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Kingdom Keepers VI(95)



“We don’t leave yet,” said Philby.

“The three steps,” said Finn. “A witch, a key flower, a sacrifice. It’s about Chernabog. We were right.”

“Yeesh!” Willa said. “They’re going to take him out of torpor!”

“Tia Dalma,” Philby said.

“You give something that…evil even more power,” Willa’s voice was hollow, “and it’s over.”

“Son of Frankenstein,” Maybeck said.

“Dillard doesn’t possess any powers,” Charlene said. “So maybe it won’t work.”

“We’re not Wayne! We’re not going to let them kill him to find out!” Finn said, too loudly. Tia Dalma raised her head.

“Freeze!” Philby hissed.

The Keepers did not move, did not breathe. It felt to Finn as if the voodoo priestess was looking him directly in the eye, but somehow she didn’t see him.

He could feel her straining to hear above the constant sounds of the jungle.

She called over to the Queen, who raised her thin arms and stepped out into the courtyard.

The jungle went instantly silent. Every last living thing stopped singing and buzzing, moving, breathing. Only the leaves, dripping the remnants of the rain shower, could be heard.

Finn’s heart threatened to tear a hole in his chest. If it pounded any louder the OTs would hear.

Bit by bit, nature’s sounds returned. First a whisper, then a wind, and finally a storm of all God’s creatures.

“I know that symbol,” Willa said softly. Pointing across the courtyard to an exposed rock, she drew attention to a large face chiseled into the rock. “It’s sa-ja-la. Technically, it means subordinate lord.”

“How about not so technically?” said Charlene.

“Under lord.”

“As in lord of the underworld?” Finn said.

“More like four-star general instead of a five-star,” Willa said. “A title of importance but not the highest importance.”

“Is that a cave?” Maybeck said, referring to the huge black opening alongside the rock in question.

“An entrance to the temple,” Philby said. “Possibly, a burial crypt. These things had all sorts of secret rooms and tunnels, same as the Egyptian pyramids.”

“Square stone tunnel, I’ll bet.” Finn was about to pull the folded e-mail with the scanned image of Jess’s dream out of his pocket when he thought better of it. It would make too much noise.

“Lord of the underworld,” Charlene whispered eerily, stuck on Willa’s definition.

“They picked this spot carefully,” Finn said. “There must have been other ruins and temples in places like Aruba and Costa Rica.”

“It’s the table,” Maybeck explained. “My uncle Jim works in a processing plant—a slaughterhouse. They have tables like that, only theirs are metal. You see that line all around the edges?”

“The border,” Charlene said.

“It’s not decoration. It’s a drain system. See the hole to the right? You put a jar under there and collect the blood.”

“That’s disgusting!” Charlene protested.

“No,” Maybeck said. “That’s part of a sacrifice. Kill the animal, drink its blood.”

“Eew!” Charlene went shock-white. “Can we change the subject please?”

“The ancient civilizations didn’t kill animals,” Willa said. “They killed—”

“People,” Philby said. “Human sacrifice.”

Finn spoke faintly. “We were right. ‘One of you will die.’” His eyes fell on the duffel bag at the Queen’s feet. When they’d talked about it, it had felt more abstract. Dillard, posing as Finn, was in that bag. And he was going to die.

“Are you telling me Dillard’s blood is going to be Chernabog’s power drink?” Maybeck had a way with words. “For the record, I’m now disgusted as well.”

“What’s with the sun?” Charlene said. “Why’s it so dark all of a sudden?”

Finn had noticed the darkness during the brief storm, but Charlene was right: if anything it was actually darker now.

“Oh dear.” Philby said, checking his wristwatch. “It’s the solar eclipse.”

The four others stared at him. He looked into each of their faces.

“What? You’re going to tell me you didn’t know about the solar eclipse? It’s May twentieth.” He looked for some spark of recognition on their part. “A total eclipse. Extremely rare. Arizona to Panama is the best possible viewing. As in: a jungle in Mexico.” He studied his watch again. Fiddled with it.