"I assume those names are self-explanatory," Graham said.
"Pretty much," Tum replied. "Razor House had a little twist to it. Supposedly, razors and blades lived inside it. They were able to move about by their own free will."
"Okay." Beverly brushed wet hair from her face. "So, we've got four more houses to go."
"Maybe."
"Maybe?"
"Xibalba had six houses but nine levels," Tum said. "Metnal was the lowest of those levels."
"What do you know about the other three levels?" Emily asked.
"I can't be sure they exist. But if they do, we should probably assume the cenote was one of them."
Heads bobbed, nodding in agreement.
"So, which level is this one?" Graham spun his head toward the cavern. "The water's cold, but it feels warm in here. Hot House, maybe?"
I shifted my beam. The area beyond the pool was uneven and littered with natural lumps of all shapes and sizes. Dozens of small, glittering objects rested between the lumps.
I cringed slightly. "This is Jaguar House."
"What makes you so sure?" Dr. Wu asked. "I don't see any jaguar corpses."
"Hunahpu designed this entire pyramid — this entire crater — to last centuries, maybe even millennia. Live jaguars wouldn't have fit with his plans. But dead jaguars, well, that's a whole other thing." I aimed my beam at one of the glittering objects lining the floor. "Those are jaws. Jaguar jaws. And they look sharp as hell."
Chapter 97
"I've been meaning to ask you something." Emily paused. "What does the Popol Vuh say about Xibalba's fate?"
Tum stepped cautiously around a set of jaguar jaws. Although many centuries had passed since the creature's death, he still felt a hint of sadness. "What do you mean?"
She stepped over the last set of jaws and walked into the next tunnel. "Was it destroyed?"
"I'm not an expert." Tum followed her into the tunnel. "But as I recall, Hunahpu and Xbalanque only outwitted the death gods. I don't think they actually destroyed them or Xibalba."
"I guess that makes sense when you think about it. Obviously, Hunahpu thought the death gods were still alive when he enslaved them here."
Blood rushed to Tum's head. For the first time, he fully understood why Chaac and the other Maya gods had drawn him to Xibalba. His destiny was to finish the job started all those years ago by Hunahpu and Xbalanque. They'd enslaved the death gods.
Now, he had to kill them.
Chapter 98
"Holy smokes." Dr. Wu gawked at the ceiling. "Are those …?"
Grabbing his shirt, I yanked him back into the passage. "Yeah," I whispered. "Those are bats, hundreds of them."
"Looks like they're sleeping." Graham's face turned grim. "Let's keep them that way."
Just two minutes earlier, we'd passed through Jaguar House with little trouble. Beverly had tripped at one point. Fortunately, she'd managed to avoid the many sets of jaws that had been cemented to the limestone floor.
The doc's gaze remained locked on the ceiling. "They're giant. I wonder how they got so large."
"Could be evolution." I frowned. "Or radiation."
Faces tightened around me. They'd taken the news of a possible radiation risk reasonably well. But as we ventured deeper into the earth, I could see they were becoming increasingly concerned about it.
I allowed my eyes to adjust to the darkness. The bats were unusually tall with an average height of at least a foot. The tunnel in which they slept was on the short side, no more than five feet from floor to ceiling. Of course, it was difficult to say for sure, what with all that white stuff covering the floor.
"It stinks." Beverly wrinkled her nose. "I don't think I've ever seen so much guano."
"So, what are we going to do?" Dr. Wu asked. "Just crawl under them like nothing's wrong?"
I gave him a meaningful look.
"You're joking, right?" He frowned. "Tell me you're joking."
"I wish I was."
I turned away from Bat House and switched on my flashlight. Carefully, I blocked most of the beam with my hand. We stood in a long, curving passage, about fifty feet below Jaguar House. Despite the dim light, I saw twitching eyes, the licking of lips, and the itching of non-existing scratches. The others were nervous.
I didn't blame them.
"Come on, Cy." The doc winced. "That cave is at least fifty feet long."
"If we try to scare them, they might flood this tunnel. And for all we know, they're carrying rabies or some other disease."
Eyes twitched faster. Tongues flicked across lips. Itching turned into full-fledged raking.
"Let's make this quick." Dr. Wu shook his head. "I hate bats."
"Keep it down." Graham smirked. "They might hear you."
"Screw you, Dutch." The doc tried to control his breathing. But he seemed on the verge of a breakdown.
"No talking and no rushing. We take our time and stay as quiet as possible." I looked at everyone. "Agreed?"
Heads nodded.
I glanced at the doc. "Can you do this?"
He tried to speak, but no words came out. So, he nodded instead.
I glanced at Emily. "What are the odds of you having another episode anytime soon? Because this would be a really bad time for it."
She exhaled. "Unfortunately, they're impossible to predict."
I extinguished my beam and stuffed the flashlight into my satchel. Then I dropped to my knees and crawled into the cave.
Bile rose up in my throat as I entered the dark space. It reeked of guano and urine. Holding my breath, I crawled into a mound of guano. Before long, I was completely covered in the stuff. It felt soft yet crunchy, wet yet dry. The odor was even more disturbing. Every time I moved, it smelled like wet rats smashing into my nostrils.
Clenching my eyes shut, I continued to crawl. Guano worked its way down my shirt and up my pants. It got in my boots, my hair, my ears. There was no way to avoid it. No way to escape its revolting stench. Only two thoughts kept me going. Escape.
And the Library of the Mayas.
I crawled out of the guano mound and moved toward an even bigger pile. I shifted forward, taking care to be as silent as possible.
Tiny rocks, thousands of them, crunched under my knee. Too late, I realized Hunahpu had covered a section of floor with gravel. In the small space, it sounded deafening.
Slowly, I lowered my head to the ground.
This can't be happening.
Wings flapped above me.
Eek! Eek!
And then all hell broke loose.
Bats swarmed the cavern floor. Sharp claws dug into my back. Powerful teeth clamped down on my neck. Hot breath touched my cheeks.
Dr. Wu screamed.
Tum scrambled forward. So did the others. Before I knew what was happening, they were crawling over me, crawling over each other. Fingers clutched my legs. Torsos clambered over my back. Boots kicked at my face.
The bats grew more ferocious. They pecked me. Scratched me. Chewed me. Clawed me to shreds. I no longer felt pain. All I could feel was sticky blood pouring out of my body.
I struggled forward. The bats flocked to me. I smelled blood on their breath. Felt their wings beating against my face. I tried to move, but there were too many of them.
Dr. Wu screamed again.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him jump to his feet. "No," I shouted. "Stay—"
His head slammed into the limestone ceiling. A soft, crunching noise sounded out and he crumpled back to the ground.
The bats left me and soared toward him.
I reached to my holster. Pulled out my pistol.
The bats tore at his clothes. Ripped at his flesh.
I lifted the pistol. Squeezed the trigger.