I barely had time to blink before I found myself in a cage not tall enough to stand upright in, but at least I wasn’t tied up anymore. The smell of gasoline and old tires hit me first. Was this place an auto shop? I looked around the prison for any clue as to where I was. My cell was positioned above a row of twelve cages about six feet below me on the opposite wall. Their iron bars dripped with a thick substance that looked like honey and crawled with winged scorpion-like insects. On each of the cells’ barred doors there was a dark shield, hiding whoever was inside. I tried to adjust my eyes to the night, to see beyond the tinted glass, but it didn’t work.
Jordan and Bird appeared on a shallow ledge in front of my cell.
“How do you like your new home?” Jordan asked with a sick smile I wanted to wipe right off his face.
“You should be thankful. This is a lot better than where we spent the last seven months,” Bird said. “Which speaks to our generosity.” He pounded his fist on the cement above the cell door. “We built your cage special, to give you an unobstructed view. But it has its drawbacks. Like, don’t bother trying to use any of your godborn abilities to escape. Only our powers are effective here. So, unless you have a key, you’re stuck.”
A single light went on in one of the cells below, and I could see beyond the shield.
I jumped and my head smashed against the cement ceiling, sending a wicked pain down my neck and spine.
“Hondo!” I shouted, gripping the sticky bars.
The winged scorpions whipped their tails ferociously, stinging my skin. I jerked back. My hands seized with pain, then went cold and rigid, hanging off my wrists like ice bags.
“Oh, we forgot to mention, you probably shouldn’t touch the bars.” Jordan’s eyes hardened. “Paralysis, even temporary, is a terrible, terrible condition.”
“What did you do to him?” I stared wide-eyed at my uncle, slumped in his cell, staring straight ahead. Sweat beaded on his forehead. A bloody cut ran down the length of his forearm.
“We didn’t do anything,” Bird said. “No matter how many times we warned him, he shook the bars like a madman, screaming for Brooks and making all sorts of empty threats and…well, this is the consequence.”
“Hondo!” I screamed again.
“He can’t hear you,” Jordan said. “He can’t even see you through the shield.”
My heart shrank to the size of a walnut. Hondo hates small spaces. I could only imagine his panic. I had to fight the urge to reach through the magic-coated bars and rip off the twins’ heads.
The only problem was, my hands were still locked like claws and completely useless.
Another light came on in the cell next to Hondo’s. I wanted to look away, scared of what I was going to see, but I didn’t. A small, battered hawk hopped on one leg, holding a wing close to its body.
Brooks!
An intense rage gripped me so hard, fire burst from my eyes. The flames hit the magic-coated bars and ricocheted on me.
With a twisted laugh, Jordan said, “You can try to burn the place down with your flimsy fire skills, but no way are you strong enough to break through our magic. And that substance on the bars? One touch of flame, and hallucinogenic gas is emitted into the cells below.”
I watched in horror as Brooks shrank into a corner, pressing her beak into the wall to try to avoid the sickly green smoke infiltrating her cage. Hondo just lay there helplessly breathing in the poison.
“No!” I screamed.
Bird smiled as he watched the agony unfold all around him. “We really went to great lengths to build your prison uniquely for you.”
“You’re sick!” I said.
“And you’re doomed,” Bird said.
I struggled to find my breath and the words, but all that came out was “Wh-why?” My voice cut off in a swell of emotion.
“We told you,” he said. “We have a plan—a very big plan. And to think that your godborn-ness, the thing we despised you for, will be what gives rise to our new empire.” He let out a small laugh. “It’s so poetic, isn’t it, Jordan?”
“I will never help you!” I screamed. But that was a lie. I’d do anything to save Brooks or Hondo.
“You’re such an egotistical fool,” Bird spat. “We don’t need your help. Nor do we want it.”
Then why was I there? Just so they could torment me?
He straightened his sleeves, spun to leave, then turned back and looked me straight in the eye. “Have you ever heard what the ancient Maya did to the enemies they captured?”
I could barely look at this guy, never mind talk to him.
“Have you?” he demanded.
I kept my eyes on the floor.
He leaned closer and whispered, “They fed their hearts to the gods.”
Silence pressed in on the cold cage, and I stumbled back. “You…you want to sacrifice me to the Maya gods? For what? You think I’m some kind of prize? That they’ll forgive you or something?”
Bird gripped the bars. The scorpions fell dead to the ground instantly. “Such a small mind,” he said. “Why would we ever honor the Maya gods with your blood—or anyone’s? No, you’re even more valuable than that.”
Hondo used to tell me that learning what your enemy doesn’t want can be as valuable as learning what they do want. Now at least I knew they didn’t want me to fight for them and they didn’t want to feed me to the gods. Maybe they just wanted the thrill of murdering me in my sleep? Nah, they were the kind of guys who would want my eyes wide open while they stuck the dagger in my heart.
Jordan looked at his watch. “Time’s up. We can’t be late to your father’s execution.”
“What?!” I lunged, stopping inches from the bars. “No! The execution’s not until tomorrow.”
Bird’s eyes flashed with some kind of victory. “Seems you’ve lost time in our world. ‘Tomorrow’ is today.”
* * *
The twins hadn’t been gone two seconds, when the fire spread through my veins, hot and searing. Hate and panic and darkness and revenge were causing it to build up in me. My body went rigid with pain. I tried to push the fire down, to swallow it whole. But it pulsed and thrashed and raced inside.
The air felt thick and charged. Sweat trickled down my neck. Tears stung my eyes. All my senses shrank down to this: the living fire wanted out.
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
I squeezed my eyes shut, digging the heels of my palms against my temple. Spikes of fear pounded into my heart.
And then Ah-Puch’s words found me: Do not try to control the fire…. Surrender to it.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t a good idea to take advice from the god of death, but if I didn’t do something fast, I knew the fire would consume me.
I heard another spark of a memory, a distant voice—Hurakan’s. That day in the Empty he had said, The fire will destroy you if you don’t release its power.
But what about Brooks and Hondo? They’d get poisoned by the gas….
Regardless of my doubts, the heat and power ripped through me, fast and furious like a bullet. My eyes blazed, coloring the world bloodred. Smoke trailed from my nose and mouth. Turning away from the bars, I took a deep breath and pressed my hands into the back wall.
Then, with everything I had, I screamed and let the fire out.
Blue flames engulfed me, creating a spinning inferno with me in the center, and the harder I tried to shrink away, the tighter it squeezed. When I breathed, the fire breathed. When I moved, the fire moved.
I let it burn. Man, did I let it burn. I watched in awe as the blue fire (the hottest part of a flame) spread. The concrete around my prison cell melted, running like colorless lava. I let the fire rage and quickly realized that a magical thread connected my walls to all the others. Carefully, I drew the flame’s energy back, tamping it down until it liquefied into pools of blue at my feet and seeped into the ground with a hissing gurgle.
Out of breath and exhausted, I found myself in a weed-choked wrecking yard. There were ten-foo
t-high stacks of rusted cars, heaps of old tires, and piles of scrap metal everywhere. No wonder the prison had smelled like rubber and gas.
A swollen moon floated over the dark woods that outlined the yard. The lifeless trees were angled all wrong and had sharp, grasping claws.
I blinked in astonishment. I had obliterated the twins’ imagined world. And that’s when I knew: I had finally become one with the fire. But what did it matter? I was still locked up behind the magic bars that hadn’t melted. So was everyone else.
My eyes quickly found Brooks the hawk, shivering in her cell near a corroded van balanced on cinder blocks. Hondo was laid out flat in his enclosure, unmoving. The godborns’ cages were scattered across the yard. I didn’t understand it. They had been free before, part of the twins’ army. Why lock them up now? The cells’ shields were gone, and for the first time, I wished I couldn’t see through the dark. Each of the godborns was staring up at the sky with their mouth open. Except for that Marco dude. He was on his knees, reaching for a screwdriver on the ground outside of his cage.
I followed their gazes.
The moon cast enough light for everyone to be able to see hundreds of bats clustered together, hanging from a green wrecking crane, their heads tucked beneath their shiny black wings.
They looked just like the vile little creatures that had tried to kill us back in Cabo. And in the center of them all was a dark bulging shape, a mega bat at least ten feet tall, suspended by its claws, swinging gently in the breeze. Its rubbery wings were wrapped tightly around its swollen body. And its head? Human…ish. The face had a creepy masklike look—grayish skin pulled too tight like overcooked chicken. The eyes were closed.
Camazotz. And here I’d thought the demon runners were repulsive.
I had just melted the twins’ stage set, and these bats were snoozing away like they were hibernating. Could we be so lucky?
As much as I wanted to call out to my uncle, to Brooks, and to the godborns, I couldn’t risk waking up King Batman.
Marco caught my eye. He was clutching his screwdriver like a knife and jabbing it in the air, pointing at the bats.
Wait a second. Why would he want to kill the bats? Wasn’t he on the twins’ side? Hadn’t he morphed his face to look like Brooks just to throw me off guard?
I shook my head and held my finger to my lips in a be-quiet gesture.
He frowned and stuck the tool into the keyhole, making the metal clang. He stilled immediately.
We all glanced up. The bats didn’t stir.
Serena drew her hands to her mouth and quickly extended them out, fingers spread, like she was miming breathe fire, or maybe it was I’m going to vomit. The others followed her lead, and before I knew it, all the godborns were sweeping their hands in the air, clutching their throats, fake-dying, and desperately pointing at the creatures.
I leaned closer to the redheaded girl in the cage next to mine and whispered, “How could you ally yourself with the twins?”
She jerked backward and gave me a what-the-Xib’alb’a-are-you-talking-about? look. “We’re prisoners.”
“Really?” I said in a sarcastic voice so low I wasn’t sure she would hear me. “Because that Marco guy changed his face, and Serena over there tried to kill me with a snake, and…” I looked around for Louie. His cage was right next to mine on the other side. He stood in the corner and kicked the dirt mindlessly. “He made it rain.”
“What are you talking about?” The girl looked at the others, confused. “We’ve been stuck in these cages.”
Was she telling the truth? Had Jordan and Bird used clones to trick me into believing the godborns were against me? Was everything I’d seen just another sick little magic show they had made up?
I thought I’d been afraid earlier. But that was nothing compared to the cold terror pressing on my bones now. And not because of the very likely possibility I might get eaten by a giant bat with a human face, but because people were depending on me. I’d been so confident I could do this, sure I could save my dad and the godborns. They were all looking at me expectantly, like Are you listening? You’re the guy who got us into this mess, so get us out. Only problem was, I had no idea how. I’d melted the prison walls, but I still couldn’t melt these blasted bars. The twins hadn’t lied about one thing: no Maya powers were going to unlock these cages.
As I was racking my brain over how we were going to escape the bat-god-guarded junkyard and get to the execution before my dad’s head rolled, the air rippled about ten feet away from me. And there, next to a taxi with a busted-out windshield, a gateway opened, and out stepped the most unlikely allies: Ren, Ah-Puch, and my faithful hellhound.
I nearly shouted Ren’s name but stopped myself just in time. Thankfully, her eyes found mine. I pointed at wannabe Batman with one hand, and with the other, I pressed my finger to my lips.
Everyone’s gaze floated up. Ren’s eyes widened. Rosie started to growl, but Ren petted her flank and whispered something, quieting her.
Do NOT wake him, she mouthed to me.
Ya think? I mouthed back.
The trio navigated the metal minefield stealthily, trying to avoid kicking hubcaps, carburetors, or any other metal junk that would make a noise.
Ah-Puch looked frail and weathered, like he could blow away on a light gust.
Once they got to my cage, the god of death whispered, “You’re a lot more trouble than you’re worth.”
I gripped their shoulders.
My telepathic voice was a rush of panic that to me sounded like coherent sentences but probably came out more like Brooks…Hondo…evil twins…godborns…trap…execution. Hurry!
Ah-Puch’s jaw clenched.
The hero twins? Ren looked at the other cages and a tortured look passed over her face. Zane, we need to—
A tall girl with short brown hair, a face full of freckles, and a fuzzy pink sweater sneezed.
We all froze. The crane screeched as it moved slightly in the wind.
Ren looked at Ah-Puch. His bald head was bent to one side and his shoulders sagged like he had no bones to hold him up. Do you have enough strength to open these cages? Ren asked him with a note of sadness, and urgency.
He can’t help, I said before the god of death could answer. The twins put a no-Maya-magic security system on the cages. I…I melted their pretend world, but I couldn’t destroy the cage.
Their ridiculous magic can’t stop me, Ah-Puch said. Even his thoughts sounded raspy. I am a god.
A dying god, I thought to myself. How had he gotten so weak so quickly?
As if Ren had read my mind, she said, He used a lot of energy finding you through the jade and then opening a gateway.
I put a protective hand on the pendant around my neck and looked at Ah-Puch. But, before, you said you couldn’t—
Ren did the heavy lifting, he said.
Threads of shame and anger tightened inside of me. If I hadn’t fallen for the hawk-feather trap, he would still have enough strength to keep his end of the deal. Thank you, I said, two words I never expected to say to the god of death. Now hurry. I have to get to the execution!
Ah-Puch took a wheezing breath. This pathetic body is too drained to unlock the cages. He stared at me, and I knew what he wanted. The jade.
No way, I said. Not until the godborns are free and my dad…You know the deal.
Deals change.
I can do it, Ren said.
I just told you, no Maya magic.
I don’t need Maya magic. I’ve got Mexica magic.
Oh.
Yessss! I was pretty sure this was what Ah-Puch had meant by Do the unexpected. Ha! Looked like Jordan and Bird hadn’t thought of everything.
Ren clenched her fists and closed her eyes. Nothing happened. I was about to nudge her, when a small moon shadow peeled itself off a dented car hood. The sombra drifted across the yard, turning in slow circles. A puff of wind blew across the space. The crane swayed, and metal grinded against metal.
Screeech.
>
Zotz stretched his neck. We all froze. A fat piece of drool dribbled from his mouth. My heart pounded like a jackhammer as the monster settled back into his slumber.
Ren’s shadow, a round blob, floated in front of my cage, slowly taking the shape of…a bumblebee?
“Ren?” I whispered.
She opened her eyes. KEY, not BEE!
The shadow bee zipped into my cage, where it landed on my head. I gripped her arm.
Come on, Ren. We have to hurry. Focus.
I am focused!
Use some of my powers, like we did on the roof in Cabo.
But you said no Maya magic.
My power isn’t going to open the lock—it’s going to increase your power. Get it?
Okay, she said, closing her eyes again. I felt the power channeling between us like a rush of fire speeding through my blood. Goose bumps appeared on Ren’s arms, and the bee flew back to her, circled her head, and took the shape of a large skeleton key, too large to open the…
The sombra drifted into the keyhole. The bars shook. I held my breath.
Ka-click.
The door opened, and I rushed out, breaking my connection with Ren. She stared down at her hands in fascination and then gave me a confident nod that she had enough power left over to unlock the other cells.
Ah-Puch’s legs buckled. My arms shot out to catch him before he collapsed. “I can walk…” he whispered. His voice trailed off into a sputtering cough.
Crap! Did he really have to cough up a lung now? He seriously had the worst timing.
One by one, the godborns tumbled out of their prisons looking shell-shocked. I understood—I mean, this was a lot to take, and who knows what had happened to them after they were abducted.
Brooks’s and Hondo’s cages were the last to be unlocked.
I started toward them, when Ah-Puch grabbed hold of my arm. Do not be fooled by anything you see here, he said. The twins’ mother, Ixkik’, is the master of deception, so it’s in their blood. He glanced up at creepy bat dude. Except him. He’s very real.
Just then, a hubcap went whizzing through the air, directly toward Zotz. Miraculously, it landed soundlessly on a soft piece of dirt.
The Fire Keeper Page 26
