The Fire Keeper (The Storm Runner 2)
Rosie growled and released a firestorm at the huge bat. Camazotz threw his wings up, instantly extinguishing the fire. “Tell your dog to settle down,” he said to me. “Does she not know who I am, what I am capable of? I am the great bat god. I am the night.”
Oh, geez. Now he was quoting Batman?
Hondo shifted his feet into a warrior stance, wh
ite-knuckling the crowbar now in his hands. Where was Brooks? Had he hidden her somewhere? Had she flown away? “Aren’t you gods sick of wanting to end the world?” he asked. “Like, come on, dudes. Come up with a more original plan already.”
“Who said anything about ending the world?” Camazotz asked. “Been there, done that. So boring and unimaginative. Now, be good little thugs and get back into your cages. Or do we have to drag you kicking and screaming?”
“If you don’t want to end the world, then what do you want?” I asked. It wasn’t to make me their soldier, and it wasn’t to sacrifice me to the Maya gods…. I thought about what the twins had said, Why would we ever honor the Maya gods with your blood or anyone’s? No, you’re even more valuable than that.
Ren leaned against me, trembling. He isn’t going to let us go, she said. We have to fight this monster.
Monster. The way the word bounced off my mind reminded me of something Ah-Puch had said back at the Beast when he told us about Ahuitzotl. So, someone found a way to bring back the monsters….The plan unfolded in my mind and it began to make perfect, sick sense. I get it! I communicated to Ren. Jordan and Bird want revenge, a new order that they can rule over.
We already know that, Ren said.
They want to bring back the monsters.
Ren gasped, squeezing my hand so tight I was sure the blood stopped flowing. Not just the monsters, Zane.
My stomach writhed as the realization hit me. You’re right! The twins told me they would never waste my blood or anyone’s on the Maya gods but…crap!
If the blood sacrifice is enough to raise Ah-Puch, then…
Ren dropped my hand and blurted to Zotz, “You want to sacrifice us to wake up the Mexica gods?”
Camazotz raised an eyebrow and laughed, which sounded more like he was gargling acid.
“Your blood is valuable,” Camazotz said to Ren, “but it isn’t that valuable. Or at least not enough to set off our chain reaction. You see, first we need to awaken a Mexica god of our choosing. Then…” He frowned. “You…none of you little thugs are enough.”
I bet they wanted to wake up that earth goddess Ixtab told me about. The devourer who still had followers. What was her name? Tlaltecuhtli.
Then another thought occurred to me. If we weren’t enough to awaken a Mexica goddess, who…?
The shock nearly toppled me over. “But the blood of a god is enough,” I said. Hurakan’s execution wasn’t an execution at all—it was a sacrifice to raise the first Mexica god!
Camazotz tilted his head and studied me. I couldn’t even look at Ah-Puch, but I could feel his eyes burning a hole in my chest. I stepped closer to the giant bat. Rosie was right behind me, dripping puddles of foam into the dirt. “If we’re going to die,” I said, “at least tell us what our deaths are for, what they mean.”
“First the father’s blood,” Ah-Puch said. “Then the next-best thing: his claimed son’s.”
“Ah-Puch…” Camazotz’s tone was one of warning.
“The boy should know what his sacrifice is for,” Ah-Puch said. “Once we awaken the greatest of the Mexica deities, something only the blood of another god can do, we will use your heart, Zane, to feed and strengthen her. Only then can we begin the ritual to rouse the others.” His cowardly eyes roved over the godborns. “And a newly risen army of gods and monsters nourished on the blood of innocents is more powerful than you can possibly imagine.”
Gasps and sobs sounded behind me.
“But why?” Ren cried.
Camazotz didn’t hesitate. “I will never be powerless again. I will be the new king, and the Maya gods will know my fury.”
The tips of my fingers ignited into blue flames. Streaks of red colored my vision as I glared at Ah-Puch. “I knew I could never trust you.”
“Then why did you?”
“Just for fun,” the bat god interrupted, “why don’t I give you all a demonstration of the power of sangre?” Camazotz spread his wings again, showing the hungry mouths. Three mouse-size bats slithered out of one of the mouths. Ah-Puch grabbed them in one hand, snapped their necks, and turned his back to us as he drank their blood.
A few groans and moans echoed across the junkyard. Someone barfed behind me. Ah-Puch turned slowly. Like before, he stood taller and stronger. His eyes flashed silver, zeroing in on Rosie. But he still wasn’t a full god. Not yet.