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

him to go with me? Yes. Yes, I would. Especially since my knees still felt shaky knowing that Ocelot and her owner were watching me for some reason.

But I wouldn’t risk Coyote’s life. “I’m pretty sure having a coyote tailing me through town would also be suspicious,” I said. He frowned down at me. “The Sun Sanctuary isn’t far, and the police would be on any criatura who tried to attack in broad daylight. I’ll be okay. I think.”

My stomach cramped a little as I picked up the tortillas Mamá left on the table and headed to the front door. Coyote stuck his head out of the hatch opening to watch me go, his hair dangling from his upside-down head. He looked worried.

“I’ll be back soon!” I tried to sound braver than I felt as I closed the front door behind me.

Usually, I preferred to walk slowly down the familiar paths toward the center of town. But today, I ran, keeping an eye on the rooftops. Soon enough, the golden dome and steeple of the Sun Sanctuary peeked over the nearest buildings. There!

I rounded a narrow turn, and it came into full view. The morning sun shone off its gold top and lit up the stained glass windows, with Ocean goddess’s mural glowing brightest in the angle of the sun. I slowed and smiled up at it, my fears dissolving with every step closer. The Sun Sanctuary was always such a cheerful, peaceful place to me. It was hard to believe anything bad could happen here.

Even if the priestess standing at the entrance frowned when she noticed my approach.

“Cecelia Rios?” Yaotl del Sol, one of the younger priestesses, asked.

I touched my hand to my shaved head. Oh, right. I’d almost forgotten they hadn’t seen me with my new haircut. “Yes, it’s me,” I called.

“You’ve come to pay your respects?” She raised an eyebrow, annoyed. Juana used to joke that Yaotl del Sol’s promotion to Priestess Caretaker—a Sun Priestess who was in charge of organizing daily chores—had inflated her already large head.

“Yes.” I climbed the wide, brightly tiled steps even though I could tell she didn’t want me to. They’d already propped the eight-foot dark wood doors open for the day, so I stopped just inside the wide archway. “Have you seen Dominga del Sol? I have her tortillas for the week.”

Every familia in town had a duty to bring a certain portion of food to one of the priestesses. Mine had given tortillas to Dominga del Sol since she first became a priestess, back when my Abuela was alive.

Yaotl del Sol frowned at me. Her hard expression gave me a quivery feeling that made me want to retreat. But I took a deep breath and didn’t. For the first time, I didn’t run, didn’t duck my head, didn’t just accept her distaste.

Instead, I met her eyes and smiled.

Slowly, her gaze softened. She looked away and gestured inside. “She’s in the back, doing laundry for the orphanage. Go on.”

My heart rate picked up. It worked! Wow, this was so much nicer than sneaking in through the back. I grinned and thanked her before entering the sanctuary.

The front room was spacious, with three walls painted bright white and large, dark wooden rafters running lengthwise down the room. I approached the large mosaic on the far wall, passing by stained glass windows on each side, seats for meditation, and racks of candles set in front of the windows. There was so much beauty to take in at the sanctuary. But I found myself drawn to the mosaic more than anything else.

It depicted the story of creation that I loved so much. The Sun god, Moon goddess, Ocean goddess, and Desert goddess gathered in a diamond shape around a colorful center. In that center, held in place by the four deities, were sleeping animals, leaping fish, glorious stars, and dancing humans rendered in intricate patterns.

Drawn in by its beauty, I looked closer—at the center, this time. The Moon goddess’s children, the stars, hovered closest to where she was positioned on the left of the diamond. Humans were near the top, hovering near the Sun god and his rays. The fish, whales, and seashells spread out from the right, where the Ocean goddess stood. And at the bottom, criaturas and animals slept in peace, just above Mother Desert. But what caught my attention most was the way the four deities reached into the center, the tips of their fingers touching one another’s.

“I’ve always loved this picture.”

I jumped and found Dominga del Sol beside me, holding a pile of starched white shirts. She chuckled and nodded to the mosaic.

“This mosaic is almost five hundred years old, you know. I think if it had been made more recently, it would be missing a lot of the truths inside it. People forget things so easily.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

She gestured to the mosaic. “How about you tell me what questions you have when you look at it?”

I turned back to the mosaic. “Well, there are no dark criaturas.”

“You have a good eye. Just like your abuela.”

I smiled. “And all four gods are reaching for each other.”

“Very true. Why do you think the artist chose to do that?”

I shook my head slowly, taking in the ancient art. Each of the gods was depicted with a different type of stone. The Sun god with fire opal, the Moon goddess with moonstone, the Desert goddess with coyamito agate, and the Ocean goddess with turquoise. But where their fingers touched, the tiles united in brilliant jade squares.

“It kind of looks like . . .” I tilted my head, eyeing the jade. “I don’t know. This might sound weird.”

She nodded, encouraging me to go on.

“Maybe the gods were responsible for all creation. Together.” Now that I saw the jade, I couldn’t seem to look away. And it wasn’t just in the center. In every creation floating around the gods’ arms was a single bit of jade embedded. My mouth opened. “Like maybe there’s a bit