I grabbed his skinny hand and hauled him up as the time rope unwound from his waist, snapping into Pacific’s grasp. “I think the branches would have held you,” I said.
“Now you tell me.”
Even if Ren hadn’t outed Ah-Puch, I would have known it was him. The fourteen-year-old-looking dude had the same dark suit (now a few sizes too big), the same arrogant stance, and the same I’m-better-than-you expression. Except now it was grim and tight. And instead of a Thank you for traveling back in time and risking your lives to save us, he said, “That was truly dreadful.” I had some words for the god of death about how he had given up back in the labyrinth, but now wasn’t the time.
His dark eyes fell on Zotz, and for the second time I quickly explained everything that had happened.
Ren’s mouth formed a small O like she wasn’t at all surprised by Blood Moon’s deceit.
Ah-Puch looked at the sacked-out gods and snorted.
“Do you know who they are?” I asked.
“Other than the bat loser?” he said with a snarl. “I think that’s Ixkakaw, and the other one? Some minor god.”
“Louie will be happy,” Adrik said, then added, “The goddess of chocolate survived the trip.”
“This is terrible,” Pacific said, tightening her grip on the rope.
“Terrible is right.” Ah-Puch shook his head somberly. “First, I am a glorious death god, then a withered old man, and now this? What has the universe come to?”
“Probs destruction,” Adrik muttered.
“Guys,” Marco said, gesturing toward the World Tree, “shouldn’t we figure out our next play before the whole place goes up in smoke?”
“We need to crush Ixkik’,” Ah-Puch said. He waggled his thick eyebrows and added, “But I get dibs on the twins!”
Was that a zit on his chin?
Hondo harrumphed like the god of death was going to have to arm-wrestle him for the honors.
“No offense,” Marco said, “but you’re probably not going to crush anyone without your godly powers.”
Ah-Puch looked like he might lunge for the guy’s throat, but Ren patted his arm and he stood down.
She said, “The gods still have brilliant minds. They can help us strategize.”
“This is why you’re my favorite,” Ah-Puch said with a smile. “But I’d rather kill.”
Ren gave him a hard stare.
“They totally deserve it,” the god of death said defensively.
Pacific began to pace. “We will not win in open battle.”
I considered what moves we had left. I knew my friends would fight even if it meant losing, and I couldn’t let that happen. “Ixkik’ already knows we’re here,” I said.
“So what do you do when your enemy is waiting for you to make the next move?” Adrik asked.
Marco dragged a thumb over his jaw. “You make it.”
The sky darkened and the air trembled.
Everyone froze.
At the same moment, a familiar voice twisted up through the clouds, gentle and quiet like a slithering snake. “Welcome back to SHIHOM, Zane,” Ixkik’ said. “Did you really think you could hide from me?”
“We were hoping,” Adrik mumbled.
“My son Xb’alamkej is now king over all magic, over all the sobrenaturales,” Ixkik’ went on. “And he has a new queen.” She laughed lightly. “Finally, the mighty nawal is his bride, as it was always meant to be.”
Always meant to be? Just because some really bad matchmaker once put Jordan and Quinn together? Didn’t he remember that she joined a spy network just to get away from him?
Hondo sucked in a sharp breath. He looked like he might punch a second hole in the deck, but he just shook his head and whispered, “She’s lying.”
Ren patted his shoulder as my eyes darted around, searching for the source of the voice that seemed to be coming from all sides.
“We will have a new reign,” Ixkik’ went on. “A new era in which the ruthless gods will exist no more. You may choose to run or hide, but we will find you. Or you can meet my terms, and no one has to die.”
Everyone looked stricken. My throat closed up, making it hard to breathe. “We’ll never hide!” I shouted.
“She cannot hear you,” Pacific said. “Not here.”
Ah-Puch was uncharacteristically quiet as Ixkik’ released a purring laugh that sent chills down my legs. “You may have freed the gods, but they are still asleep. And my demons are hunting them down at this very moment and awaiting my signal to destroy them. So it looks like I am the victor.”
All I could think about was my dad, helpless at the murderous claws of some random demon.
“You’re a coward!” Hondo yelled with so much ferocity I thought, She must have heard that.
My chest blazed hotter than Chak Ek’ and I had a terrible urge to barbecue the cruel goddess, but I couldn’t let emotion rule my mind. That was exactly what she wanted. What she was counting on.
Ah-Puch grinned, and before I could ask what he possibly had to smile about, he said, “She doesn’t know some of the gods are already awake.”
“How do you know?” My chest felt like it was collapsing under the weight of a hundred skies.
“She speaks with too much confidence,” Ah-Puch said.
Okay, so as bad as things were, we had at least one tiny element of surprise. But what good would it do us? Pacific and Ah-Puch were as young as the godborns but with no powers. The rest of the gods were asleep, the demons were hunting them down, and the World Tree was dying.
“So you choose silence,” Ixkik’ said. “It does not matter, because I know you can hear me. Now heed this: I want you, Zane Obispo, alone at the Tree.”
“And there it is,” Marco muttered. “There’s the next move.”
“But why does she want you so bad?” Adrik asked me.
“To finish what we started at the Pyramid of the Magician,” I said. She wanted to make good on her promise: Someday, when you least expect it, you’ll pay with your blood for this. My sons will show no mercy. Nor will I.
I turned to Pacific. “Is there a way I can talk to her…from here?”
Pacific opened her mouth, probably to tell me no, when a look of revelation swept across her face. “The vines,” she said. “The entire jungle is one organism. Each stone, tree, and animal is linked. Touch one of the vines and speak. Wherever she is, she will hear you.”
I squatted, placing my hand on a nearby vine. “If I come,” I said, “then I get something, too.”
There was a long and painful silence. Finally the voice said, “I don’t strike deals.”
“Then I won’t show,” I bluffed, my stomach twisting into a million tiny knots. And before she could respond, I added, “We both want something.”
Ah-Puch snorted and said, “Aren’t you glad you have experience with this sort of thing from negotiating with me for your life?” His eyes swiveled to the others. “I taught him everything he knows.”
“What are your terms, godborn?” Ixkik’ said.
“No way,” Hondo said, clenching his jaw. “If you go, Zane, she’ll kill you.”