“It was a magic trick,” I said, nearly vomiting while Marco snickered. Brooks shot him an angry glare.
“I know what I saw!” the guy insisted. Rosie sniffed his feet, then staggered back like she didn’t like what she smelled.
Adrik said, “You’re confused,” as he extended his palm and blew across its surface.
The dude blinked twice, gave us a who-the-heck-are-you? glance, and took off.
I spun to face Adrik. “Did you just…?”
“Snag that last memory?” Adrik said, swiping his hands together dramatically. “Yup.”
“Super cool,” Ren said.
“You better never try that on me,” Brooks warned.
“Pretty sus if you ask me,” Marco said.
Brooks socked him in the arm. “We’re supposed to blend in, not stand out!”
“Yeah, well, we should have raided a costume shop, then,” Marco said, rubbing his bicep.
Marco was right. No one had thought about dressing in whatever people wore in 1987, which, by the looks of it, was colorful trunks, bikinis, and big hair.
“And we can’t even go shopping!” Ren groaned.
“No shopping?” Adrik asked. “That’s why I came.” He threw out his hands before anyone could smack him. “Kidding. Kidding.”
“Our money was printed long after 1987,” I said, realizing we should have thought of that, too. I stroked Rosie, who had her eyes closed and head tilted toward the bright sun like she didn’t have a worry in the world.
Adrik said, “I brought some green from my aunt’s secret stash, and yeah, it’s old. I checked the dates on the bills. Good thing someone is thinking.”
Marco clapped the guy on the back and said, “Just track down the gods. I don’t want to hold on to that time rope forever, and”—his eyes darted around—“I already don’t like 1987, so I don’t plan on sticking around.”
Brooks asked, “What’s the address K’iin gave, Ren?”
Ren fumbled in her pocket for the scrap of paper she’d written it on and held it up for us to see.
Brooks shook her head and blinked. “I should have known!”
“What’s wrong?” I asked Brooks.
“That’s…that’s Jordan and Bird’s old address,” she sputtered. “Of course their mom would send the gods to the only people she trusted.”
My stomach dropped.
“The bad dudes?” Adrik asked. “They lived in Venice back then? I mean, now…er…”
Brooks nodded, her expression going from shock to total dread in less than two seconds. “Yeah, they did their magic stealing in that place for a long time.” Her eyes shifted to me. “Before they moved up to Beverly Hills, that is.”
“But if they know in 1987 that they’re hiding the gods…” My mind ricocheted off my skull. “Does that change the future?”
“Unless they don’t know they’re hiding them,” Marco offered.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Marco explained that, like Ah-Puch had been, the gods could be imprisoned in an object—concealed somehow—and the twins might not even realize they had them in their possession. “Maybe it was like a UPS delivery,” he said, “with a note saying Guard this with your life. You’ll understand in thirtysomething years.”
Brooks was nodding. “Right. If Itzamna is correct and Zotz and Ixkik’ only had a one-way ticket, then they would’ve had to send a message to the twins, because no way would they risk themselves getting trapped here.”
“Unless they used a shadow crosser, too,” I said.
“But if two threads gives us twenty-four hours, then they would have had even less,” Marco said.
Brooks looked around. “Even if they only had twelve hours, it would be plenty of time to deliver the goods and get back.”
Logistically, it was possible. But I didn’t think Zotz or Blood Moon would take the chance.
“So what do we do?” Ren shielded her eyes from the midday sun as seagulls squawked overhead. “We can’t just show up at the twins’ front door and ask if they’ve had any mysterious messages or deliveries lately.”
“Guys,” Adrik said, “people are kinda staring at us. You think it’s the matching black threads?”
“Let’s keep moving,” said Marco.
We headed toward the boardwalk, weaving between beach towels and umbrellas. Cigarette smoke drifted through the air as people whizzed by on bikes and roller skates. One guy tried to pet Rosie until Brooks said, “She bites.”
The place was a sea of miniskirts, short shorts, and lots of tanned skin all oiled up. “Is that dude wearing clown pants?” Adrik asked.
“I think they’re called parachute pants,” Ren said. “My dad used to have some in his closet.”
“So weird not to see a single phone,” Marco said, looking around. “Like, people are actually talking to each other.”
Rosie yawned and licked her chops as we headed for a shaded bench. Marco plopped down with a grunt. Ren handed him the time rope, which ran along the beach to the spot where we had first arrived and disappeared into the sand. Itzamna was right—no one noticed it.
“What if I get hungry?” Marco said.
“Just don’t go far,” Ren said. “The less the time rope moves around in 1987, the better.”
“And remember,” I added, “Hondo is on the other end, going through hell, so no games.”
Marco grunted. “Yeah, I know all about hell. Just hurry back.”
Brooks walked over to Marco. “Please,” she said, kneeling in front of him. My heart twisted like a used dishrag. “Don’t let go of the rope. No matter what.”
“But you heard Itzamna. It’s going to try to trick me. Man, it better not start talking.”
“Good thing you’re the son of war,” Ren said, patting his shoulder. “If anyone can do it, you can.”
“Don’t forget I’m also the strongest.” He glanced my way with a smirk that I knew was meant to get under my skin. It didn’t. Okay, it totally did. But he was holding our destiny in his hands, so I had to be chill. For now.
Brooks stood and took a deep breath as she stared down the boardwalk. Uh-oh. I knew that look. It always equaled change of plans.
“What are you thinking?” I asked.
She gave me a sly grin. “We can’t just show up at Jordan and Bird’s. So we’re making a pit stop first.”
“A pit stop?” Adrik moaned. “Why?”
Without saying more, Brooks took off, heading north. We all rushed to keep up with her.
“Brooks!” I met her stride. “What’s the deal? Shouldn’t we talk about this?”
“You know I do nothing without a plan, Obispo,” she said. “We’re going to see an old friend.”
“Who?” Ren’s boots clicked along the walkway.
“Jazz.”
“Jazz?” I shouted as we passed—fittingly enough—a record store. I had the fleeting thought to run in and tell everyone to hold on to their albums because they might become valuable one day. “Was he even alive back then?” I asked, practically tripping to keep up with her, even with Fuego.
Brooks blew a curl off her face. “Giants age super slowly, but yeah, he was—is around, and I bet he can help us.” She explained that he’d known the hero twins since he was a kid, when his older brothers ran security for them, before Jazz got the job. She’d seen a picture of him from back then and would for sure recognize him.
Rosie snorted, zigzagging between groups of people who couldn’t see her for what she truly was. All they saw was a black three-legged dog.
Brooks turned down a side path, then took a hard left. The street was lined with old-style cars parked in front of flat-roofed houses with short-walled patios. Palm trees and other greenery grew over the peach, gray, and white walls.
“This isn’t the way to Jazz’s shop,” I said.
“He didn’t have the shop as a kid, Zane,” she said, walking faster now.
“Then how do you know where he lives?” Ren asked.
“But if we go see him,” Ren said, hop-skipping to keep up, “won’t he remember you in the future?”
Brooks threw a side-glance in Adrik’s direction. “That’s where you come in.”
“You want me to drain a giant’s memory?” Adrik was already shaking his head.
It felt wrong on so many levels, yet I knew Brooks was right. We couldn’t give Jazz a memory of us when he was going to meet us in the future. Who knew what kind of time rule that would break?
Brooks stopped in front of a white house with bright turquoise trim. “This is it,” she said. There was a small round hatchback parked out front and a sign on the gate that read: TRESPASSERS WILL BE EATEN.
Yep, we were in the right place.
With a deep breath, Brooks reached over the gate and unlatched it from the inside.
“Uh,” Adrik said, “maybe we should knock or call first?”
“No time for that,” Brooks said as we all piled onto the little patio, where a dozen potted plants drooped, near death. The sounds of rock music and rolling wheels drew our attention. We followed them to the back of the house, where we ducked behind a hedge. Before us was a huge skateboard ramp in the shape of a giant U.
A blond boy, maybe eleven or twelve years old, glided up the incline and spun in midair before looping back down. His two friends cheered. “That was the baddest!” one shouted.
The other guy shook his head. “My turn!”
The blond kid kicked the end of his board, popping it up into his hand. “We need to put rockets on these things so we can go faster.”
“That’s him,” Brooks whispered with a huge smile.
I did a double take. I’d expected to see Jazz the giant—a huge bald, burly dude with an eye patch and tattoos. But this kid? He had shoulder-length hair, zero eye patch, and looked totally human.
“He’s no giant,” Adrik said.
“He has hair,” Ren said.
“Giants don’t get big until around age thirteen,” Brooks said.
Rosie groaned, drawing Jazz’s attention to the bushes. I threw my hand up to shush her, but it was too late. Jazz tugged something out of his waistband and rushed over. “We got company, guys,” he said to his friends.
And then he zapped me.
I woke up on a lumpy green couch with springs poking my spine and white stars dancing in my vision.
Jazz stood over me along with Brooks and Ren.
“He’s alive,” Jazz said. “That’s good. My laser worked like a pro. I should tweak the output a little, though.”
I sat up, feeling a lot of déjà vu and a little disoriented. “You really didn’t have to zap me.”
“You could have been an ancient sea monster or evil magician,” he said casually.
“Do I look like a monster?”
“So you are a magician!”
“I already told you,” Brooks said. “They’re all magicians.”
Oh boy. Round two. The first time I’d met Jazz, Brooks had tried to pass me off as a magician, since no one knew godborns existed. I only hoped we could pull off the lie better this time.
“Maybe I wanted to hear it from him,” Jazz said to Brooks. “Don’t have a cow.”
Ren sat next to me and offered me some of her Pepsi, which I waved away. “No thanks.”
“You okay?” she said. “You went down fast. Good thing Rosie slowed the fall.”
“Where is she?” I glanced around. I was in some kind of living room with high ceilings, probs to accommodate the giant family members I was super glad weren’t here. The windows were framed by green drapes the same color as the lumpy couch.
“You mean the hellhound?” Jazz said. “Out back, chowing on some hamburger meat. I’ve never heard of a hellhound traveling with magicians and a nawal.”
“Like I told you,” Brooks said, “we’re here on a secret mission to take back something the twins stole from the gods.”
“Yeah,” Jazz said, nodding. “I heard you. And I really don’t want to know. As long as I get paid, and as long as you guys leave before my brothers get home tomorrow, I don’t really care.” He pushed a lock of blond hair off his forehead, and I wondered how much Brooks had agreed to give the guy. “But you’ll never get through the twins’ security,” he said, “even if they aren’t going to be home.”
“But I bet you could get through their security,” Ren said.
“Maybe,” Jazz said. “Probably. I’ve been working on this new—”
“Why aren’t they going to be home?” Brooks perked up.
“Another yacht party.” Jazz yawned. “They have them practically every night. I think Prince is supposed to be performing tonight. Barf. They totally should have gotten Guns N’ Roses. Now that would have been gnarly!”
Why did I have the feeling Hondo would love this kid?
A hot flame sparked inside me at the mention of the party, as I remembered what had happened at the last one I attended: Hondo had been poisoned. I hated that we had to wait until tonight to try our rescue—when the clock was ticking and Hondo was suffering and Marco was probably arguing with the time rope that, to be honest, I didn’t trust to stay put.
“Prince?” Adrik walked in with Rosie just then. “As in Purple Rain, and Diamonds and Pearls? That’s sick!”
“It is kinda sickening,” Jazz said, misinterpreting Adrik. “Diamonds and Pearls? Never heard of it.”
“Right,” Adrik said, letting out a light laugh. “It doesn’t come out until—”
Ren pretend-tripped and spilled her soda all over Adrik’s shirt. Rosie settled onto her belly and groaned.
“Not on the rug!” Jazz hollered as he took off into the kitchen, probably for a towel.
As soon as he was gone, I whispered, “I think the twins might have the gods on the yacht.”
Brooks nodded, keeping her voice low. “It makes sense, since water throws off the gods’ ability to track anyone. And they would still have to hide our gods from the 1980s versions.”
And then it hit me. “The 1980s gods!” I nearly yelped. “We can ask them for help!”
“You guys want some brownies?” Jazz called from the kitchen. “They’re special—made with Maya chocolate. If I were you, I’d definitely want some chocolate before I died.”
“No one’s going to die!” Ren hollered.
Brooks shook her head, processing my suggestion. “First we’d have to find the gods, and then we’d have to explain everything. I’m sure they would totally listen—right before they cut off our heads.”
My mind caught up with hers a second later. “Yeah, you’re right. Telling them about the godborns would for sure equal no godborns in the future.”
Adrik took a swig of Ren’s soda before mopping up the spill with the towel Jazz brought him.
Ren folded her arms across her chest. “So, Jazz, can you tell us more about this party?”
“Yeah,” Jazz said. “If you’re not on the invite list, no chance you can get in.”
“How do you know all this?” I asked.
“My hermanos head up security for them.”
“And you’re willing to help us crash the party anyway?”
“And beat the we-know-better-than-you jerks at their own game?” Jazz said, grinning. “Heck yeah.”
Brooks paced, avoiding the sticky soda spill. “Do you have a boat?”
Jazz smirked. “Do I have a boat? Are you kidding? Of course I do,” he said. “It’s not a yacht or anything, but it’s got this really souped-up engine and—”
“Can we use it?” I asked.
“No way,” Jazz said. “No one drives Betty but me. But that�
�ll cost you extra. Especially since you’re asking me to undermine my bros.”
“You just said they’re jerks,” I reminded him.
“So?” He pushed his hair off his face and gave us the elevator gaze. “And if you’re going to try to fit in, you’ll need something better to wear.”
“Like what?” Ren asked.
“I heard it’s a Star Wars party,” Jazz said. “You can go as any character except Luke or Han. Those are reserved for the twins.”
Adrik took off with Jazz to get us Star Wars outfits. Apparently Jazz “knew” some guy who ran a warehouse…. Sounded sketch, if you ask me, but as long as we got the costumes—preferably ones that hid our faces—I was cool with it.
By the time they got back a couple of hours later, the sun had set, and Ren, Brooks, and I had a plan. We’d head out to the yacht, climb aboard, blend in with the other Star Wars characters, and do some serious sleuthing. We’d have to make sure the twins never saw me or Brooks, since that would definitely mess up the future.
Rosie would help us sniff out the gods. That meant we had to conceal her, too, which is where Ren’s shadows would come in. If the twins saw a hellhound cruising around their boat, they’d sound the alarm for sure.
Jazz blew into the house and tossed the costumes on the sofa. “May the Force be with you!”
Adrik shook his head as he came in behind him. “I wanted to be a stormtrooper and have a blaster,” he grumbled, “but this is all the guy had left—stupid brown robes with hoods.”
“Stupid?” Jazz said, a vein popping out of his forehead. “Obi-Wan is the best character,” he argued. “Smartest. Toughest. No one messes with Obi!”
I’d seen the original Star Wars trilogy, and Obi-Wan was pretty cool. I mean, not as cool as Han Solo, but what did I care? I just wanted to get off that yacht with the gods and without anyone seeing us.
We had a quick bite of canned pork and beans and soggy fish sticks. Gross, I know, but Jazz said he only knew how to heat up food, not cook it.
After dinner, I changed into the white shirt and brown robe, then met up with Adrik and Ren in the living room. Rosie was lying on her side with her eyes rolling back as Adrik scratched her belly.
The Shadow Crosser Page 24