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The jaguar priest tilted his head back and forth, his frown turning to a malicious smile as he advanced.
Jordan drew his weapon.
“That won’t work here!” Monica said to him. They were all backing up.
Roth felt a surge of panic. He had to protect his boys. They had to get out of there. A slight diversion. Maybe that’s all they needed to escape.
“Federal agent!” Monica shouted, alerting everyone to the danger. “Get to the nearest exit. Now!”
Some bystanders looked confused, but the ones who saw Jordan’s weapon started to scream and run. Confusion and panic ensued. Children scattered. Some started to cry.
“Stay back, bro!” Jordan warned, aiming the gun at the man’s face.
“I’ll stall him. Get the Roths out of here,” Monica said.
“No way,” Jordan countered. “Four against one are better odds. The other two guys I saw are yours, right?”
“Right. Jonathon, run!” Monica said.
The jaguar priest rushed them.
Roth grabbed the boys by their shirts and pulled them away. Both of them resisted at first, their faces taut with fear—they cared about Jordan, and they all knew the jaguar priests to be ruthless and efficient at killing. It pained Roth too. They didn’t know how to use the kem äm, so they wouldn’t be able to withstand his power. Still, both Jordan and Monica had been trained for combat situations. Roth hadn’t. The boys certainly hadn’t. And despite Jordan’s shoulder injury, he wouldn’t give up without a fight.
“Hurry!” Roth urged, hastening the boys deeper into the exhibit, which he hoped would loop around to another exit. There were openings leading to other parts of the hall to the right and left and another one farther ahead with fossils on display.
“What about Jordan?” Lucas said, his voice catching with worry.
Roth heard the crack of multiple gunshots. He looked back and saw Jordan firing into the ceiling lights above them. Glass from the shattered bulbs came crashing down.
The jaguar priest leaped forward in the hail of glass, aiming a kick at Jordan’s leg. A loud snap could be heard. Jordan let out a howl of pain. Worry twisted in Roth’s gut, but he had to focus on the boys. Had to. He dragged them to the first opening on the right and went through it. He could see part of the action through the glass walls as he pushed the boys lower down and crouched to get out of sight.
“That way!” he murmured, pointing to the left. He wanted to get out into the main hall where the crowds would be larger.
He saw the jaguar priest grab Jordan around the neck, but Monica attacked him fearlessly. She wrapped her arm around the jaguar priest’s neck, trying to leverage him across her hip and choke him.
The priest let go of Jordan and pivoted, wrenching Monica’s arm away from his neck effortlessly. He headbutted her in the face with his forehead and then waved his hand in a glyph. Monica flew away from him, hitting a glass display and shattering it. She groaned in pain and slumped to the floor.
“Monica!” Jordan raged. Even with a broken leg, he attacked, hoisting himself up on his arm and grabbing the priest by the belt. He dragged him down and started punching him in the face, blow after blow.
“Go, go, go!” Roth urged, pushing the boys toward the exit. For a moment, he thought Jordan might actually win the fight.
A powerful fist struck Jordan in the throat. His eyes bulged with pain, but still he fought. He tried grappling the man in a jujitsu maneuver, but the priest was bigger and stronger and broke his hold. He broke some of Jordan’s fingers too, wrenching them back hard. Another bark of pain before the priest grabbed Jordan by the back of the neck and slammed him face-first into the ground with all its glass shards.
An FBI agent ran up, knocking the jaguar priest back with a scissor kick. The other agent hurried into the fray, spraying the bear spray at the jaguar priest. Two against one again.
Roth and the boys reached the entrance to the Deep Time exhibit, but there were so many people struggling to get out that there wasn’t room for them.
“Police!” roared a voice, trying to clear a path through the crowd. Screams filled the audience hall beyond. People were running toward the exits on both sides.
Gunshots. The two agents were taken down by the jaguar priest. Monica was also lying on the ground, bleeding profusely. It pained Roth’s heart to see the devastation.
A single officer entered the fray, holding a Taser. He aimed it at the jaguar priest. “Hands in the air! Hands in the air!”
The jaguar priest snorted and started toward him. The officer didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger. The leads shot out of the Taser but ricocheted off an invisible barrier. The jaguar priest raised a pistol and shot the officer.
An opening had appeared in the crowd, so Roth maneuvered his boys and started running again. They made it into the large rotunda, which echoed with shrieks and the wail of sirens. Police and security were directing the crowd toward the exits. There were so many people, it would be hard for the jaguar priest to find—
A sting of pain struck Roth’s neck. Reflexively, he reached back and felt the dart sticking out of his skin. He yanked it out, realizing with horror what had happened. He’d seen how fast Eric Beasley had been brought down by a similar dart. He only had seconds.