The Shadow Crosser (The Storm Runner 3)

“Let’s just hurry,” Brooks said, rolling her eyes.

I stepped closer to the painting, willing Fuego into light mode. I used my spear to scan the canvas’s surface. “Are you sure, Rosie?” I said, searching for any clue as to how the gods could be locked in a painting.

Brooks was at my side, tracing her fingers lightly over the canvas. Rosie stood at attention like one of those pointer hunting dogs—she didn’t even look like she was breathing. Her eyes glowed white as blue smoke flowed out of them.

“Rosie?” I asked, thinking she seemed kind of possessed.

Footsteps sounded on the deck outside.

“Those must be the Stormtroopers,” Adrik moaned.

“We have to hurry,” Ren said, twisting the dial on her watch. “I’ll stop time for a few—” Her face fell. “It’s not working!”

“Why?” Brooks said.

Ren shook her head, her eyes dancing across the floor like she was searching for the answer. She looked up. “I think it’s because we used all the time threads.” Before that could even sink in, she danced her fingers in the air and a wall of shadows rose up, blocking the doorway.

My heart was in triple-beat mode as I waited helplessly, wondering what Rosie was up to and hoping Ren’s shadow was strong enough to keep out whoever was on the other side of those doors.

The blue smoke from the hellhound’s eyes washed over the canvas like a storm cloud, covering it from edge to edge. The paint began to melt, dripping down the wall and onto the floor with a sizzling sound. The smell of burning hair filled the room.

Voices shouted on the other side of Ren’s shadow wall.

“They’re here!” Adrik cried.

The smoke cleared.

The painting was gone. We all inched back, mouths open, as we stared through a window where the artwork used to be.

“What is that?” Ren whispered.

Beyond the window was a creature no bigger than an orangutan, floating in a huge aquarium. Glaring blue lights illuminated the sleeping beast, which looked like a squatting toad with a gaping mouth, green crocodile skin, and massive claws that hung off tiny T. rex arms.

“It has to be the devourer,” I said barely above a whisper.

The aquarium seemed to go on forever, disappearing into darkness.

“Open up and we won’t kill you!” someone shouted from the other side of the shadow wall. Then: “Let’s get Xb’alamkej.”

Footsteps ran off in the opposite direction, looking for Xb’alamkej, aka Jordan.

My mind couldn’t think fast enough. But I knew one thing: the hero twins had enough magic to break through Ren’s shadow, and if the guards got the brothers, the twins would want to kill us not only for crashing their party and interrupting “Purple Rain,” but also for stealing a precious commodity.

“Why is the devourer in water?” Ren whispered. “Isn’t she an earth goddess?”

“Maybe water’s like her kryptonite,” Adrik said.

The creature’s eyes flicked open. They were a sickly white with gray flecks in the center. The devourer raced toward the glass, slamming herself into it with so much force I thought it might crack open.

We all jumped back.

But instead of looking hungry or angry, she looked petrified. That’s when I noticed that her legs were locked in chains that stretched into the dark deep.

“Why chain her up?” Brooks asked. “Isn’t she working with Zotz and Ixkik’?”

“You think all the gods are in her stomach?” Adrik said, looking greenish.

“You know, I think you may be exactly right,” I said, putting the pieces together. “That’s how they sent all the gods back in time at once.”