form a tornado at the center of the labyrinth.
“You must go, encantrix,” Agosto says.
“I’m making sure everyone gets back.”
There’s so much to say. It’s too much to convey with a simple
embrace. Madra gives me one of her feathers; Agosto, one of the
throwing knives from his belt.
Aunt Ro pulls me back to the tree. “Go, Alejandra.”
She’s different too. The symbols of the sun and crescent moon are
marked on her forehead. She glows with a light that comes from deep
within.
“What happened to you?” I ask.
“The Deos have a plan. They always have a plan!”
When my mom sees my aunt, she nearly faints. “Rosaria?”
Aunt Ro’s dark skin glows with a different kind of blessing. A
balance. The Devourer is gone and someone needs to take her place.
This is why the Deos gave her a second chance. The sisters embrace. My
mother shudders in her little sister’s arms. Aunt Ro kisses my
mother’s wet cheeks, then forces herself to let go.
“Okay, head count,” Lula says.
One by one, they jump in-Lady, Rose, my mom, and so on.
I watch the labyrinth crumble as the fire dies and leaves the
skeleton of branches. Funnels of clouds swirl across the hills and
carry the ashes away. The Meadowkin and the avianas wave from a
distance. Rishi takes my hand and squeezes.
“Ready?” I ask.
“Don’t stand me up again.” She kisses me and jumps into the
portal.
Then there’s Nova, standing alone.
“I’m staying,” he shouts.
My heart, the treacherous, bloody mess, betrays me. It squeezes
with unexpected hurt.
“If you stay,” Madra says, cold as ice, “I’ll make sure you pay
for your betrayal. The Devourer may be gone, but this still isn’t
paradise.”
Nova nods an understanding.
I look at Madra and Agosto once more. I commit them to memory. I
never want to forget this moment.
The force of the gateway pulls at me, but so does a part of me I
didn’t know was there. A part that wants to stay. How easy would it be
to stay? What version of myself is going to come out of the other side
of that portal?
Aunt Ro takes my hand. She kisses the inside of my palm where my
cut stings. “Don’t shut me out again, nena. I’ll be watching over you
always.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
The first time we went through a portal, Nova pushed me. I see the
hesitation in his eyes and the fear of not belonging. Before I can
change my mind, I wrap my arms around him and pull us into the portal.
40
La Mama gave her heart to El Papa.
They lived in the Kingdom of Deos for all their days,
chasing each other across the skies.
- History of the Deos, Book of Cantos
Falling a second time isn’t the same as the first.
This time, I wade through time and space. My magic is linked to
everything-the infinity of time, the rapid snuff of death, the
sprinkle of stardust, and the released sigh of freedom.
I don’t remember landing in the backyard. Only blurry red and blue
lights. Sirens replace the rush of the wind. Strong hands pick me up
from the grass. A stranger’s face belongs to someone who puts me in an
ambulance that takes me away.
I sleep for days.
We all do.
There is no official story except that a family on our quiet
Brooklyn street was attacked. The house robbed, even though I know
nothing was taken. There is no explanation for the singed earth in the
backyard or the tree cut down and burned to a stump. While I know it
was the portal sealing itself for good, the police decide it was
lightning. It felt like we were gone for weeks, but when we returned,
only moments had passed.
For days, I dream of Los Lagos. I see Aunt Rosaria and Madra and
Agosto burying the dead. I see Aunt Ro conjure rain to hydrate the
parched earth of Bone Valle. It’ll be a slow change, but they’ve got
nothing but time. There’s the start of new trees and fields of green
and purple and gold. The Tree of Souls, now free, replenishes the
land. It grows taller than before, and there’s a white scar where my
knife ripped into the bark. Leaves replace the cocoons of stolen
energy. The Wastelands show signs of growth, new buds that bloom like
starflowers. Tall creatures with long, silver hair plow the earth and
breathe light into the forests.
Madra lets the avianas roam free. Their feathers grow full and
silky and bright. Inside of the Caves of Night is a small nest and on
the wall hangs a set of black wings. And at night, under the cloak of
stars, they tell the fledglings stories of the Thief, the Magpie, and
the Bruja that destroyed the Devourer.
• • •
When we all finally wake up, my mom takes us home.
There are no police follow-ups. No suspects, no leads. I think the
police have had their fill of my family for long enough. They wash
their hands of us, and I think they’re relieved that we want to be
left alone.
At home, my mom kisses my forehead as we watch the news. They
stopped reporting on our freaky “attack” after we refused to comment.
Still, we watch for signs of other strange things. Mom wants to make
sure nothing else came through the portal with us.
There is no sign of Nova. He wasn’t at the hospital, and I don’t
know what happened to him after we fell.
“Don’t worry, nena,” my mom says. I look at her face. The
smattering of gray hair that she’s named after each of us, the
crow’s-feet at the corner of her eyes. Other brujas get glamours to
hide them, but my mom never does. “These things work out on their own
way.”
Rishi takes longer to recover, so my mom and I visit her in the
hospital.
I bring her a sprig of lavender. I look over my shoulder and pull
the drapes. My mother decides to distract Rishi’s parents while I
visit. I fish out a crystal from my pocket, break the spring of
lavender, and place them on her chest.
I lean in closer to her, whispering the prayer of the Deos. I hold
her hands and find the root of her malady. I press healing waves into
her skin, let them travel through her system until my mother knocks on
the door. I’m dizzy, but I don’t want to leave.
“You ready, honey?” my mom asks, standing with her hands on my
shoulders. Ever since we got back, she’s had separation anxiety.
Whether it’s dropping us off at school or even going to get groceries.
I fear she’s a step away from regressing to baby leashes.
“Not really.”
“Do you love her?” my mom asks.
“I think so. I mean, I’ve never felt this way before, so I’m not
sure what it’s supposed to feel like to begin with. Rishi was the one
who always believed in me, even when I was powerless. I’m just afraid
of what it means. Look at you and Dad.”
My mom holds my chin gently in her hand. “I’m going to tell you
something, nena. Even after everything you told me, even if I knew one
day I’d wake up and never see him again, I would still love that man.”
I look at Rishi. Her breath is steady and her machine lights up
with all sorts of colors. Somehow she’s the brightest part of my day.
My little magpie.
“Then, yeah,” I say. “I do. I love her.”
“You know,” Rishi says, sitting up to stretch. “If you’d have said
you loved me like ten minutes ago, I would’ve probably woken up
sooner.”
My mom bursts out laughing. I feel myself turning red, but still I
go to her. I pull her into a hug and hold on tight.
“We’re back,” I say.
She brushes my hair. “I see that. Now there’s no getting rid of