by Kim Curran
“I think there has been a mis—”
But before he could finish, Diaz cut him off. “Last year, I led an excavation expedition to the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. A new Aztec pyramid had been discovered and we were there to uncover and preserve it. After centuries buried under rocks and grass, we were some of the first non-indigenous people to set foot on the site since it was abandoned in the fifteen-hundreds. We don’t know what the Aztec people called it, but we named it Teocalli-Ome, meaning House of Two Gods, because the symbols of two gods were carved on the walls. Quetzalcoatl, god of light, and Tezcatlipoca, god of darkness. We believe the pyramid was shared by the gods, passing from one to the other with each turn of the calendar wheel – every fifty-two years. On the top level of the pyramid, as well as the remains of humans in what appeared to be ceremonial garb, we found a knife. A black knife, made from obsidian. There have been many obsidian knives uncovered in Aztec burial sites, but this…this was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. So black that it swallowed light. So perfect that it was hard to imagine it was carved by a human hand. It was etched with symbols I didn’t have time to translate. And yes, it is mentioned in this diary. Here.” She pointed to a black squiggle on the last page: a jagged, pointed oval with a swirl through the middle. “It says it was used in the ritual, but how must be on the missing pages.”
“Do you still have the blade?” JD said, hope bubbling in his stomach.
Could it be this simple? If the ritual couldn’t work without the knife, then all they had to do was keep it safe and stop Mourdant and Zyanya getting it.
“No. Because a team from the Chicago Field Museum swooped in and claimed it. Something to do with them having jurisdiction over Mesoamerican finds in the area. Tonterías! Poppycock,” she said, standing up and throwing her arms in the air. “They stole it, pure and simple. And those, those…amateurs! They’re going to put it on display at their museum tonight.”
So close, JD thought, and yet still so far.
“Well it’s simple,” Milly said.
JD looked over at her, confused. She didn’t look concerned at all. In fact, there was a glint in her eye that he could have sworn was excitement.
“It is?” Diaz said.
“It is?” JD said, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes,” Milly said, looking from him to Diaz, as if what she was about to say was obvious. “We go steal it back.”
“We’re Slay and you’re listening to 75FM, where the hits keep coming,” the four boys chanted in unison as Milly walked through the door of the bus.
“Perfect!” a smooth voice replied over the sound desk speakers. “Thanks, y’all. Great to have you on the show.”
“Thanks for having us,” JD said quickly, pushing Milly aside so he could get to the mics – a little more roughly than was necessary, she felt. She slid out of the way and took a seat.
“Any time, JD,” the voice on the other end of the line said. A soft click signalled the end of the call.
“That was four words!” Zek said. “Positively sparkling.”
JD flicked Zek’s ear. “Did Jack notice I wasn’t here?”
“No,” Zek said, rubbing his lobe. “In fact, if anything, I would say it was one of your better interviews.”
“Great. Maybe I’ll never have to do another one again.”
Tom laughed. “Gail might have something to say about that. Although she’s currently pretty distracted by screaming at the coconut people. Something about behind-the-scenes pictures not being in our contracts.”
Angry shouting and the occasional thud could be heard from Gail’s room at the back of the bus. Milly thought about asking who the “coconut people” were and then thought better of it.
“Did you bring me my—” Connor’s question was cut off as JD threw a greasy paper bag at him. He pulled out the frosted doughnut, looked at it as if he was in love, then shoved the whole thing into his mouth. “Ank oo,” he said, spitting sugar everywhere.
“How did you two get on?” Tom said.
“Um…” Milly looked over at JD. They had been getting on, and she’d even felt like they were starting to bond. But since leaving Diaz’s office, JD hadn’t said a word to her. She got that he had a way of doing things and that maybe she could have kept her mouth shut. She got that Slay were meant to be the experts here. But this was as much her business as theirs. It was her mother who had been possessed by an Aztec priestess set on wreaking vengeance on the world, after all. Her gut had told her to trust Professor Diaz and she’d been proved right. They would have never found the location of the Blade of Shadows so quickly otherwise. She wondered if that was what annoyed JD most of all.
Being around JD felt like being on a roller coaster – she never quite knew what was coming next. Maybe that’s why he made her feel so jittery all the time, like she couldn’t catch her breath?
“Well, Milly blew our cover,” JD said.
“What?” Zek said.
“I’m sure she didn’t mean to,” Tom said, his eyes pleading with her.
“I told the professor about my mother. About the possession,” Milly said, irritated by their reactions.
The boys said nothing.
Nevertheless, she persisted. “And it was a good thing I did, because she told us everything we needed to know and now we have a plan.”
“You have a plan,” JD said, spinning a chair around and sitting on it backwards. He was the only person Milly had ever seen do that who didn’t look like he was trying too hard. “I didn’t agree to anything.”
Milly looked pleadingly at Tom. She would need their help.
Tom softened and sat down opposite her. “Tell us what happened.”
Milly relayed everything as quickly and as simply as she could. What Professor Diaz had said about Tezcatlipoca and the massacre. And about how she had translated the diary. “It’s a ritual to summon Tezcatlipoca. And Zyanya is back to finish what she started.”
Milly enjoyed the look of shock on the boys’ faces. It was nice to be the one delivering the news for once, rather than just being on the end of it.
“A ritual to summon a god?” Connor said, his mouth still full of doughnut.
“Summon a goat?” Zek said. “Well, that is new.”
“God!” Connor said, spraying everyone with crumbs.
Zek let out a disgusted squeal and dusted the crumbs off his white T-shirt. “I thought you said it was a ritual to honour Big T, not one to actually bring him back.”
“We were wrong,” JD said.
“A ritual to summon the god of death and shadows from the Netherworld?” Tom swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing beneath his buttoned-up shirt.
“Yes,” JD said.
Wow. That’s big, signed Niv.
Connor threw himself down next to Milly, the force of his bounce nearly throwing her off the sofa. “So we stop it from happening. Simple.”
“Oh, sure, easy,” Zek said, shaking his head at Connor.
“Go on,” JD said. “Tell them the rest.”
“The Blade of Shadows – the one we know Mourdant and Zyanya are after, the one that Diaz says was used in the failed summoning ritual back in 1520 – it’s going on display at the Field Museum tonight.”
“Brilliant. Amazing work.” Tom sat on the other side of Milly. While JD made her feel unsettled, Tom’s presence was soothing, calm. She felt that as long as he was next to her, everything would find a way of working itself out.
Niv pointed to the floor. Here?
“Yes, in Chicago.”
“Well, how about that for a coincidence?” Zek said. “The blade just so happens to be brought to the same city that Mourdant is in.”
“We should be careful. The blade could be a cursed object, like the Lydian Hoard, the Argonaut treasure, Tutankhamun’s tomb. Anyone who came into contact with them met with a nasty fate.”
Everyone stared at Connor, surprised and impressed.
“What? I read as much as you l
ot.”
Cereal packets, Niv signed.
“What did he say? Milly, tell me what he said.”
Milly hid her smile and decided to protect Connor from this one. “You really should learn sign, Connor.”
Niv crossed his arms and smiled smugly.
“She hasn’t finished yet,” JD said, leaning his chin on the back of the chair.
The boys turned back to Milly. It had all seemed so simple back in Diaz’s office. So clear. But now, under the intense stare of the five boys, she wasn’t so sure. “Well—”
“She thinks we should steal it,” JD finished.
There was another silence among the boys, this one punctuated by more shouting coming from the back of the bus.
“Well, damn, Milly,” Zek said finally. “I like your style.”
Milly smiled.
“Yeah, if we get the blade first then they can’t complete the ritual. No ritual, no end of the world. I like it.” Connor held up a hand for Milly to high-five and she responded.
JD straightened up. “Are you kidding me?” he said. “This is a dumb plan.”
“Do you have a better one?” Tom said.
JD opened his mouth and closed it again. “Well, no. But…”
“But nothing. The priority has to be stopping Mourdant and Zyanya getting the blade, don’t you think?”
“I guess.”
Milly wanted to rewind to an hour before, when she and JD had been hiding together, when they had shaken hands and she’d felt like they might actually become friends. “JD,” she said, “we won’t do this unless you think it’s the right thing to do.”
They all waited to see what JD would say.
“Call up the security on the museum,” JD said, standing up. “Let’s see how hard it’s going to be to break in.”
Connor leaped up. “Ooooh, we could do the old Mission Impossible. Hang from a rope and that.”
I could hack the CCTV, Niv signed.
“Or,” Milly said, “we could just walk through the front door? They’re having a launch party tonight.”
“Won’t it be invites-only?”
Milly couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Um, don’t you guys know who you are?”
The boys looked from one to another.
Milly took pity on them. “You’re the world’s number one boy band. I think you can probably swing some invitations to a party at a museum.”
Zek laughed. “I like her. Have I said how much I like her?”
“You might have mentioned it,” JD said, a small smile twitching at the corner of his mouth.
“Will there be food?” Connor asked.
“One small thing.” Milly looked down at her borrowed clothes. She had a wardrobe full of awful dresses her mother had made her wear to various opening nights, but they were all back at the house. “I don’t have anything to wear.”
The museum looked more like an ancient temple than anything. Long white steps led up to slender columns, on which perched a triangular pediment covered in carvings. Between the columns hung large red banners advertising the new exhibit: Wonders of the Aztec World. Men in handmade suits and tuxedos and women in tight-fitting cocktail dresses and gaudy ballgowns made their way up the steps and disappeared inside.
“Ready?” Tom said.
JD sighed. “Can’t we just break in after everyone has gone home?”
Zek straightened his jacket. “Well, I look incredible in this suit, so I’m not climbing around in any air ducts tonight.”
“We all look pretty hot, if you ask me,” Connor said.
“Did you have to wear the baseball cap?”
“It’s my thing.”
“Your thing?” Zek said.
“Sure. Tom has his ugly jumpers…”
“Oi!”
“Niv has his hipster buttoned-up shirts, JD rocks that fifties rebel thing and you, well you wear women’s V-necks.”
Zek looked down at the black T-shirt he wore under his suit. It was cut low enough to show off the curve of his pectoral muscles. “Fair.”
“Speaking of looking incredible…”
JD looked to see what was causing Tom’s jaw to hang loose. It was Milly.
When Gail heard their plan she, like the others, had said that Milly had done a great job and then insisted they must all look the part. “This is a public appearance and an opportunity to build your brand.”
The boys all had suits for such occasions, but Milly only had what Tom had lent her. So Gail had whisked Milly off on a shopping spree. The results of which were now sweeping across the plaza towards them.
Milly wore a long red dress that brushed the ground. She’d had her hair done too. Rather than her usual blunt bob, her hair was swept back and pinned with glittering grips. She looked beautiful, JD thought, but uncomfortable.
Tom was just gawping. “Milly, you look—”
“Like an idiot, I know. I can hardly walk in these heels. But Gail is really persuasive.”
“‘Idiot’ wasn’t quite the word I was going for,” Tom said with a cough.
JD noticed how red his cheeks were.
“Where is Gail?” Zek asked.
“About an hour ago she said something about coconuts again and started shouting at someone on the phone. When the car turned up at the store she was still shouting and told me to go ahead.”
“Ah, I love our manager,” Zek said.
Tom crooked his elbow towards Milly. “Shall we?”
Milly laughed and took Tom’s arm. The two of them walked up the steps together. JD watched his friend with Milly and something heavy sank into his stomach. He knew Tom liked her, that much was clear, but in that moment JD realized just how much. And what made him feel even weirder was how much Milly clearly liked Tom in return. She laughed at his jokes, stared deep into his eyes. Watching them, JD felt like he was stuck on the outside. He liked Milly – she was super-smart and funny and he felt like he could talk to her in a way he’d never been able to talk to a girl before. He’d even got over how she had ignored him and taken the lead back with Diaz. But that didn’t mean that he liked her liked her. Did it?
Niv appeared by his shoulder and gave him a sympathetic look. He pointed to JD then made the “okay” symbol while raising his eyebrows in a question.
“Sure, why wouldn’t I be?” JD said.
Niv pointed at Milly. She tucked a curl of hair behind her ear nervously and laughed at yet another of Tom’s jokes.
“What about her?”
Niv rested both hands on his chest above his heart.
“Don’t be stupid,” JD said. “Of course I don’t. What would make you… I mean, no. Of course not. Stupid.”
Niv raised his hands in mock surrender and shrugged.
“Just shut up, okay?”
Niv shook his head, hiding a smile, and JD walked quickly away. Niv was too observant for his own good sometimes.
JD headed up the stairs. At the top, a woman wearing a low-cut black dress and holding a clipboard smiled without her eyes. “Invitations, please.”
“Our names are on the list,” Tom said. “It’s Slay and…” He looked down at Milly. “And friend.”
The woman’s eyes widened. “Oh my, well, yes. You must go in. Have a wonderful evening and if you need anything, anything at all, you know where I am.”
JD shuddered as she laid a long-taloned hand on his arm. “Thanks,” he said, walking by.
Through the arched black doors, they were greeted by the huge skeleton of a dinosaur with its jaws wide open. It looked ready to eat everyone at the party.
“Boys, spread out,” JD said under his breath. “Milly, stay close to me.”
Tom hesitated for a moment before letting go of Milly’s arm and heading for one side of the room. JD hadn’t meant to split them up like that, he’d just been following standard procedure. He was almost totally certain he hadn’t anyway.
String music floated up to the high ceiling, mixing with the chatter and laughter of the c
hampagne-swilling guests. JD was never going to get used to evenings like these. Everyone looked so at ease, so pleased with themselves.
“God, I hate these places. These people,” Milly said, echoing JD’s thoughts.
“Do you know them?”
“I know their type. The same set would come to my mother’s opening nights and tell her how simply marvellous she was, while being awful behind her back. They think just because they’re rich it makes them better than everyone else.”
“Aren’t you rich?”
Milly seemed to bristle at his question and JD instantly regretted it.
“Aren’t you?” she snapped back.
“Yeah, but…” He wanted to say that it was different when you’re born poor. That no amount of zeroes in your bank account would ever make you feel like you belonged in a place like this. But he didn’t.
“Feeding your burning intellectual curiosity, I see?”
JD turned to see a woman wearing a sharp three-piece suit with pointed black heels. It took him a while to recognize her, as she looked older than she had in her office. “Professor Diaz?”
“Did you already forget that we agreed to meet here? You are going to have to work on your memory skills.” She turned to Milly. “Aren’t these things awful?”
“The worst,” Milly agreed.
A waiter shoved a silver tray filled with tiny indistinguishable pastry parcels under JD’s nose. He took one just to make the man go away.
Diaz tapped her lip while trying to choose, then took one of each. “I only come for the food. And because laughing at old men’s terrible jokes helps with funding.”
JD choked on his canapé. Diaz plucked a glass of champagne off a passing tray and downed it in three smooth gulps, before swapping it for a fresh glass.
“Well, come on then. The blade we’re all here to see is over there.” She pointed to the middle of the room, where a spotlight picked out a glass cabinet. A large man in a black suit stood beside it, his arms folded. As they got closer, they saw it. A single black knife with a jagged edge, resting on a clear plastic plinth. The blade was carved out of what looked like black glass, while the handle was made of a white material, stone or ivory maybe, and covered in carvings of intricate symbols that looked familiar to JD from the diary. It was undeniably beautiful, a work of exceptional craftsmanship. The blade seemed to soak up the light surrounding it, as if he was looking at a black hole.