sound stops us all. There’s a scream coming from deep within the

caves, where they took the injured avianas.

“Hurry,” Lula says again, her voice fading. “You know what you

have to do . ”

“Lula?” Her name is an echo in the sparkling caves. I’m officially

going crazy.

Behind me, Nova and Rishi are in each other’s faces. Rishi’s face

is tilted up to him. She’s a rabid wolf. He’s a lion with an alpha

complex. And they’re both idiots.

“ Silentio. ” I whisper the curse. Silence. My heart races from

using that bit of magic. My lips are numb. I didn’t know I could do

that.

They move their mouths, but nothing comes out. Rishi touches her

throat and tries to scream, but only a whooshing gasp comes out. Nova

punches the wall.

“Madra!” I shout. I call out her name until she flies up to our

nest.

“What?” she asks impatiently.

“How are your girls?”

She flaps her bronze wings. Despite her stoic face, I can tell

she’s worried. If it were my mom, she wouldn’t be able to sleep.

“What did you do to your companions?”

“I’m not sure,” I say honestly. “I just couldn’t think with their

fighting. That’s not why I called you. I want to strike a bargain.”

“I don’t have time for bargains,” she says, turning to fly away.

“What if I can heal them?”

• • •

Madra takes me to the injured avianas. Three of the bird women are

laid out on rock slabs. They shiver from head to talons, clutching

flimsy blankets. One has blue lips. Her head is turned to the side,

and her eyes are shut. Sweat and tears roll down her face.

“You have the healing gift?” Madra asks. She stands in the center

of the room.

“I’m an encantrix,” I tell her.

She raises a single feathered eyebrow. Her dark eyes appraise me,

like she’s seeing me in a new light.

“Finally, some truth to you.”

“I did tell you the truth. I’m here to rescue my family from the

Devourer. I’m an encantrix. I will heal them, but you have to do

something for me.”

Magical trade is all about technicalities , I recall Nova’s words.

“I assume you want your freedom?”

“I am not your prisoner, and neither is Rishi. We did nothing

wrong. Nova was the thief, and you took back the gems. I’ll trade

Jesla’s life for Nova’s.”

Madra doesn’t blink. “Why would you trade for such a man?”

“That is my business.”

“Very well. And the other two?”

“You will tell us the safest path to the labyrinth.” I’m starting

to sweat under her steady gaze.

“That I cannot promise. These lands change as power changes. Lands

that were safe could be under the Devourer’s control. There is much we

cannot see from within the caves.”

“Then you’ll look at our map and update it. Even you must know the

terrain from your hunts.”

“Hadrigal’s life for the map,” Madra says. “What will you ask for

the third?”

“Nothing,” I say. “I will heal her because it’s the right thing to

do.”

Madra bows her head to me and walks out. “If you should need me,

just call.”

I’ve seen my mother and Lula heal a thousand times. I take Jesla’s

hand in mine. Her wings are a deep blue, like the sky before night

falls. She’s mostly in her bird form, though her eyes are still very

human. A sickly green film clings to their lashes, and her breath is

ragged wheezing when I press my hand to her chest. Her pulse is weak.

“What did you get yourself into?” I ask myself. I wish Lula were

here. She’d know what to do in a second. She never hesitates when I’m

hurt.

My mom likes to say that belief has to be unyielding. Part of what

makes magic so powerful is that the bruja believes in her canto. She

believes in what she’s trying to do.

“You’re really deep in it now,” Lula says.

I jolt back as my sister appears beside me. I reach for her, but

she’s not like Aunt Rosaria’s haunting spirit or the damned of the

Luxaria. She’s a flicker, like a screen projection.

“You’re really here.”

“Don’t touch my apparition,” she snaps, sassing me with a roll of

her eyes. The rude gesture fills me with so much feeling that I want

nothing more than to hug her.

“Are you…” I can’t bring myself to finish the sentence.

“Alive? Yes, no thanks to you.” She looks behind her like she’s

afraid to get caught. It’s just the three avianas and us. “At least

you figured out a way to come after us. You don’t hate your family

that much after all.”

“I don’t hate you.” The shame I’ve felt since I performed the

canto returns. How can I face them all again?

“You don’t love us.” Lula points her finger at my chest. The anger

that marks my beautiful sister’s face breaks my heart over and over.

“How could you after what you did?”

“I’m trying to get you back. I’m so sorry.”

Lula turns her attention to the right, looks at someone I cannot

see. She sucks her teeth. “Fine, I’ll leave her alone.”

“Who are you talking to?”

“Ma, that’s who. Typical, you send your whole family, living and

dead, to a next-level realm, and she still forgives you.”

“She does?”

“I won’t,” she says. “I’m never going to. Especially if you don’t

hurry up and fix this mess.”

“If you haven’t noticed, I’m a little busy trying to figure out

how to heal.”

“I’m the one who put the idea in that thick head of yours.” Her

face brightens with a mischievous smile-typical Lula, so clever.

“You’re a difficult one to reach. Rose’s been trying her best to help

us connect with you, but it’s like you don’t want to be found. You’re

impossible.”

“I get it. I’m scum.”

“Lower than scum.”

“Lula, please. I told Madra I could do this, but I don’t know

how.”

Lula sighs, resigning herself to being my spiritual guide. Even

she places her hand on my face. Her hand is warm and goes right

through me.

“When you use your power, what’s the first thing that comes to

mind?”

I think about the first time my powers manifested. I was afraid

when Miluna attacked me. I was angry when I conjured the snake. Then

there’s fear. Fear that made me fight back against the maloscuros,

that made me fly across the River Luxaria.

“Fear,” I tell her. “Anger.”

“That’s usually the key to physical powers.” She walks around the

room, holding her hands over Jesla’s shivering body. “Healing is

different.”

I wipe the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand. “I’m

having a bit of a hard time finding my Zen, if that’s where you’re

going.”

“Healing isn’t just about being calm.” She’s made a full lap

around the room and returns to me, hovering her palm over my chest. It

makes the pain from my scars subside. “What did you feel every time

I’ve mended your bones or cuts?”

“Warmth.”

“That’s love, Alex. That’s the love I have for you. Replace the

anger and fear and just think about the person you’re trying to heal.

You’re an encantrix . You can channel all the gifts from the Deos.

They’re right at your fingertips. You have to stop being afraid of

yourself.”

“What if I can’t do that? What if I just keep being afraid?”

“I’m scared too. You don’t know what it’s like here. We’re

trapped, and there’s nowhere to go. It takes so much energy to project

myself to you, but you need to know we’re counting on you. We know

you’re going to do everything you can to come get us. You don’t know

how strong you are.”

I press my hand on Jesla’s chest. Her pulse is a whisper. I can

fill myself with love, right? People do it all the time. Mom and Lula