“Traitors,” Ren hissed.
Alana and Adrik scowled, and I wasn’t sure if they were confused, scared, or angry that their mom’s world was now under attack.
Itzamna shook his head sadly, staring down at the sunglasses in his grasp. “We have three days, tops.”
“We’ll help!” I cried before I’d even had the chance to weigh our options. Did we even have any? Stay and fight a battle we were sure to lose, or try to find K’iin in a watery death trap.
Brooks’s dark wings emerged, extending at least seven feet. We all ducked as she began to pace frantically.
Marco said, “We need to split up. Zane—you, Ren, Alana, and Louie go find the calendar.”
Louie’s eyes bugged out and his face went sickly green.
Marco continued. “Hondo, Brooks, and I will stay and—”
“No one is staying!” Itzamna’s voice hit a low baritone note that made the walls tremble. “Everyone must evacuate. We cannot risk the godborns.”
“Evacuate?” Hondo balled his fists. “So, basically, you want us to run?”
“No,” the god said. “I want you to protect the power of the godborns, while I try to protect my home. End of story.”
In that moment, I saw that Itzamna had changed. He was no longer the lighthearted give-me-a-great-story god. But I guess fear can make you do and say things you normally never would.
Ren shook her head, pressing her lips together. I could tell she was trying to think of a way out of this.
Itzamna said, “I also received a message from the Sparkstriker.”
More messages? Please, please, please let this one be good, I thought.
“The enemy took one of the Sparkstriker’s top spies.” The god’s eyes flicked to Brooks. “They have Quinn.”
Brooks sucked in a sharp breath. “No! How?”
Hondo’s eyes flashed with hot anger, and I thought he might clock the god just for delivering the awful news.
“What do we do?” Brooks cried, flapping her wings. “I can’t let her get hurt…” Then her voice trailed off as her eyes popped wide. “The hero twins,” she whispered.
“What about those jerks?” Hondo spat.
“Don’t you see?” Brooks said. “Jordan would never hurt Quinn.” Her words flew out like they were trying to keep pace with her racing thoughts. “And he wouldn’t let his mom do it, either. They’re just trying to bait us.” She paced faster. “Quinn trained me to be smart and anticipate the enemy’s next moves. If they had wanted to kill Quinn, they would have done it already. They haven’t killed the gods yet, either, and that tells me…” Her hands went up to her mouth.
“What?” I asked.
Brooks paused for a heartbeat. “They don’t have access to the gods,” she whispered.
“How could they not have access to their own prisoners?” Marco asked.
“You think they hid them so good they can’t find them anymore?” Louie scratched his head anxiously.
“Or you’re wrong and they did kill them,” Adrik said.
Alana socked him in the arm. He rubbed the spot tenderly as Itzamna said, “The Tree’s lights would have gone dark if the gods were dead.”
“Then we stick to the plan,” I said. “Figure out what K’iin can tell us.”
At the same moment, the ground shook violently and the stone floor split down the middle with an earsplitting craccckkk!
Horrible howls and wails rose up from below.