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.

I remember the story Nova told Oros. Lie , I can hear Nova saying.

Then why are my words failing me?

“We wish to get across the Caves of Night.”

“Why?” She leans closer to my face. This close, I can see myself

in the dark pools of her eyes.

“To-to get to the Poison Garden,” I say. “We do not wish to harm

you.”

“Harm us?” The aviana’s wings expand. “We are avianas, Daughters

of El Cielo and Guardians of His Treasures. You cannot harm us. Nor

are you the first mortal to come into these lands to attempt to reap

its wealth and die on its paths.”

When I look at the other avianas, I don’t see guardians. I see

hunger and weakness. If it weren’t for their leader, we wouldn’t have

survived the saberskin attack.

“Please,” I say. “My name is Al-Alejandra Mortiz.”

“I know who you are,” she says. “And I know your tale is a lie. I

can smell it on you the way I smell your fear and hear the rattle of

the dead that trails at your feet. Now, tell me, Alejandra Mortiz. Why

are you her e ? ”

Footsteps echo through the cave, but the aviana still waits for my

answer. The guards behind us flaps their wings as a girl pushes past

them and onto the dais.

I feel cold from head to feet. It can’t be her.

“Madra,” she says, putting a hand on the aviana’s shoulder.

Madra, the leader of the avianas, turns around and opens her arms

to let her wings open to their full span.

“I told you to stay in your nest,” Madra hisses.

It can’t be her. It’s a spell. A mirage. She twists hers hands,

freshly painted in henna, and smiles nervously. I want to run to her,

but find I can’t move. She gets past Madra’s wings and throws her arms

around me. The air escapes my lungs, and as my thoughts spin, I find

it hard to breathe.

Rishi.

And she’s got wings .

18

On the wings of hope I fly!

- Rezo de El Cielo, Deo of all the Skies

“It’s really you!” I hold Rishi so tight, she grunts and asks for

air. I have so many questions I don’t even know how to start. I step

back and hold her face gently. Her nose isn’t swollen anymore, and the

bruise around her eye is covered by makeup. “I can’t believe it.”

“Rishi,” Madra says, more like a scolding mother. “You were to

wait until I questioned the intruders.”

Rishi lets go of me and turns to the aviana. Rishi’s in a long,

lace black dress, tattered all along the bottom, and her purple boots.

Then there’s the small matter of her wings. I reach out and touch

them. They’re long and black and soft. And totally fake. I can see

where the elastic loops are for the arms, but her long, black hair

covers that.

“I told you, Madra. She’s not an intruder. She’s the one I was

telling you about. The girl I was looking for.” Rishi talks to the

bird as if they’re longtime friends.

Then again, Rishi does have a way of taking strangers and making

them feel like they’ve known each other for years. She did the same

thing to me on the first day of freshman year when she found me crying

in the girls’ bathroom. I’d gotten myself lost and then found the

nearest hiding place. She walked me to class and then showed up

afterward to help me find the next one. Now she’s here, and even

though I know it isn’t safe for her, a part of me thanks the Deos she

is.

“What about the man?” Madra asks.

Rishi shrugs. “I don’t know. Maybe if we back off a little, Alex

can fill us in on the rest.”

“Us?” I ask. “Rishi, how did you get here?”

She hooks her arm around my shoulder. “Same way you did.”

The ruffle of feathers interrupts her, followed by the heavy thud

of an aviana falling forward. She tries to push herself up but her