Ah-Puch licked his dry lips and winced like he was in pain. Okay, I know this is going to sound loco, but I really did feel sorry for the guy. I mean, if I didn’t know this was old Puke Face, I’d have thought he was someone’s nice old gramps with one leg in the grave asking for his last bite of a bolillo and caldo.
I drew closer. Rosie was right by my side, still foaming at the mouth like she was ready to eat the god of death as a snack. I mean, he couldn’t have weighed more than one hundred pounds.
“I…can…take you”—Ah-Puch’s voice was barely a whisper—“to…the Fire Keeper.”
So, he really had heard everything Hurakan and I had said. I suddenly remembered Ren was sitting a few feet away and could hear everything, too, but it’s not like I could tell her not to listen or ask Ah-Puch to step inside the church so we could have a private conversation. The last thing I wanted to do was draw his attention to her.
I shook my head. “I don’t need your help. Besides, no one knows where the Fire Keeper is.”
Isn’t that what the Red Queen had said? Thanks to her clue, I’d narrowed it down to Cabo San Lucas. Except by now the gateway at the bus station had closed. I felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest and I couldn’t breathe.
“Except the Red Queen, right?” Ah-Puch went on. “So good to hear her voice again. Not really, but I’m trying to be polite.” He took a shaky breath.
So he’d heard us in the tomb, too? Geez! “Yeah, well, you were king, like, four hundred years ago, and this is the new fire keeper. You’re not exactly in the know anymore.”
“I am at my best wherever there is death, and it seems you have plenty on your hands. And let’s not forget, as the rightful king of Xib’alb’a, I know more secrets than you could ever imagine.” Ah-Puch leaned back and closed his eyes. “You think the deceased no longer speak to their king?” He shivered. “The hourglass is running out. I’m the only one who can get you where you need to go. Shall we talk terms?”
“Like last time?” The memory of his betrayal made my insides boil. “When you promised to save Brooks and Rosie and you only saved Brooks?”
“I did save Rosie. Look at her. She’s a magnificent creature.”
“Ixtab saved her!”
Ah-Puch hooked his thumbs in his belt loops and gave his loose pants a tug. “Who do you think got her noticed at Intake, Zane? Me, that’s who! But let’s put that aside. In less than three minutes, this shell of a body will stop breathing. This opportunity will be lost, and you will never get to the Fire Keeper in time. And before you ask, yes, I heard pieces of your little talk with Ixtab down under. I know your death magic is only good for three days. During my reign, it lasted much longer, but who’s counting?” He sneered. “Let me help you,” he said. “I am a powerful ally—okay, not in this form, but I can help you. I’ll even let you set the terms.” He dropped to the ground and began to shiver.
“Zane, you can’t just watch him die.” I spun to find Ren standing behind me. Her shadows were gone, and she was completely visible. Rosie lifted her chin, knocking me in my shoulder like she was actually agreeing with Ren. “He didn’t save you!” I told my dog. But what if he had? What if he really had kept his promise? “Ren, you have no idea what he is. Who he is.”
“I read the book, remember?” she said with a huff. “Maybe he’s changed after being stuck in fire for months.” She went over and kneeled next to him. “You did terrible things,” she said to the god of death, gently taking his hand. “You were evil. Prove to me we can trust you.”
As they communicated telepathically, Ah-Puch’s eyes fluttered and his breathing was labored. Then a spark of recognition flashed across his face like he suddenly realized who Ren was. Could he sense she was a godborn? Did he know who her mom might be? Whatever it was, he managed a weak smile, and I couldn’t tell if it was pleasant or evil.
Ren looked up at me. “Who’s the Fire Keeper?”
I glared at Ah-Puch. “So much for keeping secrets.”
His breathing grew shallower. He coughed into his hand, streaking blood across his palm. “I can get you there in a matter of minutes, saving you precious time.”
“Zane?” Ren looked up at me, her eyes pleading with me to do something to stop his suffering.
“If the Empty is going to die, why not just wait it out there?” I asked Ah-Puch, challenging his motivations.
“I always play my odds with great precision,” he sputtered. “There is an infinitesimal chance your father will survive, and where…” He winced, sucked in a sharp breath, then continued. “Where would that leave me?
”
Spinning in a blazing vortex where you belong, I thought.
Ren tugged on my sleeve. “Zane, please. Look at him.”
What if Ah-Puch could help me? And if I could set the terms myself, then maybe I could reduce the risk. At that moment, I didn’t have a whole lot of viable choices. “If—and it’s a big if—if I said yes, then how could I make you better?” I asked hesitantly. “And don’t tell me with blood, because you’re not getting any.”
“Many ways. The jade…for instance.”
“No way!”
Ah-Puch was too frail to put up a fight. “Then the maize you carry from the underworld. I can smell it.”
“You think I’d waste that on you? That’s to open the gateway back to Xib’alb’a.”