The world stopped.
Chest heaving, Marco stood outside his cage, scowling at the bat with a madman’s eyes. He picked up a hammer next and hurled it at the sleeping monster. I wanted to lunge for him, but it was too late.
The hammer fell short and smashed into a windshield.
Craccckkk.
Everyone froze. Marco stared at the destruction like he couldn’t believe what he’d done.
Zotz opened his eyes. He stretched his wings. His hairy little minions took flight simultaneously, creating a shadow big enough to blot out the moon.
“Rosie!” I shouted. “Get to Hondo!” She took off to his now opened cell, where I knew she would use her healing saliva to restore him to a 100 percent lean, mean fighting warrior.
I hurried toward Brooks’s cage, but my limp slowed me down. More than ever I missed Fuego, but I could do this. I concentrated on my storm runner leg, willing its power to carry me faster.
Brooks was pressed into the corner. The second she saw me, she began to screech and flap her wings crazily.
“Seriously?” I said. “I don’t think this is the time to chew me out.”
Her eyes flashed yellow, and I guessed she couldn’t shift back to human because her magic was still weak. My heart sank as I realized the twisted truth. My dad’s blood hadn’t been enough to help the sobrenaturals. I really had destroyed Fuego for nothing.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of limbs, claws, and shining teeth. A dark laugh filled the air, followed by a sickening chorus of bat screeches.
I dropped to my knees, soldier-crawled across the dirt, and scooped Brooks into my arms. She thrashed, driving her beak and claws into my wrists, hands, and neck.
Rosie released a chilling wail. A pile of cars came crashing down, metal grinding on metal. Screams and shouts rose into the chaos.
“Zane!” Hondo hollered from somewhere. I glanced over to see him herding the godborns together.
We needed a gateway and fast.
“Ah-Puch!” I shouted, getting to my feet. “We have to get out of here!”
The voice was sudden, dark, and terrifying. “You’re not going anywhere.”
We all watched in horror as the bat dude made a sweeping arc and landed right in front of us, standing at least four feet taller than me. He rubbed his hands together as he spread his wannabe Batman wings. On their undersides were tiny fanged mouths opening and closing like piranhas, hissing words I couldn’t make out. His bat army circled overhead as though they were waiting for his command to drain every ounce of our blood.
My stomach turned as I pressed the godborns, now huddled behind me, back. Hondo took Brooks from me and joined the crowd. Rosie followed, no doubt to heal Brooks’s wing.
“Who is rattling the cages?” the bat said in a deep gravelly voice. Was he really trying to sound like Christian Bale from The Dark Knight?
A cold feeling spread through me. I didn’t like the looks of this guy. I’d fought monsters before, but there was something extra cruel and savage about this one. Something predatory, like he’d kill just for the sport of it. Or because someone dared him to. So, what do you say to a monster like that?
“Er…sorry,” I said. “We were just leaving.”
He smiled, showing a row of glistening fangs. “You didn’t hear me. No one is leaving. But I do enjoy a good hunt if you want to run.”
“Camazotz.” Ah-Puch’s voice crept up behind me.
“Ah-Puch, old friend.”
Old friend?
“I was wondering if my offering in Cabo would be enough to lure you here,” Camazotz said. “By the looks of you, maybe I should have sent more.”
All the air went out of me. This guy was lying. Ah-Puch couldn’t be helping him, could he? “You sent those bats?” I asked. “They tried to kill us.”
“They get a little carried away sometimes.” The giant bat shrugged. “But they weren’t there for you. They were for my comrade here,” Camazotz said. “You looked pretty weak, Ah-Puch. And how I pitied you for having to babysit these kids.” His sickly green eyes met mine.
“Your bats tried to abduct me!” Ren growled.
“Call it a dual mission. Snatch you and fortify my friend.”
“You sensed my presence. Good.” Ah-Puch kept his steely gaze on Camazotz. “The bats were delicious. But as you can see, I need something more.”
“What’s he talking about, A.P.?” Ren asked as Rosie stepped to my side.
My muscles tensed.
“Oh, he didn’t tell you?” Camazotz said to Ren with a gleeful stupid smile. “We have a long history from our time hanging out in Xib’alb’a. Well, I did most of the hanging. Ha. Get it? Ah, so many late-night parties when he was the king and hell was wretched. Now it’s gone soft and vegan and…” He sighed. “What matters is that I had to make sure he got you here safely, Zane. You kept taking annoying little detours and that made me nervous, so I sent blood. Because blood is always the answer.”
My head broke through the earth’s atmosphere and was going to burn up in three…two…one.
Ren gasped. “Ah-Puch would never work with you!”
Camazotz tucked his wings to his side. His bats swooped into the trees, where their eyes glowed in the waiting shadows. “Let’s get these monsters back in their cages, Ah-Puch, and then we can talk terms.”
“Talk is cheap, old friend,” Ah-Puch said. “Show me my prize.”
“Quit calling him friend,” I blurted out.
Hondo growled, “A snake is always a snake.”
Ignoring my uncle (and maybe the terrible truth), Ren tugged on Ah-Puch’s sleeve. “Don’t let the bat bully you, A.P.”
Ah-Puch inched toward his “old friend.” “Don’t be fools, Ren and Zane,” he said. “The second those bats arrived in Cabo, I knew I had a real chance at freedom and could finally be done with both of you.”
“No!” Ren’s eyes filled with tears. “After everything…I…we helped you and—”Her voice cut off in a choked sob.
Ah-Puch’s face tightened with impatience. “Did you really think we stood a chance to save these wretched godborns and Hurakan?” he said. “I knew it was a doomed effort from the start, so when you told me bats had come for you, Ren, I put two and two together. But it wasn’t until Zotz’s blood gift made its way to me that I was sure of what I had to do.” He looked down at his weathered hands. “Don’t you see? This is about me, and I always choose the winning team.”
Searing heat gripped my bones. “Then you can rot in your inferno! I’ll never save you now. Never.”
Camazotz smiled as Ah-Puch kneeled in front of him, his head bent like some kind of beggar. “I humbly ask to join your cause, and I commit my loyalty and service for all eternity.”
“A.P.!” Ren screamed.
“You delivered my second most valuable asset,” Zotz said to Ah-Puch. “So, I accept your offer. I need a brilliant godly mind to help keep those insufferable and impetuous twins in line. And their mother?” He sighed. “Don’t even get me started on her demands. Now we can be kings together. I grant your request to trade your bones for glory.”
“No!” I shouted at Camazotz. “Only I can give him back his power.” Did he say “second most valuable asset”? What was the first?
Ah-Puch’s face was so tense I thought it might crack if he so much as flinched. “There is going to be a new world order, Zane,” he said, getting to his feet weakly. “And the blood sacrifices made will be great enough to raise me from the inferno. Don’t you see? I don’t need you anymore.”
One of the godborns muttered, “Why did you ever trust this guy?”
Rosie growled and released a firestorm at the huge bat. Camazotz threw his wings up, instantly extinguishing the fire. “Tell your dog to settle down,” he said to me. “Does she not know who I am, what I am capable of? I am the great bat god. I am the night.”
Oh, geez. Now he was quoting Batman?
Hondo shifted his feet into a warrior stance, wh
ite-knuckling the crowbar now in his hands. Where was Brooks? Had he hidden her somewhere? Had she flown away? “Aren’t you gods sick of wanting to end the world?” he asked. “Like, come on, dudes. Come up with a more original plan already.”
“Who said anything about ending the world?” Camazotz asked. “Been there, done that. So boring and unimaginative. Now, be good little thugs and get back into your cages. Or do we have to drag you kicking and screaming?”
“If you don’t want to end the world, then what do you want?” I asked. It wasn’t to make me their soldier, and it wasn’t to sacrifice me to the Maya gods…. I thought about what the twins had said, Why would we ever honor the Maya gods with your blood or anyone’s? No, you’re even more valuable than that.
Ren leaned against me, trembling. He isn’t going to let us go, she said. We have to fight this monster.
Monster. The way the word bounced off my mind reminded me of something Ah-Puch had said back at the Beast when he told us about Ahuitzotl. So, someone found a way to bring back the monsters….The plan unfolded in my mind and it began to make perfect, sick sense. I get it! I communicated to Ren. Jordan and Bird want revenge, a new order that they can rule over.
We already know that, Ren said.
They want to bring back the monsters.
Ren gasped, squeezing my hand so tight I was sure the blood stopped flowing. Not just the monsters, Zane.
My stomach writhed as the realization hit me. You’re right! The twins told me they would never waste my blood or anyone’s on the Maya gods but…crap!
If the blood sacrifice is enough to raise Ah-Puch, then…
Ren dropped my hand and blurted to Zotz, “You want to sacrifice us to wake up the Mexica gods?”
Camazotz raised an eyebrow and laughed, which sounded more like he was gargling acid.
“Your blood is valuable,” Camazotz said to Ren, “but it isn’t that valuable. Or at least not enough to set off our chain reaction. You see, first we need to awaken a Mexica god of our choosing. Then…” He frowned. “You…none of you little thugs are enough.”
I bet they wanted to wake up that earth goddess Ixtab told me about. The devourer who still had followers. What was her name? Tlaltecuhtli.
Then another thought occurred to me. If we weren’t enough to awaken a Mexica goddess, who…?
The shock nearly toppled me over. “But the blood of a god is enough,” I said. Hurakan’s execution wasn’t an execution at all—it was a sacrifice to raise the first Mexica god!
Camazotz tilted his head and studied me. I couldn’t even look at Ah-Puch, but I could feel his eyes burning a hole in my chest. I stepped closer to the giant bat. Rosie was right behind me, dripping puddles of foam into the dirt. “If we’re going to die,” I said, “at least tell us what our deaths are for, what they mean.”
“First the father’s blood,” Ah-Puch said. “Then the next-best thing: his claimed son’s.”
“Ah-Puch…” Camazotz’s tone was one of warning.
“The boy should know what his sacrifice is for,” Ah-Puch said. “Once we awaken the greatest of the Mexica deities, something only the blood of another god can do, we will use your heart, Zane, to feed and strengthen her. Only then can we begin the ritual to rouse the others.” His cowardly eyes roved over the godborns. “And a newly risen army of gods and monsters nourished on the blood of innocents is more powerful than you can possibly imagine.”
Gasps and sobs sounded behind me.
“But why?” Ren cried.
Camazotz didn’t hesitate. “I will never be powerless again. I will be the new king, and the Maya gods will know my fury.”
The tips of my fingers ignited into blue flames. Streaks of red colored my vision as I glared at Ah-Puch. “I knew I could never trust you.”
“Then why did you?”
“Just for fun,” the bat god interrupted, “why don’t I give you all a demonstration of the power of sangre?” Camazotz spread his wings again, showing the hungry mouths. Three mouse-size bats slithered out of one of the mouths. Ah-Puch grabbed them in one hand, snapped their necks, and turned his back to us as he drank their blood.
A few groans and moans echoed across the junkyard. Someone barfed behind me. Ah-Puch turned slowly. Like before, he stood taller and stronger. His eyes flashed silver, zeroing in on Rosie. But he still wasn’t a full god. Not yet.
“I’d rather die fighting,” Hondo said in a low voice to me.
“Me too,” one of the godborns said. Another voice rose up, then another and another.
“Fight.”
“Fight.”
“Fight.”
“Come now.” Camazotz shook his head. “You cannot win. If you resist, we will hurt you. Bones can be broken without bringing about death. Without precious blood being spilled. You will suffer in your cages, broken and beaten, until the time comes to feed your hearts to the gods. Is that what you want?”
My gut clenched. So this was the end. It had all come down to this terrible moment. I glanced at Hondo. He blinked and tipped his head down. If he could speak to me telepathically, I knew he would be saying, Give Batman a smackdown he’ll never forget, kid.
I tugged on Rosie’s neck and with a deep breath shouted, “DEAD!”
Rosie launched herself at the bat god. Teeth flashed. Claws sliced. Fire exploded. Camazotz bolted into the sky out of Rosie’s reach. His bats zipped from the trees and came at us in a whirlwind of death, splitting off and circling us from different directions.
Hondo whirled, did a backflip, and kicked a few of the bloodsucking beasts in midair before landing. He punched with one hand and jabbed his crowbar with another. The guy was a ninja, but his blows dizzied them at best. I had never been more grateful for Itzel’s armored clothing than at that moment.
The godborns ran and ducked for cover behind an old truck. Wrenches, a pair of motorcycle handlebars, side mirrors, and all sorts of junk came hurtling out of the truck bed. A valiant effort, but, um, we were dealing with a bat god from hell?
Even in all the commotion, I looked around for Ah-Puch. Where was he? Too weak and cowardly to fight?
Ren’s fingers danced in the air like she was playing an invisible piano. Shadows rose up and wrapped themselves around her as she hurried over to join the godborns behind the truck. At the same time, Rosie propelled herself into the air, caught a handful of the bats in her mouth, snapped them in half, and dropped them to the ground, where they squirmed. Faster than thought, I shot a river of fire from my hands, incinerating a trail of the monsters to keep them away from the godborns.
Kee-eeeee-ar!
My heart stopped. I looked up and saw Brooks attacking a few bats in the air. Even in her small hawk form, she was fierce.
Hondo swung his crowbar mightily, but he was losing. The bats attacked him claws-first, tearing at his cheeks and neck. “No!” I shouted as I drop-rolled, coming up on my knees with my arms extended. Thick ropes of smoke trailed from my eyes and hands, speeding toward my uncle, wrapping around him like a net that the bats couldn’t penetrate.
Camazotz returned, zooming straight for me. He clutched something in his claws.
My stomach dropped.
“Brooks!” I screamed, holding back the fire that wanted to burn through Zotz’s heart.
Hondo stumbled back, raising his crowbar. The smoke net was beginning to vanish.
“Give her back NOW!” I growled.
Camazotz landed in front of me and shifted Brooks to his humanish hands. The minion bats ceased their attack, hovering in the air over their god. “I will kill your friends one by one,” he said, “until you give up this wasted effort and accept your fate.”
“You can’t kill us,” I cried. “You need us!”
“I don’t need your uncle. And I certainly don’t need this half nawal.” Brooks the hawk struggled against him. “One wrong move and her heart is my dinner.”
I stared into his eyes, looking for some sign of weakness. Anything to give us a glimmer of
hope. But they were completely vacant.
Then, in a whirl of shadow and dust, Ah-Puch surfaced and blindsided the bat god with a massive shard of glass, driving it deep into the bat’s ribs and slicing upward with a nauseating ripppppp.
“Run!” Ah-Puch shouted just as a gateway opened a few feet away.
Clutching his gushing side, Camazotz fell to the ground, shrieking. The bats cried and raced toward him, melting into his flesh as Brooks tumbled out of his grasp. Hondo snatched her up, tucking her between his arms before he took off running toward the gateway with the godborns and Ren.
Rosie was there in a flash, and I jumped onto her back, ready to race toward the gateway.
Strengthened by his bats, Camazotz was able to get to his feet. “You chose wrong this time, Ah-Puch.” His eyes flashed triumph as he leaped at the god of death, fangs bared. His claws slashed, ripping Ah-Puch like paper. Thick blood spilled onto the dirt.
I leaped off Rosie and lunged for Ah-Puch. His body collapsed like an empty sack in my arms. Fire ignited inside of me. Smoke curled from my mouth and nose.
“One shot of fire from you and my bats will kill another needless life,” Camazotz warned. His chest heaved.
“NO!” Ren broke off from the others and ran back to us.
Camazotz spun toward her and smiled viciously. “Fine. Another kill it is.” He moved like a flash of liquid shadow. In the space of two blinks, he had Ren ensnared in his wings, and all I could see were her red boots kicking at the bat god’s hairy legs.
Ah-Puch’s bleeding chest was still. He wasn’t breathing. I felt like I had just walked off a cliff and was spinning down, down, down. Forever falling toward nothing, no earth to crush my bones and end this misery.
Camazotz sniffed the air. “Well, well, what do we have here? Mexica and Maya blood?” His laugh reverberated across the corroded world. “You will make an excellent sacrifice,” he said to Ren.
I hated to admit it, but I didn’t see a way out, a way to beat this guy. He was too powerful.
I glanced up. The gateway had closed. Of course it had—Ah-Puch was dead, and without his power to keep it open…Hondo and the godborns stood waiting, looking stunned. Why hadn’t they left when they had the chance?
The Fire Keeper Page 27
