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At that moment a trail of smoke appeared, and Rosie walked out of it. Yep, that’s right. My dog just materialized! She was twice her normal size and I have to admit, pretty intimidating. She sniffed in my direction. My throat tightened and I might’ve stopped breathing. She was black instead of brown, and she looked like she could murder a dragon in her sleep with those fangs, but she was Rosie. My Rosie.
“Hi, girl,” I choked as I kneeled. I had to force my tears to stay back.
She swayed sheepishly and when Ixtab nodded permission, Rosie came over, sniffed me, then began nuzzling me like old times. I thought my heart would burst open. I tugged her closer, burying my face in her neck. “I’m sorry, girl. So sorry.”
She let out a little whine.
“Not to interrupt your reunion and all,” Ixtab said, “but we have a lot to cover and there isn’t much time.”
“Where are my friends? Brooks and Jazz and… my uncle?”
“Home, safe and sound.”
I felt a sense of relief. Then I wondered which home Ixtab was referring to? Did Brooks even have a home? Was she back in Venice Beach with Jazz? Was she with Quinn?
Rosie lay down and turned over so I could scratch her belly, which made Ixtab roll her eyes. Then she said, “Rosie saved you.”
“Saved me?”
“The hounds only go to the deceased—they never acknowledge the living—so when Rosie sniffed your motionless cold body, the gods believed you were no longer their problem. It was very kismet, if you ask me.”
“Kis…what?”
“Never mind. The point is, the gods think you’ve passed on, which is how you ended up here, but of course you can’t stay here, because you’re very much alive.”
“How’d Rosie end up with you anyway?” I asked as I scratched my dog’s head.
“Any animal that belongs to a god—or in this case, a godborn—is sacred,” she said.
Rosie wagged her nub and grunted. Smoke came out of her nose. Huh—so we had fire-making in common.
“And it’s rare for animals to come here,” Ixtab said, “so when Intake saw her, they called me immediately. I knew that she was something special and you’d need her for what is coming next.”
“Next?”
“You asked about your dad.”
A sour feeling rose in my stomach. He’d sacrificed everything to claim me, to give me a fighting chance against Ah-Puch. I held my breath, hoping he wasn’t…
“He’s in prison,” Ixtab said. “A teeny-tiny prison, I must say, but at least he’s alive. The council isn’t stupid enough to kill him. They might need his powers someday.”
A booming voice came over a loudspeaker in the ceiling: “New soul on level three. Thinks he’s Shakespeare. Only speaks in iambic pentameter, and I’m getting ready to smash in his face.”
Ixtab shook her head and talked into a microphone on her lapel. “Take him to level five for a brain soak. Then give him two days at the spa.” She turned back to me. “Now, where were we?”
“My dad? In jail?” Mental double take. Did she say spa?
“Oh, yes. I suppose I should start at the beginning. But listen carefully, because I don’t have time to repeat myself.” Ixtab went on to tell me how she’d been working undercover with my dad for weeks. Keeping up evil appearances, because the paranoid gods were watching everyone. And when Brooks came to help negotiate Quinn’s release, Ixtab saw the magical opportunity.
“Opportunity?” My head spun. “Brooks said you sent her to find and bring back Ah-Puch.”
“I knew she wouldn’t be able to achieve such a feat, but you needed help from someone who understood the Maya legends and gods, and someone you could rely on. She was a true gift.”
“Wait a minute….You took away her shape-shifting magic,” I said, remembering. “And you tried to kill us at Jack in the Box!”
“That was good, wasn’t it?” Her eyes flashed electric blue. “I sent my best actors for that one, because I knew the gods had spies everywhere. And I had to take away her power. She was drawing too much attention to you. The gods would’ve started asking why a supernatural was hanging out with some human kid.”
My mind raced. “You sent that little… that monster, the alux. He wasn’t faking. He wanted to tear my head off!”
