Votan moved the ten, waist-high crates to the deck of the ship to make room for the crew in the hold below. He herded them in and locked the door, planning to cull out any souls worth salvaging later. Hell, who was he kidding? There weren't any. He was very much going to enjoy lighting up this dry-rot infested vessel. He'd have to row his way back in one of the dinghies, but it would be well worth it.

First, however, he wanted to learn more about these jars before they ended up on the bottom of the ocean. Why did Cimil want them? Clearly, she was knee-deep in this mess, but he couldn't understand why.

Was it possible she'd been responsible for teaching the Maaskab how to harness dark energy and block the gods from spying on them? But then, why hire the Spanish pirates to kill them? Maybe the Maaskab had turned on her? Maybe she was trying to cover her tracks? She knew Votan was on his way; everyone had been present when he was chosen for the mission.

Votan pried off the already loose top of the crate and lifted out the jar. He stalked around it, inspecting carefully, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Votan gripped the round, dark gray ceramic lid with both hands and slowly lifted, bracing for the worst. He wasn't afraid of dying-after all, he was immortal-but he still felt pain, especially when his human body got damaged.

He waited several moments, squinting. Nothing. Why would Cimil go through so much trouble for a silly, useless jar? Had she finally lost her marbles? Or, perhaps there were scrolls inside. The jars could contain records, the priests' knowledge of dark energy.

By now, it was pitch black outside, so he could not see inside the jar. He tilted it forward and reached his arm down the narrow neck. A burning sensation instantly began crawling up his fingertips. He swiftly extracted his hand, screaming in agony as his fingers turned to smoldering ash. The crippling pain continued up his arm, eating the flesh.

His knees buckled, and he watched in horror as the unbearable decay rapidly spread.

When Votan awoke, encased in cool dark water, it was clear his body had been destroyed, his light sent back to the cenote. The same had happened once before, several centuries earlier when he'd accidentally fallen into a volcano. A long story.

This time, however, something was wrong, alarmingly wrong.

He struggled under the water as he felt the cenote rebuilding his physical form, particle by particle. He tried to break through to the surface, but something blocked him. The process of solidifying, of taking form, wasn't completing itself.

He pounded his fist with every ounce of energy he could muster, but the water held him tightly in its grasp. He looked beneath him and recited the phrase used to open the portal. Not even a flicker of light sparked. It, too, was sealed shut.

No going forward. No going back.

Chapter ELEVEN.

Present Day. Bacalar, Mexico.

I followed the dirt trail down to the lake and then skirted the pebble-strewn shoreline before cutting through the dark jungle where I picked up the trail exactly where my map said it would be. I was fairly certain no one had followed me, but was that a good thing? If this turned out to be trap, there'd be no one to save me.

The lonely silence was bone chilling, especially since I'd expected to see the jungle teaming with life-monkeys, rodents, tarantulas, etc.-but not an animal soul was in sight. Nevertheless, I quickly armed myself with a large stick.

My footsteps made loud crunches as I walked for almost an hour over the leaf-covered path. The angle of the sun, now low in the sky, gave an ominous hue to the trees.

"Guy, no offense, but this is starting to seriously freak me out, and I'm not sure this is worth the years of therapy I'm going to need."

"I was beginning to wonder how long it would take until the whining commenced."

"Not Funny. And have you thought about what's going to happen to me after I get you out of there? That crazy old couple will be looking for me."

"I'll make sure you get home safely. I promise."

Wait. He'd admitted he wasn't human. Images flashed in my mind of showing up to my parent's house with an Oompa Loompa or, perhaps, a green alien with a glossy black eyes. He couldn't be that strange. Could he? "You're not going to beam me onto a spaceship, are you?"

He sighed. "No, Emma, I'm not a space alien."

"You're not into making chocolate, by any chance, are you?"

"Emma, focus please."

"Fine. But tell me, after I let you out, what'll happen?" Would I still be as obsessed with him? Would my curse be broken?

"The people who did this to me should not be too far from here. I plan to find them, find out what they did to your grandmother. Then I plan to kill them."

My heart stopped. "What?"

"I think the people who are responsible for my situation may be involved."

"Why would they want her?" Wait. Kill? That is a big, dirty word. He must mean it figuratively? I hope. Don't ask.

"As I said earlier, the dark priests had a reputation for..." He paused for several moments. "Killing women from this area. I don't know why, but I will find out."

He was still hiding something. Was this why he was afraid for me to come here? And hold the presses. Grandma was from the area where Guy was trapped? I knew she was born in Mexico, but I didn't know what town. Then again, Grandma never talked much about that part of her life. She'd said that after her parents died when she was five, she left Mexico to stay with her only living relatives in the U.S. So what reason would she have to go back?

"You think she was near here when she disappeared?"

"Yes."

"But why?"

"I don't know Emma, it's a hunch."

Hunch my ass. "But you said you knew her."

"Yes, many years ago, I was traveling through this area, through her village, and I met her. It was right before I was trapped."

Why had my grandmother returned to Mexico, then? Who was she seeing? I stopped in my tracks. The trees suddenly flooded with boisterously squawking birds. "What are those?"

"Toucans. Ignore them."

"Why are there so many all of a sudden?"

"I don't know, just go!"

I swatted at the ravenous bugs encircling my head.

"Not until you tell me!"

"What?"

"Are they going to come after me, too? Is this what you were protecting me from, Guy?"

"Toucans don't eat people, Emma."

I rolled my eyes. "You know what I meant."

He sighed. "Maybe. But I will protect you."

"What the hell have I gotten myself into?"

"Too late to turn back now. Move!"

Although he couldn't see, I nodded in agreement and continued marching. After several minutes, I ran my hand over my sweat slicked neck. "How much farther?"

"About half a mile, my sweet, and you'll have to pick up the pace. It's getting dark."

It was odd to think we were now so close we were under the same sky. "I'm moving as fast as-holy crap." Standing twenty yards ahead was a boy about nine, dressed in all white cotton. His bright turquoise eyes glowed against his deep brown skin. He was staring; he seemed to be expecting me.

"My point exactly. Crap is not very fast."

"It's a boy," I whispered. "With funny colored eyes."

"That's odd," he said, absurdly unalarmed.

"I thought you told me to run if I saw anyone?"

"I was thinking drug lords or bloodthirsty Mayan priests."

The boy stood motionless, his hands to his sides.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Ask him his name. What else?"

Yes. Such the obvious answer. "Hi honey, what's your name?" I called out.

"In Spanish, Emma. We're in Mexico."

"Oh. Right. Como se llama?"

His lips twitched into a smile. "Chac," he answered and then ran.

"Well, that worked great. He's running away. What do I do now?"

"Follow him! Go."

"Wait! Come back." I followed as quickly as I could, but the branches and vines whipped my face and caught on my feet. "Why am I following him?"

"He will lead you to the cenote."

"Cenote?" Oh no, bad, bad sign. This must be a trap because we were not going to where he said. "I thought I was going to a ruin."

"Just run, woman! The cenote is near the ruin."

"Why does he have turquoise eyes?" It couldn't be a coincidence that they looked just like the man's eyes from my dreams. Could it?

"Christ, Emma, put it on the goddamned question list."

I followed the boy for what seemed like an eternity but my muscles burned, and, finally, I had to slow to a fast walk. "I...can't...Guy," I panted, trying to catch my breath. "The air...is way... too thick for any aerobic activities."

"I told you, you need to work out more."

"God. You...are...un...belie...vable," I choked out.

"You have no idea," he replied.

Helplessly doubled over, hands on my knees, I watched as Chac dissolved into the shadows of the thick vegetation. I realized I was no longer on any trail. I pivoted several times. Which direction now? Every damned tree and plant looked the same. Green, green, and more leafy green. It was like being trapped in a huge spinach salad.

"Some guide. Now I'm lost." I grabbed my aching sides.

"No, you're not lost. You are near, Emma, I can hear you."

My heart fell through my stomach, into my knees, and to the bottom of my feet.

Holy Virgin of Guadalupe. This was it. All of the planning and years of dreaming. And believe me, I'd had every kind of dream imaginable. Guy turning out to be a gargoyle, swallowing me whole. Then there was the one where he was a Poltergeist and pulled me into a giant cave where I was trapped for all eternity with evil spiders, although sometimes the spiders were clowns. I hated clowns. Too happy. That's not normal.

Then there was the dream where his body matched the voice, and I melted into a puddle on the ground, then evaporated.

I cautiously pushed through the next wall of vines and brush. The jungle opened up, and I saw it: the cenote.

The remaining light from the sky filtered through the trees, creating dancing speckles of light over the surface of the deep dark green pool that sluggishly churned with rotting leaves and other floating debris.

I shuddered at the sight of it.

It was enormous-about fifty yards across with a steep one-story drop to the calm surface. I'd seen photos of cenotes; they were usually covered with tiny plants and vines along the sides. This one was different. It repelled the vegetation, and the limestone walls were perfectly smooth and coated with a thick green slime.

"Hello?" I called out. "Guy? Where are you? I don't see the ruin." Please don't let this be a trap. Please.

"Emma, sweetheart, this is the hard part, but I need you to trust me."

"Trust you?"

"Jump in the water."

"Whyyy?" I was frozen on the outside, but inside, there was a personal apocalypse going down.