We soared through the fog and emerged into an alien landscape very different from the one we had just escaped. Four reddish-pink suns hung low in the sky. A gilded jungle stretched out before us. The trees’ leaves, trunks, and branches were made of a glimmering metal that reflected a rainbow of colors.
“This place is paradise!” Hondo said breathlessly. “I told you…you have to visualize the outcome you want. You think all that gold is real?”
That’s when I realized that Hondo was built for this strange and amazing and dangerous life. He’d never been meant for janitorial work or even running tours on Holbox. I mean, I knew he was happy on the island, but here he was 100 percent alive.
This doesn’t look like Pus River, I told Quinn. Or South Dakota.
Change of plans.
What? Why?
Those demons have already told Ixtab you’re here.
Panic gripped me. Then we have to run!
¡No, menso! Do that and you’ll be dead in less than five seconds. You have no choice. You have to face her now.
Are you insane?
Listen, Mr. I-Don’t-Have-a-Single-Strategic-Bone-in-My-Body. Our plan’s been thwarted, which means you have to pretend you intended to come see her.
My insides coiled into a tight ball. And say what?
I’m sure you’ll think of something.
My mind raced, trying to come up with a list of excuses, but then terror took over as I imagined Ixtab seeing right through me and ripping my heart out with one hand.
“This place is sick,” Hondo hollered. “I thought we were going to Pus River, not King Midas’s hideout.”
Midas? Quinn said. Tell him the Greeks had nothing on the Maya! We were the first great engineers, architects, and astronomers. And we developed one of the most accurate calendar systems in human history.
Okaaayyy, no more mention of the Greeks.
Quinn let out a loud cry that Brooks seemed to understand. Brooks’s eyes narrowed with some kind of shock, then determination. I figured Quinn had told her about our little change of plans.
As we descended farther, the suns melted into the horizon, casting a pinkish glow across the gilded jungle. The trees gave way to a huge complex that was dominated by nine golden Maya pyramids arranged in a circle. For a second, I thought the layout looked a little like Puksí’ikal, the heart of the Old World. But that place was drab and gray, and cobwebs choked the trees. This place…it was dripping with vibrant gold.
At the center of the complex were silvery demon runners with sharklike skin and thick white braids hanging down their backs. They sparred with axes, swords, and spears, showing off their fancy footwork on what looked like a shiny marble floor. Some stood at the far end and shot arrows from blowguns aimed at rubber dummies fifty or more yards away. These weren’t the demons that had just chased us. This was Ixtab’s elite army.
“Quinn, those dummies are moving.”
Really, Obispo…you can be so dim-witted. In real life, targets never stand still. So, of course the demons would practice on things that move. You should see the flying dummies!
With eyes glowing silvery blue, the demons all turned to watch us descend. The place went as silent as the midnight desert when we came in for a smooth landing. We hopped off Quinn and Brooks, and the sisters shifted back into their human forms.
Quinn raised her right arm and the demons went back to their sparring. Wow. If she had that kind of authority, I wondered why she hadn’t called off the demons that had pursued us a few minutes earlier. Was there, like, some kind of demon hierarchy?
I followed Quinn’s gaze to an impressive square temple on a pyramid that seemed to stretch a hundred stories high. A giant waterfall surged from the top terrace down the other nine, splashing into a pool at the bottom.
Hondo was right. This place was amazing, like one of those fancy resorts you see on TV. Except for all the demon combat, that is.
Two soldiers wrestled a few feet away from us, grunting like they’d been at it all day. Hondo shook his head and whispered to me. “See the one on the left? Good offensive sugar stance.” I knew that term from his training. It’s basically where one leg is in front and the other’s in the rear, making it easy to switch from defensive mode to attack mode.
“But that one on the right?” he continued. “She should be in defensive square stance, and she’s not even close to squatting low enough. Check out the footwork.”
Hondo was spot-on, because a couple seconds later, the sugar-stance demon outmaneuvered the other one and dropped her to the dirt, pressing an ax to her throat.
“I need to get me one of those axes,” Hondo whispered.