The Shadow Crosser

Not part of Riordanverse This book or series is published under Rick Riordan Presents and its contents are not considered canon to the Riordanverse.

This article is about the book. For the person, see Shadow Crosser.

The Shadow Crosser
Attribution
Author	Jennifer Cervantes
Cover artist	Irvin Rodriguez
Publication Information
Publisher	Disney Publishing Worldwide (under Rick Riordan Presents)
Release date	September 1st, 2020
Pages	432
Chronology
Preceded by	The Fire Keeper
Followed by	Lords of Night (Shadow Bruja Duology)

The Shadow Crosser is the third and final book in the Storm Runner Trilogy under the Rick Riordan Presents imprint. It was released September 1st, 2020.

The book follows Zane Obispo and other godborns in training as they take on a few Mexica Gods trying to take out their Mayan counterparts.

On January 26th, Jennifer Cervantes wrote the following of the book: "THE SHADOW CROSSER is now available for preorder. The pages might contain shenanigans about a magical calendar that can see across time & space, time travel, treachery, and Zane and crew on a mission to save history as we know it."

Synopsis

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents the epic finale to the Storm Runner trilogy, written by J.C. Cervantes, a tale of mystery, magic, and mayhem featuring gods from both Maya and Aztec mythology.

Zane Obispo has been looking forward to his training at the Shaman Institute for Higher Order Magic, and not only because it means he'll be reunited with his best friend, Brooks. Anything would be better than how he has spent the last three months: searching for the remaining godborns with a nasty demon who can sniff them out (literally). But when Zane tracks down the last kid on his list, he's in for a surprise: the “one” is actually a pair of twins, and they're trying to prevent a mysterious object from falling into the wrong hands. After a shocking betrayal, Zane finds himself at SHIHOM sooner than expected. Even more shocking is the news that the Maya gods have gone missing. The bat god, Camazotz, and Ixkik' (aka Blood Moon) have taken them out of commission . . . and the godborns are their next target. The only thing the villains need now? The object that the twins possess. Zane knows the godborns aren't strong enough yet to stand up to Zotz, Ixkik', and their army. There might be a way to save the gods, but it involves locating a magical calendar that can see across time and space . . . not to mention traveling more than thirty years into the past. In The Shadow Crosser, Zane and his friends embark on their most treacherous mission yet–a mission that, with one blunder, could change history as we know it, and worse, destroy the universe.

Development

On March 14, Jennifer Cervantes revealed a quote from the novel.

“

Nothing says love like a stolen warrior mask from your exe's Casa Grito, right?

”

Plot

Finding the Last Godborn

Zane Obispo travels to New York City to find the last remaining godborn in Hell's Kitchen with a demon by the name of Iktan. After Iktan chases and loses sight of a cat, Zane receives a call from his Uncle Hondo and Ren Santiago. They tell him the gods have moved the start date for SHINOM up to the morning after the next. He then hangs up and gets back to work. When Itkan gets within half a mile of the godborn, Zane uses his tracking abilities to find the godborn. His tracking leads him to an antique store and looks in as Iktan explains that the Statue of Liberty is really a homage to demons. The son of Hurakan sees two hooded figures and red mist. At first he thinks it is twins but realizes it is something else as Iktan betrays him, slashing his face and knocking him out. As he passes out he hears wings coming down on him.

He regains consciousness on a nearby rooftop and sees Brooks standing over him, begging him to burn Iktan's poison out of his system. As he feels his life force fading, he hears the voice of Itzamna telling him do burn it out or he will die. Zane does so and Brooks helps him up. They see police cars around the antique store. Brooks turns into a large hawk and Zane tracks them down to a parking lot. They meet up with Quinn and the sisters tell Zane they have been monitoring Iktan since he started collecting godborns and they learned that she, along with two demons in Ixtab's army, are working for Camazotz. As they question what Zotz wants the godborns for Brooks uses her sweatshirt to clean up the cut on the son of Hurakan's cheek and Quinn teases them. They hear the godborns trying to escape and make their move. Quinn somehow gets to the other side of the fence and takes the form of a German shepherd while Brooks rest on top of the fence. Zane talks to the twins and informs them that one of their parents was a Mayan god and that they are there to help. They hop off and remove their hoods, through conversation they learn the twins names are Alana and Adrik and that they have something they are safeguarding. The two bolt and the nawals go after them. They grab Alana but lose sight of Adrik as Zane smells Iktan. As a light goes out, Zane's night vision kicks in and he sees Iktan with about half a dozen other demons. He and Brooks fight them off as he looks for Adrik, who plows down some of the demons with the car he was hiding in. They two grab on to Brooks, who is hit with a dart. As she falls Quinn catches her and they make their way to the gateway, which is located in a laundry mat. The twins somehow open the door and they make it in just in time.

They reach Isla Holbox and Zane sends an emergency sign to Rosie before going to Brooks side. Alana offers to look at her wound as she had medical training. After finding something in her arm, Quinn pulls out a silver dart that was not poisoned. Soon Rosie arrives and heals Brooks, as well as Hondo and Ren. When Brooks is taken care of, Zane asks the twins if they have anyone they should contact back in New York, they say only their evil aunt who would go to jail if she reports them missing. After tellin them they need training, they agree to go with him and they head back to his house.

Debriefing for Ixtab and Journey to SHIHOM

Ixtab, the queen of Xib'alb'a.

As Zane says hello to his mother, she hugs him and greets Brooks and the twins. The twins are given his room and he sleeps on a hammock on the porch with Rosie. However, he is woken up by Quinn and taken to Xib'alb'a to tell Ixtab about the recruitment of godborns. She leaves him in the goddess's private sky box at the hellhound races. Ixtab arrives and asks about the last two recruits. As he describes Adrik and Alana's abilities, she describes them as not “terribly gifted” as her eyes glow blue. Zane realizes that she is the twin's mother and asks her why she didn't tell him their were two of them and accuses her of using him to find them. After a brief argument she tells him she will claim them and that war is coming, she forces Zane to keep quiet on their conversation and sends him home.

Zane again feels used by the gods and watches the twins to see if he can figure out their gifts, much to their annoyance. The follow morning they wait on the beach to be taken to SHIHOM and a green mist surrounds them. When it clears they end up on a beach with golden sand, turquoise water, and sunrise sky. Moments later three large turtles arrive and deliver a let from Ah-Puch saying the air spirits are on strike and the turtles will take them to SHIHOM safely once they choose their riders. Brooks opts to fly instead as the turtles sneeze on them.

Camazotz, god of bats.

After they clean themselves off and Rosie teleports to the school, they get on the turtles and set sail. Zane and Alana share a turtle along with Ren and Adrik while Hondo has his own. As they sail Zane and Alana talk about this new world she is experiencing as he asks her what they were doing in the antique shop. Alana reveals their aunt traded in a stone that belonged to their father they were taking it back, but they don't know what it does. Soon Ren goes into a trance and a black goo bubbles up from the water. As they watch they realize this isn't Ren and they panic. They try to fight it off and Zane loses fugeo. As he tells Brooks to take Ren, he and Alana slip into the ooze. As Zane struggles to stay afloat, he is suddenly risen out of the water on a platform and sees Hondo wearing a jade mask and holding an ax and the twins. Soon Camazotz arrives and Ixkik's voice is heard and they demand the stone. After Adrik reveals he has it, Hondo shows it to Zane, they all say they have the stone until Zotz throws Alana overboard, only to be saved by Brooks and Ren, who the bat god wants in his forces after realizing she is a ha'nawal. After the stone shifts between both sides, Hondo throws it overboard and Zane shoots fire at the bat god to save Brooks. After a storm approaches, the two leave with Ixkik' claiming the stone.

Arriving at SHIHOM, the Claiming Ceremony, and Warning Dreams

He passes out and wakes up an hour later at his tree house in SHIHOM with his father looking over him. Hurakan tells him everyone is safe and that, unfortunately, they moved the claiming ceremony to right then. After Zane baths and changes clothes, Hurakan shows him the training group and races him up a climbing wall to Ceiba World Tree and tells his son that Akan, the god of wine, was sacrificed by Camazotz and Ixkik' to awaken a Mexica God. Zane feels that the gods are using their children to fight a war they are not prepared for. Hurakan reassures him that the ceremony is for granting them powers so they can defend themselves. As they talk Zane wonders if their enemy's end goal is truly to resurrect the Mexica gods, as they could easily outnumber and betray the bat god and blood moon goddess. He thinks it has something to do with the stone the twin lost as Ah-Puch arrives. They fill in the god of death on what they know and after Zane writes down the name of the twin's parent, they become silent with shock. Hurakan believes it is a replica of some sort by Ix-tub-tun, the stone-spitting goddess who turned into stardust and resides in the outer boundaries of Venus. As the claiming ceremony comes to a close, they all go to the ceremony.

As they arrive, Adrik and Alana are having a lightning bolt pounded into them by Saqik'oxol with their mother. He sees other god born nervous and with his second book, something he only wanted published if he died. When it is finished the sparkstriker tells Ixtab something and she storms off without a word. Ah-Puch and Hurakan leave as well. When the ceremony is finished the spark striker approaches Zane and tells him he should have been there and he asks what she told Ixtab, she tells him one of the twins is stronger then the other. He sees Ixtab petting Rosie and goes over to her and the queen of Xib'alb'a vanishes, but not before she put a ball of light in the hellhound's ear. Rosie licks Zane just as Brooks, Ren, and Hondo arrive. Ren freezes time for five minutes so they can talk. They tell each other everything they know about the twin's stone and the death of the wine god. When they reveal that the sludge weakened their powers and should have killed Hondo, he says he will explain later. As time starts to move forward again, they tell Zane to leave and show him a chocolate bar with his face on the wrapper.

Zane, Hondo, and Rosie leave and he asked about the mask. Hondo tells him it gives the wearer enchanted physical conditions and that it was a present from Quinn, who he is dating. He tells his nephew to say he stole it for him as it only gives its powers if a Sobrenatural gifts it to someone. They head back to Zane's treehouse and the son of Hurakan reads his schedule before going to bed. He hears Marco and a girl fighting outside but he falls asleep. He dreams he is back in his elementary school and sees his teacher Mr. Hawkins. However, the Red Queen appears and has a message for him. She tells him Antonio Marcel De la Vega has a message for him, that Camazotz and Ixkik' are two steps ahead of him and that he must find a centipede in the jungle along with an earth spirit. Before he can learn more she leaves and Adrik suddenly appears.

Zane wakes up to find Brooks standing over him. She tells him to get ready and to follow her to the library. She gives him a breakfast burrito and they head out. He tells her about his dream and that Adrik was actually there. She theorizes that the son of Ixtab is a dream walker, someone who can communicate to others via dreams that the gods forbid. When Zane asks her about being a Ha'nawal, she tells him it is the reason she can camouflage, she says she used to be able to breathe underwater, but her father kept her away from it and she lost the ability. They arrive at the library to find Rosie outside and Brooks drags Zane inside.

Researching the Stone and Finding the Centipede

When they get inside Zane is impressed with the layout and they run into Hondo and Ren, who explain they used Saás, an Alexa like ord, to find information about the stone, but only learned what they already knew. Saás tells Zane Itzamna has given him the Power of the Dragon, a power to have the library offer its help to him, back in March. He asks it for help and a bookcase opens up. They search for a book to help them with no success when Adrik and Alana show up. The daughter of Ixtab, who shares a treehouse with Ren, say she heard her get up and they reluctantly agree to tell them about the stone. They say it is like a key that unlocks magical barriers. They think Ixkik' will use it to break into SHIHOM and kill them in their sleep, but Hondo thinks she wants them to be aware when she tries to kill them. Adrik mentions a dream he had before being pulled into Zane's dream involving a large butterfly with his mother's voice calling the stone an Entry Stone and that it has other powers. Alana also reveals she hasn't discovered her powers and her sight has been going since the claiming ceremony. Just then the roof opens and Itzamna arrives and collapses on the ground. He takes them to the World Tree to show them that the lights are dimming as the gods have been put in a slumber. Without them, Itzamna is weakened and the tree is vulnerable to attack. He can protect it from two or tree days at most and will the entry stone, Ixkik' and Camazotz can attack the tree's roots. Zane believes they used Akan's death to awaken a Mexica god of sleep and Ren mentions her mother's time rope could help, but she would have to give it to them. Just then, Rosie starts to howl and runs away with Zane hot on her tail.

He follows Rosie to an orange greenhouse and goes inside. Zane meets an earth spirit who accuses him of being a spy for his sister. The son of Hurakan says he is not and he believes him after seeing Rosie, as hellhounds avoid his sister. The earth spirit blows a powder on Zane that was supposed to cause him to tell the truth, but he bursts into laughter instead. The earth spirit realizizes Zane is a godborn and gives him an antidote and apologizes to him and introduces himself as Kip. After Zane mentions the Red Queen's message, he shows him the Chapat, a labyrinth like road. Before Zane goes in, Kip tells Zane to focus on what is worrying him the most. Zane thinks of them as he enters and they vanish. He then sees memories from when he first learned about the Mayan Gods, meeting Pacific and getting the jade tooth, entertaining the Old World and being claimed, Quinn telling him about the the sparkstriker's vision. As he reached the end he thinks about the memories and what they meant to him (Time, Evil, and Deception) as he hears Ah-Puch call out to him. He finds a centipede speaking in the death god's voice, telling him that Camazotz and Ixkik' have awakened Tlaltecuhtli, the Mexica earth goddess, to devourer the Mayan gods and to run and say goodbye to Ren. Zane tries to get more out of him but can only hear him say something about Ren being the only one. The centipede then attacks Zane and shouts “K'iin” and he kills it with Fuego. He exits and asks Kip what K'iin means. He is reluctant to speak of it, as he was threatened with bodily harm, but reluctantly gives in after the son of Hurakan vaguely promises him a new greenhouse from the gods. He says that K'iin is a calendar created by the time goddess that keeps track of the time of the universe that is hidden in a mountain. It can be used to look into other dimensions and find anything. He says that if Zane finds it he must make a sacrifice. Soon a storm starts up and Kip leaves while Zane and Rosie head to back to SHIHOM.

Planning a Quest and Emergency Evacuation

Pacific, the erased Mayan Goddess of time.

He arrives to see Marco and another godborn about to duke it out and finds Louie to be the cause of the storm. Zane tries to intervene but the son of Nakon accidentally punches him a a food fight starts. Rosie leaves and returns will Hondo, who tells the godborns to leave and go to the arena, all but the sons of Nakon and Chaac leave. Soon Brooks, Ren, and the twins arrive and he fills them in. Marco and Louie reveal that their fathers contacted them in their dreams, waring them about something. Zane withholds the part about Ren being able to help, as he will tell her that in private. Louie agrees to tell the others and Zane decides to seek out the K'iin. He explains the situation to the other godborns and they stare in silence. They are concerned about their next move and Ren mentions that the calendar is in the Crystal Caves, and Zane thinks they should go and find it. They have Marco make a list of all the godborn's abilities and leave him in charge of defending the school and the world tree. When Zane looks at Ren twisting her watch, he realizes what Ah-Puch meant by using the daughter of Pacific to freeze time.

Zane, Brooks, Ren, Louie, Marco, Hondo, Rosie and the twins meet up at the library to plan their quest. Alana explains that she finally found her power, Gateway Control, before Zane asks Saás about the Crystal Caves, and says they cannot be accessed. She explains that condition in the cave are so inhospitable, they will die in ten minute of arriving unless they land in just the right spot. Soon Itzamna arrives and informs them half of Ixtab's army has either sided with the enemy or is slated for execution, and that demons are climbing the roots as they speak and that they need to leave. They decide that Zane, Ren, Louie, and Alana will find the calendar while Brooks, Hondo, Adrik, Marco, and the others go to a safe house in Montana. The moon god covers them as they escape and gives Zane his sun glasses. Zane and Ren share a secret on combining powers and they leave as Louie talks about the cold. His comments lead the four to the Matterhorn in Disneyland and the daughter of Ixtab tries again.

Finding the Time Rope, Telling the Truth, and Getting Back in Time

The four reach the caves and a gold thread comes out of Ren's watch and Zane puts on Itzamna's sun glasses as the moon god appears before him. They follow the thread to a hole and the daughter of Pacific slides down with the others going after her. Zane sees an underwater world as he slides and is grasped by a ghost. Soon he emerges to find Ren struggling to hold the thread. He offers to help but Ren tells him she is the only one who can touch it without dying. She reveals she was waiting half an hour for him an suddenly ghosts and a giant arrive. Ren introduces the giant as Sipacna, the giant who killed 400 boys and the son of Hurakan readies for a fight. However, Ren stops him and explains the real story behind it, how the twins killed his father and he was blamed for the boy's deaths and that her mother saved him and left him to guard K'iin. When they ask about the calendar, he says that he cannot show them where it is, but he will not stop them from looking. Just then Alana and Louie arrive and the thread drags Ren away.

K'iin, the calendar.

They catch up with her but lose the thread, which creates a portal in the side of a cliff. They go into to it, with exception of Sipacna as he stays behind. They walk into the tunnel and each has a ribbon floating above their head, Itzamna tells them that they represent their destiny and not to touch it as it would alter it. They continue on and find statues of Nakon, Chaac, Ixkakaw, K'ukumatz, Hurakan, and Ixtab each holding a blue orb with a word on it. The full message says Choose The Right Fate Trespassers. They think the rope is hidden in one of them, but Zane thinks otherwise and the moon god tells him to look at something. He notices a mural on the floor under some sand and he and the girls clean it off. They find a star map and realize K'iin is hidden in the stars. They sees a missing star on Orion's Belt, or known to the Maya as Ak'ek, and Zane realizes that since the world was formed on a story, it can be saved with one. Ren presses her watch against the missing star and Zane thinks he found the calendar. The scenery shifts to funhouse-like mirrors and a voice that knows them comes out of nowhere. It reveals itself as K'iin and they try to get an answer, but it says it wants one to answer and one to pay the price. It chooses Ren to answer and Zane to pay. The daughter of Pacific asks where the gods are and they are shown a picture of Venice Beach, but they will not find them. After that the calendar demands the son of Hurakan's blood, Ren tries to stop it and the calendar agrees to have her repay it later. However, Zane touches his destiny thread and Ren tells him to move his hand away slowly. As he does a knot forms and K'iin says Zane has paid and his fate has been altered. The others protest and demand to know where to gods are, K'iin replies they are stuck in 1987.

Marco

The floor gives way and they fall, However, they grab onto the nearby cliffs. Zane feels frustrated that Ah-Puch didn't warn him about the gods being trapped in the eighties and worries about his mother. However, Alana comes in contact with Adrik, who concussed himself falling off a horse, who says everyone is safe at the ranch and Zane's mother is being taken their as they speak. Alana tells them to think of Montana and, after a brief detour to a pizzeria, the end up in a bullpen. The bull, Old Smalls, charges and Ren freezes time as Zane whips up a smokescreen. They walk about half a mile to a mansion sized log cabin and Hondo emerges. As Alana goes to check in on Adrik and Louie goes to getting something to eat, Zane and Ren are joined by Marco and Brooks. After they explain that the gods are trapped in 1987, they wonder what they are going to do. However, Zane looks and Ren and summons Itzamna, and the god reveals they can use two pieces of thread from the watch for a round trip and they accept. But the moon god warns that they should interact with as little people as possible and that one of them must remain in the present to act as an anchor to bring the others back, known as a shadow crosser. Hondo agrees to do the job, despite everyone telling him no human can do it, and Marco agrees to help. Ren tries to summon threads from the watch just as Zane's mom and Rosie arrives. He hugs her and struggles to say the plan to her, but she understands. Later that night he walks into the woods as the others are eating burgers and Brooks joins him, However, it is actually Marco in disguise. The son of Nakon tells him that it is best to lie to the godborns to protect them, but Zane says he failed to keep them safe at SHIHOM and he is not going to lie to them again. After Zane tells the truth, the godborns feel betrayed and abandoned when one of them suggests they should take out the remaining gods and rule the universe for themselves. Zane tries to calm them to no avail.

In the morning Zane, Brooks, Ren, Rosie, Hondo, Adrik, who discovered be can steal memories, and Alana go to the barn and prepared to go to the Old World when Louie and Zane's mother walked in. She is shocked that Zane is going to the eighties but knows she can't stop him. They reach the Old World and REN manages to form two threads into a rope and give it to Hondo. Itzamna warns them that they have twenty-four hours to succeed or they will be trapped in the past. Once everyone is ready, Zane, Brooks, Ren, Adrik, and Marco go to the past.

Finding the Gods

A guy hits Zane with a volleyball and Marco imitates his face and freaks the guy out, fortunately the son of Ixtab erases his memory of the last few minute or so and they move on with people looking at them. Wishing they changed into proper eighties clothing before hand, Adrik reveals he brought money printed prior to 1987 and Ren reveals where the gods are, unfortunately it is Jordan and Bird's former address, where they resided at the time. The son of Nakon thinks the gods could be trapped in something like Ah-Puch was and the twins don't realize they have them. Brooks realizes something and decides to seek help from Jazz, who they plan to wipe his memories of the encounter when they are finished. They arrive at his childhood home on Brooks Street, except for Marco as he is guarding the rope, and go around back. However, a young jazz sees them and attacks. Zane passes out and wakes up inside with Brooks explaining the a young Jazz that they are magicians. They learn that the twins are having a Star Wars party on their yacht and his brothers are working security. They think the gods are somewhere on the yacht and get Jazz to take them on his boat. He gives them Obi-Wan robes to disguise themselves and he goes to the beach to check on Marco. He finds the son of Nakon gone and Brooks tells him he is in an alleyway before they dead out.

They go to the marina where Jazz takes them on his boat and asks for proof of their magic, Ren controls shadows, Zane summons fire, and Adrik tells him that he knows about the giant's future. They reach the boat and sneak onboard as Prince arrives. They go into a ballroom and Rosie focuses on a painting, which they think the gods are trapped in, and Ren covers up the security cameras with shadows. Suddenly they hear voices and Ren blocks out the door, moments later Rosie emits a blue mist and the paining vanishes. Ren tries to freeze time, but fails as they used to much of the threads. Zane sees a window and, realizing it is an aquarium tank, spots a creature he realizes is Tlaltecuhtli chained inside. He and Brooks find a catwalk and go up and cut the netting on top before the son of Hurakan dives in and the Devourer reveals she has the gods inside her and the twins are holding her prisoner. She says there is an exit further down as he frees her, but he cannot go that far down. He relays the information to Brooks and the ha'nawal decides to go with the Devourer. Zane tried and fails to talk her out of it, but she goes anyway and kisses him before diving. The twins break down the barrier and Zane tells the others to leave as he holds them off. As the twins electrocute him, Zane tries hard not to kill them, but out of instinct throws Fuego and hits Jordan in the chest. Bird heals his brother as Rosie pulls Zane onto the boat and Brooks resurfaces with the Devourer moments later and they speed off with the hero twins hot on their tails. Adrik says they are to far away to memory wipe and the sons of Ixtab and Hurakan cling to Brooks as she goes what she can to get them as close as she can. Zane whips up a thin smokescreen and Adrik seemingly erases their memories. When they get back to shore they realize Marco is gone.

They find him buried in the sand and the son of Nakon scolds for taking so long. They join hands to go back to the present and erase most of Jazz's memories of the encounter, with the execution of making the Demon Decintegration Flashlight. When they arrive back in the present they see Saqik'oxol by Hondo and she tells them to take the rope. Zane does so and burns his hands as it burns into the sand. When they remove Hondo's mask it crumbles to ash and he has drastically aged decades in a single day. The sparkstriker tells them demons have reached the World Tree and are attacking it. The Devourer tries to barf up the gods to no success. The sparkstriker summons her army.

The Final Encounter, worrying for the future, and Celebrations

They teleport to Hurakan's treehouse and see the World Tree burning and demons burned records as Itzamna fails to stop them and is subdued. The devour releases two entities, a teenage boy and girl who float down to the burn jungle below. The sparkstriker leaves and is soon followed by Brooks and Ren, who go to find the gods, and Rosie, who leaves to find Ixtab. As Zane looks at Hondo, the Devourer says she can heal him if Zane, Adrik, and Marco heal her. The three agree and they give her their energy, However, the next god to come out of her is a teenage Camazotz. He mentions something about Ixkik' before passing out and and Zane keeps Marco from killing him. They look over at the Devourer, who now resembles a woman, healing Hondo before vanishing. Zane rushes over to him and Hondo reveals Ixkik' betrayed Camazotz so that Jordan can become king of the Sobrenaturals, but Zane thinks their is more to it and they head out. However, before they do Rosie returns with Ren and a teenaged Pacific and Ah-Puch. She explains the Rosie can wake the gods, but they have no powers. After noticing Brooks is not with them, Ren says she went on her own to scout. They soon hear Ixkik's voice telling Zane she has won and her forces are searching for the gods as she speaks, Ah-Puch tells Zane she does not know some of the gods are awake, so they have a minor element of surprise. She also says that Jordan is now king of the sobrenaturals with a new queen, Hondo becomes enraged upon hearing this, and has Zane come to be World Tree. She kills two gods to lure him there and the others debate on what to do. Zane tries to talk term, but the most he can get is to buy the gods more time. They wonder what she wants Zane for as he agrees to go and a ticking sound is heard. As he leaves the others agree to find as many gods as they can and he sees a blinding flash of gold light.

He arrives at the tree to find Jordan and Bird walking toward him with Itzamna in chains. Ixkik's voice is heard, telling Zane to surrender or the gods will die, killing two more to prove her point. She agrees to keep the gods alive and Zane surrenders, binding himself to her. She agrees to have Quinn escort his friends out and not to harm them. She agrees and let's Quinn escort them out, as she passes the son of Hurakan she secretly tells him not to be tricked Ixkik' tells Quinn to shake and she refuses, demanding Brooks be freed, but the blood moon goddess says that was not part of the deal. Just then Quinn tries to fly off, but a chain binds her in place. Itzamna apologizes for giving Zane the power of the dragon. Soon Marco, masquerading as a second Zane, arrives and tries to confuse them. The twins attack them and Zane creates a barrier of flames. Marco explains Adrik contacted Alana and they have reinforce and Louie wipes up a massive storm and Ren has shadows emerge from the forest. He hears his father's voice telling him to take out Ixkik' once she is in a physical form. Zane runs and Ixkik' goes after him. She traps him in mist and tells him his efforts are in vein. She explains that he, as a holder of the power of the dragon, can alter the perceived history to make sobrenaturals remember solely what he rights. He says the truth paper won't let him but Ixkik' reveals it has so affect as she already destroyed enough documents and demands he rewrite history to make it as though Jordan was king all along and the make the gods and godborns look like the enemy. She sends them to some ruins and takes a physical form. However, when Zane goes to take the strike, he freezes with shock when it is revealed she does not have a face. However, it shifts and melts away to reveal a more demonic face and she reveals she was at the twin's party he crashed and destroyed their destinies, she also reveals that she was really Iktan. The son of Hurakan blasts her with fire, which she is unharmed by, and he throws Fuego, which she catches. She then demands he rewrite history so that demons can take their place on top. He refuses again and she has Jordan walk in with his mother by the throat. He demands his mother be freed but Ixkik' tells him to rewrite history again. He begrudgingly agrees if his friends, the gods, and his mother are unharmed and they shake on it as Bird joins them. However, Ixkik' reveals she will take his mother's face for ruining her son's futures. Zane then let's loose blue flames and Jordan releases his mother and she flees. Jordan subdues Zane, but Ren sneaks up from behind with the time rope and tries to lasso Ixkik' and Jordan. The demon goddess catches wind of her and catches the lasso, burning her. Brooks then flies in with a teenaged Hurakan on her back and drags Bird into the sky. Ren temporarily imprisons Jordan in shadows and tries the lasso again and Zane catches it, tying it around Ixkik' and Jordan when he breaks free. As they are being banished, Zane runs but Ixkik' wraps part of the rope around his wrist and he goes with them. However, his mother manages to save him.

She hugs Zane as Hondo, Ixtab, Itzamna, and the others come in. They explain how Ixkik' and Jordan are at the worst moments of their lives and trapped in a time loop with no chance of escape. Bird and Camazotz are now in god's custody, and Ren reveals the time rope is now hers. The gods ask to speak with Zane alone and they tell him that five of the godborns back in Montana went rouge and that he is the only one who can fix what has been destroyed. After theorizing it would take him a year to do so and finding out the truth paper wasn't destroyed, he agrees. Two weeks later, as Ah-Puch was planning a party, Ixtab goes to him in the library to say her goodbyes as she must return to Xib'alb'a to restore order. Before she leaves, she returns Rosie to her original form and tells Zane she can change forms at will. He arrives at the party to find his parents talking and his friends dancing. Pacific walks up to him and he mentions his destiny thread being altered, However, Pacific believes it is a good thing that he touched it as he might have changed it for the better. Brooks walks over to them and the time goddess leaves. They talk about their kiss back in 1987 and question if it counts. The son of Hurakan then kisses her before they head to the dance floor.

Chapters

Jennifer Cervantes revealed on Instagram that there are 55 chapters.

Characters

• Zane Obispo
• Rosie
• Camazotz
• Ixkik'
• Itzamna
• Hondo Obispo
• Ren Santiago
• Brooks
• Quinn
• Alana
• Adrik
• Marco
• Ixtab
• Hurakan
• Ah-Puch
• Saqik'oxol
• Marco
• Serena
• Louie
• Mr. Hawkins
• Red Queen
• Kip
• Pacific
• Jazz
• Sipacna
• Old Smalls
• Tlaltecuhtli
• Jordan
• Bird
• Prince
• Ixchel

Trivia

• This is the only book in the trilogy in which Zane does not write the forward. Instead it is written by Itzamna.
  • This is also the only book in the trilogy without a post credit.