‘That should cover my uncle’s room for the rest of the week.’

The clerk scoops up the money, then hands her a key, his grip lingering a second too long. ‘Let me know if there’s anything else I can do you for.’

She ignores his leer, then heads outside.

Don Rafelo appears from behind a parked car. He follows her to Room 113.

The room is musty, reeking of mildew. Lilith turns on the air-conditioning, the antiquated unit growling to life. ‘Okay, Uncle Don, I’ve done everything you’ve instructed, now I want to know how you found me.’

Don Rafelo lies back on one of the twin beds, staring at her. ‘I never lost track of you, even when your parents tried to escape me by fleeing to America. I’m the one who arranged your parents’ marriage.’

‘Why?’

‘Because of their bloodlines. Each of us possesses a life force, Lilith, something the Western World refers to, with much distortion, as the soul. Harbored within your genes are two powerful animating forces. The first was created long ago by the joining of two ancient bloodlines, one Mayan, tracing back to the days of Kukulcán, the other Aztec and the lineage of Quetzalcoatl. But it is the second life force—the Rafelo bloodline—that allows us to tap into the darker forces of the universe. It is this dark force that chases you across the Earth like a cold wind. It is spiritual in form, yet it possesses the ability to manipulate the other.’

‘I don’t understand. Where is this dark force? Where’s it coming from?’

‘Another place, another time. You will feel its presence as you move closer to our homeland and the Gulf of Mexico. The dark force is powerful, it reaches out to embrace you. It is what summoned me from Morelos to guide you.’

Lilith’s azure eyes widen. ‘I want this power. Teach me!’

The old man grins. ‘That is why I am here.’

When Lilith Robinson stumbled upon her parents’ belongings, she’d discovered a treasure trove of materials highlighting the life of her great-uncle, Don Alejandro Rafelo, a man whose roots dated back to fourteenth-century France, and his ancestor, Grégor Rafelo.

Grégor Rafelo was born outside Paris in 1397. Like his father before him, he became a career military man who served as a special guard under the command of Gilles de Rais. Competent and brave, Grégor was assigned to Joan of Arc’s guard and fought several battles at her side, bloodbath after bloodbath.

Following the relief of Orleans in 1429, the thirty-two-year-old Rafelo returned home to his family, distraught over all he’d seen. Months later he turned to religion, converting from Christianity to Albigensianism.