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Suki knew the palace compound pretty well, but she’d never been to this part before. That was probably another reason Ix Chel had given Suki the idea to help Angélica. As they went down the corridor, Angélica summoned kem äm to light the torches along the walls.
Suki was nervous to go somewhere so shielded from moonlight, knowing they’d need to fight their way out, but surely Ix Chel was steering them in the right direction.
“There’s something you should know,” Angélica said as they walked quickly.
“What?”
“I can help remove the shields protecting the jaguar priests and the warriors, but they will still be faster and stronger than your soldiers. In addition to physical strength, they can also injure you in other ways. Like with disease and blindness.”
Suki hadn’t thought of that. She’d assumed that removing the shields would be enough, and kapow, a bullet would kill them.
“That’s a problem,” Jordan said. “Unless we hit them first.”
“Your weapons are noisy,” Angélica said. “Once you start shooting, they’ll hear and prepare other ways to defend themselves. Like speed and quickness. Invisibility. You won’t even know they are there until it’s too late. I know the Kowinem. They have powerful dark magic.”
“So how do we protect ourselves?” Suki wondered.
“By being as quiet as possible. Follow me.”
After traveling down many steps, they reached the tunnel heading from the palace compound outward. As they moved through the darkness, Suki sensed the other smoking mirrors, just as she had sensed the one at the White House. It had an intense feeling of evil. Of wrongness.
“Whoa, I can feel them,” Suki said.
“Feel what?”
“The mirror things.”
The tunnels were pitch-black, except for the kem äm torches. They couldn’t see far ahead, and there were also various side tunnels branching off, perfect places for someone to hide. Suki’s nerves were twanging with the danger.
“This main tunnel leads to the pyramid where the sacrifices happen,” Angélica said. “I don’t know where the mirrors are, but they’re off this main path somewhere.”
“Keep going,” Suki instructed. Her instincts were starting to warn her again. Was it just the magic of the mirrors or something else? She felt like she had in Florida when they were driving to the airport. It was a nervous, sick-to-her-stomach kind of feeling.
Angélica didn’t seem to sense anything at all. She looked serious but not frightened.
Farther on, they reached a side tunnel, and Suki could feel the wrongness emanating from it. “That’s it,” she said, pointing. “They’re there.”
“If we don’t break the mirrors,” Angélica warned, “they will all be able to slip away.”
Jordan nodded firmly. “Side mission. Let’s knock it out and then go back this way.”
“Our job is to rescue people,” said another soldier worriedly.
“This is how they kidnapped the leaders,” Angélica said. “And there are more to be abducted later. This was just the first round. Without strong leaders, when the border attacks start, there will be confusion about what to do. That will increase instability.”
Jordan nodded. “We go for it.”
Suki tried to choke down her fear. “Let’s hurry. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
Jordan led the way with his partner, followed by Angélica and Suki. The final two looked reluctant, but they followed them.
Deeper in, Suki sensed magic down one side shaft, and then another. It was like a maze, but she could sense a path through it.
They reached a stela with a glowing symbol carved into it. It radiated a feeling of darkness.
“Huracán,” Angélica whispered fearfully.
Suki sensed the mirrors beyond the stela. “The mirrors are behind this rock, but I don’t know how to move it. There is probably a password or rite that needs to be performed.”