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last year.

“You’re healed.”

“Ma did it.” Lula covers the side of her face with her hair.

“There’s a scar.”

I put my hand on her arm, but she pulls away. I wonder if she

blames me.

“Where’s Ma?” I try to sit up, but everything hurts. When I look

down, I see my shirt is ripped open. Four red scars mark my chest.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “Your cut was deeper than mine. We couldn’t

heal it completely. It’ll scar too.”

I don’t care about a scar. I care that my family is alive.

“Lula…” As my eyes adjust, I can see the bruises across her chest,

the dark circles around her eyes.

“Don’t. We had to heal you. We’re blood, Alex.” She hesitates but

then holds her hand for me to take.

I squeeze her hand. “Thank you.”

“Ma’s Circle is here. They’re cleansing the house and getting rid

of-of that thing .”

I stare at the ceiling, settling into the buzz on my skin. There’s

a huge spot where the paint is chipping away. Dad used to say he was

going to fix it, but then he left, and every day, it gets bigger and

bigger.

“I used to think Mama Juanita made them up,” I say. “Just to scare

us into eating her tripe soup.”

Lula’s laugh is wet and snotty, but it feels good to hear. “And

then she’d promise a unicorn, but I’m still waiting on that one.”

We lie still, listening to the tumble of shells across the kitchen

floor. They absorb all the bad energy, and then they’re sent out to

sea for cleansing. I think of the maloscuro’s head cracking open, the

insides splattering all over the kitchen. I wonder if there are enough

shells in the world to cleanse this house.

“Why is my face so stiff?” I ask her.

“Do you know what you did?” Lula asks. “You conjured an element. A

storm. Mom says the energy fills your body and numbs you. I heard Lady

say that we need to be careful. Some encantrixes use the recoil as a

drug. They conjure just to get high or feel numb. But I know you’re

not like those brujas. I know you’re not.”

“I only feel the numb part,” I say. “And thanks for your vote of

confidence.”

When the cleansing seems to stop and the whispers of their

conversations carry my name, I decide that pain or no pain, I need to

stand up.

“Alex.” Lula whispers my name like a warning. “Get back here.

That’s a Circle meeting.”

I ignore her and tiptoe to the door but don’t announce myself. I

stand at the edge and listen.

“You have to move up the ceremony, Carmen,” a man tells my mother.

“Before this happens again.”

People mumble in agreement.

“We don’t know how this happened,” my mother snaps.

“I found a ring of black thorns tucked beneath the front and back

entrances.” I recognize Lady’s smoky voice. “That weakened the

barrier. When I went to touch them, they turned to ash.”

“The maloscuros are not supposed to be able to enter this realm,”

the man says, “let alone the home of a bruja as protected as this.

We’ve never been attacked like this before.”

“ You were not attacked, Gustavo,” says my mom. “My daughters and

I were.”

“What happens to you,” he says, “also happens to the Circle. Now’s

not the time to be stubborn.”

My mom dismisses him with a curse. I think of her brandishing the

mace. She looked ferocious, terrifying. It’s a side I’ve never seen. I

wonder what else I don’t know about her.

“We need answers,” she says. “Someone had to send that beast. They

are not supposed to leave Los Lagos.”

“Not without a portal,” Lady says. “If other realms can sense

Alejandra’s potential, then I imagine this is only the beginning. An

encantrix that strong has the power to change the world. Whether for

better or worse is in the hands of the witch. It is the highest

blessing of the Deos and needs to be treated as such. I agree with

Gustavo. Alejandra’s Deathday must be sooner. Tomorrow.”

“What about after tomorrow?” a woman’s high-pitched voice asks.

“My daughter says Alejandra never attends your classes, Lady. Perhaps

it’s time you ushered her in the right direction, Carmen. After what

happened to Rosaria-”

“You don’t have to remind me what happened to my sister.”

“Peace, Carmen.” Valeria now. She’s a seer, like Rose. She brings

us ham croquettes and pan de dulce once a month. “We came here to

help.”

“Alejandra isn’t the problem. This attack didn’t start with her.

It started long before, with Rosaria. We never found the cause of her

death. Then Patricio’s disappearance… There’s something more to this.

Rose was possessed. Someone spoke through her. It said, ‘I found you.’

It’s coming for my family and I won’t let that happen. Not again.”

They fall silent. My mom never talks about my dad. After he left,

a year went by before she stopped reassuring us that he’d return. The

second year, she packed his things away. The third, she took his

photos down. The Circle’s silence tells me one thing: she hasn’t

stopped trying to find him.

“What happened to your family is beyond a tragedy,” Valeria says.

“But we can’t make assumptions when we know so little. I’m afraid-”

“Afraid of what?” my mother says impatiently.

“I can’t see Alejandra’s future.”

My mom gasps.

“I’m sure,” Lady says, “it’s all of the dark the maloscuro’s

brought in. Let’s leave Carmen to tend to her girls. We will get to

the root of this together. First, Alejandra must receive her

blessing.”

When they leave, muttering prayers for our safety, I stop hiding

and step into the kitchen. My mom sighs heavily and sinks in her

chair. Only taper candles are lit, elongating every shadow around us.

She stares at the faded, flower-print tablecloth in front of her, then

drinks tea that must be cold by now.

“You heard them,” she tells me.

My body gets a hot flash from being caught. “I guess being

supersneaky isn’t one of my great encantrix powers.”

I take the seat in front of her. She places a warm hand over mine

and squeezes. I’m afraid to look her in the eyes. I’m afraid because

everything I want is the opposite of what the Circle wants. I’m afraid

that if I tell her, she’ll love me less. She’ll look at me with the

same fear as my dad.

She pats my hand. “They’re a bunch of old farts, but they mean

well. I’m going to make some calls. The ceremony will be family only.

Less people coming in and out. Less chances of something getting in

again.”

“We don’t have to do this.”

“Of course we do! Your powers are going to get stronger. The

sooner you receive your blessing from the Old Ones, the easier it’ll

be to control your abilities. Don’t you see what you did today? You

saved your sisters. You saved me.”

“Lula still got hurt!”

“A scar is a lot better than being dead. She’ll learn that.”

“Mom, please,” I beg. “Please listen to me. I don’t want to spend

every day of my life looking over my shoulder. I don’t want this.”

She takes my face, kisses my forehead. She puts the dishes in the

sink and braces herself against the counter, staring at the boarded-up

windows.

“One day you’ll learn.”

She said the same thing to me nine years ago. I don’t want to

learn. I want to be free.

I wish all of my life could be as easy as calling on my dead

ancestors for protection from the monsters under my bed. While I’m