The Storm Runner

by J. C. Cervantes

  Hondo let out a low whistle. “Looks like a Halloween party, Capitán. Not a birthday party.”

  Brooks stepped behind a wall into the shadows. “It’s all show. They believe the masks contain the spirit of the animal or whatever they’re wearing.”

  “How come we didn’t get one?” Hondo sounded disappointed.

  “We got enchantment,” I said, thinking that was way cooler than a mask.

  “He’s right.” Brooks pressed against the wall like she was hiding. “I doubt anyone here has encantamiento. Too expensive and hard to come by these days. Masks are the next best thing.”

  “Who are all these…?” I didn’t know what to call them, because I didn’t know if they were human.

  “Some are human, some supernatural,” Brooks said.

  I took it all in. There was a massive stone fireplace with roaring flames, and beyond the roof’s edge were dozens of skyscrapers. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but they seemed to be wobbling slightly, like they were made of Jell-O. I had a feeling this wasn’t an actual view of LA but a magically created one.

  “Can this be real?” Hondo whispered.

  Brooks peered around the corner. “See that bear-masked guy over there by the waterfall?”

  “The skinny one?” I asked.

  “Yeah, he’s human. Comes every year to ask for help with his music career. The twins have big connections in Hollywood, and most of the people here are looking for access to those. That butterfly girl over there? She probably wants to be a model. And that shark?” She pointed to a short, stout guy. “An actor.”

  Sounded like she’d spent plenty of time here. “You said the twins trade in magic,” I said, staying focused. “But humans don’t have magic.”

  “Sure they do.”

  I gave her a confused look.

  Brooks let out a slow breath. “Dreams, talents…love.”

  “How’re those things magic?” Hondo loosened his tie.

  “In our world, they aren’t so easy to come by,” Brooks said. “Which makes them magic.”

  “Hang on,” I said. “Are you telling me people actually give up their talents?”

  She nodded, suddenly looking miserable. “Say you’re really good at wrestling.” She glanced at Hondo to make her point. “You trade it for something else you want.”

  “But what if the thing you want is the thing you’re good at?” I asked. “Like the singer.”

  “You get the favor as a loan.” Brooks paused and glanced sideways for a moment. “Then, when the twins call it in…”

  “Bye-bye talent?” Hondo guessed.

  “Yup. Or whatever it is you’ve traded.”

  Okay, so that was twisted.

  To our right was a huge pool with a waterfall cascading over massive boulders. Waiters in skeleton masks and black polo shirts and shorts carried colorful drinks with little umbrellas or offered finger foods and fancy cocktail napkins.

  “I’m starving.” Hondo grabbed a skewered shrimp off a passing tray and grinned ear to ear. “I think I’m going to like it here.”

  “Don’t eat anything, Hondo,” Brooks said. “This is not a good place to linger. Let’s just get in and get out.”

  Then came a deep voice, “What’s your rush?”

  Brooks went stone still.

  I turned and I knew. It was one of the twins. The guy seemed about sixteen, was at least six five, and had biceps even bigger than Hondo’s. Actually, he was almost as sculpted as his statue and maybe fiercer-looking.

  He winked at Brooks, hooked his arm over her shoulder, and said, “Hello, little sister.”

  25

  Brooks pushed the guy away from her. “Back off, Jordan.”

  Before he could take a bite of his shrimp-on-a-stick, Hondo dropped it. “You’re his sister?”

  No way could Brooks have left that massive detail out of all our conversations about these guys!

  Jordan smiled. “By marriage.”

  Brooks gave him a murderous glare. “Not yet.”

  “Your sister will come to her senses, Brooks,” Jordan said bitterly. Then, with a shrug, he added, “She doesn’t have a choice.” He gave a fake sigh. “So, you like the new place? I designed it myself.”

  Brooks had a sister? Then I remembered what she’d told my mom, that she was looking for the only family she had left. Was that who she’d been talking about?

  A glass shattered nearby, people laughed.

  Jordan leaned closer to Brooks and said casually, “I thought you weren’t coming back. Isn’t that what you said, little sister?”

  Brooks shrugged him off her.

  My mind was hurtling like a comet, ready to burn up in three, two, one…

  Jordan asked, “Who are your friends?”

  Brooks introduced us, but Jordan didn’t shake our hands or smile. He simply took us in with a sneer, like he could see past the enchantment as easily as Flaco had. I immediately decided I hated the guy.

  I stood straighter, grasping the jade in my pocket. I didn’t have time for this dude’s small talk, but I also dreaded having to ask him for anything.

  Hondo looked around. “Any more shrimp left?”

  Ignoring him, I said to Jordan through clenched teeth, “We’re here to ask for a favor.”

  “Isn’t everyone?” Jordan chuckled. “But come on, join the party. It’s my birthday. Business can wait.”

  We followed him to an enclosed cabana near the pool’s edge. I whispered to Brooks, “You have a sister?”

  “Later,” was all she said.

  Hondo scrunched up his face as we passed a group of girls singing along to the rap music now blaring across the party. “Who made these guys’ playlist?”

  A line of people wound around the tent, waiting to see the other twin, no doubt. I wondered what all these people wanted and what “magic” they were willing to trade.

  A giant twice the size of Jazz stood at the tent’s entrance, keeping his gaze on the crowd. He didn’t blink, didn’t even look at us. His gray suit was a size too big and looked more like an ugly bedspread, which made me feel sort of sorry for the guy. I knew how it felt to have to shop for “specials” because of some… irregularity. What had he been forced to trade to be allowed in with the “beautiful people”?

  Inside the tent were purple velvet couches, a bar, three crystal chandeliers, plenty of gold-framed mirrors, and Bird. He wore a dark suit and stood in the corner whispering something to a giggling girl. His eyes locked with Brooks and unlike smiling Jordan, his face was granite. He waved the girl away and walked over to us. Yeah, he was Jordan’s twin, all right. But there was something darker about him, something that made him seem older.

  “La mitad de halcón returns,” he said slowly to Brooks, and I could tell he meant the half-hawk comment as an insult. “And you are looking very… enchanted,” he said, eyeing her from head to toe. “You resemble her, you know.”

  I couldn’t wait to get Brooks alone, to find out who/where her sister was. What the heck had Jordan meant by She doesn’t have a choice? Was Brooks’s sister being forced to marry him?

  Brooks fidgeted with her dress and said, “Happy birthday.” Then she grudgingly handed Bird her present—a gold-plated seashell Jazz had given us for the occasion.

  Bird immediately set it aside on a nearby table. “Gold was last year’s theme,” he said dismissively.

  I’d been bullied pretty much my whole life, but this guy? He took first place for jerk-hood. Maybe everyone was right: Coming here was a bad idea. I mean, I could abandon this plan and just leave things to chance, hope that the twins would be able to take Ah-Puch down again. But Hurakan had said something about Puke recruiting the Yant’o Triad. The twins wouldn’t be ready for that no matter how much magic they had. And anyway, it wouldn’t get me out of my promise to become a soldier of death—that would take me defeating Ah-Puch alone.

  I had to try. I had to do whatever it took to increase the odds that the world would remain standing and the peo
ple I cared about would stay alive.

  Bird reached toward a silver platter that held small meatballs on toothpicks. He took one of the hors d’oeuvres and popped it into his mouth. “You’re not here for the party,” he said to Brooks.

  She glanced at me, then said to Bird, “I’m here to ask for a favor… for my friends.”

  “Friends,” Bird echoed, never taking his dark eyes from us. “Yes, they must be friends for you to return.” He paused and I couldn’t tell if it was for effect or if he really was deciding what to say next. “What’s the favor?”

  Jordan threw himself onto one of the sofas and propped his feet on a matching velvet ottoman. “You can’t be serious, Bird. She doesn’t deserve a favor after what she—”

  Bird raised a hand and immediately silenced his brother. “Tell us. What do you want?”

  I stepped forward. “I’m the one who wants the favor,” I said. “I need to know how you defeated Ah-Puch.”

  Some kind of recognition flashed across Bird’s face. He adjusted his perfectly pressed cuff. Music boomed. Glasses clinked. Then he looked up at me like all his thoughts had been gathered in this single instant. “What do you know about Ah-Puch?”

  I was about to make up some story, but something told me he’d smell the lie easily and we’d be tossed off the side of the building like Brooks had promised. Don’t make them mad.

  I weighed both options, trying to decide which would make them angrier—a lie, or the fact that I was the one who had freed their nemesis. But if I told them the truth, they’d know I was part god.

  Brooks’s eyes found mine and I could see her telling me not to do it. To come up with anything but the truth.

  Hondo got me out of my dilemma. He lifted his chin and hardened his gaze. “The death dude’s bad news,” he said to Bird. “He’s busted out, and he’s ready for revenge.”

  I nodded. “He’s in LA. He knows you’re here and he’s coming for you.” Surely they’d appreciate the warning and it would earn me something more than shrimp-on-a-stick.

  “Your intel is a day late.” Jordan laughed. “We’ve got the best of the best posted everywhere, and we’ve shielded the place with more magic than…” He stopped, then added, “Ah-Puch’s too stupid to find our new digs. And even if he did find us, we don’t need your help, human. We’re godborn. Or didn’t you know that?”

  Crap! What was plan B? Did I even have one? My palms started to sweat and my tie was choking me, but I had to keep my cool.

  “Yeah, we know all about the myths,” Hondo said. I shot him a glare to remind him not to make them mad. But he kept going, like he didn’t care if he was tossed off the roof headfirst.

  “You think we made up our victories?” That was Bird.

  Hondo threw his hands up and shrugged. “Just sayin’. I mean, whenever I won a championship, I went home with the gold. Something to prove it.” He glanced around. “Don’t see any trophies or medals, guys.”

  Was Hondo looking for a fight? I tried to get his attention, to send him the message Pump the brakes!

  Jordan came at him, but Hondo ducked in time, pivoting like a pro. Bird grabbed hold of Jordan while I shoved Hondo back, trying to pin him in place. I was furious—he was going to blow this! What was his problem?

  Brooks pushed at a braid. “Word on the street is,” she began, “your story is made-up. That you had help in defeating Ah-Puch. That you stole your magic.” Then she went in for the kill. “Kind of like now.”

  “Stole…?” Jordan said. She’d struck a nerve. Every stupid twitch in his face said so.

  “We’ve got raw power,” Bird asserted, almost as though he were trying to convince himself, not Brooks. “And our magic is legitimate—” He stopped suddenly, like he’d realized it was beneath him to argue with a half-breed.

  I finally caught on. Hondo and Brooks were playing with their egos. Not appealing to their logic, like I had planned. It was brilliant! Clearly the twins weren’t going to give up anything for free. I hated to even think it, but Hurakan was right. Still, there had to be a way to get the answer out of them. Everyone has a weakness. Even the best clutch players in history.

  Hondo had always told me to measure your opponent when you step into the ring—or, in my case, school. Find the soft spot and go after it with all you’ve got. And weakness of the heart or mind, he’d said, is more perilous than any physical weakness.

  The twins were physically powerful, more than we ever could be, but they obviously needed human magic to sustain their power. And that was their weakness.

  “Legitimate?” I said. “Then why do you have to take it from people?”

  “Yeah,” said Hondo. “If you’re so powerful, why do you have to steal anything?”

  “You’re a pathetic has-been,” Jordan said to Hondo. “And no amount of enchantment is going to hide that.”

  Hondo half grunted, half laughed. “Prove we’re has-beens.”

  “And how would you propose we do that?” Bird’s eyes flicked to his brother and they shared a this-is-going-to-be-fun smile.

  The giant guard poked his head into the tent. “Crowd’s getting restless. Ready for another applicant?”

  Jordan motioned for him to let the next person in line come forward. “Hold that thought,” he said to Bird.

  A tall willowy man with a grasshopper mask entered, walking toward the twins slowly, like he was approaching some almighty throne. When he got close enough, he bowed. Bowed!

  “My lords, I thank you for your generosity. For seeing me.”

  My lords? Was he kidding?

  “Take off your mask,” Bird ordered.

  The man did as instructed. The right side of his face was pitted and melted, as if he’d been eaten by fire.

  “Bird…” Brooks said through gritted teeth, but he ignored her, keeping his dark gaze on the guy.

  “Let me guess,” Jordan said, popping a meatball into his mouth. He threw the toothpick at the man. “You want us to get rid of that hideous face of yours.”

  The man kept his head down, like he was afraid to look into the twins’ eyes. “I… I have a daughter… She plays piano. Like an angel. But I do not have the money for lessons. No one will hire me, and I thought you could help me get a job. So I could pay for her to learn from the best. So she could be famous someday.”

  Bird spoke to the man but kept his eyes on me. “And what do you have to trade?”

  I clutched the jade tooth. Something burned deep in my chest.

  Brooks went to the man, kneeled next to him, and said, “Don’t do it. Please.”

  Jordan watched Brooks as he passed the meatballs to my uncle. Hondo took one and bit it off the toothpick. Then he grimaced like he’d just sucked on a lemon. His eyes met mine and he shook his head and mouthed Nasty!

  The man looked up for the first time. “My daughter is very beautiful. You can have her beauty.”

  “No way!” Hondo blurted. “What’s wrong with you?”

  This poor hombre had nothing to lose and everything to lose, and I knew how he felt. The only difference between him and me was that he was willing to trade someone else’s future instead of his own.

  “Guys,” I said to the twins, “just give this man a break.” If I were king, I’d outlaw every bully on the planet! I thought.

  “Done!” Jordan said. But he was talking to the “applicant,” not to me.

  The man bowed again and again as he backed up. “Thank you, my lords. Thank you.”

  “Do you see?” Bird said to us, brandishing his arm in front of him. “Does it look like we steal? No, they give willingly.” He motioned for the giant to take the man away.

  So that was it? No contract? No handshake? No blood for the gods? Rage burned inside my skull. Brooks was wrong. These guys weren’t selfish, obnoxious jerks. They were pure evil. Maybe even worse than Ah-Puch himself. Oh God, had I wasted a moon on them?

  “So, where were we?” Bird asked.

  Hondo balled his fists. “How about I smash you
r face in?”

  I agreed with Hondo, but one of us had to stay sane. “You were going to prove we’re has-beens,” I said.

  “What’re you offering?” Bird asked me with a stupid twisted grin, like he knew I was the one who had something to trade.

  “Play us in a game,” I said. “Prove we’re pathetic humans. If we win, you give us your secret to defeating Ah-Puch.”

  Jordan stretched his arms over his head and sighed. “You think we’d share our title? Is he serious?” he asked Bird.

  If they only knew I was a godborn, too. And not just related to any god, but Hurakan, the creator and destroyer! A part of me wanted to tell them I was the Storm Runner, to wipe those smug looks off their perfectly chiseled faces, but I couldn’t. I might as well put up a billboard, advertising myself to the gods. A strange emptiness filled me as I thought about the second consequence. If anyone found out who I was, they’d know it was my dad who broke the Sacred Oath. Why the heck should I care what happened to him, anyway? I didn’t even know the guy.

  “And if you lose?” Bird asked.

  “If we lose, you can have this.” I took the jaguar jade from my pocket. I could’ve easily traded the stone straight out, but it was worth fighting for. I had to give myself a chance at keeping the one thing that connected me to answers, to Hurakan.

  “Where’d you get that?” Jordan closed the distance.

  Bird eyed it greedily. “Ancient magic,” he whispered. “Who gave this to you?”

  “We all have our secrets,” I said, avoiding Brooks’s glare.

  Bird didn’t take his eyes off it. “This… this can be infused with the desire of the giver.”

  “Say what?” Hondo said.

  “A conduit of pure magic,” Bird said, and there was a tremor in his voice. “Whoever gives the jade away can give it any power….I haven’t seen a magic stone like this in…centuries.”

  I closed my hand over the jade, relieved it was as valuable as I thought. But why hadn’t Hurakan told me how powerful it was? Maybe I could give it to Hondo or Brooks and tell it to make us indestructible, or maybe I could give Brooks back her shape-shifting ability. All of a sudden I didn’t want the twins to have a chance at it.