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“No, and you know too much.” He’d noticed that she looked younger now, which matched what Suki had told him about their visit to Aztlán. “You know where Aztlán is. From what my daughter says, he was the only one who knew.”
She flinched.
“Someone will try to kill him now. Because they know you have that knowledge. You’re a liability to him.”
She made a face. “Someone tried already. His warrior chief. Earlier today. He’ll be executed publicly. I would be too if I helped you.”
Roth hadn’t been off the mark. He stopped in his tracks to buy more time. Calakmul’s plan was already crumbling from within. That’s what happened when a tyrant seized power—sometimes immediately, and sometimes not for years. The pattern could be seen throughout history, from Nero to Caligula. But how could he take advantage of that? How could he convince her to help?
“We need to keep walking, before someone sees us,” Angélica said. She motioned for him to follow, and he fell in step alongside her.
“The next guy isn’t going to be as nice to you as Jacob is,” Roth pointed out. “And anything Jacob gave you can be taken away by someone else. Besides, I’m guessing Jacob’s not the trusting type. You probably have to prove your loyalty every day.”
“Please, Jonathon,” she said, shaking her head. But her voice quavered a little, and he knew he’d struck a nerve.
“You can’t fault me for trying. I’ve told the US government everything I know. And they believe me. We tried to capture Jacob in the Situation Room. We know about the jaguar priests’ greatest weakness. How they are vulnerable when they begin to transform.”
She made a face and shook her head again.
“Look, you didn’t know about the other temples. I’m assuming he doesn’t know either? He would have told you.”
“Yes. But he’s been distracted. He’s been . . .” She pressed her lips together.
“As hot-blooded as a twenty-year-old?” Roth surmised. “That’s the thing about Aztlán. I’m guessing it literally rewound your age, which means it also unwound the brain’s development.”
She looked at him in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“Sorry. I have a tendency to talk as fast as I think. I was in college for a long time because I’m fascinated by everything, including the field of neuroscience. The prefrontal cortex is in charge of executive functioning. Long-range thinking. Strategic planning. It doesn’t fully form in men until around age twenty-five. But it happens earlier for women. It’s always been that way. You must have noticed it, Angélica. His rashness. His temper. His emotional instability. You’ve been dealing with an earlier version of him. His hard drive has all the files. But his brain is using old code.”
He’d hit the mark with the technology metaphor. He saw her wrinkled brow, her guilty expression.
“You’re in the same position that Malintzin was in,” Roth said after they’d turned the next corner. There were stairs leading downward. Malintzin had partnered with Cortés during his invasion of the Americas. She’d even borne him children. Her name had come to mean traitor among the Mexican people. If she hadn’t helped Cortés, he never would have succeeded in deposing Moctezuma.
“He calls me that sometimes,” she said. “I hate it. She was a puppet to the Order of the Jaguar Priests.”
“And you aren’t?”
“Why do you think I hate it?” she asked sadly. “I know what I am.”
“So help me! We can both escape. You can start a new life. Leave this behind.”
“There isn’t enough time! The sacrifices start at midnight. The plague is already spreading. It’s not that I relish so much suffering, but a price should be paid for the centuries of injustice visited on our people. Still, I plan to soften Jacob’s fury after he’s won.” She looked away. “I don’t think the children deserve their fate. I begged him to spare them, but he says that our people’s children weren’t spared.”
“He’s not going to win. You know the man you have isn’t the president of the United States, right?”
“Yes,” Angélica said. “But it doesn’t matter to him. Anyone will do. As long as there is someone to kill.”
“You helped us before,” Roth said. “I can help you once we get away. I did a pretty good job of staying under the radar with your boyfriend.”
She gave him a half smile. “You did. Until Dresden. And your actions spurred him to expose himself to the world too soon.”
They started down the steps into the lower levels of the palace. Rods of stone topped with swirling orbs of kem äm illuminated the way down.
Partway down, she stopped. She reached into her waistband and withdrew a small leather packet. It looked a little like a wallet with a pointed covering and a jade stone embedded in it.
“There are three darts in here,” she said. “The toxin works very fast. Paralyzation lasts for about ten minutes. After what Uacmitun did to me, I decided I need to carry my own protection. If someone is shielded by kem äm, it won’t work. This is all I can do for you. You’ll have to find a way to get yourself out of that cell.” She handed the pouch to him, and Roth took it gratefully and stuffed it into his pocket.
She touched his wrist. “I didn’t agree with what Jacob wanted to do to your daughter. To subvert her against you. But I don’t think he could help himself. She showed too much promise, and he likes a challenge.”
