“Because of you. All of you. I couldn’t have gotten this far without your help. Mayi, where did you come from?”
She’s a wonder to look at, her glamour gone to reveal her true face. Every imperfection uniquely, wonderfully hers. “I couldn’t stay back, not while you were willing to risk your life. Alex guided me.”
The clouds still cling to the sky in every direction, a light rain falling across the city. I take in the boardwalk. There’s some damage, but it can be blamed on the storm.
“Should we get back to the headquarters?” Rose asks.
“The hunter said to wait here,” Mayi says. “He said the building’s compromised. They’re going to take us somewhere else.”
But there’s only one place I want to be.
? ? ?
Home.
Rhett parks the Knights’ black car in the driveway and goes around back to make sure the coast is clear. My mother takes my arm to help me walk up the front porch.
I take a second to memorize our house. On a block full of newly renovated houses and brownstones, ours has a roof that leans a little to the right after weathering too many storms. Its windows are shaded by a sturdy oak tree, and the paint on the sides peels off in long streaks. A poor house. A loved house. A house full of brujas. My home.
I brought death here and I’ll take it out.
“Lock the door behind you,” Ma tells me as she opens the door to let everyone in. I can practically see the checklist going off in her mind. “I’ll go prepare the infirmary.”
“Out of the way,” Alex shouts, helping Rose up the stairs, followed by Mayi and Adrian. Nova lets my dad lean on him as the recoil fully sets in. Dad’s skin is covered in painful blisters. Even from out here, I can hear the sounds of retching and groaning that fill the house.
“Coast is clear,” Rhett says, coming up behind me on the porch. He walks the length of it, searching every surface, like a casimuerto is going to be hiding between the potted plants. When he stands in front of the window, a memory flashes in my mind.
“You were the guy,” I say, and I laugh even though my abdomen hurts. “I chased you that night with the hose.”
He grimaces but doesn’t deny it. “Not one of my better moments. I needed proof the casimuerto was in your house.”
“The Knights of Lavant are officially creepy in my book,” I say, trying for humor but it doesn’t make either of us laugh. “Kitchen is down at the end of the hall and bathroom is to your left. But you probably already know that.”
“I won’t be long,” he says, and disappears down the hall, balling up fists covered in dirt and blood.
I close the door behind us and lock up tight. When I turn, I’m face-to-face with our altar for La Mama. The hand is still broken and tucked into the decaying flowers around the base. I grab three tea lights, a stick of greenberry incense, and strike a match. It’s been so long since I attempted this, but I know if I can’t find the words now I never will.
“I ask for strength I probably don’t deserve,” I say, using the spear to lean against. “Strength to do whatever it takes to keep my city safe. In the name of La Mama, Mother of all the Deos, and La Fuerza, Lady Who Carried the Earth on Her Shoulders.”
“Lula?” Rhett clears his throat behind me.
I jump and swing around.
“Careful!” Rhett jumps back. His eyes flick up and down the spear. “Isn’t that thing supposed to sever souls from the living?”
“Sorry,” I say, and actually mean it.
Rhett looks at me with a curious smile on his face.
“Your scuba suit came in handy,” I say.
“It’s dragon skin,” he says, all indignant. “At least call it a dragon suit.”
“Pass.” I shrug. “Any word from the others?”
“We were trying to corral them before they hit headquarters, but there are too many.”
We have one spear and hundreds of undead. It won’t be enough, my dark thoughts chime in.
“It will be done,” he assures me.
“Rhett,” I say, a question I’ve held for a long time finds its way to my lips. “How long were you following me? Did it start at the hospital?”
He looks startled, like he didn’t think I’d ever bring it up. “We were following your family.”
“But you didn’t have to talk to me at the hospital. You didn’t have to feed Maks. Why do that only to show up at the THA trying to arrest me?”
“There was a detail placed on your family after the accident months ago.” Rhett absentmindedly touches a thin blade tucked under his left sleeve. “We were making sure nothing went in or out of what’s left of the portal in the yard. We wanted to make sure people were safe.”
“Safe from us?” I ask, affronted by the thought that we could be considered dangerous. Though, after everything I’ve done, I suppose he was right. “And this whole time we were worried about us being safe from the world.”
“I determined your family was not a threat. We’ve kept tabs on Nova Santiago as well, but he doesn’t cause any harm to anyone but himself.”
“Don’t try to change the subject,” I say. “Why did you lie to the Alliance? You gave me a head start with the box…”
“It doesn’t matter now.”
“It matters to me! Where did that heart come from?”
“I didn’t rip it from someone’s beating chest, if that’s what you’re asking,” he says, raking his fingers through damp, long waves. “We have our own morgue of bodies that can’t go to the human authorities. I broke protocol. I knew I’d made a mistake, but I left the box that night because I saw how much you were suffering, both before the accident and during. I wanted to help you, Lula. When we stopped being able to contain them and Knights were killed, I was so angry at myself that I acted like an idiot.”
“I’m sorry about the hunters you lost,” I say, my breath hitching in my throat. “I’m sorry I couldn’t let him go.”
“Lula—” His eyes follow the arc of my cheekbone, tracing over the scars. His lips part, starting as his phone buzzes. He gives me his back and listens intently. “No, they’re safe here. I’ll meet you there.”
“Was that McKay? Where are they?”
“He’s with my unit. The casimuertos are using the subway,” Rhett says, taking several steps away from me. “All hands on deck.”
He runs out the door, and the scent of the ocean lingers in his wake.
I lock the door and walk down the hall to join the others. Every step I take is like walking on hot coals.
In the living room, Ma, Nova, and Mayi are tending to the recoil Rose, Dad, and Adrian are suffering. The place looks like a war zone with buckets of water, bloody bandages for Dad’s blisters, and the bag of weapons Alex has been collecting massed in piles everywhere.
Alex looks up from sharpening her favorite dagger. “You realize you haven’t let go of that thing once, right?”
“Can I touch it?” Adrian asks.
I move the spear out of his reach.
“I can’t lie,” Nova says. “I thought that when you pulled the Death sword from the stone that it would make Lady de la Muerte appear.”
“Where’s Sargent Scuba Suit?” Alex asks.
“The casimuertos have gone underground, literally, so the Knights are regrouping. In the meantime, I have to figure out how to use this thing to free La Muerte.”
“She’s between realms,” Ma says. “That would mean we need a portal.”
I wonder aloud, “Is the portal in the yard really closed?”
“Yep. Total dead zone. Besides, La Muerte isn’t in Los Lagos,” Alex says. “I’d know.”
The living room lights short-circuit.
“Alex!” Ma yells.
“That wasn’t me!” And for a moment, our house feels the same as it always has.
“I got it,” Nova says, making soft orbs of light appear all across the ceiling.
“It’s the storm,” Rose says, still coughing up water into her closed fist. She pulls back the curtain and looks out. “The house next door is dark too.”
“I’ll check the breakers,” Mayi says. “And bring up candles.”
“I’ll go with you,” Adrian says. “My dad says they kept a dead body down there once. Is that true?”