Camilo

"This is a stupid plan, Isa."

"If you've got a better one, feel free to share with the class."

Camilo rolled his eyes.

The sun was setting and they were stomping through the undergrowth. Well, Camilo was stomping—Isabela had the plants bowing out of her way as if she were royalty. Luisa was ahead of them, scanning the treetops for any sign of Antonio or Bruno. Their neighbors were not far behind, lanterns lit and machetes at the ready.

They were all supposed to be at the rehearsal dinner right now, eating and drinking on the Guzmán's peso, and Camilo was never going to forgive his hermanito for disappearing before he could eat his weight in Señora Guzmán's famous torta de tres leches.

"I feel like we should split up," Camilo said. He glanced behind them, at the lanterns glowing between the trees. Too close.

"Absolutely not," Isabela snapped at him, her eyes never leaving the tree line. "We're spread too thin as it is—"

"There!" Luisa cried. She took off running.

Camilo and Isabela looked at each other before taking off after her.

Soon, Camilo saw what had caught his prima's attention. In the small clearing before them was a swirling dome of dirt, leaves, and sparkling green light—and at its center stood Bruno, his arms hanging loosely at his side and his eyes glowing a poisonous green.

"Whoa," he whispered, coming to a stop beside Luisa. Isabela joined them, her face grim.

If Camilo was honest with himself, which he rarely was, he'd never fully adjusted to his tío's appearance—all ratty and strange, even with the recent changes. But this…this was a whole new thing to have to deal with. No wonder Isabela had run away when she saw it the first time; he felt like running now.

"What do we do?" he asked.

Luisa shook her head. "I don't know if we should interrupt him. He's not…I mean, last time, he wasn't really…aware until Mirabel pulled him out." Her face was troubled. "Maybe she should've come with us."

Yeah, well, she didn't, Camilo thought but didn't say.

"Incoming!" Isabela said, pointing to the other edge of the clearing.

Four men stumbled into view and to Camilo's surprise, he knew them all. Señor Martinez, the Castillo's closest neighbor, was leading the group, holding a lantern in one hand and a machete in the other—behind him, his oldest son and Camilo's former classmate, Alejandro, and to his right, the brothers José and Luis Torres.

Camilo swallowed hard. José Torres had a gun.

"Santo cielo," Señor Martinez said, his mouth agape. "El monstruo." He saw the three cousins on the other side of the clearing and barked, "Stay back, niños! It's not safe for you here!"

Isabela opened her mouth to protest when Luis Torres cried, his eyes huge in the green light, "It must be trying to curse the village!"

José pushed his brother aside. "Then we don't let it finish." He raised his pistol.

Several things happened at once:

With a shout, Luisa sprinted across the clearing and crashed into José, sending them both into the undergrowth as the gun went off in a burst of light and noise—

Isabela screamed for her sister and crouched, digging her fingers into the dirt. Vines sprouted beneath each man and yanked them down. They shrieked as they fell, Señor Martinez's machete spinning away into the brush—

Camilo dove into the wind dome and collided with his tío, sending them both to the ground—

The dome instantly dissolved and Bruno blinked at Camilo on top of him, the glow fading from his eyes.

"Camilo?" he whispered. "What—?"

"Stay down, Tío," Camilo ordered, breathing hard. The men were thrashing around on the ground, Isabela's vines holding them fast for now. He couldn't see Luisa.

Bruno tried to get up and look around. "Is Antonio with you?"

Camilo frowned, his grip tightening on Bruno's ruana. "No. He's out here looking for you."

"Mierda," Bruno hissed, his ferocity surprising Camilo. "He's hurt. Or-or will be hurt."

Camilo froze. "When? How?"

"I-I don't know."

"Well, where, then? Do you know that much?"

Bruno hesitated. "I…I think I saw, but I can't-I can't explain how to get there."

Camilo took a deep breath. "Then you've gotta go find him." He stood, helping his tío to his feet. His eyes bored into Bruno's. "Or are you going to run away?"

"Not until Toñito's safe," Bruno said honestly.

Camilo nodded. "Okay. Just…promise you'll come back?"

In that moment, his tío looked old and tired and sad—a far cry from the carefree teasing they'd done just the night before. He nodded once, then, without another word, turned and ran, disappearing into the trees.

Camilo heard a snap behind him. He looked over and saw as Alejandro managed to reach his father's machete and cut himself free from Isabela's vines.

Isabela grunted, lashing out with another one, but Alejandro cut it away and pointed the blade at her.

"Bruja!" he screamed.

Camilo didn't think. He ran at Alejandro, letting his magic flow out from his core, elongating his limbs and distorting his features. He drew from his childhood imaginings—his hands became claws as coarse fur covered his body; horns sprouted from his head; his mouth curled into a permanent snarl.

He tackled Alejandro before he could reach Isabela, growling and spitting in his face. Alejandro went ghostly white as he stared into Camilo-the-Monstruo's mouth and the rows of sharp, sharp teeth.

Camilo-the-Monstruo raised his head and bared his teeth at the other two men still trapped by Isabela's vines. They shuddered and Camilo could see the whites around their eyes.

He shifted just enough to make his eyes glow as brightly as he could, bathing the clearing in green light. With one swipe of his claws, he cut away the vines holding down the men and screamed out, as loud as he could, a single word:

"RUN."

They didn't need to be told twice. Camilo dragged Alejandro up and threw him at the others, and all four men sprinted away from the clearing, shouting and tripping over each other as they went.

Camilo panted, slowly releasing the magic as he shifted back into himself. He was lightheaded—he had never tried shifting into something that huge before, for any length of time. But beneath his exhaustion, he felt…whole. More connected to himself and to his magic than he had since attaining his Gift when he was five years old.

He felt strong.

But that feeling quickly faded when he turned triumphantly toward his cousins and finally spotted Luisa. His prima lay prone on the ground. Her eyes were closed, and she was breathing heavily. Sweat beaded on her forehead.

Isabela knelt beside her. A plant he didn't recognize was spreading out under her knees, and she was picking the feather-like leaves and shoving them in her mouth. She spit the chewed leaves into her hand and pressed them against Luisa's thigh where…where…

"Don't just stand there, help me," Isabela snapped. Tears were streaming down her face as she began tearing strips of cloth off the bottom of her skirt. "We have to get her to Mamá, now."


Translations:

1. Torta de tres leches - 3 milks cake and delicious

2. Santo cielo - my God