“I wear them in public, as a cover. Don’t want it getting around that I’m a nik’ wachinel—that could be dangerous.” She put the scroll down on the coffee table. “And they haven’t hurt me professionally. People seem to have more respect for blind psychics, for whatever reason.”
“Wait. Did you say you’re supposed to watch over me? No offense, Ms. Cab, but, um… you don’t seem like someone who could protect me.” I mean, she was almost as short as my mom, and older than her by like thirty years!
“You’re safe, aren’t you? At least for now.”
“Safe? That demon took Rosie….And it dragged me across the cave to make me set Pukeface free.”
“Yes, well, sometimes I can’t be sure if my visions are happening in real time or the distant future. It’s called a delayed response. But at least I found you when I did, or that girl would’ve had you releasing Ah-Puch into this world.”
“No.” I frowned. “Brooks was here to warn me, and to take the artifact far away. To stop the prophecy.”
“Nawals can be tricksters, Zane. They can’t be trusted.”
I thought about that. Brooks had said loyalty was in her DNA. She had helped me fight the demon runner… hadn’t she? But I still didn’t know much about her or her so-called quest. And if her quest was so important, why did she insist that we leave the cave? Had she felt so rotten about Rosie she couldn’t go on? Or was she really scared of more demon runners showing up?
Ms. Cab stuck her finger on her left eye and rolled it slightly until the iris was back in the center. “You might get sick again later, depending on how many lies are inside you,” she said matter-of-factly, as if she were describing flu symptoms.
“How many lies are in me? I haven’t lied!”
Ms. Cab ignored my outburst and went on. “Also, you’re going to have to keep a low profile. Where there’s one demon runner there are bound to be more, and when they find out you’ve killed one of their own… ay, Dios.” She shook her head casually, like I’d broken a teacup instead of stabbed a monster.
Oh God, just thinking about the demon runner made me feel sick all over again. “We need to run!” My voice quivered. “Get my mom and Hondo and go far away, like Alaska or Tibet or something.” Definitely somewhere with no volcanoes.
Ms. Cab walked to the window nonchalantly, pulled the lace curtain back, and peered into the night. “I’m afraid that won’t do us any good, Zane. You see, the Prophecy of Fire is powerful—more powerful than your will.” She must’ve seen the confusion on my face, because she came over and sat next to me. “It’s like sleep. No amount of running or hiding is going to keep it from finding you. It will always come, no matter what.”
I didn’t even try to understand her words with the logic part of my brain. Clearly, facing this new reality was going to take something more, something I wasn’t sure I had in me. A belief in the impossible.
I threw my head back against the sofa and rubbed my eyes. “Why me? I’m just some kid who doesn’t even matter.”
“Actually, you’re not just some kid. You’re…” She hesitated.
“A supernatural? Yeah, Brooks told me. What does that even mean? Am I a nawal too?”
If Ms. Cab was surprised, she didn’t show it. She patted my short leg and said slowly, “It means you’re only part human.”
The words reached my ears, but it took a few more seconds for them to penetrate my mind.
“I know it’s shocking for your human side to take in,” she said. “So I’ll give you a few minutes to absorb it.”
A few minutes was really five seconds, because she launched right into the next part, and what she told me turned my world upside down and inside out.
9
“Part human?”
“Yes,” Ms. Cab said. “Your father is a supernatural. And your leg? It’s defective for one reason only. Supernaturals and humans don’t mix—it so often ends badly. Bum legs, terrible eyesight, missing fingers or toes, anger-management issues.”
I realized in that moment that the human brain is built for only so much shock. It’s like trying to cram into a bathroom stall with ten other guys—pretty soon the walls are going to come down.
“On the plus side,” Ms. Cab said, “your supernatural heritage is the reason the poison didn’t kill you.”
I perked up at that. Maybe being a supernatural would give me other awesome powers—powers I could use to get Rosie back. I needed to know what I was dealing with here. “What exactly is a supernatural? And who is my dad?”
“I have no idea who your father is, so don’t ask. But he could be any number of supernatural beings,” she added. “A nawal, a demon, a spirit guide, a dwarf.”
A dwarf. Perfect. My dad could be a Maya supernatural dwarf.
“Does my mom know?” My voice rose a few notches. “I mean that she fell in love with some kind of…” I didn’t have the right word. Creature? Thing? Monster? No way would Mom fall for a knuckle-dragging, hairy Brillo pad….
“She knows your father was a supernatural but not about the Prophecy of Fire. If she were to have that knowledge, it could be very dangerous for her. A mother’s love is the most illogical of all types of love. If she knew, she’d do anything to protect you, and that could end up backfiring—on her, you, and the world. Which is why I’m here. But if you want details about your father, you’ll have to ask her. I’m certainly not privy to the contents of her heart.”
“And Hondo?”
“Clueless.”
That figured. Then I thought about Mr. Ortiz. Was he some kind of Maya protector, too? When I asked Ms. Cab, she laughed. “Heavens, no. That man is all human.”
I didn’t know if that made me feel better or worse. My neck started to sweat. “Why is all this happening to me now?”
Ms. Cab threaded her fingers on her lap. “It was meant to be. Why do you think you happen to live next to the place where Ah-Puch is imprisoned?”
“Er… bad luck?”
“You chose this place. Or, I should say, the prophecy’s magic did.”
“But I wasn’t even born when we moved here.”
“Your mother was pregnant with you. Even then, the magic drew you here by influencing your mother’s choices. Stay with me, Zane.” She fanned my face with her hand. “This isn’t exactly where I wanted to be, out here in the middle of the desert with old Ortiz fawning all over me, but a seer understands duty above all else.”
“What, you’re like secret service for hire?”
“I am a descendant of the Great Soothsayer’s secret keepers. It’s my ancestral legacy,” she said, sitting taller. “I’m protecting a secret that I and those who went before me are bound to keep.”
Heat flashed through me. “And you never thought to tell me any of this?”
“It wasn’t time.”
“Why’s it time now?”
“When the demon runner escalated things so close to the eclipse, I knew the prophecy was beginning to unfold.”
I didn’t tell her I was the one who escalated things when I cleared the path to the cave so old Pukeface could send his stupid distress signals to his lame-brain demon runners.
I scratched my head. “So let me get this straight. All these Maya—you, Brooks, the demon runner—are here because the god of death has been living in a magical artifact in my volcano for hundreds of years, waiting for me to let him out?”
“Yes. Haven’t you ever wondered why you can see so clearly in the dark?” Ms. Cab asked.
“How did you…?”
She let out a long breath. “I know everything about you, Zane Obispo. I was there when you were born.”
I wanted to run home and confront my mom about my supernatural dad to see if she could give me any more details, but right now, I had a more important goal. Okay, maybe two goals: find Rosie, and stay alive.
I sat up straighter. “I need to go to Xib’alb’a. Can you help me?”
Ms. Cab shook her head vigorously. “You can’t go to the land of
the dead, Zane.”
“Because I’m not dead?”
“Because it’s too big a risk. They don’t exactly throw out the welcome mat for the living, and if you did show up, well, the underworld would suck you in and never let you go. The inhabitants simply adore flesh….It’s quite a delicacy, you know.”
I held my hand up in sickened protest. “I get it, I get it.”
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to accept the fact that Rosie’s gone.”
Ms. Cab looked genuinely sorry, but her words made me want to scream. Rosie was not gone! She couldn’t be.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Fine,” I managed. “Then you could bring her back. I mean, you’re a powerful seer.” (Yeah, I know it was a stretch.) “I mean, they might need someone with your skill set, right? You could use that to maybe negotiate or something.”
“Zane, we have to focus on what’s most pressing—keeping you safe.”
I sprang off the couch and started to pace like a maniac. “Rosie needs me! I don’t care about staying safe.”
This wasn’t happening. I know it was selfish, maybe even stupid, but I couldn’t get Rosie off my mind. I remembered the day I found her and how I’d pulled stickers out of her paws and given her a bath. She’d been trembling all over, so I’d rolled her in a towel and held her close and promised I’d never let anyone hurt her again.
I was a liar.
Ms. Cab unrolled the scroll she had placed on the coffee table. Pointing to a series of odd symbols, she said, “Tomorrow is the solar eclipse. The day of reckoning. The day of numbers. It’s when the Prophecy of Fire will finally unfold. We may need a good escape route.”
I wiped my sweaty, sticky palms across my jeans. “But we still have a few hours left! There must be something we can do to get Rosie back.”
“I don’t want to give you false hope, Zane. Even if I could get her back, she wouldn’t be the same dog. She’d be…” She hesitated. “Changed.”
“Changed how?”
“I don’t know. But I’ve seen a few souls brought back, and they were never the same.”
“So it can happen!” I didn’t care if Rosie was a little different. I was different, too. I couldn’t stand the idea of my dog being stuck in such a terrible place. “Please, can’t you try?”
“Zane.” Ms. Cab raised a single brow and shook her head. “I’d have to travel to another realm and leave you unprotected. It would go against my purpose and my nature. I’m sorry. Rosie is not my concern. You are, and tomorrow, when your destiny is fulfilled, I must be here.”
I was getting pretty sick of people telling me I was going to set this Puke monster free. I didn’t care about him or the stupid Prophecy of Fire. “Why would I release Ah-Puch, knowing he wants to destroy the world? And what’s his deal, anyway? How come he hates humans enough to want to kill them all?”
“It started eons ago. The creator gods, namely Hurakan and Kukuulkaan, were very powerful and wanted to make creatures to worship them.”
“Right,” I said. I’d read this creation story before. “They made the first humans out of mud.”
“And the humans were weak and useless,” she added. “Couldn’t even think, so the gods destroyed them. Then they made a different batch of humans out of wood, but they were dumb as… well, wood, so…” She ran her finger across her throat like a blade.
“The gods sure liked destroying things, didn’t they?”
“They wanted to get it right. To create a human that could think and mark time and keep records.”
Remembering the next part of the story, I smirked. “So they made them out of corn?” Made perfect sense.
Ms. Cab nodded. “Those humans were smart and could understand too much, so the gods sent a great fog to obscure some of their knowledge.”
“First they want smart humans, then the humans are too smart,” I grumbled. “Geez, these gods have serious issues.” (You gods could really use some psychoanalysis.)
“They hate competition.”
“How could humans ever compete against the gods?”
“Have you heard of the hero twins?”
“The brothers who tricked and killed some lords of the underworld?” They had gotten four whole pages and three illustrations in my book.
“Those lords”—she flapped a hand dismissively—“were weak-minded monsters ruled by Ah-Puch.”
Yeah, the “hero” part of the twins’ story had seemed a little overblown. Basically they wanted revenge because a few stupid Xib’alb’a lords had killed their father and uncle.
Ms. Cab went on. “After the twins tricked and killed the lords, legend has it that the twins then defeated Ah-Puch himself. Humans loved them for it and then saw the underworld as weak. Then humans stopped fearing the god of death, and there’s never a good outcome when people ignore the gods.”
“So Ah-Puch wants to destroy the world for the fourth time and make new humans that will pay attention to him?”
“Something like that.” Ms. Cab studied the paper spread across the table. “When you release Ah-Puch at the moment of the eclipse, he’s going to be good and mad, and out for vengeance. In his rage, he is likely to thirst for your blood.”
“Hang on! Why would he want to kill the one guy who finally let him out?”
“I didn’t say he was logical. Imagine being cooped up for over four hundred years.”
It would suck, sure, but I was pretty certain it wouldn’t make me thirsty for blood. More like an extra-grande chocolate milk shake. “So do you have some sort of magical dagger that kills gods or something?”
Ms. Cab’s eyes went wide. “Heavens no. My job isn’t to kill him, Zane. I’m not an assassin!”
“But we can’t let him destroy the whole world. I mean, everyone would die.” Mom. Hondo. Mr. O. Brooks. I felt sick.
Ms. Cab inhaled sharply through her nose. “It’s not my job to stop his reign of terror, Zane. My ancestral legacy is very clear. Keep the prophecy’s secret and make sure you’re safe.”
“Don’t… don’t you care about the world?”
“My ancestral legacy is very clear,” she repeated in an annoying tone, like a robot. “And besides, I don’t have the power to kill Ah-Puch. Only the gods do.”
“Then let’s call them right now! You have a direct line, right?”
“No, Zane. I do not have a direct line.” Ms. Cab rolled her eyes. “And even if I did, I wouldn’t call them. That’s not my job. I am not to interfere with or do anything other than fulfill my ancestral legacy.”
“I don’t know, Ms. Cab,” I said, trying to sound calm. “Seems like they’d want to know the dude they locked up forever ago is getting ready for parole.”
“It is not my duty—”
I held up my hand to stop her. “Right. I get it. Ancestral legacy.”
Fine, if she wasn’t going to alert the gods and she wasn’t going to off the guy, then how was she going to make sure I kept all eight pints of blood in my body?
Ms. Cab’s face was tight and pale. “Soon after Ah-Puch is free, the gods will know it. Believe me. Then they can worry about how to deal with him.”
“So how are you going to stop him from… you know, killing me? He’s a god, Ms. Cab!” I said, as if she needed a reminder.
“I will bring him an offering.”
“Offering?” The word practically got stuck in my throat. “Like… a present?”
“Like fresh blood.”
I was starting to see white spots. “You don’t mean like a live animal or… a person, right?”
She stroked her chin, thinking. “He prefers snakes.”
“Seriously? The dude drinks snake blood?” Maybe someone should make him a carne burrito smothered with green chile, I thought. He’d never go back to blood again.
Ms. Cab stood. “We need to focus. You must be strong now, understand?”
Strong? I’d just killed a demon runner! Which only reminded me of Rosie. I’d failed her, and I vowed to myself tha
t I would make things right again.
I stood, locking eyes with Ms. Cab. “I… I’ll help with the prophecy, and the… offering or whatever, but after I get Rosie back. You’re her only chance, and if I lose her, then I won’t be the same….” My voice cracked. “Please, Ms. Cab, I’m begging you.”
“You would risk everything for a… a dog?”
I didn’t bother to explain that Rosie was more than a dog to me. We were one unit. I simply nodded.
Ms. Cab pinched the bridge of her nose and gave a deep sigh. “I’ll investigate, reach out to some old friends who help souls cross over, see if they’ve seen Rosie. Perhaps they can watch out for her. But I won’t go far, and I’ll be back before the eclipse tomorrow.”
It was better than nothing. At least I could get a report and then figure out what to do next.
“But you must promise me not to go near that volcano or that girl in the meantime,” Ms. Cab said. “Brooks had no business coming here. You are not to trust her, do you hear me? Stay inside your house until tomorrow. If you can do that, then I will do my part.”
“Deal!” But then I wondered why I was in danger if the demon runners wanted me to release the Stinking One. What had Brooks said about trying to make things right? And how could I turn my back on her? She’d risked her life in that cave to attack the demon runner.
Ms. Cab mumbled something under her breath as she studied the paper.
I looked down at the sheet. At first it reminded me of a crinkled bus map with crisscrossing lines in all different colors. Then I saw a dozen or so blue squares that started flashing as if they were on a computer screen. I’d never seen anything like it.
“This is a rare item, Zane. Most gateway maps have been destroyed. Like a near-extinct species, there are only a few left.” She adjusted a bobby pin in her hair. “Those who possess one keep it secret. Do you understand?”
“Yes… I understand.”
“These flashing squares mark the gateways to the different layers of the world,” Ms. Cab said. “They change every day. See how this one is flashing faster than the others? It means it’s going to close here and open somewhere else very soon. Look for one that’s blinking more slowly.”
The Storm Runner Page 7