The Storm Runner (The Storm Runner 1)

“If it’s something bad, don’t tell me!” I clapped my hands over my ears.

“It’s not a demon.”

I lowered my hands. “Yeah, I kinda figured that,” I said, thinking of the man in the vision of my mom. “Is it a magician?”

“No.”

“Okay.” I braced myself. “Then what am I?”

She stared at me, scanning my face, my neck, my chest.

“Tell me!”

“It’s not possible.”

“Brooks!”

“You’re part god.”

I almost laughed. Me? Part god? The desert tilted and I felt light-headed. Maybe her brain had gotten fried when she was knocked out. There was a higher chance of that being true than of me equaling one-half god! “No way!”

“Only gods can do telepathy.”

My knees buckled and I stumbled. She caught me by the elbow.

“Are… are you sure?” I asked.

“A thousand percent. You, Zane Obispo, are the son of a Maya god.”

Holy smokes. That sounded kind of…cool.

“Which one?” I asked. “Please don’t say some evil guy like Puke.”

“I have no idea, but I get it now. No wonder you had the ability to release Ah-Puch. I mean, the prophecy was clear: a powerful innocent with ancient blood.”

I wasn’t following.

“Think about it,” she said excitedly. I could see her mind churning as she paced. “The gods put him away, so maybe that meant only a god could let him out.”

“Whoa! You never mentioned that before.”

“I didn’t figure it out until just now. I was so focused on the ‘powerful innocent’ part, I didn’t go any further. Plus, a god is never innocent, so it wouldn’t have made sense.” She shook her head. “The gods probably thought their plan was foolproof, because they all hate Ah-Puch. None of them would ever set him free.”

Okay, so Brooks’s logic sort of made sense. It wasn’t all that different from middle school, where the cool kids band together against someone they can’t stand.

She took a deep, shaky breath. “They didn’t count on you coming along.”

(Did you hear that, gods? You got duped!)

“What’s an innocent?” I asked.

“I didn’t understand before, but now I get it. It’s someone who has no knowledge of his lineage. As in you’re not ruined by your power yet.”

Power? But I didn’t have any. Unless you counted seeing in the dark, and I guess now, telepathy. “So if gods can read minds,” I said, “then how can you read my thoughts? Are nawals gods?”

“No.” Brooks dropped her gaze. “It means you trust me. Or else you wouldn’t let me in.”

It was dangerous to have Brooks in my head, knowing my secrets. Like that I thought she was beautiful and… “No offense, but how do I keep you out?”