Nodding, I stepped onto a platform below and summoned my cane. The platform unfolded into a kind of moving escalator, and a cool mist wrapped its arms around me. Someone seemed to be rolling out the red carpet for me. With Fuego’s help, I ran down the steps and burst into the jungle.
At the same moment, a brilliant golden light flashed above.
It was so sudden I shrank back, shielding my eyes.
But just as quickly, the light vanished.
I kept heading for the Tree.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
The sound was even louder on the ground. I picked up my pace, weaving between the foliage. A rustling sound drew my attention upward. A few miniature monkeys crisscrossed the trees. I felt their eyes following my every move as they swept across the branches like ghosts.
“Thanks a lot,” I grumbled. “Everything is getting ready to blow up and you’re still looking for something to steal….” My words trailed off as I realized I was chewing out a bunch of primates that had just lost half their home.
I rushed through the jungle, letting the fire inside me guide me to the World Tree. What was I was going to find there? More dead gods? A goddess I wouldn’t even recognize? A death trap? All I knew was that I had to buy my friends enough time to find as many of the gods as possible. But somehow even that plan felt like a defeat.
Tick.
Terror settled into my gut.
Tick. Tick.
Sombras pressed in on me from all sides.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
I came to the edge of the field and stopped, taking a few deep breaths. My eyes skimmed the silent meadow and landed on the World Tree.
The árbol was a contorted black monster with thick shiny webs choking its branches. Its god lights barely flickered.
I tried to keep a firm grip on my cane, but my palms were slick. Then came the familiar cold tug in my gut that made me nauseous. Two tall figures emerged from the tree line on my right, about twenty yards away.
Jordan and Bird.
And all I could think was These guys again?
They weren’t in their hairy bat guises. They were in their six-foot-five, athletic human forms, muscles bulging under their identical black tracksuits. But they didn’t impress me. I preferred monsters who looked like monsters.
“Zane Obispo,” Bird said, dragging a thick rusted chain.
Clink. Clank.
My eyes followed the shackle until I saw…it was connected to a dragon’s throat.
Itzamna!
My heart slammed into my spine. “Let him go!”
The dragon was cat-size and pale gray, his withered skin nearly translucent. His eyes were hollow, his cheeks gaunt, and his mouth sagged as he lumbered behind the twins with his head hanging low.
“But he makes such a good pet,” Bird said with a sneer.
My anger pulsed hotter than lava, and I wanted to launch a million rivers of fire at these jerks. But I had to stay cool. I had to find out what Ixkik’ had planned.
Half a dozen blue-skinned demons emerged from the trees behind the twins, their reptilian eyes unblinking as they all drilled their gazes into me.
Instinctively, a ball of fire ignited in the palm of my hand.
Jordan snorted, but he stopped a good fifteen feet away from me. I could see dark circles under his eyes. Was he sick and tired of being manipulated by his mother? “Relax,” he said. “No need for pyrotechnics.”
“Unless you want more gods to die,” Bird said.
“Oh, I get it,” I said, still feeling waves of acid in my gut. “Ixkik’ sent you to do her dirty work. Too scared to come out herself?”
Itzamna lifted his gaze. He blinked slowly as he sent out his weak telepathic voice across the field. Zane, it’s over. Run. Save yourself.
“Shut up, old man,” Bird said to the dragon, jerking the chain. Jordan and Bird cut up like they had missed their favorite brand of entertainment: cruel and twisted.
“Leave him alone!” I shouted.
A sudden movement caught my attention. I glanced at the Tree to see a sliver of mist wind up the massive trunk like a snake.
Ixkik’.
“Sorry you couldn’t make it to the wedding,” Jordan said, adjusting the collar of his jacket.
“You mean the one where you forced Quinn to marry you?” I said, trying to keep my anger in check.
Jordan laughed. “Forced? No one forced her to do anything.”
Bird said, “We gave Quinn a choice. She chose to be queen. Much better than being a lowly nawal spy working for some has-been Sparkstriker who’s going to be dead anyway.”
So the Sparkstriker wasn’t dead yet. See? That’s what happens when you let your enemy do all the talking. They throw you nibbles of information that eventually add up to a whole meal.
“Pretty sure Quinn would never choose you,” I said. “She ran away before, remember?”
Jordan’s face hardened, and he began to lunge at me. Bird threw up an arm to block his brother. “We should try to get along,” he said to Jordan. Then he cast his gaze on me. “Considering our mother’s plan for you.”
Get along?
I hated these guys. I thought about all the lies they had told, all the stories they had rewritten, and wondered how many other falsehoods had been tucked into the corners of history without anyone’s knowledge.
“And what plan is that?” I ground out.
“Surrender, of course.” Blood Moon’s voice sliced the warm air. “You bind yourself to me and I will allow the gods to live.”
“Why would you let the gods live when you worked so hard to get rid of them?” I asked, closing my fist around the flame in my palm.
She hesitated. “The gods have no powers left. The devouring and time travel ravaged them. Tsk, tsk. How sad to be reduced to useless children. Ah—I couldn’t have planned it better myself, Zane.”
I dug Fuego into the soft earth. No way was I going to throw up the white flag for nada. I mean, let’s not forget this was the mastermind behind my dad’s near execution. This was the master of deception who always seemed to be a few steps ahead. Ah-Puch was right. If she wanted me alive so bad, it was for a really big reason. “I’m not negotiating with mist,” I finally said.
“Who said anything about negotiations?” Ixkik’ said.
Bird shook his head. “Just let us torture him.”
“Yes, it would be quite satisfying,” Ixkik’ said, “but let’s not forget he has value to our long-term plans.”
There was that word again. Plans.
“But I’m king,” Jordan argued with Ixkik’. “Shouldn’t I get to decide?” Instantly, a brilliant green-feathered headdress appeared on his head.
Was that his crown?
“Kings must sacrifice their heart’s desire and rule with their minds!” Ixkik’ growled. Her tone was a big fat warning: Don’t make me rip that crown off your head.
But a monkey beat her to it. The little guy swept in out of nowhere, snatched the headdress off Jordan, and vanished in a fit of squeals before the jerk could react.
“Under my rule,” Jordan yelled with a raised fist, “primates will be reduced to kitchen help!”
I couldn’t help but snicker. “So, if he’s king,” I said to Bird, pointing at Jordan, “what does that make you? A second-class prince?”