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Three shadows darkened the doorway Zotz, the leader with the red-and-white-feathered headdress, stepped inside the te in horror at the long decorative spear he held A human head was spiked atop it The eyes were open, crossed with strain; the neck was still dripping blood

Luce looked away and her eyes fell on another, veryanother painted spear with another head impaled on its top At least this one's eyes were closed There was the faintest smile across the fat, dead lips

The losers, Bill said, zipping close to each of the heads to exalad Daniel's teauy He clapped the h Daniel's tea Then Bill was out the door again

When Daniel walked into the te His hands were empty and his chest was bare His hair and skin were dark, and his posture was stiffer than Luce was used to Everything from the way the muscles of his abdomen met the muscles of his chest to the way he held his hands lifelessly at his sides was different He was still gorgeous, still the h he looked nothing like the boy wholanced up, and his eyes glowed exactly the same shade of violet that they always did

Oh, she said softly, thrashing against her bindings, desperate to escape the story they were stuck in during this lifetiht and the sacrifice--and hold on to hihtly His eyes pulsed at her, glowing His gaze soothed her Like he was telling her not to worry

Zotz irls to stand, then gave a swift nod, and everyone filed out through the northern door of the teht behind her, and Ghanan bringing up the rear The rope between theether at her side Daniel came up and walked beside her, and the other victor walked beside Ghanan

For the briefest instant, Daniel's fingertips grazed her bound wrists Ix Cuat tingled at the touch

Just outside the tee They fell in line behind the processional and, as the party descended the pyramid's steep steps, played the same hectic beats Luce had heard when she'd first arrived in this life Luce focused on walking, feeling as if she were riding a tide instead of choosing to put one foot in front of the other, down the pyra the wide, dusty path that led to her death

The drums were all she could hear, until Daniel leaned in and whispered, I' deep inside Ix Cuat soared This was the first time he had ever spoken to her in this life

How? she whispered back, leaning toward hi for him to free her and fly her far, far away

Don't worry His fingertips found hers again, brushing them softly I pro her eyes The ground was still searing the soles of her feet, and she was stillto the place where Ix Cuat was supposed to die, but for the first ti in this life, Luce was not afraid

The path led through a line of trees and into the jungle The dru filled her ears, the chants of the crowd deeper in the jungle, at the cenote A song that Ix Cuat had grown up singing, a prayer for rain The other two girls sang along softly, their voices quaking

Luce thought of the words Ix Cuat had seemed to say as Luce entered her body: Fly me away, she'd shouted inside her head Fly

Deep in the dried-out, thirsty jungle, the path before thee water-filled crater in the limestone spanned a hundred feet in front of Luce Around it were the bright, eager eyes of the Mayan people Hundreds They'd stopped chanting Thefor was here

The cenote was a lireen water Ix Cuat had been there before--she'd seen twelve other human sacrifices just like this one Below that still water were the deco remains of a hundred other bodies, a hundred souls ere supposed to have gone straight to Heaven--only, at that moment, Luce knew that Ix Cuat wasn't sure she believed in any of it

Ix Cuat's family stood near the rier sisters, both holding babies in their arms They believed--in the ritual, in the sacrifice that would take their daughter away and break their hearts They loved her, but they thought she was unlucky They thought this was the best way for her to redeeold earrings guided Ix Cuat and the other two girls to stand before Zotz, who had taken a proazed down into the deep water Then he closed his eyes and began a new chant The coap-toothed ht down his ax on the rope tying theether Luce felt a jerk forward and the rope was severed Her wrists were still bound, but she was now connected only to Hanhau on her right Ghanan was on her own, irl rocked back and forth, chanting under her breath Sweat trickled down the back of her neck

When Zotz began to say words of prayer to the rain god, Daniel leaned toward Luce Don't look

So Luce fastened her gaze on Daniel, and he on her All around the cenote, the crowd drew in their breaths Daniel's teairl's neck Luce heard the blade slice cleanly though, then the soft thu in the dirt

The roar of the crowd rose up again: shouts of thanks to Ghanan, prayers for her soul in Heaven, vigorous wishes for rain

How could people really think that killing an innocent girl would solve their problems? This here Bill would usually pop in But Luce didn't see hi when Daniel came around

Luce didn't want to see what had beco splash and knew that the girl's body had reached its final resting place

The gap-toothed man approached This time he severed Ix Cuat's bond to Hanhau Luce trembled as he marched her before the tribal leader The rocks were sharp beneath her feet She peered over the liht be sick, but then Daniel appeared at her side and she felt better He nodded for her to look at Zotz

The tribal leader bea two topazes set into his front teeth He intoned a prayer that Chaat would accept her and bring the co rainfall

No, Luce thought It was all wrong Fly me away! she cried out to Daniel in her head He turned toward her, alap-toothed man cleaned Ghanan's blood off the ax with a scrap of anireat pomp he handed the blade to Daniel, who turned to stand face to face with Luce Daniel looked weary, as if dragged down by the weight of the ax His lips were pursed and white, and his violet gaze never left hers

The croas silent, holding their breaths Hot wind rustled in the trees as the ax glea, but why? Why had her soul dragged her here? What insight about her past, or the curse, could she possibly gain fro her head cut off?

Then Daniel dropped the ax to the ground