like death, and a helmet of bone and metal hides her face.
She takes small steps, practically walking on air, and stops where
Agosto is crouched. “You never learn, do you?”
Then she pulls out a spear and drives it through the center of his
hand.
25
Hide me in your sombra,
mother of the dark.
- Rezo de La Oscuridad, Lady of Shadow and Dark Deeds
Agosto’s screams fill the silence of the Meadow del Sol.
The Devourer walks past him, her movement like the rattle of a
snake, each footstep reverberating in the deepest parts of my heart.
She advances toward me like a turbulent storm.
“You’re the one causing all the trouble,” she says, stopping a
couple of yards from me. Her posture is calm, the same stoicism I
found in Madra but none of the patience. I can feel the magic that
fractures around her. I can feel that it’s stronger than me. “Speak,
child.”
This is why I’m here-to confront this creature and save my family.
But standing before her, I’ve lost my nerve. My mouth is dry and my
body is frozen. I can’t even reach for my magic.
The Devourer floats up from the ground and flies a lap around me.
The black tendrils of her hair lick at the air around me. She breathes
deep, a wolf memorizing her prey.
“I have something that belongs to you,” she whispers.
“They aren’t things ,” I snap.
“So you do have a tongue,” she laughs, standing closer to me
still. The sky is lightening into a brighter blue. The moon and sun
show themselves. “I’m going to enjoy ripping it out.”
What am I supposed to do with Nova and Rishi helpless on the
ground? I could run. I could leave them behind. Nova would do it if it
came down to us versus him. At least, that’s what I tell myself.
The Devourer looks at my friends and clucks her tongue as if we’re
a joke to her. “This is what you’ve brought to challenge me? You don’t
know the way of Los Lagos, Alejandra Mortiz. Power comes at a great
cost, yes. But what is the price of banishing it? Did you stop to
think that your power is connected to your blood-the living and the
dead that are tied to you? I thought I was getting your power, but
then, they tried to protect you. I can feel their essence in the Tree
of Souls. What can you give me in exchange for your family?”
My life.
I don’t say it aloud, but it’s all I have. She knows it. She mocks
me when she says, “Would you like to make a trade? You for them? Why
would I when their power is so delicious ? Why would I when I can have
all of you?”
Nova pushes himself to his knees. He looks up at the Devourer like
he’s in a dream. He starts to crawl to her. I grab him by his
shoulders and pull him back.
The Devourer laughs darkly, moving past him and over to where
Agosto is whimpering from the spear through his hand. The Devourer
pulls the spear free and Agosto’s scream is so loud, every bird hidden
in the circle of trees takes flight.
“Come on, encantrix,” the Devourer says. “Show me what you’ve
got.”
I reach for the mace handle in my backpack. It’s too cumbersome
and heavy to be comfortable, but it’s all I’ve got now that my powers
have recoiled from me.
The demon witch tilts her head to the side and says, “Curious.”
“Alex,” Rishi groans on the ground. “I feel sick. I can’t see.”
“Get down!” I shout at her.
I step forward and swing the mace. The Devourer is quick as a
shadow and moves back before I can complete my swing. She laughs and
hits me in the gut with the butt of her spear. I fall to my knees, the
wind knocked from my lungs until it burns.
“Pathetic,” she spits. “You are the encantrix descendant of the
Great Mama Juana Mortiz?”
Her movement is frantic. Her hands shake. There’s something wrong
with her. A tick to her face, like she’s talking to someone I can’t
see.
I take this moment of distraction and swing the mace at her
kneecaps. She falls forward, catches herself on her palms, growling.
She throws her spear on the ground. As she stands, she pulls on her
magic. She raises her hands to the sky, and the wind picks up and
howls around us.
“I was promised the power of a savior,” she says, “but all I got
is a girl.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper to my family. I backpedal, scramble on my
elbows to get away from her. “I’m sorry.”
But the blow never comes. Agosto stands behind the Devourer. He
pulls on his chains, slings them around the witch’s throat, and pulls
tightly. The clouds above us start to shrink as she scratches his arms
with her long, hooked nails.
The Devourer makes a terrible choking sound. The rest of the
meadow is completely still, the other adas hidden except for Rodriga.
She pulls her chains on top of Agosto’s. Together, they keep the demon
bruja restrained. I can see her eyes glow red with fury beneath the
bone mask.
“Go!” he shouts. “I can’t hold her for long.”
“Agosto-”
I drag Rishi to the edge of the meadow before my arm muscles burn
and I can’t go any farther. Nova staggers toward us, and I fear I
truly will have to leave them behind.
Fight , the voice in my head growls.
Lula’s done all my fighting for me. Ever since we were little, she
was the one to step forward and punch girls or boys who threatened me.
Rose fights the visions in her head every day. My mother-my mother is
the strongest woman I know, battling the sadness and grief that comes
with raising children alone. All I’ve ever done is run from things
that scare me.
A deep growl shudders through the trees. The Devourer has
recovered, and then there is a terrible crunching sound. Agosto’s and
Rodriga’s screams pierce me right down to my bones. I tell myself that
they were trying to keep us there for the Devourer. But I saw the
desperation in Agosto’s eyes. The chains that make him a slave to the
creature. They’re trying to help me.
There might be hope yet , Rodriga said.
I pull Rishi and Nova behind a tree. I cover them with giant
leaves and then run back into the meadow.
The Devourer flips Agosto and Rodriga over her shoulders. The adas
are tangled in their own chains. I raise the mace to strike, but when
I swing, it slips out of my grip. The Devourer’s blast slams into my
chest and I land on my shoulder.
“Your heart gives you away,” the Devourer tells me. She turns
around to face me. “It’s like a warning bell the way it beats so loud.
So scared. I’ll gladly rip it out for you. Save you the trouble it’ll
give you down the line.”
“Funny,” I say, pushing myself up. “I was going to say the same
thing about your mouth.”
I pull on the anger and fear I’ve felt all my life. I pull on the
hope that always feels like it’s slipping away. My magic surges
through me, fills me with a power stronger than ever before. I blast
the Devourer in her stomach. She deflects it with a wave of her hand,
but I catch the worry that sparks in her red eyes.
I find myself smiling because I put that worry there. I’m not
running.
Unlike so many times before, I call on my power willingly. It’s an
instinct I can no longer ignore. I’m a wild thing, shooting sparks
from my fingers. My throat burns from screaming as the Devourer slaps
me with the force of her power. It stings cold all over, and I fall
and freeze. I shudder as my magic warms me, my muscles seizing as they
thaw.
My vision is filled with red. The Devourer stands over me. Black