CHAPTER SIX JAGUAR TEMPLE CALAKMUL BIOSPHERE RESERVE

JAGUAR TEMPLE

CALAKMUL BIOSPHERE RESERVE

January 8

Nervous anticipation wriggled inside Suki’s stomach as she waited. Nightfall brought the magical illumination of the ruins. From the windows of the palace, she could see the hidden city spread out beneath her. The jungle surrounding the land was black, but the interior was lit by stelae carved with figures of ancient Maya—warriors, priests, queens, and the various gods and goddesses. Through gaps in the jungle trees overhead, stars twinkled brightly. But the moon hadn’t risen above the trees yet.

The interior of the palace was mazelike in design. She’d gotten lost easily at first, but now she knew the layout and could easily get from the patios to the housing structures. There was a pyramid on the northern block of the royal quarters that she wasn’t allowed to explore, along with underground tunnels that led to a private cenote. Again, strictly off-limits.

How would they leave?

A servant offered her a drink of xocolatl, which she declined as she kept walking the grounds outside the palace, trying to quell her nervous energy. The noises from the jungle were familiar to her now, and she recognized the distinctive screech of howler monkeys in the distance.

Then, finally, she spied the moon high above the courtyard, in the gap between the trees. It was a full moon—or nearly one. It appeared through the gaps in the leaves, a brilliant silver ball. As soon as she saw it, Suki felt the magic stir inside her.

Ix Chel was the moon goddess of the Maya. The moon was a symbol of her power, and now it was also a symbol of escape.

Suki bit her lip and hurried back to her room to find Jane Louise. She parted the bead curtain of the doorway and saw the Beasley girl kneeling on the floor picking up fallen flower petals.

“It’s time—” Suki started to say, then cut herself off when she noticed Angélica was in the room.

She and Jacob had been together, off doing who knows what. The two of them were always together now. While Angélica had been his employee at the resort on Cozumel, the two couldn’t keep their hands off each other now. It was pretty gross.

Jacob wasn’t supposed to come back until tomorrow, though. Had they returned early?

“Time for what?” Angélica asked, cocking her head.

Suki’s mind went blank. Crap. “We were going to ... play ...,” she stammered.

The woman’s brow furrowed. “Play what?”

Panic sizzled in Suki’s chest. She felt her cheeks flush.

“Hide-and-seek,” Jane Louise said, lifting her head and smiling innocently.

Angélica looked from the little girl to Suki and then back again.

“I know I’m a little old for it,” Suki offered. “But the palace has so many twists and turns. I promised her we’d play tonight after the sun went down. She’s just a little girl, and she works so hard all day.”

Angélica stepped forward, shaking her head. “It isn’t a good night for that, Suki. I’m sorry. Jacob wishes to meet with you.”

Nervous anxiety tightened its hold on her. “Wait ... tonight?”

“Yes. He wants to see you.”

“Oh ... I guess ...” Suki’s mind raced as she tried to think of a way out of it.

“Are you all right?” Angélica asked, stroking a finger along Suki’s cheek.

She didn’t like being touched by people she hardly knew, and sometimes even by people she did know. “I worked hard today and got beaten for it. In high school, you just get grades.”

“I know. You’ve learned quickly. Even I am not allowed to be taught what you are learning.” There was a twinge of jealousy in her tone. Suki didn’t understand why. Angélica was beautiful, smart, and yes—the future dictator of the world had a thing for her.

“Okaaay,” Suki said. “Um ... so he wants to see me now? Can’t it be later?”

Suspicion crinkled the other woman’s brow. Crap. Double crap. “You’re acting strange tonight.”

“I’m just nervous,” Suki said. “I’m still scared of him, that’s all. I didn’t exactly choose to be here. Kidnapped, remember?”

Angélica still looked at Suki as if she were acting pretty sus. But she couldn’t know what was going on, right? For all her smarts, she couldn’t actually read Suki’s mind.

“There is no safer place in all the world than being right here, right now, Suki Roth. You should feel grateful to be here. And grateful that Jacob thinks you have potential. But when he asks for you, you come. Let’s go.”

“If you put it that way,” Suki said glumly. A little pout would help seal the deal on the surly teenager bit. She sighed. “Sorry, Jane Louise. I guess we’ll play another time.”

Jane Louise nodded and went back to picking up the fallen petals, and Suki followed Angélica to Jacob’s private quarters. She’d gone there a few times to report on her progress. The room was decked out with jaguar pelts; golden statues, vases, and sculptures; wooden masks; and even those wicked-looking swords made from wedges of obsidian. The decor was centuries old, but she was pretty sure he wouldn’t react well if she suggested a refresh. As they entered, Jacob emerged from the stone stairway leading to the underground section. He wore Maya clothing, not the Western outfits he donned in the outside world. He was closer to her age now, after whatever he and Angélica had done in the mountains—younger and fitter. But he had the same eyes, the creepy eyes of a man who had lived a long time. Too long. Fear snaked inside her. Just being in the same room as him made her nervous.

“Wait for me in the cenote,” Jacob said to Angélica, giving her a nod.

Angélica returned a sly smile and then went down the stone steps. Jacob brushed his hands together, examining Suki.

“You have a difficult decision to make,” he said to her, his tone formal and cold.

“I know,” Suki said with a shrug. “College, work, join the circus.”

His eyes flashed with anger, and she wished she hadn’t blurted out that last part.

“Just as I chose to spare Eric Beasley’s daughter, I’ve considered sparing you.”

Suki felt her anxiety spiking. “Considered” wasn’t very solid.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“I don’t need another servant sweeping floors,” Jacob said. “You have innate power. You figured out the kem ?m ... and you’ve progressed. I need to decide when you can be put to more important use. You could become one of the Kowinem.”

As he said the word, she felt a sickening feeling of darkness pulse within her. The nearest translation in her mind was traitors.

“Um ... what is that?” she asked.

“The Kowinem are an ancient order. The jaguar priests are part of it. There are secrets and magic you haven’t learned. The tzij teojil are words that draw power into us. Through rings and other jewels, the power can do things beyond your imagining. But in order to become part of the Kowinem, you must do certain things. Swear certain oaths. Blood oaths.”

“So if I choose to join you, I’d be stuck,” Suki said. “I couldn’t leave the club.”

“Exactly,” Jacob said. “The members of the MS-13 gang are part of the Kowinem. You’ve seen their power. They too have made oaths. Promises. Because you were raised in a different culture, you do not understand the tremendous opportunity I am offering you, Suki. Other youths here at the compound would kill to be offered this chance.”

Suki swallowed. “You mean that metaphorically, right?”

He shook his head no.

Her heart began to pound with dread. Oh crap. Oh crap. Then she remembered the magic she’d learned. Nake’ik. Nake’ik. Nake’ik. Repeating those Mayan words in her mind, grasping on to them, she triggered feelings of peace and calm. The panic immediately started to subside.

“In order to invoke the higher magic,” Jacob said, “you need to make a sacrifice. It has always been so. From the beginning. It is an honor to be so chosen. When a person is chosen, he or she must kill a family member in secret. A sibling. A cousin. Even a father or a mother.” He let the word linger in the air.

Suki trembled.

“Your mother has disappeared instead of helping you fulfill your destiny. Your ch’umilal.” He held up his hand, fingers splayed, the tips pointing toward her. He shook his head. “Life is meaningless when it is cut short for no reason. But when it is offered up as a sacrifice, it can invoke tremendous power. Since your mother is no longer here, you will have to choose another in her place. For the sacrifice to be appropriate, it must be someone you care about, not someone you despise. Even a dear friend or a child.”

Suki stared at him, her jaw hanging open. “Jane Louise?” Was he serious? This was more than gross. It was repulsive.

“Or your father. I plan to kill him anyway, so at least his death would serve your future if you did it. I give you three days to make your choice, Suki. Kill one, and the rest will be spared. Otherwise, you all die. The end times are upon us. I will overthrow the United States government first, along with the other major powers in Europe. The plague will take care of the rest of the world as it spreads. The jaguar priests are ready to fulfill theirch’umilal. What we’ve waited centuries for. By killing your president, I will grow in my power. You will see. And then you will make your choice.”

“So I have to choose in three days?” Suki repeated, dumbfounded.

“The president of the United States will be taken on Friday. We celebrate on Saturday. If you choose not to join us, to claim your birthright, then you will be sacrificed as part of the ceremony. Along with your father and brothers.”

Suki couldn’t believe what she was hearing. What kind of choice was this?

“My father isn’t even here.”

“He’s in Washington, DC, right now,” Jacob said. “And that is where I am going to fulfill my destiny.” He lowered his hand. “Three days to decide. You kill someone close to you, or you all die on my altar.”

“How could I choose?” Suki demanded. “That’s ... that’s just awful.”

“Choose or die with them,” Jacob said. “There are others who can take your place in this temple. If you do not believe I can achieve my plans, then wait and see. I was prophesied to do it.”

The look of energy in his eyes was intense.

“Go,” he said curtly.

Suki nodded, numb, and walked out of his private chamber, passing through the screen of beads that clicked and clacked as she parted it. Her stomach was sick. Calakmul would force her to make an impossible decision. She’d never thought she’d say so, but this was worse than the death games.

Dizzy, she walked back to her private room.

Her mom was waiting on the mat, sitting cross-legged across from Jane Louise, holding her hands. The moon shone through the window, bathing them both in light. Her mom’s silver hair shone in the brilliant glow.

“It’s time to go,” her mother said in a voice that rang with power.

Filled with relief, Suki dropped down to the mat. “Thank goodness. You figured a way out?”

“Yes, we need to link hands.”

Suki didn’t hesitate. She took Jane Louise’s hand and then the wrinkled hand of her mother.

“Breathe. Feel the moonlight’s pull. Listen. Can you hear the sea calling? It’s Cozumel. It is a nexus for Ix Chel. Feel it. Hear it call you.”

Suki’s heart trembled with her burden. But she calmed her mind. She calmed her heart. Holding her mother’s hand comforted her, even if it no longer looked like her mother’s hand.

In the stillness, she heard a mosquito buzzing near her ear. She hated that annoying sound, but beyond it was something else. Something in the distance.

An ocean crashing on the surf.

Then she could smell it. The salty smell. Feel a cool breeze soothing her neck.

“This is the prayer. This is the word. Rapinik. Think it. Pray it.”

The word meant to fly. She knew that intuitively. But it meant so much more than that.

“Rapinik,”they all said in unison.

A tug at the back of her navel.

“Open your eyes, daughters. Breathe.”

Suki opened her eyes. The three of them were now sitting on a beach in the sand. The moon was fixed above the horizon, silver—pale—picturesque. A sea turtle rested in the sand right by them. It was huge, beautiful, peaceful. It swung its knobby head to look at them. Weird. Totally weird. Suki turned to look at her mom and saw that the aging had been reversed. She blinked in surprise. It was her mom, just as she’d remembered her when they’d first come to Cozumel.

Relief radiated through her. She’d feared the aging would stick, and she’d have to face losing her mom again after finally being reunited with her.

“You’re young again!” she exclaimed.

Her mom flinched, then lifted a hand to her face, touching her own cheek. A slow smile spread across her face, and she looked upward at the moon.

“Thank you, Ix Chel. Thank you.”

A car horn beeped nearby.

“?Oye! ?Vámanos pues! ?Es okay. ?Es okay!”

Suki recognized the man’s voice. It was Jorge from Huellas de Pan, the orphanage that had offered them shelter when they were first on the run from Jacob Calakmul.