I called on Fuego. A second later, my spear zipped toward Ik in a motion nearly untraceable to the human eye. Just as Fuego was about to hit the traitor, Iktan transformed into a column of silvery-purple mist. The spear stabbed the demon she’d left behind, and a loud cry echoed through the night.
My eyes searched frantically for Ik. How much time had I bought us? There. The deceitful monster reappeared, racing across the tree-lined street.
We had a fifteen-second head start, tops.
When we finally set down outside the laundromat, Brooks shifted back to her human form, then fainted.
I caught her before she collapsed. “She’s burning up!” All I could think was Please don’t let there be poison.
“It’s locked!” Quinn cried, banging on the door. “And the gate’s disappearing!”
I looked through the window and, inside a giant commercial dryer, caught sight of the familiar shimmer of a closing gateway—a swirl of gold and silver with flecks of blue.
“We have to break down the door!” I shouted.
Quinn’s eyes fell on Brooks, and I could tell she was torn, like she wanted to rush over and check out her sister’s injury. But her warrior training wouldn’t let her—she had to stay focused on the task at hand. Just when I predicted Quinn was about to shift into some massive ramming beast, Alana and Adrik shoved her aside and went to the door. They huddled so close I couldn’t see what they were doing. And then…
Click.
They swung the door open. Okay, they really were professional burglars.
My heart launched into the stratosphere. We were going to make it!
Or that’s what I thought until I saw Ik reflected in the window. She was only about thirty feet away, sprinting toward us with fangs and claws exposed.
Adrik screamed. Alana shoved him through the door as I threw Brooks over my shoulder, willed Fuego back into my grip, and hurried toward the flickering gateway at the rear of the laundromat. The demon’s footsteps were so close. Too close.
For a split second, I considered throwing Fuego at Ik’s ugly mug, but I couldn’t slow down long enough and I didn’t have a free hand to incinerate the monster, either. “HURRY!” I shouted.
The gateway glimmered weakly.
Ten feet.
Five.
Three.
Quinn threw open the dryer and jumped inside after Adrik and Alana. Just as it was about to disappear, I nose-dived into the portal, wishing I could watch as it slammed closed in Ik’s double-crossing face.
Here’s the thing about magical portals: They’re a lot like cars. Some ride like a dream; others are hunks of junk that should be sent to a scrapyard. Yeah, well, we got the junk.
The world spun violently. Hot, turbulent winds sucked the breath from my lungs. I clutched Brooks tightly as white goose down and staticky socks showered us. Then a sudden drop in air pressure made my ears pop. As I was catapulted out of the gateway and rolled across packed sand, I lost my hold on Brooks.
I scrambled over to where she lay near a bent palm tree. She was unconscious and hot to the touch. My heart dropped into my stomach. “Brooks?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Adrik and Alana get to their feet a few yards away. I quickly glanced over my shoulder to see waves rolling gently onto a small beach.
We had made it to Holbox. Thank the gods!
I jumped up, hurried toward the water, and from each hand shot a thick stream of fire fifty feet into the night sky. Rosie knew that red flames equaled SOS, as in Get here pronto!
When I got back to Brooks, Quinn was kneeling next to her and trying to keep Alana at bay.
“I’ve had first aid training,” the girl twin said. “Maybe I can help.”
“This will require something else,” Quinn said. But she let Alana kneel next to Brooks anyway.
“How about a little light?” Alana asked me.
I squatted and ignited a small flame in my palm, allowing Alana to see Brooks’s wound. “There’s something in her arm,” the godborn said. She was too calm, like she was used to escaping demons, falling through magical portals, and doctoring shape-shifters. “I need some tweezers or…” Her voice trailed off as she appraised our surroundings.
“If you guys had come with us sooner,” I growled, “this wouldn’t have happened.”
From behind me, Adrik said, “We don’t even know you! And I bulldozed some of those monsters, in case you forgot. It was totally cinema-worthy!”
“Blame won’t heal her, Obispo.”
Anger, frustration, and panic battled inside me, but I knew Quinn was right. We had to focus on Brooks. “Rosie’s on her way.”
Come on, Rosie. Where are you?
Quinn leaned closer. A small talon emerged from her index finger, and she used it to gently probe the wound. A stream of fresh blood ran down Brooks’s arm as her sister dug out a silver dart tip.
I barely breathed. “Was it poisoned?”
“She wouldn’t still be breathing if it was.” Then Quinn released a stream of threats and promises of revenge.
“Why wouldn’t it be?” I asked. “These are demons we’re talking about.”
Quinn shrugged. “How should I know? Maybe they ran out of poison. Maybe they weren’t in a killing mood.”
“They seemed like some pretty motivated murderers to me,” Adrik said.
I followed Alana’s gaze to her brother. The two shared a nod and a grimace. Then their irises changed to a deep blue-black, and I swear it was like their eyes were made of liquid. What the heck? They were definitely talking telepathically.
“It’s good she’s sleeping.” Quinn stroked Brooks’s hair. “That’s how nawals heal.” She stood and asked, “How far are we from your house, Obispo?”
“You live here?” Adrik asked. “Looks like a deserted island.”
I knew every inch of Isla Holbox, including this stretch of isolated beach on the north end. “About three miles to the house,” I said.
“She’s awake!” Alana cried. “She…she moved.”
I dropped to Brooks’s side, grabbing her hand. Her fingers wiggled. A second later, her amber eyes opened and stared right into mine. Relief spread through me. “Are you okay?”
Barely above a whisper, she said, “I…Who—” She blinked. Her eyes darted from face to face before landing back on mine. “Why do you have goose feathers in your hair?”
Quinn let out a breath. “Can you sit up?”
“I think so.” Brooks rubbed her head groggily as we propped her against the tree.
“How do you feel?” I asked.
“Woozy. The dart…Thankfully, it only clipped my wing. I’m sorry I couldn’t fly.” Brooks studied the wound on her arm, wiping the blood away. “I…I feel so weird. Like I’m in a dream. Am I dreaming?”
“You mean having a nightmare?” Adrik muttered as he glanced toward a rustling sound in the bushes. “Are there any alligators in this jungle?”
Just then, a wall of black mist rose up from the sand. Out stepped Rosie. She bounded toward me on her three legs, her tongue lolling out of the side of her mouth, her nub tail wagging.
“I missed you, too, girl.” I embraced her, scrubbing her ribs.
“That’s a huge…uh…Is that a bear?” Adrik asked while his sister just stared wide-eyed, studying Rosie’s every move. Only a sobrenatural could see Rosie for what she was: a hellhound the size of two lions. To the human eye, she was just a regular black dog with three legs.
“Bear?” Quinn snorted. “Try the world’s finest hellhound.”
Rosie’s soft brown eyes studied my face, landing on the cheek wound I’d already forgotten about. One slobbery lick and I could feel the healing properties of her saliva going to work immediately. “Brooks needs you, too,” I whispered, wiping off some of her drool.
Rosie went to Brooks and, with a small whine, began to lick her arm. Brooks stroked her between the ears. “You’re the best, you know that?”
Here’s what I had finally figu
red out about my dog: She didn’t need training; she didn’t require orders to pull her weight. I could trust her to figure out what had to be done. That meant adiós to the commands Ixtab had taught her. We no longer had to yell STEAK! to get her to stop, and DEAD! to make her breathe fire. Those were just ordinary words to her now, which made conversations much easier.
Bright lights suddenly appeared in the jungle.
“What’s that?” Alana stepped back, alarmed. She shielded her eyes as if the sun was blinding her.
Then came the familiar sound of wheels running over the earth. A second later, Hondo’s tourist tram emerged from the trees, coming to a stop a few feet away from us. My uncle killed the engine but left the headlights running as he jumped off the vehicle and ran over. Ren was close behind, hollering my name.
I didn’t realize how much I had missed them until I saw them in the flesh.
“Zane!” Ren squealed, hugging me and then Brooks, who had staggered to her feet.
Rosie threw back her head and let out a happy howl.
Hondo pulled me into a headlock and squeezed. “Good thing we have the location tracker, Diablo. What’s up with the feathers? You been cleaning birdcages?”
He’d grown out his hair to just below his ears, and I guess Quinn must have liked it, because she smiled when she saw him. But the second he looked at her, her face returned to ice-queen mode. “I have to go see Ixtab. Give a full report,” Quinn said before shifting into her giant eagle self and flying off.
Hondo’s grin vanished. “Does she ever stay put?” Then he slung his arm over Brooks’s shoulders. “Admit it,” he said. “You missed me, Capitán.”
A small smile crept over Brooks’s face. “Not as much as you missed me.”
“Could someone please kill those headlights?” Alana tugged a pair of silver sunglasses out of her pocket and planted them on her face. With her red-tipped hair, she looked like the kind of person who might be famous.
“What’s with the shades?” I asked.
“I’m super sensitive to light,” she said.
Was that the gateway to her godborn power? The weakness that was really a strength, like my limp or Ren’s trances?
Hondo went over and turned off the headlights as I created a small bonfire in the sand. “Is that better?” I asked.
Alana nodded. “It comes and goes,” she said, tugging off her glasses.
When Hondo returned, he pointed at Adrik and Alana. “I thought there was only one godborn left.”
After Brooks and I filled in Hondo and Ren about everything that had happened, my uncle said, “Two-faced demon…” Okay, he said a lot more than that, but my mom would kill me if I wrote down all that cussing.
“We didn’t do anything to those monsters,” Alana complained. Then, as if the reality of it all was just now washing over her, she whispered, “They…they could have killed us. You saved our lives.”
“Let’s not get carried away,” Adrik said. “How do we know the demons weren’t after them and we just got stuck in the cross fire?”
“Because my sister and I have been tracking Ik,” Brooks said, raising a single eyebrow. “She could have killed Zane at any moment over the last three months, but she waited until tonight to turn on him. Until Zane led her to you.”
“Good point, Capitán.” Hondo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Demonio estúpido. ¿Por qué join the losing team?”
Excellent point. Why would Ik choose to leave Ixtab’s army, the most powerful in the universe, to join a bunch of loser gods who’d already had their butts whipped?
“And why would Ik want these godborns and none of the rest?” Ren asked.
Something told me Ik hadn’t been after Adrik. And she hadn’t even known about Alana. She wanted whatever it was they had lifted from that store. More specifically, Camazotz and Ixkik’ wanted it.
“Look…” I began, addressing the twins. This part was never easy. And now that I also had my friends’ eyes on me, I felt like I was taking a test I hadn’t studied for. “Before we point fingers, I need to know who might be waiting for you back in New York. Ik could do something….” Iktan wouldn’t hesitate to hurt someone the twins cared about. Not if it would get her closer to whatever her bosses wanted.
“What he means,” Brooks explained, “is that we need to cover all our bases, make sure there are no loose ends.”
“I know what he means,” Adrik said stone-faced. “There’s no one waiting for us.”
Alana blurted, “Unless you count the Wicked Witch of the West.”
Rosie collapsed onto her belly with a groan I translated as This is going to take a while. Peace out.
“You live with a witch?” Ren asked.
“A wicked witch,” Alana repeated. “And believe me—”
Adrik cleared his throat, cutting her off.
Brooks drew closer, mirroring his scowl. “We can’t help you or protect your family unless we know what’s up.”
Adrik clenched his fists. “Alana’s right.”
“That you live with a bruja?” I asked. Was that why Alana seemed so chill about all of tonight’s supernatural weirdness?
“Whatever you want to call her,” Alana said, “she for sure won’t be looking for us.”
“What if she calls the cops?” I asked. “Reports you missing?”
“She won’t.” Alana sighed.
“How do you know?” Ren asked. “Wicked people can’t be trusted.”
“Because if she does,” Adrik said with a perfectly timed sneer, “she’ll end up in jail.”
Adrik said the words like he’d been practicing the lines forever.
Okay, so there was a lot more to these godborns than I’d thought. They were like those puzzle boxes that are impossible to open and after hours of failed attempts you just want to bust the things open with a sledgehammer.
“Jail?” Ren asked.
Alana lifted her chin. The firelight cast dark shadows under her eyes. “She’s our aunt.”
“What about your parents?” Brooks asked.
“There’s only our dad,” Alana said. “He’s in the military. Got sent somewhere secret and—”
“Alana,” Adrik warned, “why don’t you just give them the four-one-one on everything!”
“They should know our dad won’t be coming home for months, can’t even call us, and our aunt is an evil, greedy hag who won’t care if we never return. She’ll probably throw a party.” Alana folded her arms over her chest with an angry pout. “All she cares about is the money…” Her voice trailed off, but I’m pretty sure she said, “and the houses, cars, and servants.”
No one else seemed to catch it, but I wanted to shout to everyone except the twins: Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Why would a couple of rich kids break into a store and steal something?
“So, where’s the god in charge of all this?” Adrik asked.
Hondo smirked. “No gods—just us. Did you say ‘servants’?”
I said, “So, you guys know…? I mean…”
“That our mom’s some goddess?” Alana said. “Yeah, Dad told us that much.”
“You knew?” Brooks repeated, sounding even more stunned than I felt.
“He also said someone really important would come for us someday, but…” Adrik stopped there, eyeing us like we were scrappy pirates.
“Then you’ll come to the World Tree and learn how to defend yourselves,” I said.
I reminded them about the ceremony where their godly parent would claim them and they would come into their godborn powers. Once I got started, everything spilled out of me like I just had to tell someone what being on the road with a traitorous demon for three months was really like.
Brooks brushed my arm with hers. Good idea. Make them think they can trust you.
They can trust me.
That’s what I said.
Alana knit her eyebrows together. “So, the whole time you were sleeping next to a demon who was plotting to kill you?”
TH
ERE WERE NO SIGNS! “Something like that,” I mumbled.
Adrik played with his jacket zipper, pulling it up and down. “You think we’re just going to go to some magical tree and what, meet our so-called godly mom and say, ‘Hey, thanks for dumping us’?”
“You’re not the only godborn who was dumped, kid,” Hondo said.
Brooks sighed and lifted one shoulder. “I don’t think they let thieves go to the World Tree.”
I touched her arm. Way to be subtle.
Someone has to address the elephant in the room…uh, jungle. It’s reverse psychology. Get it? Tell them they can’t go and then they’ll want to go.
“What she means is,” I started, “um…what did you steal from the antiques shop? Is that what Ik is after? Because if it is, we have to know.”
Adrik groaned. “No one stole anything.”
“You were in a closed store,” I said, “and there was something glowy in your hand. And believe me, demons don’t go after nothing.”
Ren said, “I bet it’s just a misunderstanding. You guys don’t look like thieves to me.”
“They are kinda dressed like burglars,” Hondo muttered.
“What do thieves look like?” Adrik asked.
“We want to talk to someone in charge,” Alana said, tugging on a red hair tip. “Who would that be? Is there, like, some king of the gods?”
“All the gods think they’re the boss,” Hondo said. “So it depends who you ask. I bet that little round rain god thinks he’s king. What’s his name, Zane? Chaac?”
Adrik pulled his hood over his head, and it flopped over his eyes. That’s when I noticed that the jacket was too big for him, like maybe it belonged to his dad. “So, about this World Tree,” he said, “who’s in charge there?”
See? Brooks said. You’re welcome.
Technically, Itzamna, an all-powerful, all-seeing god, sits at the top of a sacred árbol. But he wasn’t the boss of SHIHOM, which is what Adrik was really asking.
“Ixchel, the moon goddess, got the job,” Ren said. “She’s also known as the rainbow lady.”
I was still desperate to find out what the twins were hiding. “If Ik is after whatever you have,” I said, trying to cajole them, “that means Camazotz, the bat god, wants it, which means—”
The Shadow Crosser Page 4
