Rosie was in warrior stance, her burning eyes never leaving Ah-Puch.
Feeling bolder, I said, “Well, if you came for revenge…”
“Revenge?” He let out a sputtering chuckle. “Oh, no, Zane. I came for your help.”
It took me a long second to process that. “You want my help?” Clearly, his brain had been fried to a finger-licking crisp.
I know you’re wondering about the gateway that was going to close any minute—so was I. But what was I supposed to do, tackle the god of death? Leave Ren to defend herself alone? I was in shock, and no one thinks clearly under that kind of stress.
He held up a withered hand in surrender. “Hear me out. You recently went to the Empty.”
I didn’t confirm or deny it, figuring I owed him nada.
“And I heard you and Hurakan. There are other godborns?” He shook his head. “What has the world come to? But that is not my concern. My only concern is me. You fought and beat the god of death. An impossible feat. And now, quite ironically, you are the only one who can restore me to my full strength and glory. So I’ve come for your help. To save my life.”
“Are you borracho? I’d never help you! You can rot in that inferno.”
“I can feel your father weakening. I heard him tell you that it was too late for him. Believe me, those were the words of a god on the verge of dying. Soon the Empty will be destroyed, and I will be free anyway,” he said.
My heart seized. “He’s not going to be executed, because—”I stopped myself, realizing my mistake too late.
“So the gods are making an example of him after all.”
Crap! Why had I said anything? “The gods will never let you go free, even if the Empty is destroyed.”
“You’re smart, Zane. I like that about you. You must get it from your mother’s side. Is all well with her?”
Rosie snarled. Froth dripped from her fangs.
This cordial Ah-Puch was definitely not the one I’d battled and defeated. “That’s none of your business.”
Ah-Puch squatted, then collapsed into a slumped-seated position. “If you help me, then I will help you,” he said weakly. “It’s why I called you to the Empty. But you were so busy with Hurakan, I couldn’t get your attention.”
“You called me there?”
“It appears, when you dragged me there using your little magic jade charm, a connection was created between us. It took me a while to figure it out. Sometimes, when the flames were ripping through me, I’d get a flash of your life. An island. The sea. Salsa. The girl. Ah…such emotion. Your life…that’s what’s kept me going all these months.”
I thought my head was going to explode. “You’ve been spying on me?”
“It’s not like I had anything else to do! And sadly, your pathetic human life was the only glimpse of hope I had.” He managed a trembling smile. “And then hope surged when you appeared in the underworld, my kingdom—”
“Ixtab’s kingdom.”
“Fine. How is she, by the way? Never mind, I don’t really care. She can have the burden of that wretched place.” He coughed. “The point is that I was able to call to you once you were in Xib’alb’a, and now? You made finding you even easier once you died. Figuratively speaking.”
That’s the thing about Maya magic: there are always a cause and effect you never see coming.
“Well, you can go back to the Empty and rot.”
Ah-Puch licked his dry lips and winced like he was in pain. Okay, I know this is going to sound loco, but I really did feel sorry for the guy. I mean, if I didn’t know this was old Puke Face, I’d have thought he was someone’s nice old gramps with one leg in the grave asking for his last bite of a bolillo and caldo.
I drew closer. Rosie was right by my side, still foaming at the mouth like she was ready to eat the god of death as a snack. I mean, he couldn’t have weighed more than one hundred pounds.
“I…can…take you”—Ah-Puch’s voice was barely a whisper—“to…the Fire Keeper.”
So, he really had heard everything Hurakan and I had said. I suddenly remembered Ren was sitting a few feet away and could hear everything, too, but it’s not like I could tell her not to listen or ask Ah-Puch to step inside the church so we could have a private conversation. The last thing I wanted to do was draw his attention to her.
I shook my head. “I don’t need your help. Besides, no one knows where the Fire Keeper is.”
Isn’t that what the Red Queen had said? Thanks to her clue, I’d narrowed it down to Cabo San Lucas. Except by now the gateway at the bus station had closed. I felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest and I couldn’t breathe.
“Except the Red Queen, right?” Ah-Puch went on. “So good to hear her voice again. Not really, but I’m trying to be polite.” He took a shaky breath.
So he’d heard us in the tomb, too? Geez! “Yeah, well, you were king, like, four hundred years ago, and this is the new fire keeper. You’re not exactly in the know anymore.”
“I am at my best wherever there is death, and it seems you have plenty on your hands. And let’s not forget, as the rightful king of Xib’alb’a, I know more secrets than you could ever imagine.” Ah-Puch leaned back and closed his eyes. “You think the deceased no longer speak to their king?” He shivered. “The hourglass is running out. I’m the only one who can get you where you need to go. Shall we talk terms?”
“Like last time?” The memory of his betrayal made my insides boil. “When you promised to save Brooks and Rosie and you only saved Brooks?”
“I did save Rosie. Look at her. She’s a magnificent creature.”
“Ixtab saved her!”
Ah-Puch hooked his thumbs in his belt loops and gave his loose pants a tug. “Who do you think got her noticed at Intake, Zane? Me, that’s who! But let’s put that aside. In less than three minutes, this shell of a body will stop breathing. This opportunity will be lost, and you will never get to the Fire Keeper in time. And before you ask, yes, I heard pieces of your little talk with Ixtab down under. I know your death magic is only good for three days. During my reign, it lasted much longer, but who’s counting?” He sneered. “Let me help you,” he said. “I am a powerful ally—okay, not in this form, but I can help you. I’ll even let you set the terms.” He dropped to the ground and began to shiver.
“Zane, you can’t just watch him die.” I spun to find Ren standing behind me. Her shadows were gone, and she was completely visible. Rosie lifted her chin, knocking me in my shoulder like she was actually agreeing with Ren. “He didn’t save you!” I told my dog. But what if he had? What if he really had kept his promise? “Ren, you have no idea what he is. Who he is.”
“I read the book, remember?” she said with a huff. “Maybe he’s changed after being stuck in fire for months.” She went over and kneeled next to him. “You did terrible things,” she said to the god of death, gently taking his hand. “You were evil. Prove to me we can trust you.”
As they communicated telepathically, Ah-Puch’s eyes fluttered and his breathing was labored. Then a spark of recognition flashed across his face like he suddenly realized who Ren was. Could he sense she was a godborn? Did he know who her mom might be? Whatever it was, he managed a weak smile, and I couldn’t tell if it was pleasant or evil.
Ren looked up at me. “Who’s the Fire Keeper?”
I glared at Ah-Puch. “So much for keeping secrets.”
His breathing grew shallower. He coughed into his hand, streaking blood across his palm. “I can get you there in a matter of minutes, saving you precious time.”
“Zane?” Ren looked up at me, her eyes pleading with me to do something to stop his suffering.
“If the Empty is going to die, why not just wait it out there?” I asked Ah-Puch, challenging his motivations.
“I always play my odds with great precision,” he sputtered. “There is an infinitesimal chance your father will survive, and where…” He winced, sucked in a sharp breath, then continued. “Where would that leave me?
”
Spinning in a blazing vortex where you belong, I thought.
Ren tugged on my sleeve. “Zane, please. Look at him.”
What if Ah-Puch could help me? And if I could set the terms myself, then maybe I could reduce the risk. At that moment, I didn’t have a whole lot of viable choices. “If—and it’s a big if—if I said yes, then how could I make you better?” I asked hesitantly. “And don’t tell me with blood, because you’re not getting any.”
“Many ways. The jade…for instance.”
“No way!”
Ah-Puch was too frail to put up a fight. “Then the maize you carry from the underworld. I can smell it.”
“You think I’d waste that on you? That’s to open the gateway back to Xib’alb’a.”
“If you give me just an ounce of strength, I can open any gateway you want….” His voice trailed off in a coughing fit, and I swear the guy was going to hack up a lung all over Ren’s red boots. “Small daily doses,” he said. “The risk is minimal, Zane, and if at the end of it all I fail…” He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw. “Then you do not have to restore me. But if we succeed, then you…must be…the one to…make me whole again.”
“Because I ended you?”
His eyes met mine. “Because you have the oldest, most powerful magic in the universe hanging from your neck.”
The jade. The one thing with the power to give anything I asked for, but only if it was for someone else.
“See?” Ren said. “You only need to heal him enough to help you…us.”
I hated to burst her bubble, but there was no us.
Ah-Puch began to fade from sight. We were running out of time and I had to choose.
I know what you’re thinking: Didn’t you learn from last time? This is the god of death! Let him rot.
Except there was no other gateway opening anytime soon.
My heart was jamming to the beat of a really bad rap song as I squatted next to the god of death. The guy smelled like rotten chunks of cow liver. “Here’s the deal,” I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking, because you have to look muy fuerte when you’re negotiating with a god. “You get me to the Fire Keeper today. Then you have to serve me as long as I need you. Until I let you go.” Hey, if I was going to make a deal with the god of death, it was going to be for everything, and if things didn’t pan out at the Fire Keeper’s, I for sure would need some godly help.
“You won’t hurt anyone,” I added, “kill anyone, or devour anyone. You won’t try and take back your kingdom from Ixtab, start any wars, or hurt the godborns or me. You will listen to everything I say, and at the end of the quest, if we succeed in all of the above, I will…” I hesitated, glancing at Ren. She tipped her head in agreement. With a deep and not-so-confident breath, I finished it. “I, Zane Obispo, will give you back your full strength.”
Ah-Puch extended his withered hand. “I agree to your terms, godborn.”
It only took three tiny bits of the maize kernel to get Ah-Puch standing upright. And two more to add a few more hairs to his head and stop his coughing. “You expect me to open a gateway with five measly crumbs?” he complained.
“Pretty much.” I stuffed the kernel back in my pocket and turned to Ren. “I’m sorry, but you can’t come with me. The Red Queen was super clear. She said if I took anyone, the journey would be filled with misfortunes and you could be cursed.”
“Technically”—Ah-Puch raised a finger, smacking his skinny dry lips—“that doesn’t include a god, or anyone with the blood of a god. Soooo…”
I shot him a don’t-make-me-regret-this glare. I knew he was right, but he didn’t have to tell Ren that. There was no reason to have her hanging out with Puke Face if she didn’t have to.
“I’m coming with you,” Ren said. I started to argue, but she added, “You’re going to need me, Zane.”
“You’ll definitely need her,” Ah-Puch said. “Trust me.”
“I’ll never trust you,” I growled.
Ah-Puch smiled, showing a mouthful of twisted gray teeth. “You already have.”
I really hated this version of him. “We have a deal,” I said. “And that includes listening to me, so can you callarte for a whole second?”
Ah-Puch shrugged, inspecting his ragged nails while whistling a stupid tune.
“That includes whistling,” I said.
Cupping a hand over his ear, he said, “Bad ears. What was that?”
Ren folded her arms. “Zane, you’re not the big boss here, and I can help you with him.” She lowered her voice. “Trust me.”
The way she said trust told me she had a lot more to tell me about her magic. “Ren, I…”
Ren jammed her thumb in Ah-Puch’s direction. “Unless you’d rather only have Mr. Hard-of-Hearing God of Death for company.”
Rosie grumbled. “Sorry, girl. I know what good company you are.” Ren scratched the hellhound’s thick neck.
Okay, Ren had a point. I didn’t want to think about doing all this with Puke Face as my only source of companionship. Plus, I wanted Ren to finish telling me whatever the awful thing was about her dad’s side of the family. What was so dangerous about their blood that the gods wanted to murder them for it?
Turning to Ah-Puch, I ordered, “Open the gateway and take us to the Fire Keeper at Land’s End—in Cabo San Lucas.” I figured I had to be specific or risk getting sent to England. Or worse, stuck between the pages of a clothing catalog.
“Cabo what?” he asked, cupping his ear.
Running low on patience, I repeated myself, louder this time.
“You don’t have to shout.” Ah-Puch sighed. “I’m not your personal genie, you know.” He raised a finger and slowly traced the shape of a large square.
Nothing happened.
The sun was beginning to creep into the sky.
“Where is it?” I asked impatiently. Brooks was probably waking up about now, and that meant she’d find the note in a matter of minutes. I hoped she and Hondo wouldn’t freak when they learned Ren was gone, too. But it was all for the best.
My mind spun down a road paved with good excuses for leaving Brooks behind: I wouldn’t have to feel guilty every time I looked at her because I was keeping another secret. She’d no longer be in physical danger or at risk of being placed under an awful curse. She’d never have to know I made a deal with Ah-Puch. There was another benefit, too, as much as I hated to admit it: I wouldn’t have to listen to any more of her fatalism. I may even have been a little relieved to be away from Brooks’s constant planning and overthinking.
Ah-Puch’s voice jerked me back to the task at hand. “I must be too weak,” he said, rubbing his bony chin.
“You’re lying.” Man, I wished I had made no lies one of my terms.
Ren patted Ah-Puch’s arm. “Can you try again?” It was probably easier for her to be nice to him because reading about someone’s evil isn’t the same as living through someone’s evil.
“Maybe a little more maize would help,” he said.
“You’ve had enough,” I said.
He jiggled a finger in his right ear. “Can you repeat?”
“I said, you’ve had enough!” I practically shouted.
“One more morsel isn’t going to restore my full powers. We have a deal. Only you can make me whole again. Believe me, godborn, I’m not about to ruin my chances.”
Reluctantly, I fished the kernel out of my pocket and scraped off another bit before handing it to Ah-Puch, who touched it to his mouth. Color rose in his cheeks. When he traced with his finger this time, the air crackled and sparked as a gateway opened and expanded big enough for us to step through. I expected to be able to see what was on the other side, but it was like trying to get a glimpse of the sky from fifty feet under the ocean.
“Could be a bumpy landing,” Ah-Puch said. “We better hold hands.”
“What do you mean, bumpy?” Ren asked.
“Better hurry,” Ah-Puch said. “Gate’s going to close.”
Just as we connected our hands (which I totally didn’t want to do with Ah-Puch, but I was the unlucky one in the middle) and were about to go through the gateway, I heard Brooks call my name. I looked over my shoulder and saw her about twenty feet away. She took a step toward me, then froze as her gaze fixed on Ah-Puch. I could tell she recognized him. She gasped as her eyes drifted to our linked hands. Everything happened so fast I can’t be sure which came first: the confusion in her expression, the sting of betrayal in her blazing gold eyes, or the punch to my heart.
“Gate’s closing,” Ah-Puch hummed.
Rosie sniffed the edge of the gateway as Ren squeezed my hand. We have to go, she said.
Brooks shouted, “Zane!”
I wasn’t even thinking when I tried to release Ah-Puch’s hand and make a beeline for Brooks. All I wanted to do was make her feel better, make her understand. Make her not hate me. But I never got the chance, because Ah-Puch jerked me into the gateway.
* * *
Just for the record, I want to tell you that there are different kinds of misery. Like getting your nose busted by the school bully, or being stuffed in a toilet during gym. Then there’s the misery of hurting a best friend so much it rips out your own heart. Yeah, that’s what I was feeling as we stumbled onto a wide pathway at the edge of a sparkling marina.
Dozens of white boats were docked there, rocking gently in the water to our left. To our right was a row of restaurants, each packed with tourists relaxing on the half-shaded patios. The salty air was warm and dry with the lingering scent of grilled fish and garlic.
I shoved Ah-Puch in the shoulder. “You didn’t let me say good-bye!”
“She’ll forgive you,” Ah-Puch said, looking around. “Maybe.”
He didn’t know Brooks. Maybe she’d understand me leaving without saying good-bye. Quinn might be able to smooth it over. But she’d never understand me leaving with the god of death.
Ren patted my arm. “Zane, you have to stay focused.”
“But…” I felt my insides slowly collapsing. Rosie grunted a trail of smoke like she was telling me Ren was right. Thinking about Brooks hating me wasn’t going to help me stay clear-headed.
The Fire Keeper Page 19
