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darkness.
    â€œThat’s the way, Ethan,” Rory said, anger and sorrow filling his voice. “At least you took one of the bastards with you.”
    Despair washed over him in a black wave. Ethan was gone. The professor was somewhere inside the temple, dragged there by Ix Chel herself, most likely for some sadistic ritual.
    That left him and Elton Harrison, and it didn’t look good for them, waiting their turn to be thrown into the bottomless well.
    Veracruz let out a short exclamation of fear and stepped back from the opening. Dark spatters of liquid ran down the man’s face, and a larger stain stood out on his green shirt. Something flew out of the hole and bounced off the stone wall surrounding the cenote . It took Rory a moment to recognize the object, and even then he couldn’t believe it.
    Popi’s head?
    A bellow of pure rage sounded within the cenote . The insensate anger in the long, drawn-out cry brought terrified howls from the jaguars in the jungle.
    A figure emerged from the pit, flying upwards into the night sky. Wide, leathery wings blotted the stars as the creature banked and turned back towards the gathered humans.
    â€œGood Lord!” Harrison fell down and threw his arms over his head.
    Hector Veracruz’s shotgun roared once, twice. The smaller, sharper reports of Luz’s pistol followed, both men trying futilely to aim at the swooping, soaring figure overhead.
    There was a pause while the two men reloaded. In that instant, the dark figure landed in front of Luz. Muscular arms, covered in lizard-like scales, shot out and long, curved talons stabbed into the man’s neck and chest. The snarling beast pulled him forward to where a gaping mouth full of triangular teeth waited.
    Luz had time to utter a single bleat of terror before monstrous jaws closed on his neck and tore it away. Blood spurted in all directions. It splashed across Hector Veracruz’s face, and he dropped the shotgun to wipe frantically at his eyes with both hands.
    The creature tossed Luz’s corpse to the side, and Amos was finally able to get a good look at it.
    It stood well over six feet tall, on powerfully built legs. Under the tattered remnants of a tan safari shirt and pants, its chest was broad and hairless. A fine patina of scales covered the entire body, reflecting the torchlight in a myriad of tiny starbursts.
    On top of the thick neck sat a head with a massive, broad snout like a bear’s. Tall, pointed ears rose up on either side of its head. Its eyes burned red as coals, aflame with a malevolent hate that turned Rory’s legs to rubber.
    Veracruz fell to his hands and knees. He scuttled backwards, shouting “Diablo! Diablo!”
    The demonic presence looked past the jaguar cultist and spoke, its rough voice thick and clotted with Luz’s blood, its words bent into strange shapes from being forced out of an inhuman mouth.
    â€œRory, go back to the temple. Find the professor and Jenny. I’ll take care of Ix Chel.”
    The creature grabbed Veracruz with one clawed hand, unfurled its wings, and rose swiftly into the air.
    â€œDid you hear…those clothes…it’s not possible.” Harrison grabbed at the wall of the cenote to support himself, still staring in the direction where the monster had disappeared.
    â€œWe’ve seen a lot tonight that isn’t possible. Whatever, whoever , that thing was, it had the right idea. We’ve got to save Jenny and the professor.”
    â€œThe professor’s dead! And so is Jenny.” Harrison’s voice trembled with a note of hysteria. “What we’ve got to do is get the hell out of here before…that thing comes back for us.”
    Rory wrapped two fists in the scientist’s shirt and hauled him forward. “You can either come with me or stay here. But I’m not giving up yet.”
    He let go of Harrison. Although the cenote lay at the far edge of the city, he could still see the