The Storm Runner (The Storm Runner 1)

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.”