Page 70 of Corvus and the Broken God

I had reached the back door when someone called out behind me. I didn’t even hesitate, continuing outside as if I couldn’t be bothered to answer. Dropping my towel on the nearest lounge, I dove into the pool. Remembering Ixtab’s long strokes, I did my best to imitate the movements I had peripherally noticed the other day. I had always enjoyed swimming, using the time to escape the scorn of the other children. My new body relished the activity, muscles pushing and pulling against the water’s resistance. It made sense that a fellow swimmer would think up a punishment like the one she had devised for her husband. She might even be the one chosen to swim him to the cave. That could be a good thing. If I could get him in the water alone, then maybe I could heal him and find a way to escape. He’d panic, but if we didn’t have too far to go, I’d convince him to trust me. Yeah, right. My plan needed some work.

I pulled up at the far end of the pool and gazed back at the house. Rune stood there watching me.

I swam toward him, shoring up confidence I didn’t have.

He stepped back from the water’s edge, waiting for me to climb out, giving me the sense most of Ixtab’s peers had a healthy respect for her ruthlessness. That would certainly come in handy over the next few days.

I stayed in the water. “What?” I asked.

“I’d like a word. A quiet word.”

I slowly climbed out of the water, coming to a stop two feet away.

He eyed me like one would a tiger. “We should kill him while we can. He won’t forgive us. He won’t forgive you.”

“Don’t worry. He won’t escape unless one of us releases him.” I did my best to look accusingly at Rune.

“Of course, forgive me, but he’s always been stronger and smarter. You are forgetting how vindictive he can be.”

“I am not forgetting anything, Rune. In fact, I’m not ready to kill him so easily. After everything, I’ve decided he doesn’t deserve a quick death. He needs to suffer. To fade away slowly in anger, plotting our deaths yet unable to act on any of his plans because of his great weakness.”

“You don’t think he’d overcome it in order to avenge us? If that were me, I’d risk drowning once I got hungry and desperate enough.”

“Then he’d drown trying to escape. Don’t anger me, Rune. I’ve made up my mind.”

“Yes, Queen,” he sneered, walking away quickly before I could react. Another complication I didn’t need.

I bit my lip and escaped back to the safety of the pool. When I was calm enough, I emerged, leaving my towel like Ixtab had done the other day. It was easier to walk around dressed in next to nothing in a body like hers, but I wished for a cover-up. Chaac spotted me from the end of the hall, looking like a man in love as he ogled my breasts. I gritted my teeth and walked toward him.

“Have someone send my dinner up. I’m not feeling social tonight.”

He nodded, eyes narrowing, but I swept past him. I’d need to let him closer to me the next few days to avoid suspicion, but I had successfully put him off for the night. If my luck held, then we wouldn’t have room to be intimate during our journey. I’d ride the train of haughty aloofness as long as I could.

I paced the room, too concerned with my lack of knowledge to be able to turn my brain off. Why didn’t I get more answers before turning her to stone? And why couldn’t I simply accept my lack of control over the situation and run with it? Because, despite the ability to turn into a bird and fly away, my Monster needed me to keep it together until it was safe for both of us.

Finding some pajamas, I climbed into her bed. His wife’s bed. What would Mindy think of me now? And what wouldn’t I give to have my fierce friend here to talk things over with and get through this next part? I should’ve answered her call when I had the chance. Because there was a good possibility that neither of us would make it back up the mountain again.

For the second night, I hardly slept, thinking of all the ways it could go wrong, and I could be discovered as the imposter I was. Who did I think I could fool—me posing as an ancient goddess? The only thing I had going for me was having turned her to stone seconds before she choked the life out of me. And that was only because of Camazotz being stone the first time we met. I didn’t speak any other languages. Hell, other than Micheline and Rune, I didn’t even know the names or faces of the others. I would probably mistake a servant for the ancient god of volcanoes. I shook my head. I couldn’t afford to think of failure. That would mean death for him and me.

I climbed out of bed, too restless to sleep, even though I’d need to be sharp during the day. A commotion outside the house drew me to the window. Several cars and trucks pulled into the circular driveway. One, a flatbed with the tailgate down, had to be how my lying bat god would be transported. Despite the early hour, people buzzed around the vehicles. It was later than I thought, and dawn should be here soon. Putting my shoulders back, I turned to prepare.

I was dressed and overseeing the loading of Camazotz’s body onto the same flatbed truck by the time Chaac emerged, dressed in his loosely fitting suit.

He came and stood beside me, silently watching the proceedings. Unsure of what they had discussed, how far or how long this would take, I had packed up Ixtab’s trunks the night before and left them in the sitting room. The luggage had been missing in the morning. The biggest hole in my disguise was my lack of any language besides English. With fifty years on the mountain, I would have plenty of time to learn. Success today was the only option.

My instincts said to wait until all the others grabbed whichever seat they preferred, but adrenaline had me moving for the front passenger seat when Chaac moved to the driver’s side. Micheline and Rune sat behind us, and he started the car, a large, older model Mercedes-Benz that probably belonged to Ixtab. The cars around us filled with passengers, but none of them looked familiar. Chaac started the car and pulled out. The rest of the caravan followed.

There was not much conversation, and I ignored the little there was. They could still decide to outvote me and take my Monster’s head. Up until he was tucked away in whatever cave they planned to hold him, and we were miles away, neither of us was safe. I would need to keep it together for my thin plan to have any chance of success.

“Darling, you don’t seem like yourself.” A large palm landed on my thigh, and I jumped in my seat, giving him the best disdainful look I could produce.

“Have you ever wanted something, and then, having received it, it isn’t as sweet as you thought?”

He glanced away from the road, eyes looking straight into mine for the first time.

Up until now, I had only seen Chaac peripherally. First, up in the mountains, so intimidated by my own Monster, I had written him off. His human form, less than perfect with its wrinkles, gray hairs, and stout body, while still strong, hadn’t appealed to me. Especially standing next to the bat god in his horned, winged, and muscled glory. And since we’d been in Mexico, my focus had been first on getting us out alive and then, unwillingly, on Ixtab, distracted by her status as wife, even if she had left him decades before I had been born.

Looking at him now showed me I had been stupid.