“Prince Qian requests your assistance.”
“What for?”
“We need you to search for any more traps that we may have missed. If you would be so kind as to follow me.” He didn’t wait for Lucas before he left.
Lucas let out a sigh and looked at Amador. “Go,” she said. “I’m in good hands.” Her smile was kind, her eyes bright, and there was a softness in them that I knew was true affection—a result of years of friendship.
Reluctantly, Lucas nodded and bowed to me before he left. As he did, I caught a whiff of him, the smell of steel, like a freshly sharpened blade. It brought me back to that cave, the closeness of him, the desire pulsing through his veins, and I tried my best not to linger on it. Knowing the truth only made me want him more.
I was cursed in more ways than one. I was cursed to become a monster, and I was cursed not to be able to love him.
“What happened, exactly?” Nix asked as she started working on Amador’s wrist.
Amador explained the trap, but I filled in the rest.
“You’re honestly really lucky,” Nix said. “It could have been so much worse.”
I didn’t want to think about it. Guilt was hard to shake, even if I hadn’t turned into a manananggal. The idea that itcouldhave been worse was bad enough.
Amador glanced at me briefly before looking away, swallowing thickly. I knew she was itching to ask me more about what was happening to me, but she kept silent while Nix worked on her hand.
None of us spoke, and the air around us felt full with all the things that went unsaid. I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Amador knows that I’m a manananggal,” I said.
Nix gasped. “What?”
“I’m getting worse. I was angry, stuck in that net, and I could feel the manananggal trying to take over. I didn’t want to hurt Amador, so I told her.” It was a reality I had to face. “The manananggal isn’t just coming out at night anymore. She’s getting stronger.”
“Is that what Gani told you when he asked me to leave?” Nix asked.
Before I could answer, Amador interrupted. “Wait, so is that why there was a manghuhula here? Was he helping you?”
“We thought he could cure MJ,” said Nix. “MJ hasn’t always been like this. He thinks that magic is making her turn.”
“And I’m running out of time,” I said.
“What?” That was news to Nix. I hadn’t told her about the diary yet, so I did now.
I told them both everything, about the diary, about the mausoleum for Yara, the empty tomb, the full moon, all of it. I had to fill Amador in on most of the details. “At the full moon, it’ll be permanent. If I’m like Yara, I’ll be a manananggal forever. It’s what her diary said.”
“We have to tell Gani right away,” said Nix.
“Not sure what he can do about it,” I said. “Besides, he’s long gone by now.”
“Then you have to tell Elias. You can’t keep this a secret anymore. Maybe he can help!”
I knew he was the second-best person to talk to, but I wasn’t sure what else could be done. “Maybe. But…what if it’s too late?”
Nix pressed her lips together and looked back at Amador’s wrist, tracing her hands over her skin as she worked her magic.
No one spoke again for a long time. My thoughts swirled with everything that’d been happening. With Lucas. With Qian. With Nix. And now with my destiny. Was I really doomed? I was so tired, my thoughts were difficult to contain, hardly slowing down long enough for me to take a breath.
I rubbed my eyes with the heels of my palms and forced myselfto think. Too much was at stake for me to lose any sense of myself now. I had to stay strong. But it was getting harder every day.
“All done,” Nix said. She and Amador locked eyes briefly before Amador stood up, rubbing her newly healed wrist.
“Thank you.” She cleared her throat and added, “Thank you,Nix.”
