“This is jaguar jade… the oldest magic in the universe. It will help you,” she said, handing it to me. The tooth was about four inches long, bigger than what I expected, and it had a razor-sharp tip. As I turned it over in my hand, the tooth turned a deep green and pulsed with a strange warmth. I didn’t get it. What good was a jade tooth when I was up against the god of death? Was I supposed to stab him in the eye with it?
“This is what he wanted you to give me?” My throat closed up as I turned the tooth, examining it. It didn’t look very magical.
Pacific’s gaze fell to my wrist, to Ah-Puch’s mark. She let out a small gasp. “I see.”
I looked down at the stupid symbol, rubbing it in the water like I could wash it off.
“Things are graver than…” Pacific began. She took a deep breath, straightened her hood, and said, “You must promise not to tell a soul about me.” Her powerful gaze made me think she could see right into my mind. Then her eyes went wide. The rope she was holding jerked her beneath the water. The jaguar vanished and the sea tumbled violently.
Waves crashed. It was like someone had started the earth spinning again but gave it one too many whirls. As I began to paddle toward the shore, an enormous wave formed behind me, swelling bigger and bigger until it looked ten stories tall.
Pacific’s voice echoed across the ocean. When I tell you to kick, you must do so with all your strength. I watched with fear as that wave grew. At the crest, it bulged, and I knew it was going to break any second and take me with it.
Now, Storm Runner. Now!
I paddled and kicked like a madman, trying to keep up with the monster wave. As it broke, I rocketed forward, then plunged underneath. I was pitched and thrown from side to side, top to bottom, spinning so violently I didn’t know which way was up.
Something pressed into my back and, with great force, thrust me through the water at unimaginable speed. My lungs felt like they might collapse any second. Just as I was about to break the surface, I turned and saw the jaguar’s
face looming in the dark sea.
The next thing I knew, I was on the beach, choking and spitting up salt water. My body shook uncontrollably as I rolled over into a pile of slimy seaweed.
I sat up, chest heaving, and looked all around me, but the jade tooth was gone. I must’ve dropped it! I scrambled to my knees and started digging, like it might be buried in the sand. But it was nowhere to be found. Panic clutched my throat and I couldn’t breathe.
At the same moment, a gentle wave came in and touched my feet. I turned to see something pale green wash onto the sand. I snatched it up, and my heart pounded with relief as I stared down at the thing.
“What are you?” I whispered.
Wait a second. Had she called me Storm Runner?
I traced the jade’s smooth edges and something stirred in me. The tooth might’ve looked like a cold hunk of nothing, but it was something.
Something that mattered.
20
I hauled myself into the passenger seat of the truck.
Hondo gave me a once-over and shook his head. “You’ve got a piece of seaweed in your hair.” I picked it out and glanced at Brooks. She was in the backseat studying the gateway map and pretty much avoiding eye contact with me. What was up with her? I couldn’t wait to get her alone so we could talk, if she’d talk to me.
“I need to change my clothes.” I reached behind the seat for my backpack. “Uh—can you… turn around?” I asked Brooks.
She rolled her eyes, then lifted the map so it covered her face completely. I peeled off my sea-drenched jeans and T-shirt, yanked on fresh clothes, and transferred the jade tooth to my dry pants’ pocket. I tossed the wet stuff through the cab’s back window so it could air out in the bed. I still felt chilled to the bone, so I pulled on my gray sweatshirt.
I figured I had the worst luck in the universe. It was one thing to have a bum leg; it was another to be the unfortunate chump who had freed the god of death. And to have to hide to avoid being on the gods’ most wanted list? Yeah, that was pretty awful, too. But there was something even more terrible than any of that: being the living proof that someone had broken the Sacred Oath. It was too many shades of depressing and made me feel more different and alone than I ever had.
“So, Capitán…” Hondo slipped on a pair of Ray-Bans as the morning sun began to peek out of the clouds. “Where do we go once we’re in Venice?”
Brooks didn’t lower the map. “It’s on the beach.”
“They live on the beach?” I asked.
“Sort of,” she said. “You’ll see when we get there.” Her voice was tired, and she looked pale and drained. I wanted to talk to her to find out if I could help. Maybe, if we put our heads together, we could figure out why she couldn’t shape-shift anymore. I also wanted to fill her in about Pacific and the jaguar jade… except Pacific had made me promise not to tell anyone about her.
I leaned back, folding my arms tightly over my chest.
Why wouldn’t Brooks open up to me? What was her deal with Ixtab, anyway? Why the heck would the new landlord of Xib’alb’a send demons after Brooks? She must’ve been in some pretty big trouble, but what kind?