Brooks swiveled to face me. Her eyes burned fiercely. “You’ll end up a soldier of death even if the gods kill him.”
Heat prickled up my spine and I wanted to crawl out of my own skin. “That about sums it up.” I stood and took a deep breath. “I have to tell them.”
“Tell who what?”
“I can’t let the gods go to war over something I did.”
Brooks jumped up and grabbed my arm. “No, Zane! That would be like… like double suicide. Are you trying to die?”
“Um, no… not exactly.”
She paced with her usual look of determination, but that wasn’t going to get me out of my dilemma. “The gods want this war,” she said. “They’ve been looking for a reason to start one. You telling them now—it wouldn’t be worth it.”
“How do you know?”
“You heard Jazz. We’ve had peace for too long,” Brooks huffed. “Nakon’s been waiting for this.”
I remembered the name. “The god of war.”
“He’s always hungry for blood and he’s been itching for a fight but never had a good excuse until now. So with or without you, Zane, the gods are going to battle it out. Don’t you see? Telling them would be a huge mistake. It won’t change anything!”
I nodded and we sat in silence after that, each of us mentally trying to unlock a door we didn’t have the key for.
“All those people…” I finally said. “From the party? Are they…?”
“Dead?”
Jazz appeared from the cabin below. “From what I saw on the minicams, I think they got out. They won’t even remember where they were. They’ll think it was another earthquake or that they have a killer hangover.”
Brooks froze. “I can’t believe you spied on us with those minicams.”
“And here I thought you’d be thanking me,” Jazz said.
I caught on. Brooks was worried Jazz had heard something he shouldn’t have, like that I was a godborn. I thought back… Had we ever mentioned it? Or anything else that might get him in trouble?
“Thanks, Jazz,” I said. “You were right. Those guys are jerks. Did you hear what they said to Hondo?”
Jazz narrowed his eye. “Don’t make me feel bad, kid. The cams don’t have audio, okay? I’m still working on that technology.”
My muscles relaxed and Brooks let out a long breath.
“How is my uncle?” I asked Jazz, worried that Hondo would be in torment for hours.
“He’ll survive,” the giant said, shaking his head. “Won’t be too happy when he wakes up, but it’ll wear off. Eventually.”
After what the twins had done to Hondo, I couldn’t even think about them without hate bubbling up inside me. “So…” I didn’t know where to begin. “Where are we going?”
The boat lurched and began moving through the waters. I looked up to the second level, but no one was piloting. Jazz’s face split into a broad smile. “Captains herself,” he said proudly.
“Let me guess,” I said. “Magic?”
A deep frown formed. “No! Advanced Giant Engineering! A-G-E—it’s the company I’m going to start once I have enough capital.” He pulled a bottle of what looked like chocolate milk out of the cooler. “Chocolate from Ixkakaw. Want some? It’s a new recipe.”
I took some and guzzled it, hoping it would make me feel as good as before. It was liquid velvet and even sweeter than the last batch, if that were possible.
Jazz popped the lid off and swigged the whole bottle. After a loud burp, he said, “I’ve got some real bad news, Little Hawk.”
“What could be worse than—?” I stopped myself, not wanting to reveal too much to him.