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

at his mosaic looking so warm and tender. But I found myself recalling the turquoise that made up the Ocean goddess’s outstretched hands and the way it had glowed with peaceful blue light.

“If you really want answers, you should go to the curanderas’ sanctuary.” Kit Fox stretched his back.

“There’s a curanderas’ sanctuary?”

“Sure.” He paused his stretching to eye me. “There are actually four, but only one of them’s in Tierra del Sol.”

There was one here? I gasped and plastered my hands to either side of my face. I’d grown up here all my life, and I’d never known there was a curanderas’ sanctuary! My chest tingled with excitement. Where was it? Hidden in the Ruins, maybe?

I stood up. “Can you tell me how to get there?”

An annoyed grumble stirred to our right. We turned as Little Lion sat up, his black hair sticking straight up. He glared at me with one open, still-sleepy eye, frowning.

“Do you have to shout so early?” he mumbled.

“Sorry, Lion.” I stooped down and grabbed my bag. “I’m going to head out for a bit, okay?” I turned to Kit Fox. “Do you know how to draw a map?”

Little Lion scrambled to his feet. “Wait, hold on. Where are you going?”

“Kit says there’s a curanderas’ sanctuary in Tierra del Sol!” I grinned.

Lion folded his arms and glared briefly at Kit. “And you think it’s a good idea to just head out there, alone, when Ocelot attacked you last night?”

I pouted. “I mean, when you say it like that . . .”

Lion rubbed the side of his face. “Ugh. Let’s just wake up Coyote. With the three of us together, you stand a better chance.”

“Wait, but what if people see you?” I asked.

Little Lion ignored me and rolled over to Coyote’s blankets, which were piled up next to him. I crossed the room, ready to argue a bit more, as Lion stripped the covers back.

But there was no one there.

We stared down at the spare pillows and blankets that had been stuffed there to make it look like Coyote was sleeping. Little Lion leaned back, confused. Kit Fox peeked around my shoulder.

“He’s gone,” Lion said.

My pulse quickened in my ears. Lion rubbed his forehead. Why would Coyote leave without telling me? Slowly, I took his soul in my hand, but it was cool to the touch like any rock from the desert. There was no quiet rhythm like a heartbeat. No colors—no pink, not even gray. It was like his soul was gone too.

“I can’t feel him,” I whispered. Lion’s and Kit’s worried faces turned to me. “Do you think he’s hurt? What if he’s—he’s—”

“You’d know if he were dead,” Lion said. “He’s probably just pulling his feelings back from you. Maybe he’s worried about something and wants to be alone.”

“What could worry him enough to make him leave?” I bit my lip. Was it the finals? Brujo Rodrigo? Both? I was definitely nervous, but Coyote was more than capable in a fight.

Kit placed a hand on my shoulder. “Cece—you were in danger last night, remember? And he couldn’t protect you.”

I rounded on him. “That wasn’t his fault!”

“You heard him. He thinks it is,” Lion added.

I paused and pictured his face the previous evening, and the way his soul had twisted with so many tormented colors.

Lion’s expression softened as he walked up to me. “Cece, remember what he said? Coyote couldn’t protect us all those thousands of years ago.” He tapped his soul through my shirt. I pulled it out, and his soul’s scars rotated into view. Oh. I looked up and met their gazes. Lion sighed. “I think he hoped he could change that with you. And he probably thinks he’s let you down.”

“But—but he hasn’t,” I said. “How do I find him so I can tell him that?”

Little Lion ran a hand back through his hair in aggravation. “I don’t know—you’re the bruja.”

I let my arms fall to my sides. I was the bruja. I was Coyote’s friend. I should know where he’d run off to, shouldn’t I?

Wait a second—I was the bruja!

I wrapped my hand around Coyote’s soul. The quietness of it still made me shiver, but I closed my eyes and tried to feel for him. I’d pulled back my feelings from Coyote before, and he’d done the same with me. But if I could press ideas and feelings into him during battles, couldn’t I do it now, too?

I summoned all my worry and let it slip into Coyote’s soul. Where are you? I tried to ask using memories of when I first met him, of losing Juana in a crowd once and looking for her. Are you okay?

At first, his soul felt as cold and calm as the desert at night. Then, short flashes of images resonated from it through my mind. A brilliant mosaic with all the most precious stones. Candles set nearby. Carefully washed stained glass windows. Tiled floor. Quiet and peace.

I opened my eyes. “The Sun Sanctuary?”

Why would he go there of all places? He was born of Mother Desert, not the Sun god. What significance would it hold for him? I nibbled on my bottom lip. Well, whatever the reason, I had to go find him. He was out in broad daylight, and especially if he was in the Sun Sanctuary, he was bound to get caught.

“I’m going to go get him!” I dropped my bag and headed toward the hatch. Lion and Kit fell in beside me, but I stopped them. “Hang on, you two aren’t coming with me.”

The two of them opened their mouths to argue.

“Lion, your eyes are bright red. And Kit, you have giant fox ears on your head. You both look like criaturas. You can’t come with me.”

They pouted in unison.

“It’s bad enough that Coyote is out there somewhere, possibly getting discovered. I don’t want something bad to happen to either of you as well.” I tried to soften my worried tone and smiled. “I’ll be back soon. And if I do get into any trouble,