Cece rios and the king o.., p.22
Cece Rios and the King of Fears, page 22
“Cece,” she said. “Come on. It’s just Mamá.”
“In the Sun Sanctuary,” I spluttered. “What if one of the priestesses finds us?”
Juana rolled her eyes, brushed past Coyote—though more gently than usual—and stopped beside me. “Then let’s go in together. Huh?” Her face softened.
I smiled. We both reached up and knocked at the same time. I held my breath in the silence after.
Coyote straightened and gestured back to the others. “There’s someone else in there with her. Quick, quick—”
They all dashed out of sight as the door opened, and golden candlelight poured out.
Mamá and Dominga del Sol stood together in the doorframe.
Mamá looked so tired. Bags hung under her eyes, and her hair was a mess, half in and half out of a sloppy bun resting over her wide shoulders. Behind her, the counters of the laundry room were absolutely strewn with Dominga del Sol’s curandera writings.
“Cece!” Mamá ran forward and pulled me to her chest. I squeezed her back. “Juana! ¡Mis hijas!” Mamá pulled Juana in to cuddle beside me. “Do you know what you’ve done to my heart? Híjole, the Sun gave me two troublemakers . . .” She shuddered. “Las quiero mucho. I thought I’d lost you both again . . .” Two delicate tears traced her cheeks.
“Lo siento, Mamá,” I snuggled close to her. “We keep scaring you.”
Behind her, Dominga del Sol laughed a sweet, tender laugh. “You have no idea, chiquitas. Tu Mamá has been in here every day scouring my curandera lore to try to save you.” She smiled.
I grinned. To think that it wasn’t so long ago that Mamá wouldn’t even speak to Dominga del Sol. It was a beautiful thing to watch Mamá’s heart soften. To see her choose what had always been waiting inside her.
Juana nuzzled into Mamá like she wanted to make a home in her arms. “Lo siento, Mamá. But we’re okay. See?” She straightened and gestured to her heart. Mamá hesitated, then leaned in and pressed her ear to Juana’s chest.
I waited. Juana grinned at me over Mamá’s head. We both giggled as Mamá gasped and straightened up.
“Your heart! It’s beating, mija! ¡Qué bueno! Thank the Sun, oh . . .” She cupped Juana’s cheeks. Her chin trembled like she’d sob—but then she pulled back and swatted us both. “What were you thinking? Cece, you were supposed to come back and tell me what you found! And you, Juana, especially you, without a heartbeat—” She cupped Juana’s cheeks again and pulled her in close. Juana looked sheepish. “You left without a word, and with our knives! What were you thinking? Where did you . . . go . . . ?” Her gaze finally shifted behind us.
The Court of Fears stood there, lit with striking shadows from the candles inside. Bruja Damiana stood with them. Mamá’s mouth dropped open.
“Dark criaturas,” she whispered. “A bruja?”
Axolotl peered out of Damiana’s coat, and the woman gave a weak, hesitant smile that accidentally showed off her fangs. Coyote, Kit Fox, Little Lion, and Ocelot poked their heads out from behind the court. Mamá sighed, like seeing my friends put her at ease. Coyote waved to her. She waved back. Axolotl smiled as Mamá did.
“Mijo,” she called to Coyote, scanning the court more carefully. “Who are . . .” She stopped on Tzitzimitl. “Oh.”
Tzitzimitl nodded. “Señora Rios.”
“Tzitzimitl,” Mamá said, and her voice was soft and fond now. She even smiled. “I have no idea why you’re all here. But I bet it will be a legend of its own.” She laughed.
Metztli stepped forward. Her long white-and-black hair streamed behind her in the wind. Mamá scanned her ancient clothing, her bare feet, and her light-dotted eyes.
“It can’t be,” Mamá breathed.
Dominga del Sol clasped her knobby hands together. “But it is. Isn’t it?”
“I am Metztli de la Luna,” Metztli said, placing a hand on my shoulders.
I grinned awkwardly up at Mamá’s shocked expression.
“Señora Rios, su hija rescued me from where I had been trapped for two hundred years. I mean to train your daughter in all the powers she has chosen.”
Mamá shook her head and laughed. It was a wet laugh. Tender and fragile and bold all at once.
“After all the time I wasted being afraid,” she whispered. She pinched my cheeks gently, and my heart warmed all the way through. “Mi mamá was right,” she said, and released me. “Mamá was right.”
Thinking of the abuela I never knew, but who’d drawn close to the old teachings of the curanderas, made me smile. If she’d been here today, I bet Abuela Etapalli would have been as happy as Dominga del Sol was now.
“My dear,” Dominga del Sol reached for Metztli. “I have hoped for this day, when the curanderas would return to the Sun Sanctuary they made. Por favor, will you come inside?”
Metztli took her hand with a smile. “I feared we would not be welcomed into our old home.” She stepped up and scanned the interior of the sanctuary. “It is good to be here again.” She brushed her hand along the stone walls reverently, as if even the laundry and mess were something precious. She turned to face Dominga del Sol and Mamá. “We have much to discuss.” She looked beyond me, to the Court of Fears. “Por favor, amigos—let us explain what lies before us. Come, enter our home.”
Alux stepped forward first. “I have missed this place as well.”
We all filed inside, and Coyote and I grinned at each other as Metztli and the dark criaturas began to catch Mamá and Dominga del Sol up on everything that happened. I led him over to the laundry pile, and we nestled into it together. It was nice to relax like that again.
The adults and Court of Fears chatted over the old, patchy writings of the curanderas. But off to the side, I saw Mamá take Tzitzimitl’s hand and say something to her. I was too far away to hear, but I was pretty sure it was a thank-you.
And in Mamá’s warm face, in Tzitzimitl’s gracious nod, in Damiana’s hopeful eyes, in Metztli’s careful teaching—I saw the beginning of something priceless. A new world we were going to need. I took a deep breath and let the moment settle inside me.
“One of you wake me up if I sleep too long,” Juana said as she plonked down beside me. She leaned her head on my left shoulder. “I have a head injury. Did I mention that?”
“You do?” I would have checked her, but she was too heavy for me to move with her leaning on my shoulder.
Little Lion came over as Ocelot joined the adults. Juana’s bag jingled oddly as he set it down next to us. “That’s because she decided she was a one-woman show all of a sudden.” He folded his arms as he sat next to her. “And she calls me estúpido.” He flicked a sock onto her. Juana tried to frown, but a smile bloomed anyway. Her eyes fell closed. I watched the exhaustion and pain bleed away from her face, and I rested my cheek gently on top of her head.
Kit came bouncing over. I opened my arms and he nestled down on my lap.
“Thanks, Cece,” he said.
“Thank you, Kit.” I soaked in his and Juana’s and Coyote’s warmth.
Kit’s soul was filled with sunshine. He smiled, and finally, seemed totally content and safe. He closed his eyes and let himself rest.
Soon enough, most of my friends drifted to sleep as the adults (and Axolotl, who Damiana held in her arms) continued to talk. Kit dozed peacefully in my lap. Little Lion fell against Juana and conked out. And Juana cuddled peacefully with me as she slept. My eyelids grew heavy, but my heart was so full I wanted to stay awake to enjoy it all.
Coyote leaned his head gently against mine. I could feel his smile against my cheek.
“It’s not perfect,” he said, as we stared at the meeting of curandera, bruja, human, and criatura in front of us. “But it’s better. Gracias, Cece. None of this could have happened without you.”
“Or you. Or Juana. Or Lion and Kit and Ocelot, and—well, everyone. We did it together.” I lifted a hand and gently rested it over his soul, where it hung around his neck. All the hope I could hear from a distance rushed into my chest as a powerful, steady pink and a dedicated orange. “It takes all of us to make something like this.” I smiled as my heart melted into a waterfall. “Thank you, Coyote,” I said. “Thanks for being brave, and letting ‘better’ be enough.”
His hand laid over mine, where it still cupped his soul. And together, we rested with our familia. My dreams drifted to Quetzalcoatl and El Silbón, and my hopes and love reached out to them. As the world floated into rest and reprieve, I could almost see them in my mind’s eye.
Don’t worry, I whispered to them there. We won’t leave you alone for long.
Acknowledgments
To my editor, Stephanie, and the whole HarperChildren’s team, who gave me the opportunity to continue Cece’s story. Stephanie, your anime third eye is a treasure, and so is your enhancing, guiding editorial hand. Thank you!
To my agent, Serene, who works with me so well. Thank you for offering the advice I need, always championing me, and working hard to help me prosper. I’m grateful to have you as my ally and agent during this wild, amazing publishing journey.
To my mom, the one who reminds me where the real war is and where the light truly comes from. Thank you for being my first editor. For being my first coach. For loving me. Thank you for choosing love. Thank you for being exactly who you are. I love you, and I always, always will.
To my abuelo. Thank you for fighting for the light inside of you, for offering me advice, for reaching toward greater heights with grace. I will be grateful to you throughout eternity.
To my nanny and grandad. Grandad, I miss you, and I love you. I like to think you’re still proud of me, and that if you were here, we’d be two currant buns right now. Nanny, I love you and your fairies so much. Thank you for carrying magic with you and for sharing it so generously with me all my life.
To Laura, whose insight and deep, abiding dedication to growth and love give me and my work room to grow. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, time, and hard work with me. And most important of all, thank you for being my friend. You are the sister of my soul.
To the 5th Wind group. Thank you for your support and comradery. I’m glad to know you.
To my sister’s wildly absurd albino African frogs. You had absolutely nothing to do with the creation of this book, but I feel I should thank you just for existing.
And thank you to all of Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls’s supporters. Thank you, everyone who read it. Thank you, anyone who mentioned it favorably to a friend, who reviewed it, who suggested others read it, who put it on a best-of list, who nominated it for an award, or even those who cherished it quietly in their hearts. Thank you, lovely readers. You are largely the reason I have the chance to continue my chiquita’s story. And I’m grateful for that opportunity.
And of course, last but never least, thank you to He who made me, my loving God. Thank you for my voice, my words. Thank you for where I stand now. Thank you for the difficulties and triumphs that brought me here, that you have carried me through, that you taught me to pass through, in equal measure. Thank you for every ounce of what I’ve been through, and who I am, and the most important gift of all: You.
Glossary
adiós—Goodbye.
alux (singular), aluxes (plural)—Pronounced “ah-loosh” or “ah-loosh-es,” these magical beings are only about three feet tall and have a powerful connection to nature. The original Mayan legends describe aluxes as fierce but mischievous beings who bring either good or bad luck depending on how you treat them. In Cece’s world, Alux is a dark criatura.
amigos—Friends.
atotolin—A colorful bird in Mexico, known as the king of the birds, hunted to prove a warrior’s prowess and to obtain good fortune. In Cece’s world, Atotolin is the first name of the Bird King, a dark criatura.
axolotl—A type of endangered salamander native to Mexico pronounced “ah-sho-loh-tl.” In Cece’s world, Axolotl is also an animal criatura.
ayúdame—Help me.
bienvenidos—Welcome.
Costa de los Sueños—Coast of Dreams.
curanderita—Little curandera.
¿Estás bien?—Are you okay?
estúpida/estúpido—Stupid.
exactamente—Exactly.
excelente—Excellent.
feliz cumpleaños—Happy birthday.
fútbol—Football; also called soccer in the United States.
gato—Cat.
¿Hay algún problema?—Is there a problem?
hermana/hermano—Sister/brother.
híjole—An exclamation used to express surprise, similar to “wow!” or “yeesh!”
hola—Hello.
La Sirena—The mermaid or the siren. La Sirena is a character generally associated with la lotería, a game of chance sometimes referred to as “Mexican bingo,” which became popular in Mexico during the early 1800s. In Cece’s world, La Sirena is a dark criatura.
las quiero mucho—I love you very much.
loca/loco—Crazy.
Metztli—The Náhuatl name of the goddess of the moon, pronounced approximately “mets-tlee.”
mole—A wide variety of sauces used in traditional Mexican dishes, comes from the original Náhuatl word “molli.”
necesito—I need.
no puedo creerlo—I can’t believe it.
¡Qué bueno!—How good. Used to express general satisfaction, much like, “That’s great!” “That’s nice!” or “Excellent!”
¿Qué paso?—What happened?
Quetzalcoatl—The feathered serpent. This powerful deity’s role in Aztec religion and tradition evolved with the people, but he was generally known as the god of winds and rain, and he was said to be an important part of creating the world and its people.
Semana de la Cosecha—Week of the Reaping or Week of the Harvest. In Cece’s world, this is the week before the door to Devil’s Alley closes.
Tukákame—This ancient Huichol legend is like a cross between a demon and a zombie, with a skeleton body and a hunger for human flesh. Though the details depend on who tells the story, most agree that water burns Tukákame, so he avoids it at all costs, and he has a flock of skeleton birds for pets known as “the birds of death.”
vamos—Let’s go.
Yollotl—This Náhuatl name means “heart” and is pronounced “Yoh-loh-tl.”
About the Author
Photo by Monica María Bravo
KAELA RIVERA is the award-winning author of the Cece Rios series. She grew up reading the folktales of her Mexican-American and British parents in the forests of Tennessee, but now she writes about them from the soaring mountains of Utah. When she’s not crafting stories, she’s working as a senior editor for a marketing company—or secretly doodling her characters in the margins of her notebook. One of her greatest hopes is to explore the beauty of cultural differences—and how they can bring us all closer. Visit her at kaelarivera.com.
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Books by Kaela Rivera:
Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls
Copyright
CECE RIOS AND THE KING OF FEARS. Copyright © 2022 by Mikayla Rivera. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Cover art © 2022 by MIRELLE ORTEGA
Cover design by CATHERINE LEE
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2022940755
Digital Edition SEPTEMBER 2022 ISBN: 978-0-06-321393-7
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-321389-0
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2223242526PC/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
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Kaela Rivera, Cece Rios and the King of Fears
