Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls by Kaela Rivera (online e book reading .txt) 📕

unison like a wounded muscle. Then, a muffled call came from the other side of the door.

“We will show you no mercy!”

I stiffened. Those were the last words of the Amenazante dance. It’s what the people of my town were taught to say whenever they confronted either a criatura or bruja.

“Little Lion,” I whispered. “I think—”

Another slam caved in the door’s hinges. “Criaturas, we come for you!”

Brujas, brujos, and spectators alike sent frantic looks toward El Silbón. He got up from his shadowed, lounging position on a pile of scrap metal and stood, watching to see if the door would hold.

Another smash. Moonlight slanted in from one of the door’s busted corners.

“Run!” he yelled.

I whirled around to face the nearly forgotten fight. Criatura of the Bat reared away from Little Lion, stumbling back toward his frozen brujo. Lion and I locked eyes.

Then the doors broke in.

A mass of people flooded in like the wind of the cerros. Brujas who’d fought viciously just moments before suddenly scampered like rats trying to escape. Police uniforms flashed in the strands of moonlight pouring in through the door. Civilians—some I recognized, some I didn’t—followed the officers’ signals, their hands filled with glowing fire opal. They were a blur of roars and gritted teeth. Every one of the people of my town looked as ferocious as Little Lion or Bat or La Llorona.

A hand clamped down on my wrist. I whirled around, already guarding the precious soul stones, to see Little Lion glaring at me.

“What is this?” he demanded, like I was somehow behind it.

“I-It’s the volunteer forces. My mamá said they were going to try to find the Bruja Fights . . .”

I stopped. Lion’s anger was palpable, but for the moment my attention was elsewhere.

With my mother.

She was across the factory. Nowhere near me, probably hadn’t even seen me yet, but I caught sight of her in flashes, between running bodies. Her hair glowed with strings of fire opal. Her cheeks and hands were smeared with red as bright as a rosebud. It was nocheztli, the dancers’ war paint, tracing her high cheekbones and outlining her iron eyes.

Her hands were weapons in the darkness. She captured a bruja in her arms. The bruja struggled, yelled out for her criatura. But before a dark streak could reach the squalling woman, my mamá ripped off the soul stone necklace.

A shiver bent my spine. I turned away, but no matter where I looked, chaos mobbed the abandoned factory. The metal interior clanged and rang with the sounds of the brawl. I was the only quiet thing left in a war of criaturas and humans, laws and secrets. Dark fear swallowed me.

Little Lion suddenly shook my arm. “Don’t you dare get cowardly on me,” he spat.

The world revved back up inside me. Right. This wasn’t the time to be afraid. I grabbed his arms in return. He looked surprised.

“We’ve got to get out of here!” I yelled.

He scowled and glanced behind him. Bat and his brujo were still there, on the other side of the ring, like they were too stunned to run. A frustrated orange squirm moved through Little Lion’s soul. He wanted to fight them, end the battle here. But we needed to get away. I held his arms and hoped that the emotions holding us hostage to one another would convince him.

He let out a hard breath. “Fine. I’ll get you home.”

My heart swelled with hope seconds before someone wrenched me around by the shoulder.

Criatura of the Bat stood there, clawed fingers digging into my shoulder. How had he gotten behind me? On his other side, his brujo stood shaking.

“You can’t fight tomorrow if I beat you now!” Brujo Gonzales said.

Was he serious? I had way more important things to worry about!

Bat’s other hand slashed at my face. I threw my arms up over my head and braced my knees. Before the blow could land, Little Lion punched Bat straight in the gut and sent him skating through the dust. I gaped.

I hadn’t even tried to reach out to Little Lion’s soul. But he’d protected me anyway.

He turned to me. “Let’s get out of here.”

But Bat didn’t stay down long. The moment Little Lion had turned his back to speak to me, Bat leaped for him.

“Little Lion, look out!” I pushed him out of the way. Bat’s claw sliced through my forearm before I could dodge. I screamed. Tears filled my eyes.

Little Lion roared. His soul stone burned blisteringly hot as he grabbed Bat and yanked him off of me. He swung him around and sent him flying into his brujo. The two bodies slammed into the wall. The police were on them in seconds.

I cradled my arm. Through the tear in Papá’s jacket, I caught the shine of blood. Before the pain could fully register, Little Lion wrapped me up in his arms and raced out of the building.

Lion was fast. I mean, Coyote was certainly fast too, but Little Lion outstripped him. The scenery around us blurred, and I gripped Little Lion’s back to keep from flying off him.

He ran and ran until even the stars couldn’t keep up.

Sooner than I’d expected, we reached the rooftops of Tierra del Sol. We streaked from roof to concrete roof, eventually landing in a cloud of dust in my backyard.

The moment we landed, Little Lion shoved me off his shoulder. I stumbled until I caught my footing, ready to yell at him, when I spotted his expression. His red eyes shone with moisture, his hand covering his mouth, eyebrows low. He paced the ground in quick, hard steps. I raised my eyebrows. Someone was having a meltdown.

“What?” I asked.

“Why did you do that?” he snapped, like he’d been waiting to ask. “You could have gotten yourself killed diving in front of Bat’s blow, and then how would you win the Bruja Fights? If it’s so important to you, why risk that?”

I stammered for a second. “W-Well, I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“Don’t lie to me!” He closed