Rosie’s dark roar echoed over the thrashing sea.
“DEAD!” I screamed.
Rosie exploded into killer-hellhound mode, shooting fireballs out of her mouth and eyes. But the flames made contact with absolutely nothing (unless you count the now-blazing dinghy). I mean, how do you kill shadows? Shadows that were morphing and growing faster than I could say dead?
I threw my spear and, with flawless accuracy, it zipped right through the center monster’s bulbous gut, causing a giant hole that closed before Fuego could circle back to me. There was no blood, no guts, and the thing kept growing!
Then it started to laugh. This deep chain-smoker-about-to-hack-up-his-lungs laugh.
I glanced over my shoulder at Ren. She was still curled up on the sand. How was she sleeping through all this? She was so helpless like that—I had to protect her.
The monsters rose to at least twenty feet. Pointed reptilian-like tails thrashed through the sea, causing massive waves.
Eeeeeek. Eeeeeek.
I covered my ears. Their high-frequency cries pierced my brain like an ice pick. Rosie launched herself at one of the beasts, bouncing off it and into a huge swell.
“Rosie!”
The monsters lunged at me.
At the same moment, Brooks in hawk form swooped down from the dark sky. Her enormous wings (which, by the way, I know for a fact can crush boulders) did nothing to stop the shadows. How was it that the forms could create massive waves and attack us, but we couldn’t manage to even touch them?
One monster swiped Brooks away, sending her crashing into the violent black sea.
Clutching Fuego tightly, I dove beneath the waves, panic choking every breath. Brooks had gotten better at swimming after all my lessons, but she still hated the water and, in this kind of freak-out mode, she could drown.
I thrust my arms and legs through the water. Something smashed into me, sending me spiraling under. When I came up for air, Brooks was in human form, flailing, her head barely above the surface.
“Something’s got my leg!” she screamed.
“Hang on!” I plunged beneath the dark sea and saw that vines of seaweed were wrapped around Brooks’s thigh. Using my spear, I sliced through the slick ropes, and when I came up, she clung to me. “Get on my shoulders,” I hollered.
For once, she didn’t argue. She climbed up, and with one thrust, I hurled her into the air, where she changed back into hawk form. She circled high above the shadow monsters, which had raised their massive tails like they were getting ready to pound me.
Instinctively, I lifted my spear, ready to launch it, when…
“NO!” Ren’s voice carried through the dark. I spun to see her standing on the shore, arms outstretched. Her ragged hair blew in the wind.
As if time had stopped, the sea stilled.
The shadows’ tails froze in mid-strike.
Then they broke into a million pieces. Bit by bit they fluttered into the sea like ash.
Rosie was right behind me as I rushed back to Ren, snatching up Fuego.
“Are…are you okay? How…did you stop them?”
Brooks landed with a rush of air and changed into her human form. “What the holy Xib’alb’a, Zane? Who is this? And what were those things?” Her eyes blazed. Yup, she was furious. And scared.
Ren gawked at Brooks. “You’re…you’re Brooks. The nawal.”
Brooks shot me a glare. “Spill it, Obispo.”
I told her everything. I sort of expected her to gasp or something when she found out Ren was a godborn, but she just kept her poker face and asked the girl, “Where did those shadow things come from?”
Okay, no time for Nice to meet you.
“Did they follow you here?” I asked. “Or were they the shadows from earlier?” But hadn’t Ren said those were harmless?
Ren chewed her bottom lip. “They didn’t follow me.”
“How can you be sure?” I said.
“Because I created them.”
“Whoa!” I stepped back, pushing a mop of wet hair off my forehead.
“You what?!” Brooks cried.
“It’s not what you think,” Ren argued. “I tried to tell you before I fell asleep. The shadows come out of my dreams. The monsters…they aren’t exactly real….”
“Hang on!” I tugged off my soaked shoes. “What do you mean they weren’t real? They nearly caused a tidal wave! They tried to drown us. Dreams don’t do that.”
Ren wrapped her arms around her waist. “I mean, they’re real, but…” She shook her head. “Remember the shadows earlier? How I couldn’t control them?”
I nodded.
Brooks scowled at me.
Ren said, “Well, they show up in my dreams, too, and sometimes they sort of come into this world, but once I wake up and tell them to leave, they vanish. The first time it happened, I was maybe five. Abuelo told me not to be afraid, to use my power to control the shadows. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t make them do anything except leave….” Her voice trailed off and was swallowed by the pounding surf.
I knew the feeling of having a power I couldn’t use.
“So, the shadows,” Brooks said evenly. “Are they always monsters?”
“Not always,” Ren said. “After my dad died, I woke up from a dream about him…and I caught a glimpse of a shadow—I knew it was him. But the second I saw him here, in this world, he vanished.”
I thought about Hurakan, how I would give anything to meet him in the Empty again or even to dream about him. It wouldn’t be long before I rescued him and…Okay, I wasn’t sure what would happen after that. I guess I hadn’t thought about after.
Brooks frowned. “Have your dreams—nightmares, whatever—ever hurt someone?”
“No,” Ren said. “And Abuelo told me that only those with magic in their blood can see them.”
That explained why Mom and Hondo and the rest of the island’s residents hadn’t woken up. “I don’t think they come from your dreams, Ren,” I said. “I think they’re shadows that are already here.”
Brooks paced, rubbing her chin. “And maybe they kind of take shape as you dream.”
“That’s what those monsters did,” I said. “It was like they were protecting you.”
Brooks glanced at me. Uh-oh. She had that this-isn’t-good look, and the last time I saw that, we were almost choked to death by a bunch of demon runners at a Jack in the Box.
My head was pounding, and my eyes were blurry. “We should get some rest,” I said. Then I added quickly, “I mean, as long as you don’t have any more nightmares with monsters or anything else that could kill us.”
“I’ll try,” Ren said. “It doesn’t happen that much, I swear. But if it does, just throw water on my face or something.”
I was hoping Brooks (having been a sobrenatural a lot longer than me) would have some answers. Any answer. Okay, maybe an answer that sounded exactly like There’s absolutely nothing to worry about. That would’ve totally been my preference.
We headed toward the house.
“You’re just like Zane described you in the book,” Ren said to Brooks. “So—”
“So brave,” I blurted. Geez, why didn’t she just ask for Brooks’s autograph already?
“Brave,” Brooks echoed, staring me down with her fierce eyes. Luckily, she hadn’t read the book. I hoped she’d never ever get her hands on it. I really needed to burn that thing! I looked around for it and saw that it was half-buried under the sand near the dying campfire. I’d go back and toss it in the embers later, when the girls weren’t around.
Ren and Rosie strode ahead and out of earshot.
“Brooks, you really have no clue about those shadows?”
“I’m not a Maya encyclopedia of the supernatural, Zane.”
“Someone should really write that book.”
“I’ve never even heard of anything like this,” Brooks muttered. She stopped walking and turned to me. “What do we do now? Abandon our plans?”
“No.
We’re going through with them,” I said. “She can stay at my house. We just have to make sure she calls her grandpa first, to let him know she’s safe. And then hope my mom doesn’t freak out.”
“Because some godborn just showed up?”
“Because we’re going to rip a hole in the sky so we can go on a quest that could get us killed.”
“If we can rip a hole.”
“Just be ready,” I said. “I’ll figure it out.”
Brooks blew a curl off her face. “Ren can sleep at my place.” Then she added, “But only if Rosie stands guard.”
I laughed it off to make Brooks feel better, but as we walked up the beach, all I kept thinking was Even a hellhound can’t kill a nightmare.
With Rosie stationed at Brooks’s door as killer-hellhound-watchdog, I slept in the hammock just outside the casita. Well, I didn’t exactly sleep. My mind kept replaying the fight with the colossal shadow monsters. Between that, Rosie’s hellish snoring, and thinking about how to rescue Hurakan within four days and what to do with Ren in the meantime, I didn’t get any rest until the sun began to rise. The next thing I heard was “Hey, wake your flojo butt up.”
That was Hondo smacking my leg as he stood over me.
I startled, tipping the hammock and dumping myself onto the sand-covered patio. “What time is it?” I said, clumsily getting to my feet. I glanced over at Brooks’s door. Rosie was no longer there. Did that mean Brooks and Ren were gone, too?
“Where’s Rosie?” I grabbed Fuego from the hammock and leaned against it.
Why couldn’t everyone at least stay put until I figured things out?
“I saw her chasing a seagull down the beach earlier,” he said. “It’s after nine. Why’d you sleep out here? I mean, I know you have a thing for Brooks, but this is kind of stalkerish, dude.”
“Nine?!” I raced across the courtyard, stumbling over the water hose. “Why didn’t someone wake me?”
“You have a hot date or something?” Hondo followed me all the way into my room, laughing.
“It’s not like that.”
“Then what’s it like?”
It’s like this, I wanted to say. Massive shadow beasts stormed into this world because some godborn shadow witch showed up in a boat with no oars. And today is the day I’m leaving to save my dad, who is trapped in a water park in South Dakota, but there’s an invisible wall keeping me on this island that I have to find a way to bust through.
I’d thought about that stupid wall all night. There was no way I’d get through it without the jade, but something was telling me to save the amulet’s power. We just might need it on this quest. So, I had come up with another possible solution. A dangerous, crazy, hope-I-don’t-get-my-head-eaten-off-by-a-demon solution. Now all I had to do was convince Brooks.
“Hey, Earth to Zane.” Hondo waved his hand in front of my face, snapping me out of my daydream. “What’s your problem?”
“Who said I had a problem?” I grabbed a T-shirt out of my dresser drawer and tugged it over my head.
“Uh-huh. Don’t forget you’ve got afternoon duty at the shop.”
“You think you could take my shift?” I poked around the room for my sneakers. A knot of guilt settled in my gut. I hadn’t thought about how I’d say good-bye to my mom. The last time I set out on a quest, I’d only left her a note, and she was pretty furiosa with me afterward.
Hondo stepped in front of me. “Give it up, bro. What’s going on?” I’d grown another two inches the last couple of months, so Hondo seemed even shorter than before. But it didn’t make him any less intimidating.
“What?” I asked innocently.
“I saw the burned-out boat.”
I tried to look casual. “Oh, the boat—ha, yeah, that was Rosie. She…uh…she got a little too excited.”
“I guess we owe someone a new boat, then?”
Oops! What was I supposed to say to that? “It…I found it abandoned last night. Had a hole in the hull. Total hunk of junk. I bet someone was just trying to dump the thing.”
Hondo rubbed the stubble on his chin. “If the boat had a hole, how did it get there?”
“How should I know? Maybe it got the hole right before it got to shore, or…” I gave a light shrug. “Or maybe it was magic.”
“Magic…” Hondo muttered as he reached behind him, pulled something out of his waistband, and flashed Ren’s book. “Like this?”
I stared at the libro. Crap! I’d forgotten to go back for it last night.
I tried to snatch the book, but Hondo swept it out of reach before I could even touch it. His reflexes were quicker than ever. He’d once been a champion wrestler, and he’d taught me all sorts of moves that, let’s be honest, saved my butt from plenty of demons—and a few bullies, too. But these last few months, he’d been training like I’d never seen him train before. It was like he was on his own mission. He got up at dawn to run, lift weights, and practice ninja moves like backflips and one-armed handstands. He even started yoga to become more flexible but made me promise not to tell anyone. Maybe he secretly wanted to try out for American Ninja Warrior or something.
“Good description of me as a tank, by the way,” Hondo said. “You really think I’m that strong?”
Okay, he’d read the book. “Truth paper wouldn’t let me lie, remember? So, everything in there is one hundred percent true.”
“I scanned most of it—went right to the parts about me. Then I got to the chapter about those poisonous meatballs that sent me into sleep-hell mode….” His smile turned into a frown. “Just reading about it made me feel like I was reliving the nightmare.” He clenched his jaw. “If I ever meet up with those sons of—those loser twins again…”
I nodded. “Can I have the book back? I, uh…” I didn’t want Brooks to get her hands on it. What would she think if she saw all that stuff I’d written about her being beautiful, and like the sun, and pretty much the fiercest, most incredible person I’d ever met?
“I got you, bro. You don’t want Brooks to read it,” Hondo said. “I bet she wouldn’t be surprised. I mean, the way you look at her? I thought I taught you how to be cool, man.”
My head felt like it was on fire. I didn’t want to talk about this anymore. I had bigger things on my mind, like saving my dad, and dream barriers, and living nightmares, and stupid invisible walls.
“You should burn that thing,” I finally said.
“Dude! That’d be, like, sacrilegious. You’re not supposed to burn books.”
“You don’t even read.”
He held up the libro and flashed a smile. “I do now. I can’t wait to get to the part about me storming the Old World.”
“Whatever.” I turned to leave, but Hondo jumped in front of me, blocking the door.
“Brooks is still zonked out, if that’s where you’re headed, so just a warning to stay away. You know she sleeps like the dead and hates being woken up,” he said. “But I met the new girl.”
I tried not to look stunned as I stopped in my tracks and gazed down at Hondo. I mean, what was I expecting, that I’d bring Ren here and no one would notice her? I guess I just thought I could introduce her myself. “Right. Ren.”
“I was doing my morning training—”
“You mean yoga.”
Hondo blew a frustrated breath. “I mean training on the beach, and that’s when I saw her out on the playa, staring out at the sea like some sad ghost. Like she was waiting for someone.”
Yeah, like an army of shadow monsters, I thought. “Where is she now?”
“She went to town with your mom, to check things out.”
Ren was with Mom? I groaned. That meant Ren would tell her everything. It’s a gift my mom has—she can get the truth out of anyone. And once Mom found out Ren was a godborn, she’d ask a million questions, questions that might lead to her trying to keep me here. Believe me, her guilt trips were far more effective than any invisible wall.
“So, who is she?” Hondo asked.
It w
asn’t that I didn’t want to tell Hondo about Ren or even my plan to save my dad. But I’d learned from Brooks that knowledge can put people’s lives in danger.
“Uh—she got here last night. She…she’s just a girl.”
“Right.” His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Comrades don’t keep secrets from one another.”
I heard Mom’s footsteps coming down the hall. “Zane?” A second later, she barged into the room, knocking Hondo in the shoulder before he jumped out of the way. She had on a light blue shirt that was embroidered with yellow thread: MAYA JOURNEYS (that’s the super-original name Hondo gave our business, which had started out as a bike and surf shop and had recently expanded to include island tours). Her hair was tucked under her matching blue baseball cap. “Has anyone seen Rosie? I’ve got some raw chicken necks for her.”
“Haven’t seen her,” Hondo said.
Mom threw her hands on her hips. “Hondo, I thought you’d replaced the tram’s tires. We need the vehicle for a tour group from Canada today. Zane, you’re scheduled for this afternoon. Okay? And before you even ask, it’s not for windsurfing. It’s for an island expedition.”
Even though driving the big golf cart was fun, I hated giving tours. Mostly because I’d circled the twenty-six miles that was Isla Holbox a thousand million times. But never once had I taken tourists to the Beast. First, because they couldn’t see it if they wanted to (thanks to shadow magic), and second, it pretty much hid a gateway to hell, and I didn’t think our liability insurance would cover that.
Mom stared at Hondo like she was waiting for something. “The tires?”
“I’m on it,” Hondo said to Mom. Then he turned to me. “I almost forgot—Ms. Cab called. Said it was important.” Then, with a halfhearted salute, he said. “Later…comrade.”
After Hondo left, Mom turned back to me. “We need to talk. About Ren.”
I craned my neck down the hall. “Where is she?”
“I took her on a little walking tour around town. We started chatting—about last night.” She gave me the Mom look that said I know what you’re up to.
“Okay, but where is Ren now?” I asked, trying to avoid what Mom really wanted to talk about. “Did she go back to Brooks’s?”
The Fire Keeper Page 4
