The Storm Runner

by J. C. Cervantes

  “I got you,” I said, thinking of the disaster the last time we’d plunged into unknown waters.

  Brooks paled and shook her head. “Don’t let go,” she said.

  “I promise.”

  Flaco hovered about five feet over the water. “Jump!”

  He flew away as we dropped into the water’s freezing currents. I kept hold of Brooks, which wasn’t too hard, because she clawed her way onto my shoulders, pushing me down in her frenzy.

  Keeping my calm, I opened my mind and let her in.

  I need you to chill out or we’re going to drown.

  She relaxed her death grip a little and clung to my back as I swam toward the boat. Jazz lifted us on board, where warm, dry towels were waiting, along with some snacks—a cooler filled with cherry Cokes, and a sack containing gummy worms and pizza pockets. All of our belongings were already on the vinyl bench seat. I hurried over and was relieved to find Ms. Cab’s eyeball still tucked safely in my backpack. But when I saw my boring old cane, my heart sank. I wished he’d left that behind.

  Jazz took Hondo belowdecks to the cabin, where he could sleep off the poison, while Brooks and I sat huddled under a blanket at the stern. The boat looked like a fixer-upper fishing vessel with a rusted railing, pitted deck, and a covered second deck with a steering wheel, seat, and some gears.

  I took a soda from the cooler but didn’t drink any. My stomach was twisted in knots. I’d failed. Wasted way too much time on a stupid idea, and now I had nothing. No plan. No powers. No future. The gods were ready to start a war over something I’d done. And Hondo was suffering a pain worse than death while we sat around under the stars. Hurakan had been right when he’d said what lies ahead is inconceivable.

  A cool breeze drifted over us as the boat rocked gently in the water. The night replayed in my mind so fast I wasn’t sure any of it had really happened.

  “Why’d Jazz bring us here?” I asked.

  “Must not be safe in Venice Beach,” Brooks said, shivering as she sipped her Coke.

  I stared into the darkness. “Where do you think Puke took Jordan and Bird?”

  “Wherever it is,” Brooks said, “the jerks deserved it. I knew they were rotten, but I can’t believe they lied about defeating Ah-Puch. I take it back. I can totally believe it. Man, they’d do anything for fame and power.”

  Okay, Bird and Jordan were jerks, but man, getting smothered by those oily, smelly black wings and carted off like a couple of corpses seemed tragic.

  “I really want to know,” I said.

  Brooks rolled her eyes. “I have no idea. Where would you take your sworn enemies if you were the god of death, darkness, and destruction and someone had moved into your castle?”

  “Probably a putrid pit filled with vicious rats and killer ants that would eat out your eyeballs.”

  Brooks let out a light laugh. “That’s sick, you know that?”

  “You asked.”

  La luna was a wedge clinging to the sky. I only had one moon left until Ah-Puch came to collect on our deal.

  “Brooks?”

  She turned away from me.

  I twisted my hands together. “Something bad’s coming, isn’t it? When I met Hurakan… he saw the mark on my wrist….” Why was this so hard to talk about?

  “So?”

  “So, he said I have to be the one to stop Puke. Because my life’s now tied to his, because I was the one to let him out. And if I don’t…”

  Brooks swiveled to face me. Her eyes burned fiercely. “You’ll end up a soldier of death even if the gods kill him.”

  Heat prickled up my spine and I wanted to crawl out of my own skin. “That about sums it up.” I stood and took a deep breath. “I have to tell them.”

  “Tell who what?”

  “I can’t let the gods go to war over something I did.”

  Brooks jumped up and grabbed my arm. “No, Zane! That would be like… like double suicide. Are you trying to die?”

  “Um, no… not exactly.”

  She paced with her usual look of determination, but that wasn’t going to get me out of my dilemma. “The gods want this war,” she said. “They’ve been looking for a reason to start one. You telling them now—it wouldn’t be worth it.”

  “How do you know?”

  “You heard Jazz. We’ve had peace for too long,” Brooks huffed. “Nakon’s been waiting for this.”

  I remembered the name. “The god of war.”

  “He’s always hungry for blood and he’s been itching for a fight but never had a good excuse until now. So with or without you, Zane, the gods are going to battle it out. Don’t you see? Telling them would be a huge mistake. It won’t change anything!”

  I nodded and we sat in silence after that, each of us mentally trying to unlock a door we didn’t have the key for.

  “All those people…” I finally said. “From the party? Are they…?”

  “Dead?”

  Jazz appeared from the cabin below. “From what I saw on the minicams, I think they got out. They won’t even remember where they were. They’ll think it was another earthquake or that they have a killer hangover.”

  Brooks froze. “I can’t believe you spied on us with those minicams.”

  “And here I thought you’d be thanking me,” Jazz said.

  I caught on. Brooks was worried Jazz had heard something he shouldn’t have, like that I was a godborn. I thought back… Had we ever mentioned it? Or anything else that might get him in trouble?

  “Thanks, Jazz,” I said. “You were right. Those guys are jerks. Did you hear what they said to Hondo?”

  Jazz narrowed his eye. “Don’t make me feel bad, kid. The cams don’t have audio, okay? I’m still working on that technology.”

  My muscles relaxed and Brooks let out a long breath.

  “How is my uncle?” I asked Jazz, worried that Hondo would be in torment for hours.

  “He’ll survive,” the giant said, shaking his head. “Won’t be too happy when he wakes up, but it’ll wear off. Eventually.”

  After what the twins had done to Hondo, I couldn’t even think about them without hate bubbling up inside me. “So…” I didn’t know where to begin. “Where are we going?”

  The boat lurched and began moving through the waters. I looked up to the second level, but no one was piloting. Jazz’s face split into a broad smile. “Captains herself,” he said proudly.

  “Let me guess,” I said. “Magic?”

  A deep frown formed. “No! Advanced Giant Engineering! A-G-E—it’s the company I’m going to start once I have enough capital.” He pulled a bottle of what looked like chocolate milk out of the cooler. “Chocolate from Ixkakaw. Want some? It’s a new recipe.”

  I took some and guzzled it, hoping it would make me feel as good as before. It was liquid velvet and even sweeter than the last batch, if that were possible.

  Jazz popped the lid off and swigged the whole bottle. After a loud burp, he said, “I’ve got some real bad news, Little Hawk.”

  “What could be worse than—?” I stopped myself, not wanting to reveal too much to him.

  “Tell us,” Brooks said to Jazz.

  “After you went to the fiesta, I got a letter—hand-delivered—but I don’t know who it was from.”

  “What did it say?” I asked.

  He pointed at me. “To take you to the Old World.”

  My whole body tensed. The letter was probably from Hurakan. He had said that I should look for the White Sparkstriker there.

  “The gods are on the verge of declaring war,” Jazz went on. “No one’s fessing up to breaking the Sacred Oath. And Ah-Puch is running loose, creating all sorts of trouble. The gods can’t even agree on how to deal with him.” He let out a frustrated breath. “Things are bad, Little Hawk, and they’re about to get a whole lot worse.”

  Brooks balled her fists. My heart began to slam against my ribs. I couldn’t let the gods get to Ah-Puch first. “Do you… do you know how to get to the Old World?” I ask
ed the giant.

  “The only way is through a gateway.”

  Brooks started searching frantically through her stuff. “Have you seen a rolled-up piece of paper?” she asked Jazz. “Something with a lot of drawings and lines on it?”

  Jazz reached into a compartment and pulled out a scroll. “You mean this?”

  The gateway map!

  With a shrug, Jazz said sheepishly, “I snooped. Sorry, but it was an emergency.”

  Brooks snatched the map from him and unfurled it. Her eyes scanned it wildly. “It’s… it’s gone dark.” She frowned. “Did you break it?”

  “D-D-Dark? What… what d-d-do you mean?” I asked, now shivering.

  Jazz raised his eyebrows, looking insulted. “No, I didn’t break it! All gateway maps are off the grid right now. Portals are closed,” he said. “The gods are limiting travel so they can try to find You-Know-Who.”

  Brooks continued to scan the map like it might come to life any second. Her dark hair swirled around her face as the wind whipped past. “How are we going to find the gateway, then?”

  “My old friend holds up the sky, remember?” Jazz said.

  “And?”

  Jazz rolled his eye like his point was obvious. “I know things,” he said. “Things like before there were maps, there were ancient gateways, secret and magical routes the gods used. Those portals aren’t closed. I mean, they’re a little rusty, and not as pleasant as the modern ones, but they’ll do the job.”

  That was right. Hurakan had said the Bakabs used to work for him. It was all starting to come together. “Why aren’t they closed?” I asked.

  “Part of the original design,” Jazz said. “The creator gods made four—one in each hemisphere—and they’re as permanent as the sun and the moon. Or at least until Ah-Puch burns it all up.”

  Creator gods—that would be Hurakan and K’ukumatz.

  “Okay,” I said. “So is there one around here?”

  “Not too far. According to my coordinates, we can be there by tomorrow night,” Jazz said proudly. “This boat is a high-powered devil. Might even get us there a couple hours sooner than that.”

  “But we don’t have that much time!” I argued. “The deadline is tomorrow when the moon rises!”

  I looked at Brooks and didn’t have to read her mind to know she was thinking the same thing. “Ah-Puch is going to destroy it all before then, Jazz!”

  Jazz rubbed his chin, thinking. Then he stood and puffed up his chest so big a button popped off his purple vest. “Well, then it’s a good thing you’re in this dilemma with an engineering genius giant, isn’t it? Let me get to work on the engine.” He turned to leave, then hesitated and said, “Cabin’s all made up for you. Don’t drool on the pillows, got it?”

  Then he was gone.

  29

  I leaned over the railing, watching the dark waters whiz by below, wondering if Pacific was down there, if she could see me. Maybe she could slow time or…

  Brooks stood next to me with her back to the ocean. She tilted her head and stared at the sky. I folded my shivering arms across my chest and let out a breath I felt like I’d been holding for hours. The enchantment had worn off, but she was still…beautiful.

  “Your dad…” Brooks said, kicking off her wet sandals. “He was the one who sent the letter.”

  “Hurakan,” I corrected her.

  “Whatever,” she said. “He’s still your dad, even if you don’t call him that.”

  “It’s not the same,” I muttered as I loosened and took off my tie.

  “Same as what?”

  “Family. Like my mom, and Hondo…” And Rosie, I thought, my throat throbbing painfully. Being a member of my family wasn’t automatic—it had to be earned. I remembered how, back on the twins’ roof, Brooks’s eyes had been on fire. They’d looked like they could burn up the whole world if she let them. “You told my mom you were looking for your only family….”

  Brooks dipped her head. “My sister.”

  “What happened to her?”

  I was prepared for Brooks to shut me down with a single glare, but she didn’t.

  “She… she was promised to Bird by the matchmaker.”

  “Matchmaker?”

  “Arranged marriages are our family custom,” Brooks said. “Keeps bloodlines pure.”

  And Brooks wasn’t a pureblood. “That sounds…barbaric.”

  “Just let me get this out, Zane, please!”

  “Okay, okay.”

  She inhaled deeply. “But she didn’t want to marry him. Quinn—that’s her name.”

  Who could blame her for not wanting to marry the jerk? I was about to ask why she didn’t tell the dirtbag to stuff it when Brooks filled in the gaps.

  She wrapped her arms around herself. “It’s not something you can get out of, so Quinn went… She went to Ixtab and asked for her help.”

  “What? Why would she think the new queen of hell could help her?”

  Now I got the glare. “Are you going to let me finish or not?”

  I drew my finger across my lips in a promise to stay silent until she was done.

  With a slow shrug, Brooks whispered, “It was the only place she’d be safe. Even Bird couldn’t get there without an invitation from Ixtab. New ruler, new rules.” She was quiet for a while then added, “So I helped her. We told Bird we were going shopping for an enchanted wedding dress. He said she had to be the most gorgeous bride in history. It was pretty much the only thing he’d let her out of his sight for. I mean, he’s pretty possessive. That’s why the twins are so mad at me. But I didn’t know she was going to…” Her voice cracked. “I didn’t know she was giving herself to the underworld.”

  My mind was spinning, thinking what a strange world it was that Brooks lived in. And, as awful and scary and messed up as it was in that moment, her world was mine now, too.

  Brooks wiped her cheek and I knew she was crying. Oh boy. Me and tears didn’t mix. I didn’t know if I should hug her, or pat her shoulder, or… hug her….

  She pushed off the rail and walked over to the bench at the stern. “Stupid wind. Makes my eyes water.”

  “Yeah, me too,” I said, following behind.

  “Ixtab tricked her,” Brooks continued. “In exchange for getting her out of the marriage, Ixtab told Quinn she could work off her debt by escorting souls to the underworld. It was only supposed to be for a few months, but then Ixtab changed her mind. Quinn’s a powerful nawal, can shift into almost any animal. That’s valuable to Ixtab. So she forced Quinn to stay.”

  “If Quinn is down there, how do you know all this?” I couldn’t help it—the question just came out.

  Brooks’s voice sounded small. “Ixtab let me see her a few months ago.”

  I opened my mouth to say something but closed it again, thinking Brooks wasn’t finished.

  She rolled her eyes. “Go ahead.”

  “You went to Xib’alb’a?”

  “No—we met at a gateway nearby,” she said.

  “Wait a second,” I said. “Quinn’s alive in the underworld?”

  She nodded. “Ixtab needs her alive… for her powers.”

  It gave me hope for Rosie. Maybe she was still alive, too. Then I remembered what Ms. Cab had said: She’ll be changed.

  Brooks continued, “So I made a deal with Ixtab.”

  I was getting pretty sick of that word, deal. It was only four stupid letters strung together, but they had thorns that knew how to draw blood.

  With a shaky sigh, Brooks said, “Quinn overheard a bunch of demon lords talking one day. They knew about the prophecy, but Ixtab didn’t, so I thought…”

  The sky slanted, or maybe it was the boat sinking into a swell, but my stomach shot up to my throat. I moved our stuff and sat down on the bench. “You thought you could use it to save your sister.” I recalled what Ms. Cab had said about no one knowing who’d told Ixtab. About how I couldn’t trust a nawal.

  Brooks sat down next to me and pulled the blanket around her s
houlders. “I told Ixtab I’d bring Ah-Puch back if she let my sister go and broke Quinn’s tie to Bird. She just laughed and said I didn’t have the strength, that I had never lived up to my family name. Not like Quinn.”

  I almost didn’t want to ask, but I had to know. “And if you didn’t bring Ah-Puch back…?”

  “I’d lose access to Quinn forever.” Brooks’s eyes flitted in my direction and back to the sea. Her whole body trembled. “And if he got free, then I would have to join Ixtab.”

  I felt sick. Empty. Worthless. A strange heat ran through my veins. I would never have let Ah-Puch out if I’d known Brooks had promised herself to the underworld!

  No. If I hadn’t done it, Brooks might be dead.

  Or was that the same thing?

  “That’s why Ixtab’s goons came for you,” I said.

  “It gets worse.”

  “I don’t think I can take more right now,” I said, trying to understand what Brooks had done. She’d lied to me. Tricked me.

  But she’d done it to save her only family. I would’ve done it, too. I was sure of it. Still, that didn’t stop the burning sensation under my skin….

  “You don’t get it,” Brooks muttered. “The Prophecy of Fire… You had a choice…”

  I didn’t think I’d heard her right. “What? What do you mean?”

  “I told you the magic would call to you. That part was true.”

  I definitely didn’t want to hear any more. Maybe I didn’t need to know the truth. Because guess what? Sometimes the truth stinks!

  I stood up and looked around the boat, anywhere except at Brooks’s accusing face. “Where’s Jazz? You think he needs any help?”

  “There was a way out.”

  I stepped away from Brooks. A cold gust swept across the boat.

  Brooks fiddled with the blanket’s loose threads. “You could have walked away,” she said, glancing up at me. “You could have ignored the call. You didn’t have to release him.”

  Anger ripped through me so hard I started to shake. “What?! I’m lost here. You once said… You said I didn’t have a choice!”

  “I didn’t know you were part god! No one did. And that gave you the power to choose.”

  My mind reeled. So if I’d known I was a godborn, I could have ignored the magic? A hot sensation started to climb up my bum leg. Would I have ignored the magic if I’d known? The salt air burned my eyes. “You’re wrong. I didn’t have a choice.”