Labyrinth Lost (Brooklyn Brujas #1)(53)

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.