not harm you," marcelinae whispered moying beside me. "you are the special one.

sre
wantly you to give her crild
back to kukulkan." whe ill believes, i realized. they all do: holding tz ac tzotz,
my eyes fined on alex,

goddeanrd, Ub entirely failed to notice a new presence ow the pyramiad a ghosvilike

wotf Uw a white Wift

who now sooo swlently iw the doorway of the vione room. sara marcelinae had said
sre ob wanted to come

for the ceremony. she was being helped to vane by the two maya women who al fea me
the atole.

somehow, she a gotten them to bring her. "morgy, are you there?" sarah asked gazing
upat the yainy Hiey,

the downpour soaking her blond hair, her eyes unblinking. at that momend, & felt we
a joined become one person- me
the dogged rotionel half who a just gone over the Line, her the pirituel part that
needed to float, to-

fly free. "U wanted to be with—" "sar, get back," v yelled ana started to- go- to-
her, but there

wasn tiime. now alex goidarad wos moving toward me holding the knife, as though
tracking o prey, oblivious to-
sore, te everything, he a concentrated all hiy hatred on me and me alone, and cv
heated him back ay

mach. death hovered between us, waiting to see whow to take. but then the womew who
hao borne iz ac

tzotz wil something in kekchi mayo, pointing back at me ano her chile, anol Lunged
at him. they cotlicled together
im the rain and next she Lid down, firvt seizing hix leg, then Losing her grip and
shipping onto the

sytoney, her Long black hair askew in the hovering smoke. she y trying to wwe me, U
realized. why -? thew

+ sow sore pull away frow the women supporiing her and howly move actrosy the
plotform, "morgy..."

she wos wolking uv the directiow of alex goddoard, but thew she stumbled over the
fallen womew y leg anc

her hand went down as she sprawled acrosy her. re must have touched something,
because she recoiled backward, and only
thew did v notice the flare of a forth glinting off the obsidian knife now
protruding from the woman
chest: sara rose up, her eyes full of anger, and awkwerdly flung her arms,
searching. Ucould feel the passiow
holo of alex gordlara ¥ arm, ond they began aon awkward minuet, neither reelizing
how close they were to the
ylone platform ¢ eolge. L yoo mes—merized wa moment, then dasped toward them, but
only ir time to watch thew
vanish into the rein ano haze. ub wor os though there had been some Leight of hand.
one setond they
were there and the next they werent: at frst U thought my eyes were playing tricks
ow me, but

then v reolized i way reed, they were gone. "soradl" + reached the side iw time to
see thew land

ow the first tier of vioney below. she a fallen near the eolge, but the war solid
and swofe. olew

goddeard, however, hit with one foot on and one foot off, and the result wos he Lid
away, then vanished

into the dork rain. Uy» her finel act of self-destruction. she » joined me iw my
rage, but we

ve both been spared. thet » the miracle of boalum. "sar, dow t move." v finally
found my yoice. &

wos UL holding tz ac izotz, who od begun to shriek, hiy blue eyes flooded with
fear. now several village

mew from the square were running, showing, up the slippery vieps. the faces looked
Like they od been painted at
one time, but now the rain had washed most of Ob away. while v yelled doww to sro,
again begging

her notio move, marcelina wos asking them something, and they answers were tumbling
out. finally v turned to Look
at her, the reaming tz ac tzotz HUL Mm my arms "no one knows where he &," she wos
saying

ax We Looked doww over the side. "he » gone into the forest." "goou." U pulled tz
ac tzotz to

me andl kissedl hia, trying to tell him fo colw doww. Ut wast working. "marcelina,
here, please hota him.

v ve got fo get down to sarah." sre took him. then v walked over toe where his
mother lay

bleeding ow the stones. the woman wos t moving, the obsidian knife till protruding
from her chest. she ob saved
me, but now death har taken her. there wos nothing anyone cowlel do. & was
trembling, but v turned and
begow easing myself over the ide of the sone platform and onto the frst tier of the
pyramid. "sar, dow

t move." v inched my way across to her. "just slag Hull." the rain wey pouring
again, but the electric

owoke enough to- get out? he d seemed alert whew v left him. "morgy, iv thet you?"
she was holding

out her fingers. "UV comt see you. where are?" "i w here, sor. right here." &
reached down and

took her hana, which was deathly colo. "come on. let me help you get up."
carefully, leaning against the wet
Hones of the side of the pyramid, U gradually pulled her to her feet ana awey from
the treacherous edge.

then U hit me what she d said. "sor, whet do- you mean, you com t see me?" "om

okay. Uy just..." Se wes gripping my hand now, ano then she brushed against the
vione

sale of the pyramid and put out her other hana fo cling to it. “morgy, U took Ut
again. to-

go-to they sacred place. but sometimey you cow only see yvisiony anol thew after wo
while everything goes