‘Same kind of delusions as his father?’

‘And the mother. Archaeologists Julius and Maria Gabriel were convinced that some terrible calamity is going to wipe mankind off the face of the planet. Mick also suffers from the usual paranoid delusions of persecution, most of it brought about by his father’s death and his own incarceration. Claims that a government conspiracy has kept him locked up all these years. In Mick Gabriel’s mind, he’s the ultimate victim, an innocent man attempting to save the world …’

Flash: Her first visit with Mick. The handsome paranoid schizophrenic with the ebony eyes moves closer, inhaling her scent. ‘I swear on my mother’s soul that I won’t harm you.’

Flash: She is in the Gulf of Mexico, on a boat with Mick, after helping him escape. ‘Mick … back in the asylum when you asked me if I believed in evil. What did you mean by that?’

‘I also asked you if you believe in God … if you believed in a higher power.’

‘I believe someone watches over us, touching our souls on some higher plain of existence. I’m sure part of me believes that because I need to believe it, because it’s comforting. What do you think?’

‘I believe we possess a spiritual energy, which exists on a different dimension. I believe a higher power exists on that level, one we can only access when we die.’

‘I don’t think I ever heard heaven described quite like that. What about evil?’

‘Every Ying has its Yang.’

‘Are you saying you believe in the devil?’

‘The devil, Satan, Beelzebub, Lucifer, what’s in a name?’

Flash: Back in Chichén Itzá, on the winter solstice of 2012, the prophesied day of doom. Ennis Chaney grips her by her wrist, refusing to let go, as Mick walks purposefully toward the dead alien serpent’s open mouth—the entrance into the nexus.

‘Let me go! Mick, what are you doing—’

‘I’m sorry, Dominique. I love you—’

He steps over the bottom rows of teeth and enters the serpent’s mouth … leaving her forever—

Forever …

‘I love you Dominique …’

Forever …

‘Ma … thank you. I love you.’

‘I love you, too, Manny.’

Forever …

‘Be happy.’

Forever …

Her eyes flash open as she screams, ‘Jacob!’

The transport ship leaps clear of the olive green whirlwind, climbs into the atmosphere, and races into space.

Mick’s eyes flash open as he regains consciousness. ‘No … no!’

Dominique grabs hold of him as the pod rockets higher. ‘Shh … it’s okay—’

‘No! I am One Hunahpu! I am One Hunahpu!’

‘Mick, it’s me, it’s Dominique—’

‘Abomination … trying to kill me … seeping into my mind … I am One Hunahpu … I am in control … I control my mind, not the Abomination.’ He tears at his hair. ‘Oh, God, oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God—’

Dominique struggles to restrain him as invisible hands guide the ship toward the potato-shaped moon.