Labyrinth Lost (Brooklyn Brujas #1)(36)

“Don’t be stupid. I’m not going anywhere without you.”

Wings flap and birds caw and the sky churns. The rock wall begins to tremble.

Nova looks at me, and I reach for him. I can try to channel my magic into him. We are better together, stronger. But he does it without me. His light is a brilliant thing that erupts around us. It’s like a flare, and it dies just as quickly.

Then, a new kind of pain rips through me. Sharp talons dig into my shoulders. I’m pulled into the air in a hard jerk. I can hear the rattling sound of stones tumbling against each other, and I realize, the wall is opening up.

I scream for Nova. Veins of light swirl around his forearms, leaving behind black burned marks. They’re not tattoos but marks from his magic…

Nova falls face forward on the sand. The birds around us take flight, squawking and zooming around in a wide, protective circle. Maybe the pain is making me delirious or maybe I’m just not built for this land, but it looks like one of them shifts in midair. Her wings elongate to a massive wingspan, and hands with claws form at the tips. A long neck gives form to a human head with a black beak and black eyes. It isn’t until she’s looking at me that I realize I’m six feet in the air.

The bird woman flies to Nova and grabs him by his shoulders. She opens her beak and a terrible cry sends a ripple across the river. It’s so powerful that the beasts tumble against each other. It takes them seconds to get back up. They get low to the ground, ready to pounce. The biggest one opens its mouths to reveal a long, red tongue.

More and more of the fowls shift into half-bird, half-women form. They fight and slash their talons at the saber-toothed demons.

Somewhere in the back of my head, I know these bird women are avianas. Lula used to tell me if I didn’t give her my dessert, she’d feed me to them. As they drag us into the open mouth of a cave—the Caves of Night—I can’t help but think that, unwittingly, my sister kept her promise.





17


When mortals defy the Deos,

heads roll from sunset to dawn.

—from the journal of Fernandio Neruda

The aviana’s claws dig deep into my shoulders. My screams echo in the sparkling caves. The caves! Nova wasn’t wrong. There was an opening. It was just hidden. The walls tremble as the entrance shuts, leaving us to fly in the dark. There is only the flap of wings, the rush of water, and the scent of burning cedar.

When I stop struggling against the creature and let myself be carried, it’s just like what I imagine the free fall of a skydive to feel like. My eyes adjust to the hazy, yellow glow coming up ahead. The insides of the caves are dazzling, like someone chipped away pieces of rock to reveal the glittering bits of gold and crystals that pulse with light.

The ground gets closer and closer, and we aren’t slowing down. The aviana releases me, and I fall to the ground with a hard thud.

“Alex!” Nova shouts.

I open my eyes despite the pain in my skull to see his hands reaching for me. The bird woman carrying him swoops down past me. I hold my hand out, but everything aches. I manage to graze his fingers, and then he’s gone, into another dark hall.

“Where are you taking him?” My voice is as weak as the pulse of my magic.

I can’t sit up, so I fall right back on the ground. A loose stone digs into my side. From down here, I can see the layout of the cave. The ceiling goes up so high there’s no telling where it ends. The avianas flock to large cavities in the stone walls, and I realize those are their nests.

A few feet away from me is an enormous statue. I recognize the likeness from Rose’s tarot deck—El Cielo, god of the sky. He’s always depicted with great wings and a crown of feathers around his smooth, bald head. Here, he stands with arms stretched out toward the sky and his wings stretched down to his taloned feet.

The large bird that carried me lands at my feet, blocking my view of the statue. Her large talons change into feet with feathers growing at the ankles. I catch a glimpse of strong, muscular legs before the pain in my head forces me to shut my eyes again.

“We do not allow men in the caves,” she says.

I finally succeed on my third attempt at sitting up. Four other avianas flank the one who carried me. In their half-human, half-bird forms, they look even more battered and beaten than before the attack. One of them looks feverish and weak but tries to remain upright.

“What were those creatures?” I ask, rubbing my shoulder.

The bird woman studies me with her unnerving gaze. “Saberskins. They hunt along the wall. Not that there is much to hunt anymore. What is your business here, bruja?”

Her face is more human now, though her striking features retain the likeness of a bird of prey. She’s terrible and wonderful to look at, with soft, bronze wings that grow from the bottom of her arms and reach down to the ground. I wonder if they ever get tired from such a weight. Instead of hands, she’s got long, red talons. When she sets her hands at her sides and paces on the natural dais around me, I notice her hourglass figure, naked except where feathers form natural sort of clothes. Her movements remind me of a hawk watching its prey with luminous, dark eyes. Unlike the others, she’s strong, and I can tell without a doubt that she’s their leader.

“My friend and I,” I say, “we’re trying to get across the caves.”

“Is that all you seek?” She’s almost completely human now, with the exception of her bronze wings.