“You’re that guy, huh?”
“That guy?”
“The one in the scary movie that everyone should have listened to before they got murdered.” She rubbed her stomach. “Can you hurry it up so I can eat?”
Just then, my phone rang. Mom had bought it for me, saying that if I was going to hunt with demons, she had to be able to reach me.
“A thousand bucks it isn’t that girl.” Ik leaned closer, nasty breath and all, to get a look at the phone’s screen. “Ha! Told you. Don’t answer it.”
Ik had spent the last three months telling me all the reasons why Brooks hadn’t called. She doesn’t care. She thinks you’re boring. She’s just not that into you. But no way would my best friend, the awesome shape-shifter who had saved my hide more than once, ghost me. Even if Brooks had read all that sappy stuff I wrote about her in my first book, the one Ixtab had forced me to write. Stupid truth paper!
My best guess was that Brooks had joined some undercover network with her sister, Quinn, and couldn’t talk to anyone.
I answered the FaceTime call. “Hey, Hondo.”
My uncle’s smiling face filled the screen. Ren’s silvery-blue eye loomed in the corner. “You’ll get a chance to talk to him,” Hondo said to her with a grunt. “Move over.”
“You don’t need the whole screen,” the godborn argued.
“Hey, guys?” I said. “I’m kinda busy right now.”
My dog, Rosie, whined in the background as Ren grabbed the phone away from Hondo. “My phone tracker says you’re in New York?” She had thought it was a good idea to share locations with each other. Just in case.
Ik tapped her foot. “Tell them you can’t talk. Don’t they know we’re on an important mission?”
“Did you find number sixty-four?” Hondo shouted from the background.
“I’m working on it now.”
“Oh, good.” Ren smiled. “Then you’ll be home tonight?” She flashed what looked like a notecard. “We got another invitation, with the same instructions as before: Don’t pack anything. Don’t bring your phone. Blah, blah, blah.”
“I am not going to wear a SHIHOM uniform,” Hondo chimed in.
He was talking about the Shaman Institute of Higher-Order Magic at the World Tree. All the godborns were supposed to report there next week for summer training. My uncle, a full-blooded human, was going to teach combat and meditation and stuff.
I pressed my face closer to the screen. “Why did we get a second invitation, do you think?”
Ik made a bored face and mouthed, Who cares?
Ren shrugged. “They want everyone to report sooner.”
Iktan’s tentacles popped out. “Sooner?” she whispered.
“As in the day after tomorrow, first thing in the morning,” Hondo said. “And they better have all the equipment I ordered for the kick-butt drills I have planned.”
“Why did they change the date?” I asked as Ik nodded vigorously. How come she was so interested in our schedule all of a sudden? It wasn’t like she was heading to SHIHOM.
Ren said, “Guess we’ll find out when we get there.”
The gods had reasons for everything they did (mostly related to stuff that was best for them), so yeah, I had a bunch of red flags slapping me in the face about then.
Ik snatched the phone away, ended the call, and turned off my phone. Thin trails of black smoke floated from her eyes.
“Hey!” I shouted.
Tossing the phone back to me, she frowned. “You’re letting outside stuff get in the way of this mission. Now get your brain in the game so we can get out of here. You’re not the only one with a schedule to keep.”
I widened the distance between us and took a deep breath, focusing all my energy on the last godborn. The signal grew stronger and stronger. I followed it…then froze in mid-step. “This can’t be right.”
Ik glanced around. “I don’t see any mutts.”
I pointed to a darkened store across the road. “The godborn is inside the antiques store.”
“The one with the Closed sign in the window?”
Right. What was a kid doing in a closed antiques shop at ten thirty on a Wednesday night? Maybe it was a family business or something.
“Are you sure?” Ik asked, and I swear she started drooling.
“One hundred percent.” I threw her a side-glance. “Need a napkin?”
I crossed the avenue, cut between some parked cars, and stalked toward the store window. Ik was right behind me.
“Did I ever tell you why the Statue of Liberty is blue?” she whispered.
“That’s random, and she’s actually green.” I crouched at the edge of the window front, trying not to be seen as I peered into the shop. Two hooded figures lurked inside.
So which one was the godborn? My GPS should have been screaming at me by now, pointing its finger with total accuracy, but it was like…
Whoa!
Was that even possible? They were both godborns?
I wanted to ask Ik why her “superior tracking” had only picked up one, but she was still fixated on the Statue of Liberty.
“Its sculptor was a demon,” Ik offered. “He wanted to pay homage to all demons everywhere.”
My eyes were trained on the taller godborn with square shoulders. The one inspecting something in their palm while the other inched closer to get a better look. And then the something began to glow red. What the holy heck?
“Do you know why he wanted to pay homage?” Ik’s voice turned gravelly.
Why was she still talking about this? I ignored her, pressing my forehead against the window. “I think…they’re stealing something,” I muttered. “It’s glowing.”
“Because the statue is a reminder that demons are the real lords, superior to everyone.”
The taller godborn’s head jerked up. Our eyes met.
I was so focused on what was beyond the glass, I didn’t notice the reflection in the glass until it was too late.
Shining black eyes, a twisted smile, and murderous claws raised and ready.
Just as I snapped back, Ik’s talon slashed my cheek. I cried out. The pain was instant, the venom fast.
“Foolish, foolish boy,” Iktan tutted. “Never trust a demon.”
Fuego slipped from my grasp as my knees buckled. I collapsed and my head slammed into the concrete. The world slanted. Glass shattered. Agony ripped through me.
“Don’t blink, Zane,” Ik whispered in my ear. “The bat god is coming for you.”
And the last thing I saw before my eyelids closed was a shimmer in the air and the rush of familiar dark wings.
I heard a shuffle. Grunts, pounding footsteps. A store security alarm pierced the air.
And then I was lifted up, up, up. With a mighty struggle, I opened my eyes.
Brooks!
I would have pumped my fist if I could have felt my arms. But I was as floppy as a half-full garbage bag, and when she set me down on a rooftop, I crumpled in a heap of worthless pain. Stupid demons. Stupid venom.
Brooks kneeled next to me. Her expression was focused, intense. Scared.
Man, was I happy to see her. She’s the one you want by your side in life-or-death situations. She squeeeezed the wound, trying to drain the poison. Okay, I never said she was gentle.