"They had a suicide goddess, Scooby. You showed up as a demon, claiming you came from Xibalba, and they were eager to give up blood and their souls to you. Mayans viewed life as nothing more than a gateway to death. They had a whole different point of view about it all that we milked. Plus the blond hair really helps when they have a whole prophecy about a white foreign snake demon. Whether they called us Waxaklahun Ubah Kan or Kukulkan, they were eager to give us their throats. Damn shame their cities collapsed."
"Probably cause you overfed," Sundown mumbled. "Where the hell was the Dark-Hunters?"
Urian winked at him. "Very few and very far between in Mesoamerica, which was another reason we loved it here."
Sasha shook his head. "Nice dissertation on Daimon mind-set. I can't believe we share common genes. Damn, Uri, you guys were cold and you give my people a bad name."
Urian's glare could melt ice. "Cold is having your own grandfather condemn you to die horribly on your twenty-seventh birthday over something you had no knowledge of or participation in. Hell, I was a baby living in Greece when the Atlantean queen bitch had Apollo's mistress slaughtered."
"Bitter much?" Cabeza asked.
The malevolent glare went to him next. "How'd you get to be a Dark-Hunter again?"
Cabeza laughed evilly. "I not only own the bitter card, I play it every chance I get. It serves me better than my people thinking you were my direct ancestor."
Kateri wasn't sure she caught that correctly. "You're related to the Mayan gods?"
"It's why I'm named Kukulkan. Unfortunately, though, the genes were watered down so much by the time they got to me, all the powers that came with the bloodline had been lost." He turned an irritated grimace toward Urian. "Probably 'cause someone sucked it all out of us. Oh for the days when I could stake you."
"All right, children," Ren said, interrupting them. "I have neither the energy nor inclination to play referee." He indicated himself and Cabeza. "You and I-"
"Why are your eyes blue?" Sundown asked. "Man, they're freaky-looking what with your coloring and all."
Kateri went ramrod stiff. "They are not! They're beautiful."
Sundown laughed. "Beautiful like a woman, huh?"
She took a step forward, but Ren caught her. His features softened as he brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "It's all right, Kateri. He means no offense by that and I don't take any. If I did, I'd have shot him."
Those words caught everyone's attention and made her the center of a curious scrutiny she didn't relish.
Ren cut a gimlet stare to Sundown. "Obviously, Captain Observant, my powers are down. I'm hoping they come back soon."
Urian let out a low whistle. "You found your Achilles' Heel. I hope you took notes so as not to do it again. That's the kind of information I used to kill to obtain."
Ren ignored his comment. "As I was saying, since Dark-Hunters drain each other's powers, I'm thinking mine might not come back so long as Cabeza is near me."
"Yeah, well, too bad. I have to stay around you to navigate you out of here. Otherwise, you might as well build a cabin and settle down for the duration."
Sasha let out an evil laugh.
They turned to stare at him.
"Oh, like I'm the only one who figures if all the evil gets out, we only have to camp here for eight more days. Your threat's not as badass as it would have been a hundred years ago."
Cabeza growled at him. "If I give you a dog biscuit, would you go lick your balls and leave us alone?"
Sasha took a step toward Cabeza, but Sundown caught him with one arm. "Easy, pup. You don't want to get blood on your clothes."
"I can make new ones."
"Yeah, but I'd rather not have to bury one of you here. So let's pretend we have some degree of social skills and a little bit of home training, and get the nice lady back so she can stop this and I don't have to worry about my babies that I left alone to come do this with y'all."
Cabeza held his hands up in surrender and inclined his head to Sundown's wisdom. "We need to head north, away from the pathway to the second level. I should be able to find an exit there."
Kateri frowned at the weird dip in his tone. There was something Cabeza wasn't telling them and that worried her.
"Why can't we just teleport out?" Urian asked.
Cabeza grinned, showing off his fangs. "Go for it."
Urian did, then cursed. "Okay, explain this shit."
"It's a hell realm. They don't want you to leave and there's no god here on our side who's going to give us a free pass. We'll have to earn our way home."
Urian growled low in his throat. "No good deed goes unpunished."
As they started forward, Ren pulled Sundown back. She stopped, waiting to see what was going on.
Ren offered his friend a smile. "Thank you for this, Jess. But I'd have rather you stayed with Abigail. I'm sure she needs you more than I do."
Sundown clapped him on the back. "The baby came yesterday while you were in the middle of all hell busting loose, otherwise I'd have been there, too. Now, I have them both tucked in with Zarek so they're safe. This morning, Abby and I decided that you needed me more than she did. So my goal is to get you back to meet your goddaughter."
Ren congratulated him. "I'll bet she's beautiful."
The pride on Sundown's face made Kateri smile. "Like her mother. Perfect, precious, and liable to make me crazy for the rest of my life." He clicked his tongue and winked at Ren. "Thank God I got a shotgun and no compunction against riddling a suitor's backside full of buckshot should he ever disrespect my girl."