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“Pretty good trick,” Marla said. “This is after you raise Tlaltecuhtli, right? Her mouth
opens to the Land of the Dead, and all that?”
“You should not even speak that name,” Mutex said. “You dishonor it further by
mispronouncing it.”
“Aztec isn’t my first language,” she said, grinning. He was not happy that she knew this
much about his plans. “Surprised I know about your plans to raise Kermit the Earth-
Monster? You shouldn’t leave so many clues lying around. Then again, I’m pretty
perceptive, so there’s probably nothing you could have done to keep it a secret.”
“You seem marginally more aware than the fools who run this city,” he said. “I suppose
a worm such as you might reasonably feel superior to maggots such as they.”
“Okay, frog-boy,” Marla said. “Keep underestimating me. It’s a recipe for hilarious
results. So. You want me to leave the city? We can work something out. I have terms.”
“I am prepared to listen,” Mutex said.
“Marla!” B said. “You can’t negotiate with him! If you don’t stop him—”
“Quiet, B,” Rondeau said, pulling him back. “You really don’t want to get into the
middle of this right now.”
“But—” B said.
“Really,” Rondeau said, and B must have believed him, because he went quiet, which
was good, since Marla owed him, and didn’t want to have to silence him herself.
“I need the Cornerstone,” Marla said.
“Impossible,” Mutex said flatly.
“I don’t need to take it away forever,” she said. “I just need it to cast one spell, and then
I’ll leave.”
“I will not let you near it,” Mutex said. “It is already in use, already serving to anchor
the ritual that will return my gods to power. Any spell you cast would disrupt that
process. No. The only thing I am willing to offer in this negotiation is your life. Leave
the city, and I will spare you, though your heart’s blood would surely do well to fuel my
magic.”
Marla laughed. “Afraid not, Mutie. You need a fear-filled heart, and I’m definitely not
afraid of you.” She wasn’t, not exactly, though she wasn’t nearly confident enough to
attack him head-on right now, not with all those frogs around him. They might be
slowed by the low subterranean temperatures here—they were, after all, creatures from
the rain forest, despite whatever enhancements Mutex had given them—but they were
still lethal.
“Then we are at an impasse,” Mutex said.