Sun God Seeks…Surrogate? (Accidentally Yours #3)(44)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

“Orphanages.” Emma stood in the doorway. “Kinich loves kids. He spends his extra time with them: coaching Little League, organizing trips to Disneyland, he even started ballet schools in ten cities. All for needy kids. He thinks we don’t know. I guess he’s afraid the other gods will think he’s a softy—maybe they do. But I think it’s sweet.”

“Why? Why does he do it?”

She walked to the other side of Kinich’s bed and took a seat on the edge. “I think because he never had a choice. None of the gods did. They got stuck with their lives, and maybe to the everyday person, it sounds like the coolest gig ever, but immortality and being responsible for the entire human race isn’t an easy cross to bear. I think this is his way of coping. He gives these children hope and a choice.”

Oh. I—I…“That’s the saddest and sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.” I stroked Kinich’s ice-cold cheek. “You’re so full of surprises, Sun God,” I whispered.

“So,” Emma asked, “are you going to keep wallowing, or are you going to disembark from the S.S. Pity?”

“Sorry?”

“What’s your move?” she asked.

“Are you saying I get a choice?”

She nodded.

“But I didn’t choose this,” I pointed out sadly.

She shook her head. “No. You didn’t. But now you get to choose what you make of it.”

“But what can I do?”

“Step one,” she replied. “Stop being afraid, and accept what you are. We need every able body we can get to face what’s coming. And after we’ve trained you, you’ll make us that much stronger.”

“This is too much. I’m not ready for all this.”

Emma’s green eyes glowed with warmth. “You are my sister now, and I’ll be here to make sure you never stumble.”

“Sister?” My eyes filled with tears—yes, yes. More crying.

It was one thing to grow up without a father, but not having any siblings was hard. It seemed all my friends had sisters and brothers to play with or watch over them, everyone except me. That’s why when I was little I worried to death about who would be there for me after my mother was gone. Would I die alone without any family there to love me?

When I got older, however, I became tired of feeling helpless so I turned to martial arts. Somehow knowing I could defend myself didn’t make being alone so scary. Truth be told, it made me feel confident, strong, independent—like I could handle anything that came my way.

But nonetheless, the absence of a sister or brother—a best friend who shared my blood—stayed with me.

“You and I are Payals, Penelope. And I don’t know why life turned out this way for us, why the people we love have been taken, but there’s a reason for all this. I can feel it in my bones. I have to believe that.”

“Who? Who was taken from you?” I asked.

Emma’s eyes reflected her dreary thoughts. “My grandmother was taken by the Maaskab a few years ago. I thought it was the worst day of my life. But it wasn’t. That day was when she showed up on our doorstep in Italy, leading her own army of Scabs. I almost killed her—she was crazed from the black jade they’d injected her with.” Emma whisked away a tear. “I don’t know how, but I managed to hit her with just enough energy to knock her out instead of killing her. After everything was over, I’d planned to have Guy take my sedated grandma back to Mexico, to the cenote so he could take her to his world.”

“Why?”

“So the gods would make her immortal and cure her with their light.” Emma took a deep breath and blew it out. “But I never got the chance. A man named Tommaso, a man I thought was my friend, released her and fled.”

“Emma, I’m so sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say; her story was so sad. “Why did he do it?”

She shrugged, her expression bleak. “Because he was born evil, and there’s no cure for that.” She paused. “Doesn’t matter now. Because I’m going to get her back, and then I’m going to kill him.”

Wow. That was one hairy ax to grind.

“We leave the day after next.”

“But what if it doesn’t work?” I asked. “What if you find her and can’t cure her? What then?” Did I have any business asking her this?

Emma explained that the gods’ light made a person immortal, but not indestructible; the cenote would not build them a new body if theirs was destroyed.

“If we can’t cure her,” Emma said with a frigid tone, “then I’ll do the right thing.”

What a horrible thought. I couldn’t imagine what Emma was going through.

“As for you, we’ll face whatever comes, together,” she said, changing the subject quickly. “All you need to do is decide. Are you going to stand up and fight for the people we love? Or are you going to crawl in a hole and hide?” She stared directly at Kinich, and then so did I, which made me think: If someone so powerful could be brought down by the Maaskab, then what chance did I have? “I need time. A lot’s happened.”

Emma reached over Kinich and rubbed my arm. “Don’t worry. We’re not going anywhere. We’ll be here when you’re ready.”

“So will we.” Guy, Gabrán, and that man I’d walloped in the training center stood with fierce, determined expressions just outside the doorway.

“We’re the good guys, Penelope. We’ve got to stick together.” Guy flashed a cool smile in my direction.

I felt it then. Their power. Their determination. Their loyalty toward one another. I didn’t know them, but I got it now. Like Kinich, they’d all been dealt their cards. They could’ve run away or tried to deny it. But they’d chosen to fight. To do good. To…not hit the denial button.

I stood and smoothed down the front of my wrinkled, charred jeans. No. No lemonade for this girl. Stick those lemons where the sun don’t shine! “Okay. I’ll fight. I want to go on the rescue mission.”

Guy stepped next to Emma, hovering over the dormant Kinich. “You told her about the mission?”

“Of course. She needs to know we’re doing everything to get her mother back from the Maaskab. That said”—she looked at me with a sour face—“are you crazy, girl?”

“What?” I asked defensively.

“Penelope,” Guy’s tone was flat and firm. “You’re not combat trained.”