gone to heaven. Not that Hindus believe in that heaven, but you know
what I mean.”
“Monsters are the origin for a lot of human myths,” Nova tells
her. “Like angels.”
“Madra isn’t a monster!” Rishi says. “Madra is doing the same
thing as Alex. She’s trying to keep her people alive. The Devourer is
a monster.”
I remember the night of my Deathday. The portal opened up, and she
was on the other side, waiting, her face hidden by the horned skull of
a hideous beast. I’ve found you , she told me.
“I wonder what the Devourer looks like beneath that bone helmet,”
I say. “The Book doesn’t have a sketch.”
“The avianas described her as a ‘terror in the night,’” Rishi
says. “I’m not sure I want to find out what that looks like.”
“In a place of magic like this,” Nova says, “power doesn’t always
have a single shape. It just is . Maybe the Devourer is a beautiful
woman one moment and a winged demon the next.”
“I suppose it shouldn’t matter what she is,” I say, “as long as I
can defeat her.”
Rishi makes a pondering sound. “What if she has a million eyes or
poisonous fangs or, I don’t know, a flaming sword. What if she’s
human?”
Nova looks at Rishi curiously. “Is something easier to destroy if
it doesn’t look human? Like, you’d kill a spider because it scares
you, but you wouldn’t kill a person if it destroyed someone you
loved?”
“That’s different!” Rishi shouts. The flower in her hair is
drooping.
“Not all monsters look monstrous.” There’s so much sadness in his
voice that I want to ask how he knows that. “Sometimes they’re
perfectly normal humans. Sometimes they’re so beautiful, you would
never suspect.”
He holds up a branch so Rishi and I can pass without it hitting
our heads.
“We have to be prepared for any form it takes shape.”
“I’m prepared,” I say, sounding bolder than I feel. “The Devourer
consumes power. What if there’s no tree to take power from?”
“Destroy the Tree of Souls?” Nova stops walking for a minute.
“You’d destroy an entire realm to save your family?”
“That’s not what I said.” I keep walking without looking at him.
Suddenly, I’m annoyed at Nova. My eye keeps twitching, I’m sweating,
and I’m hungry. “Whose side are you on?”
“I don’t exactly like Sir Lights-a-Lot,” Rishi says, “but he’s got
a point. Without the Devourer, the tree can give life back to Los
Lagos. You could save more than your family. You could save the whole
world! Or rather, this world.”
They don’t understand , a tiny voice says. I listen to the wind
rustling through the perfectly green trees and perfectly blooming
flowers. Not one of them understands this power.
I walk faster, leaving them behind.
“Alex, get back here,” Nova shouts.
“Just give her space,” Rishi tells him. Their voices are amplified
in my head, like I’m hearing them over a stereo.
“We really shouldn’t separate.”
“You don’t know anything about girls, do you?”
“I know enough.”
Rishi scoffs. “She’s overwhelmed by how enormous this task is and
scared because everything is trying to kill us, and hello, you don’t
exactly have the best bedside manner. I know Alex better than you.
Back off.”
“You know her better? Clearly not well enough that she trusted you
with her secret.”
I can’t take it anymore. I pick up my pace, sweat dripping down my
chest and spine. I wish I could outrun their voices, my memories, my
sins. When my legs burn and Nova and Rishi are shouting for me to wait
for them, I stop. I grab my knees and catch my breath.
“There’s my Olympic runner,” Rishi says, patting me on the back.
“I don’t know about you guys, but all this talk about destruction has
me hungry. I had a dream the other night that I was eating a tray of
empanadas by myself.”
“You’d have to get in line,” Nova says.
My mouth waters at the thought of the food we had at my party-the
trays of lasagna, hayacas, towers and towers of pastelitos and ham and
cheese croquettes, fried sweet plantain with melted cheese, crackling
pork belly over salty beans and yellow rice.
“We’re here,” Nova says.
Up ahead, the trail gives way to the Meadow del Sol. The trees
form a perfect ring around the clearing. The sun and moon shine an
ethereal light, so everything looks overexposed. There’s a long,
wooden table at the center of the meadow.
“You know what I find weird?” Rishi asks.
“You, the girl with fake wings and purple combat boots, think
something is weird?” Nova asks.
Rishi turns her long nose up at him and continues her thought.
“Madra kept talking about the other tribes, but we’ve been walking for
hours.”
I look at my watch. “Two and a half to be exact.”
“But we haven’t seen anyone. It’s not like when you walk around
Brooklyn and you see people coming and going.”
“You’re forgetting one thing,” Nova says. “Some creatures prefer
to see, not be seen.”
“Oh great, I love getting creeped on by supernatural creatures,”
Rishi says.
“Maybe your voice scared them away,” Nova tells her.
“If anything’s scary around here it’s your face.” Rishi skips
around Nova, ripping flowers from the ground and throwing them at him.
He grumbles and slaps them away.
I shield the light from my eyes with my hand. Something shiny
glints on the wooden table in the meadow. The sweet smell of freshly
baked bread envelops me, and my belly growls so loudly, I’m sure a
galaxy far, far away can hear. “What’s that?”
As we get closer, I see the table is carved out of a fallen tree
that’s been cut in half. Toadstools and long grass rise up from the
ground to create natural chairs. I can smell bread, but I don’t see
it.
Rishi squeals and claps her hands together. “It’s a tea party.”
“I don’t see any tea,” Nova says.
I turn my face up to the sun and moon and welcome the sweet
breeze. My nose tickles with my magic. There’s a strong power all over
this meadow.
Nova pokes the toadstool with his foot, and when he determines
it’ll hold his weight, he sits on it. “This reminds me of the stories
of the Kingdom of Adas.”
“What are adas?” Rishi asks. Ah-dahs .
“They’re fairies,” Nova says. “But they live in a different realm.
They’re pretty as hell, but I wouldn’t want to meet one. They have
giant banquets and party all night. I got invited to one in Central
Park, but it’s just not the same.”
“How come we don’t go to magical parties in Central Park?” Rishi
asks me.
“Because if you eat fairy food, you’re stuck there,” I say. “Also,
because no .”
“What, in Central Park?” Nova scoffs. “You only get stuck if
you’re in the Kingdom of Adas. Only an ada can take you there.”
“Shut up,” I grumble, but then so does my stomach. “I’m so
hungry.”
“Well, if you hadn’t given all our supply to the avianas, we’d be
feasting on beef jerky and stale bread right now, wouldn’t we?”
Rishi mimics him as he speaks.
Then, their faces draw a blank. They jolt from their seats, slowly
retreating from the table.
“Alex,” Nova says, locking his eyes-blue and green and slightly
terrified-with mine.
I see them too late, but maybe they were always there. What was it
that Madra said? Look twice.