Labyrinth Lost (Brooklyn Brujas #1)(16)

I cry out as my control on the shield weakens. The creature needs only a little bit of weakness to get in. A burning pain slashes across my chest and then instantly goes cold. The maloscuro freezes in place. Its wicked, wide mouth is open, like a bear trap ready to snap around my head. The rotting smell makes me gag.

“You froze it!” my mom marvels.

“I can’t hold it!” Sweat drips down my face. Blood drips from the bleeding cuts on my chest.

“Get back,” my mother says. She raises the mace over her head and screams to the Deos. She swings down hard. The spikes crunch against the maloscuro’s skull. A wet splatter hits my face. She hits it again and again. When she brings down the mace for a final blow, our whole house trembles.





8


Shell of sea and cinder flame,

show us the enemy to blame.

Dirt of earth and wing of skies,

stop his heart and blind his eyes.

—Protection Canto, Book of Cantos

When I wake up, I’m on the living room floor. Rose is laid out beside me, a pillow tucked under her head. Lula’s on the couch next to me.

“You both passed out,” Lula says. Her knees are drawn up to her chest. Her eyes are red and puffy. I don’t think I’ve seen Lula cry this hard since Tristan Hart, the swim team captain, broke up with her 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.”