The Fire Keeper (The Storm Runner 2)

We landed on a dirt road in the middle of a dense jungle. Drums boomed in the distance. The godborns stared at me blankly. Breathless, I spun to face Hondo. Brooks the hawk was still cradled in his arms. I stroked the top of her head and my gut clenched. Would she ever return to human form? Was Camazotz right? Would I be too late to save my dad?

The execution was scheduled for midnight, but I had no idea what time it was. “Does anyone have a watch or a cell or—?”

Ren said, “It’s eleven twenty-seven p.m.”

“How do you know? You’re not even wearing a watch.”

Ren glanced around at the shadowed faces and shrugged. “I have a crazy precise sense of time.”

At that moment, I had an inkling of who her mom was. But this wasn’t the moment to go into it. If she was right, I only had thirty-three minutes to stop the execution and get back to the underworld before I died permanently.

I tugged the gateway map out of my back pocket, hoping it might tell me something about how close we were, or if there was another gateway that might get us to the pyramid faster.

“That was a bold move,” Hondo said, “raising your enemy from the d—” He stopped himself, looking at Rosie.

Pure shock buzzed through me. Had the god of death just saved our lives?

The map blinked all haywire-like, making it impossible to read.

Brooks blinked. Her glowing eyes, golden like a cat’s, studied me like she recognized who I was. For a hopeful second, I thought she might shift and yell at me, or slug my arm. Instead, she wriggled out of Hondo’s grasp, snatched the map out of my hands, and took off into the night sky.

My lungs caved in as I watched her go, not knowing if I would ever see her again.

“Zane, are you okay?” Ren asked.

It took a moment for me to catch my breath. I shook my head, then changed it to a nod so she wouldn’t worry. “Ah-Puch said he could only buy me a few minutes,” I said. “We need to get moving.”

The godborns’ panicked voices spilled across the dark:

“Where are we?”

“That bat god was twisted.”

“Did you see his fangs?”

“That other dude was Ah-Puch?”

“Can we go home now?”

“I’m getting the hell out of here.” I was pretty sure that was Marco.

There was a chorus of huddled whispers and hushed words among the godborns as Hondo started to explain everything to them. I had just climbed onto Rosie’s back, when Ren tugged my arm.

“Ah-Puch—you gave him the jade,” she cried. “He saved us.”

There wasn’t time to talk. I had to stop the execution, or Hurakan would die and the sobrenaturals’ magic would be gone forever. “I have to go. Now.”

She wiped her tears and pulled herself together. Red splotches spread across her cheeks. “I’m coming.”

Smoke curled from Rosie’s snout as she lowered herself for Ren to climb on. I knew it wouldn’t do any good to argue.

“We’re coming, too,” Marco said, leading the pack. What was it with this kid and a death wish?

“It’s too dangerous,” I argued.

“Danger?” Serena said. “Did you see what we’ve been through? Caged, tormented by that…that bat god, and those awful—”

“Twins,” Louie finished her thought.