Adrik and Alana stood nearby, their faces obscured by shadow. I looked around for my mom, but she was nowhere to be seen. Rosie stalked the perimeter, her gaze glued to me.
I climbed onto the table and gripped Fuego with sweaty palms. My blood rushed through my veins like hot lava and my pulse roared in my ears. Seeing all those eyes on me, waiting, expecting me to say something, was worse than terrifying. It reminded me of the days when I was the last kid to get on the school bus and everyone stared at me, judging me solely on my limp.
“Uh…” Yes, that is how I began my impressive speech. “We’re, uh…I mean, this isn’t a training exercise. The gods…they’ve been abducted, Zotz and Ixkik’ have taken over Xib’alb’a, and demons are crawling up the World Tree.”
Murmurs broke out.
“You lied to us!” someone accused.
Ren shouted, “We’re trying to protect you, to—”
“By keeping us in the dark,” said a short guy with blond hair. I recognized him from my godborn search and rescue in Washington State. He’d been a runner.
“No,” I said. “I mean, we were trying to figure stuff out. Trying to—”
“Are all the gods gone?” some girl called out.
I nodded. “Except Itzamna.”
“And the bat god and Ixkik’,” someone said.
“Only three gods are left?” the guy who had fought with Marco said.
“I know,” I said. “It’s terrible.”
That prompted a bunch of yeahs and other stuff I probably shouldn’t repeat. And then a girl—the redhead who’d been in the cage next to mine in the junkyard—stood and said, “We don’t need the gods. We’re getting stronger. We can kill the last three gods and take over.” I think spit flew from her mouth at that point, but I was so shocked I can’t be sure. “We can control everything!”
I waited for her to say she was kidding, to start laughing or something, but her expression was so hard and stony, I knew without a doubt she was serious. I felt sick.
This wasn’t how things were supposed to go!
“It’s a sign…like it’s meant to be,” she said, a smile tugging at her lips.
Serena stood up next to her, nodding. Her new black hair made her face look pale and waxy. As her dark eyes swept the grassy yard, a moonbeam illuminated the space like a huge spotlight, which made sense—she was the daughter of Ixchel, the moon goddess. Back in the junkyard, when we were still in Zotz’s clutches, Serena hadn’t cared how dangerous facing the gods was. Her words had been like venom: Did you see what we’ve been through? Caged, tormented by that…that bat god.
There was no doubt about it: she still wanted revenge.
As she walked toward me, the moonbeam lit a path for her. She stopped a few feet away and said, “We never asked for this, Zane. The gods are the ones who abandoned us, never cared about us in the first place. They wanted us dead! Why should we care about them now?”
Brooks climbed up onto the table next to me and held out her hand. “Because we all belong to a Maya legacy that is bigger—”
“We are the Maya future!” some guy yelled.
“And you’re just a nawal!” someone else said.
Brooks’s massive wings appeared and she looked like she was about to take off and pummel whoever had launched those words, but I took her hand. “Not now,” I said. “It’s not worth it.”
Her eyes blazed fiercely. She squeezed my hand like I was the anchor keeping her in place. “It might be worth it,” she muttered.
“Brooks…”
“Fine.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I mean, the godborns sort of had a point about the gods, but it was a terrible one. Marco slipped into the shadows, his eyes darting from godborn to godborn before landing on me with a knowing look I hated. He’d been right. I had underestimated the godborns’ fear and anger. And obvious lust for power.
“Really?” I asked, my voice louder now. “You’d rather live in a world where Zotz and Ixkik’ control everything?”
“You didn’t hear me,” the redheaded girl said. “We will control everything. Let Zotz and Ixkik’ think they’ve won, and when they’re not looking—”
“Bam!” someone shouted. “We blindside the old losers.”
Brooks leaned closer, still squeezing my hand. This is a revolt, she said. I’ve seen it before. Or at least heard about it. Tell them what they want to hear and do it now.
My eyes searched Hondo’s and Ren’s faces. They looked as stunned as I felt. “Okay,” I said, digging deep, because pretending to go along with the godborns’ plan was going to require an Oscar-worthy performance. “You guys are right. The gods are jerks. They probably don’t deserve saving.” The words tasted sour in my mouth. “But we need to plan, to figure out a way to take out Zotz and Ixkik’—”
“And the hero twins!” A bolt of lightning ripped the sky. I searched the godborns’ faces, wondering who had caused it. Some looked terrified in the torches’ flickering light, others looked unsure, and at least half a dozen appeared ready to riot.
“And the hero twins,” Brooks echoed as her eyes continued to burn. “They’ll go down, too.”
Ren’s attention was fixed on the crowd. She was forcing a hard stare, one that hid the horror I knew she was feeling. A large dragon-like shadow rose beside her as she said, “It’s time for the godborns to reveal their powers.”
Marco stepped into the moonlight and walked toward me, talking while all eyes were on him. “We will keep training, getting stronger, and once we find the bat god, the twins, their mom, and all our enemies,” he said, his expression tight, “we will attack, and take what belongs to us.”
The crowd got to their feet, chanting, “Godborn power! Godborn power!”
Brooks gripped my hand like an iron vise. Zane, what have we done?
Marco’s eyes fixed on mine. I didn’t know him well enough to be able to read his expression, but one thing was certain: there would be no truth tonight.
Only more secrets and lies.
It was hours before the godborns chilled out and finally caught some z’s. But even in the peaceful setting of the Montana mountains, with everyone else deep in their dreams, I was haunted by the memory of that terrible chant: Godborn power!
How could they have turned so quickly? If they were that hungry for power and control, then they were just like the gods. Maybe Itzamna was right—everyone had good and bad, dark and light in them. I was glad I hadn’t been wearing Itzamna’s sunglasses. I couldn’t imagine how he would feel knowing the godborns were rebelling when he was doing all he could to save SHIHOM and the World Tree.
By midnight, we had a plan. We included Hondo, Brooks, Ren, Alana, Adrik, Rosie, and, yes, Marco.
I was skeptical of including Marco, but he had a valid argument. “Don’t hate me because I’m such a great actor,” he practically sang. “I said those things so the godborns would think we’re are all on the same team. Come on, man, put on your strategic hat!”
“Aren’t we?” Ren asked. “On the same team?”