Bruja Born (Brooklyn Brujas #2)(59)

“But why are they after you?” Frederik asks me, and I wonder if he can hear the way my heart speeds up.

Alex, who’s been shifting her weight nonstop beside me, leans into Nova and mutters something in his ear. Whatever she said has the brujo smirking and nodding.

“I speak twenty-seven languages, Miss Mortiz,” Frederik tells my sister. “And I can hear anything within a ten-block radius.”

“Plus, whispering’s just rude.” McKay winks at her.

Alex stammers. “I’m sorry. I just want to be sure we can trust you.”

“You’re in my house,” Frederick says, and even though his face is calculated steel, his tongue is sharp. “The Thorne Hill Alliance is willing to help everyone from the magical community who comes to our doors. And we owe your mother a debt. But I need the truth.”

There is so much I want to communicate to Alex. Nova turned on her once, and even though I want to believe he’s trying to do better, there’s a part of me that doesn’t trust his intentions. But we need their resources.

In one breath, I tell him everything. The healing canto, the tethering spell, Lady de la Muerte, the other casimuertos in the alley, the heart in the box, our visit to Angela Santiago. When I get to The Accursed Book, Alex’s stare never wavers from my face. But I keep my promise and only tell them about the other recorded accounts. At the end of it, I’m breathless and the aches in my side and my chest pulse with pain. I grab hold of one of the tables for support.

Frederik’s face is unmoved. It’s like looking at a marble sculpture. Then, he looks at Maks, who visibly shrinks back from the dark stare.

“You’re one of them?”

I shield Maks by stepping in front of him. “He doesn’t remember. He hasn’t fed since the Knights left the heart on my doorstep.”

Frederik looks at McKay, a ripple disturbs his chiseled jaw, and a hot flash covers my body from head to toe out of fear I have said the wrong thing. “The Knights gave you a heart?”

“It had to be. In the alley, one of them told me that he gave me twenty-four hours,” I explain. “That’s what it said on the note in the box.”

“What I don’t get is how that hunter knew Maks was in our house,” Alex says. “Why help Maks and not the others?”

“Do the Knights go rogue?” Rose asks. “You seem surprised.”

“The Knights of Lavant are assisting in cleaning up the dead bodies,” McKay says, as if they’re picking up a wreck after a frat party instead of cleaving bodies in half. “They never said they knew the source of all this or that they’d made contact with you.”

“Why would they keep that from you?” I ask.

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll get answers,” Frederik tells me. He keys something on the hologram and a map of the city covers the entire far wall. “As for the other issue at hand, we’ve been trying to pinpoint the source of these zombie—casimuertos by following the murders in the city. The blue dots are bodies with missing hearts. The red dots are what we believe to be the culprits.”

There’s a smattering of glowing black dots on the screen. I ask, “What about the black ones?”

“Just run-of-the-mill murders,” McKay says, winking his big, brown eye.

I have the strangest feeling of déjà vu, but I focus on the images on the projected map. “The boys and the family behind my school were the only ones on the news.”

“Plus the other fifty-seven that have gone unreported.”

“Fifty-seven?” My voice is so high-pitched dogs can probably hear me.

McKay looks down at his feet, his smile gone for the first time since we arrived. “We protect the people of this city. This news could spread untold panic. But every time one of our witches tried to pinpoint the origin, this happened.”

McKay zooms in on the map to highlight downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn. Bright-red dots glow where we are in Coney Island, flickering like fireflies. Dozens of them—in Prospect Park, around Thorne Hill, and a horde clustered on the Brooklyn Bridge, moving toward Manhattan. Thin, red lines connect them all, zigzagging in a tangle all over the city.

“Oh, dear gods,” I manage to say.

“That’s not all,” McKay says, pressing another button. “At the rate they’re multiplying, this is what the city will look like.”

The red fireflies spread over entire parts of the city. My heart beats so fast I can’t breathe. I dig in my pocket for the elixir and pop off the cork with my thumb. I drain every last drop, until I can stand on my own and my body doesn’t hurt anymore.

“Last summer a sea witch tried to decimate this coast,” McKay says, “and now this. It’s like the magic of the world is pushing back against everything that’s kept it hidden for so long.”

“Even with the Knights of Lavant,” Frederick says, “we don’t know how to contain this. I’ve been developing a serum to sedate them. They’re stronger when they feed, but we haven’t been able to catch one to run any tests. Now they seem to be gathering in packs.”

I don’t know how to contain this, but I know one way of ending it for good. I try to keep my voice from trembling. Panic twists in my gut, like a hand wringing around my insides. “How long until the city is overrun?”