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“Whoa!” Adrik said.
Hondo’s eyes flew open the second the last bit of dust settled.
“Are you okay?” I asked. My voice came out way more panicked than I wanted it to.
He grabbed his side, wincing as I helped him to his feet. “I saw awful things, Zane. Dark and terrible.”
I pulled him into a hug, and he muttered incoherently. Had the shadows stolen his mind?
He jerked free, keeping a tight grip on my shoulder. “The shadows hold the secrets, Zane. I saw everything. I saw Blood Moon’s plot. She tricked them all—even the devourer and Zotz!”
“I know,” I said, searching his eyes.
He stepped back, took some deep breaths, and ran a hand over his face.
Marco nodded appreciatively. “We made it back from 1987 because of you,” he said.
“Yeah, man,” Adrik said. “Thanks. That was some seriously brave (bleep) right there.”
Hondo looked around. “Where the hell are we?”
We quickly explained as Marco kept an eye on the sleeping forms of Zotz and the other two mystery gods. Hondo collapsed back onto the deck, folded himself over his knees, and took another deep breath. “I could really use some Flamin’ Hot Cheetos,” he whispered. “With salsa.” His eyes flicked to the bat god. “Why would Ixkik’ turn on him?”
Marco’s eyes narrowed. “To make way for her rotten sons.” He said it with so much assurance, I knew he was right.
“She wants to make Jordan king,” Hondo said.
“King of what?” Adrik asked.
“The sobrenaturals,” I said, but something didn’t add up. Ixkik’ wouldn’t go to all this trouble just to crown one of her brats. “She has to be up to something else—something bigger.”
Hondo’s eyes darkened. “Whatever it is, we have to stop her.”
“Are you sure you’re strong enough to do this?” I asked Hondo as we prepared to go down to the half-burned jungle.
“We have to strike now,” he said. “We might not get a second chance.”
“Uh, guys?” Adrik said, gesturing to Zotz and the other two unconscious gods. “Someone needs to keep an eye on the baddie, right?”
“I am not hanging out here alone with that dude!” Marco argued.
“You’d rather go up against the creepy goddess?” Adrik asked.
Just then, the branches beneath the deck trembled. A low growl climbed up the trunk. I’d know that growl anywhere. I peered into the hole.
“Rosie?”
A paw emerged from the mist followed by the rest of my hellhound. Forget using a ladder—she had clawed her way up the tree like a powerful jaguar with Ren and a fifteen-ish Pacific on her back. I knew it was the time goddess, because who else wears leopard-spotted capes and carries a golden time rope, which, by the way, was trailing behind my dog.
“Ren!” Adrik hollered.
“Rosie can wake the gods!” Ren cried out as soon as she saw us. “Isn’t that awesome?”
“Freaking awesome!” Hondo said, kissing the tips of his fingers and throwing them toward the sky.
My heart hammered in my chest to the rhythm of a single word: hope-hope, hope-hope. If Rosie could wake the gods, it would be like a couple hundred to one. They could pummel Ixkik’!
When the trio had fully emerged from the hole, Ren’s gaze landed on my uncle and she grinned so wide I thought it might split her face. “Hondo!” She leaped into his arms. “I knew you’d be okay.” He hugged her, spinning her off her feet. Even Pacific smiled.
