I lost my balance and staggered back, gripping the wound.
Rosie howled.
But her warning was too late. I stumbled over the side of the pyramid. My arms shot out to catch myself, but I was already in free fall, tumbling through the misty air as Jordan and Bird shrieked in celebration above.
The terror of the moment gripped me so hard, I almost passed out. Instead…
I landed clumsily on a feathered surface. As I rolled to the edge, it lifted, catching me before I fell off the side of…Brooks. She was in grande hawk form. My mind spun, coming to the realization that the only way she could be back to her all-powerful nawal self was if the flame had been fed. That meant Hurakan had to be alive. But how?
Brooks!
God, Obispo. You really are a pain. Worse than a pain, and when this is all over…
I had never been so happy to be insulted in my whole life.
I missed you, too.
And then I realized she was flying away from the pyramid. “Wait! We have to go back.”
There’s a gateway nearby and you only have thirteen minutes to get to the underworld, Zane, before you’re permanently dead. And if you don’t mind, I like you better alive.
Is that why she had seized the map? To find a way back to the underworld? To save me?
Brooks…we still have time. Let’s finish this. We won’t get the chance again.
No! The gods are up there, and so are those vile…She hesitated, then shifted direction back toward the platform. You’re right. I only need two minutes to rip off the twins’ faces.
I clung to her feathery neck as we broke through the thick fog. Since when are the twins bats?
In exchange for Zotz’s help and protection, they agreed to become part of his nasty, hairy army.
How do you know?
You learn a lot when you’re a prisoner.
Guilt punched a hole in my chest. I’m sorry.
Through the haze, four glowing yellow eyes zoomed toward us—the twins’ bat selves taking shape as they drew nearer. Brooks didn’t pull up—she didn’t even hesitate, just flew straight for them.
I hurled fireballs in their direction. Brooks’s screech echoed through the haze. The twins did a one-eighty back to the platform. Brooks pursued. She was bigger and faster than they were. And let’s be honest—fiercer.
But why were they fleeing, when just two seconds ago they wanted to kill me?
We landed on the platform. The thick mist wrapped cold arms around us. Then slowly, as if by design, it parted enough for us to see the backs of Jordan and Bird, once again in full human form, at the side edge of the pyramid. They half spun to face me, their eyes filled with hate and defiance.
Why were they just standing there?
Brooks jerked forward, but something was holding her back. I can’t move through this mist, she said.
I shot ribbons of flame, but the mist remained strong.
I kept my gaze on Jordan and Bird. “T
oo afraid to face us?” I shouted.
“Too many gods here for our liking.” Bird sneered. “Soon enough.”
Then they smiled and jumped off the edge.