in her side, but it isn’t fatal. Her hand has been torn off. I shut my

eyes. So much blood , I think. There’s always so much blood.

Blood is life , Nova said.

I let out a shaky breath and heal her. For a long time, the

salamander girl stares at the stump where her hand should be.

“You came back,” she says. “Even after everything.”

“Yeah, even after you threw that wine at me. It’s a good thing I’m

already filthy.”

Rodriga laughs, then winces in pain.

There’s a noise off to the edge of the meadow.

“It’s just us,” Nova says, walking in with Rishi.

“Thanks for joining us,” I say.

“I feel like I’ve been hit with a sledgehammer,” Nova says. Then,

when he sees Rodriga’s wound, his face blanks.

“How does your foot taste?” Rishi asks him, heading straight to

the center of the meadow where I’m surrounded by the adas.

When I turn around, there are more of them, all chained to the

trees that create the meadow ring.

Nova walks silently behind Rishi. “What happened?”

“While you were sleeping off your drunk?” I stand, and suddenly

all the adas stand too. I take a step closer toward Nova, and they

follow.

“That’s normal,” Rishi says.

“Not fair, Alex,” Nova says. “I didn’t know what their food would

do to us. We’re in Los Lagos, not their fairy realm.”

I don’t know why I’m picking a fight with him, especially now.

“It doesn’t matter,” I say. I turn to Agosto. “What do you know

about the Devourer? You called her by her human name.”

“There is much to tell, encantrix. Perhaps we should wait until

you are…better?”

I don’t know what he’s talking about until the recoil slams into

me. My knees buckle, and I swear my head is splitting open. Rishi

lunges for me, and I lean all of my weight on her.

“No.” I shake my head. “Now.”

“Very well.” Agosto raises his hands and the ground trembles.

Grass and flowers grow thick and twist into a tall chair. Agosto

motions for me to sit.

“Do you know why the creature feeds?”

“Because it’s hungry?” Nova says darkly.

Agosto looks him up and down. His lip curls, but he composes

himself. “Because the need for power is endless. You feel it too. Your

power is free in the meadow.”

“Does the meadow do something to us? Does it make our power grow?”

I wrap my hands around the roots of my chair. My magic connects with

the essence in these living things, and it calms my nerves.

Agosto shakes his head. “No, but the meadow allows you to put away

other worries long enough to let your magic come forward. Look at how

you bested Xara.”

“Who’s Xara?” Rishi asks.

“The Devourer’s real name,” I say.

“Long ago, that was her human name,” Agosto says. “She was just a

bruja then, banished here by the Deos for a crime we’ll never know.

She simply appeared. Some, bewitched by her beauty, pledged allegiance

to her. I admit, I was one of them. Others staked their claim on their

own lands and shunned her. The Bone Valle used to be the Valle Azul, a

sect of brujas and brujos that dedicated their lives to the ancient

ways lived there and in the mountains. They saw the Devourer as an

intruder. The more land she possessed, the more the tribes defied her.

The witches were the ones who planned to kill her. One of their seers

saw the threat. But they did not act in time. Overnight, the sky was

red and the earth was scorched. The Valle Azul became a desert, their

bodies left in heaps.

“She claimed the heart of the land as her fortress and raised the

labyrinth around the Tree of Souls. You see, the tree feeds the land.

Without the life of the tree, the land cannot be replenished.”

“What happened to you guys?”

“I disobeyed her.” There’s a quiet shudder that passes through the

adas. “We were one of the first to welcome her, but the more land she

burned and sucked the life out of, the more I feared. We allied with

the avianas and remaining tribes. We lost. The birds stay in their

caves. The starlarks hide beneath the earth. As for us, she wouldn’t

let us get away. There are entire generations who will never know what

it’s like to roam Los Lagos freely. They’ll never know what it’s like

to sleep under the shade of the Forest of Lights or run through the

Valle Azul. Yes, Xara spared us. But our lives are a punishment every

day and every night.”

“Why didn’t you let her take me?” I ask. “Your job was to hold me

here until she arrived, wasn’t it?”

Agosto looks down. He tilts back and forth, like he’s adjusting to

the absence of one horn.

“Because you remind me of someone,” he says.

“Who?” I press.

“An Alta Bruja of old. Her name was Kristiсe. She wanted to return

Los Lagos to the way it was before Xara started feeding off the Tree

of Souls.”

“Hold on,” Rishi says. “Why don’t your Deos stop her? If they

created this land, can’t they just undo what she’s done?”

There’s a snicker. “Do your gods grant easy wishes?” Rodriga asks.

“The last time I checked, they were busy.” Rishi’s cheeks are pink

with embarrassment. “But something this evil has to catch someone’s

attention.”

“It’s gotten her attention,” Rodriga says, pointing to me. “The

Devourer sends her demons to search for great power because she can’t

do it for herself. She found you. You wear the symbol of El Papa on

your chain. The Deos chose you for this.”

“This was just a gift from my father. Not the Deos.” I shake my

head. “I’ve never been the bravest or best bruja in my community. I’m

just a girl.”

“Don’t say that,” Rishi says. “Look at everything you’ve done.”

“Encantrix,” Agosto says, trying to get my attention to focus. “To

free your family, you must release them from the tree. The tree is the

key to Xara’s defeat. You have the power and the freedom to challenge

her the way none of us have before, and perhaps once you save your

family, you will free Los Lagos as well.”

I press my palm to my chest. Feel my heart racing. If my family

were with me, they’d say that this is my destiny. A few days ago, I

would’ve brushed off the thought that fate weaves the strings of life

together. Today, I’m one step closer to making amends for my betrayal.

The Devourer wants to hurt me, but I can return that favor. It’s more

than just the Tree of Souls. Her destruction reaches this meadow and

the avianas. Where will she go when there’s nothing left to destroy?

I hold out my hand, and Agosto takes it. I hold his dark stare

with my own, and for the first time since we arrived, I feel like I’m

on the right path.

I walk with him to the center of the meadow, where the banquet

tree table is now empty. Since I broke the glamour, the source of the

chains is in plain sight. There’s a spike staked deep into the wood.

“I’ve tried, encantrix,” Agosto says, tugging on the metal. “I try

every day.”

“But I haven’t.” I wave my hand over the wood. The traces of the

Devourer’s power writhe against my own.

I rub my hands together, and a ball of blue energy burns between

my palms. I pull power from the soles of my feet, the pit of my

stomach, and my fast-beating heart. I picture the Devourer’s face,

hidden under a mask of death, and I let my power go. The table

splinters into a thousand bits, and blue flame rains down. A sharp

pain stabs my heart, and for a moment, I can feel the Devourer’s

wrath.

Agosto struggles to breathe. He looks down at his hands in wonder.

The manacles come undone, and the chains fall to the ground. The adas