Labyrinth Lost (12 page)

“What happened?” I start to step forward, but Madra's wing knocks me back again.

“I have allowed you into our home,” she says, her body shaking with anger. “I have saved you from death. I have made an exception to keep this man in our caves.”

The avianas empty Nova's pockets. Dozens of glittering crystals and gold fall at his feet.

Madra's black eyes are endless. She grabs my shoulders with her clawed hands. “But I
cannot
abide thieves!”

Sana, sana, the body endures.

Cura, cura, the soul of the pure.

—Healing Canto, Book of Cantos

The avianas grab the three of us in their talons and throw us into the one of the highest nests. Dried leaves and branches are woven into a makeshift mattress, and a fire burns in a stone bowl.

“What did you do?” I punch Nova's chest.

He grabs my wrists to pull me off him. “How was I supposed to know the gems weren't up for grabs?”

I yank my hands free from his hold. I point my index finger, like the barrel of a gun, at his face. “You just ruined everything! How are we supposed to get out of these caves? They could have helped us.”

He turns away from me and sits on the makeshift mattress. “How? A bunch of starving birds are going to storm the labyrinth with us?”

“You're the one who told me not to
touch
shiny things. But you think with your pockets, don't you?”

“I didn't think they'd see me take a few gems in a
cave full of them
!”

“Shut up, Nova. You're not even sorry.” I kick a stone away from us. It flies off the side of the nest. We listen to it fall, hitting the sides of the caves like a penny in an empty jar. I count ten seconds before it lands.

“Let me talk to Madra,” Rishi says. “I think she'll listen to me.”

“Who the hell is this?” Nova thumbs at Rishi.

“Relax, protein shake,” Rishi says. She crosses her arms over her chest and looks at Nova like he's a fly that drowned in her soup.

“Stop,” I hiss. I stand between them like a shield—though I'm not sure who I'm more afraid for, Rishi or Nova. “Nova, this is Rishi. She's my—she's my best friend. She jumped into the portal after us and wound up with the avianas. Rishi this is Nova. He's a witch, like me. He's my guide.”

“I am a
brujo
,” Nova corrects me. “And this isn't going to fly. It's one thing that I have to look out for you. I'm not about to babysit some
sinmaga
.”

“What did you call me?” Rishi closes the space between them.

My head throbs at the temples. I turn my back to them while they bicker. How does my mother put up with Lula and me when we get like this?

“How sweet,” Lula says, clear as a bell. “They're fighting over you.”

“Did you hear that?” I whip around to find her face, but she isn't there. I know I heard her. It was like she was standing right beside me.

Nova and Rishi ignore me. They're like a pack of wild dogs barking at each other.

“I've known Alex for two years,” Rishi shouts at Nova. “She can trust
me
.”

“Clearly you didn't know her very well if you didn't know about her powers.”

They fall into some indecipherable shouting when an even louder 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 do, so why is it so hard for me? When I close my eyes, I see the maloscuros. I see the bloody parakeet in my hands. I see everyone I love lying in a heap, just dead bodies.

“Sh,” Lula whispers in my ear. “Don't do that. Remember the times Dad took us to Coney?”

I shake my head. “I don't want to think about Dad.”

“Well you have to, okay? Because we loved him once, and he loved us too. Remember, Alex. He'd take us every Sunday night to the boardwalk. We'd fill up on corn dogs and popcorn until we were too full to walk and we'd just lay there on the beach watching the sun set.”

“I remember.” Sometimes it's hard to find the good memories.

“It's love, Alex. Love is you jumping through a portal despite your own safety. Love is Mom singing in the car and Rose making tea when we're sick and even us fighting because we're blood, and no matter what you do, I'll
never
forget that you are my sister.”

I let the magic uncoil from the pit of my stomach and flow through me. It's different than the other times. Brighter and stronger. It leaves me in a flood, connecting to Jesla. Her eyes snap open, and she gasps for air. Her back arcs, like there's something inside her fighting against my magic. I move my hand over the claw marks from the saberskins. They've been cleaned, but they're still bleeding. I focus on the brilliant light that links me to the aviana, my magic embracing her, calling her back from the darkness. When I feel her heartbeat kick up to a normal rate, I let go.

“Easy,” Lula says. “The recoil is going to kick in soon. Move on to the next. You can do it.”

My mind spins. I try to grab Lula's hand, but I forget she's only a projection of herself.

“Don't go there,” she tells me. “Not yet.”

There are white spots in my vision as I stumble to Hadrigal. Her black wings hang over the sides of the stone slab. Her eyes roll to the back of her head. I can feel her fading quickly, so I press my hands over her heart and send a shock right into its center. I can hear Lula cheering me on, telling me it's working. I can feel my healing energy flooding Hadrigal, returning the color to her cheeks, mending the cuts over her chest until she has the same pearly scars I do.

I fall on my knees, my head spinning like a carousel.

“Come on, Alex,” Lula says. “One more. You're a natural, don't you see? Way better than I ever could be.”

I choke on a laugh. “Am I dying or something? You're being really nice.”

“I can't hold on, Ale. Hurry.”

“Lula?” It's hard to breath. She looks over her shoulder, her apparition getting weaker.

“Oh no… It's coming back.”

“Is it the Devourer? I'm going to kill it.”

Lula erupts in an earsplitting scream.

“Lula!” I reach for her but I grab air.

She's gone.

I crawl on my knees to the next table. I lower my ear to the aviana's open beak. The breath is as faint as mine, but I have to find a way. I repeat Lula's words.
That's the love I have for you
.

Love is Lula. Love is my mom. Love is Rose. Love is in this power that I never asked for but courses through my veins like the blood of my ancestors.

When I hear the sharp intake of the aviana, I let go. All three of them are awake.