Dedication
In honor of my abuelo, who shared with me
his precious memories and stories.
In defense of my mother, who has always had
a soul as strong as water.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
1. The Criatura of Progeny and Stars
2. Noche de Muerte
3. El Sombrerón
4. The Burning Familia
5. The Limpia
6. The Path of Brujas
7. The Makings of a Bruja
8. The Soul Debt
9. The First Fire
10. The Moth and the Coyote
11. The Bruja Fights
12. The Fighting Ring
13. The Life Favor
14. The Lion
15. The Lion Tamer
16. The Reluctant Allies
17. The Cerros of the Past
18. The Sun Sanctuary
19. Hawk Hunting
20. Kit Fox
21. The Fox Test
22. The Tale of the Great Namer
23. The Bonds of Criaturas
24. The Will of Cecelia Rios
25. The Sign of the Binding
26. A Soul Like Water
27. Brujo Rodrigo the Soul Stealer
28. The Braided Sister
29. La Casa de Familia
Glossary
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Praise
Copyright
About the Publisher
1
The Criatura of Progeny and Stars
I was seven years old when I met my first criatura.
I was wandering through the cerros—the hills of the desert beyond town—at night, barely avoiding low heads of cactus. In the dark, their spines looked more menacing than they did under the sun. But then, I was a child. Everything looked menacing in the dark.
I was lost. No matter where I turned, I couldn’t see the light of town. The other children had left me hours ago. I should have gone home with them, but I’d wanted to watch the sunset by myself.
I should have known better. It was winter, and with winter came danger.
Not because of the cold. But because it was los meses de la criatura—the criatura months.
Since before I could remember, Mamá had taught me the legends of the criaturas. They were creatures unlike humans, children of the Desert goddess, who the Great Namer created from dust and words. Mama taught me the difference between animal criaturas, who were made to fill the desert, and dark criaturas, who were made to attack the descendants of the Sun god—us. But her advice for dealing with both types was the same.
“You must steal their souls and command them to leave you,” she’d always said. “For you cannot outrun a criatura once it sets its sights on you.”
Her words seemed to wrap around my throat as I turned in the darkness, trying to find the distant outline of my town.
“Are you lost, human child?”
I gasped and whirled around, clutching my shirt. Out of the shadow cast by the hill, a creature slipped into view.
She walked forward on legs of flesh, just as smooth and brown as anyone’s in town. Her skirt was bright with reds and greens and blues. Her headdress shimmered with sleek owl and quetzal feathers to match, and its ornate moonstone beads swayed from side to side. But from the waist up, she was bones.
My voice froze in my throat. Her face was a skull, her jaw hanging just slightly open, as if ready to speak. Her eyes were empty black sockets, but I could feel them on me. I met their gaze, craning my head back in silent terror as she stopped in front of me.
It was Tzitzimitl. The Criatura of Stars and Devouring—a dark criatura.
Her lanky shadow fell over me in stripes, the gaps in her rib bones letting through beams of moonlight. Her jaw opened, and a voice came out of the motionless cavity: “You are far from where your people dwell in the once-great city of Tierra del Sol. Surely you are lost.”
My heart hammered so loudly I was sure Tzitzimitl would hear it and try to bite it out of my chest. I crossed my arms over myself and stumbled back a few steps.
“Don’t eat me!” I turned to run, but bony fingers wrapped around my shoulder before I got the chance.
Tzitzimitl’s strength was irresistible. “You do not want to wander through Mother Desert’s land alone, human child,” she said. “Here, criaturas roam freely for two more months. And La Llorona is loose in your world right now—she will drown you, or snake criaturas will eat you.”
I shook under her grasp. “P-please. I just want to go home.”
She cocked her skull, and her headdress shifted so its metallic stars clattered. “I will take you home.” She offered her bony hand. I stared at the fingers. “Don’t you know you can trust me, human child? I am Tzitzimitl. The Great Namer made me the protector of human children.”
Mamá had always said that criaturas would kill me. La Llorona would drown children in rivers, and Golden Eagle would snatch us away in his talons. El Sombrerón would steal daughters from their families, and the Gray Wolf would feast on the lost.
But . . . wouldn’t Tzitzimitl have hurt me by now if she were bad?
Slowly, I put my hand in hers. Her bones closed over my soft skin carefully, and she led me in a new direction.
“What is your name, human child?” she asked as we wandered between scrub and cacti.
I stared up at her. She wore a necklace that flashed in the moonlight. The simple stone on leather swung with every step we took. “Um . . . Cece. Cece Rios.”
“Another Rios,” she said. “I believe humans carry their names from one mother to another, correct? Your family has a history with criaturas, then. Do you know of Catrina Rios? In Devil’s Alley, they call her Catrina, Cager of Souls.”
Mamá had mentioned her once, but she hadn’t been very happy about it. “Is she my mom’s sister? My tía?”
“I do not know your mother.” She pulled me sideways before I could step on a sleeping snake. “But you share a last name, and you have her eyes. Perhaps she is your tía. Though I think you do not share the same heart.”
As we walked, my muscles slowly relaxed. Tzitzimitl didn’t do any of the things Mamá said criaturas did. She didn’t try to eat me. She didn’t try to drown me or lure me into a volcano. And after ten minutes, the town lights appeared in the distance—so I knew she was helping
