current. The three-thousand-year-old man-made channel looked as professional and polished as if the stone had been cut by a laser, rather than carved by hand.

Eventually, they could go no farther. They found the spot where water flowed directly from the side of a mountain. In front of that aperture was a large rock, perfectly circular.

The rounded stone rose to Santiago’s waist. It was long enough that he could have lain comfortably across it. The top was flattened off, like an enormous wheel of cheese.

“What is it?” Ali asked.

“Diorite.” Santiago ran a finger over the cool stone. “Igneous rock.”

Ali laughed, which sent a thrill through Santi’s heart. “Of course you would know that. But I mean…what is it?”

“It’s a sacrificial stone,” José said, his voice soft with reverence.

“Damn it!” Ali shouted, her mood instantly souring. She kicked at the thing with her boot. “You mean we really do need to perform a sacrifice? ’Cause I’m telling you right now, I am not hunting down any goats.”

The narrow river demands a sacrifice, Santiago thought.

“You really think it’s literal?” he asked, grimacing.

“You’re the experts,” Ali repeated, and he was pleased to note that she referred to the both of them this time. “You’re the ones who figured out that the ‘narrow river’ was Cumbemayo and that the words ‘life’s blood will lead the way’ were about the aqueduct.”

“We both figured out Cumbemayo,” Santiago acknowledged. Then her other words registered, and he whipped around.

Ali jumped at his quick action.

“Sorry! Repeat what you just said?”

“Um, that you figured out the clue,” she answered.

“No, the last thing, what was the last thing you said?”

Her face scrunched. “That the ‘life’s water’ line was about the aqueduct?”

Santiago shook his head, but he grinned. “But you didn’t say life’s water, you said life’s blood.”

“Okay?” Ali said, sounding irritated. “So I made a mistake?”

“No, no, I don’t think you did!” Santiago said, reluctantly dropping his pack so that he could vault onto the stone. “You said ‘life’s blood’ because it’s a common phrase, and if I’m right…”

“Qué, mijo?” José asked, approaching the stone. “What are you thinking?”

Santi peered intently at the surface of the rock. As he suspected, there was a faded but unmistakable rust-colored stain. It was small, though. Certainly not big enough to kill anything.

“There it is.” Santiago grinned, releasing a good deal of tension from his shoulders as he did.

“What?” Ali asked him, abandoning her own pack and leaning in to see what it was he looked at. “An old bloodstain? You did say this was a sacrificial spot, right? Isn’t that to be expected?”

“It is,” Santiago confirmed.

“Then why do you look so smug?” she demanded.