“Like what happened to Yara?” Amador asked, and I nodded. “Well, I’d never heard of her before, especially not in class.”
“I think she died,” I said. “Her diary said that she was becoming less human every day. After that, she was never seen again.”
“It still doesn’t explain why her tomb was empty,” Nix said.
I nodded. “I think she became the lady of the mountain. I…I think I saw her ghost.”
Both Nix and Amador leaned forward. “You did?” Nix asked. “Where? When?”
“Yesterday, before Amador and I got caught in the trap.”
Both their eyes got round, and they stared at each other. I think they believed me. Why would I have any reason to lie?
“But how could Yara have possibly turned into a ghost haunting the mountain?” Nix asked.
“I don’t know.” I didn’t mean to sound so defeated, but it definitely came out that way.
Amador tugged another book from the stack toward herself. “Obviously, some kind of magic has to be at play. We just need to find out what.”
We got straight to work, doing all the research we could. But trying to find any information about a cursed princess was nearly impossible. Without any proof or documentation of what happened back then, it was hard to know what we were looking for.
As the day stretched on, it became harder for me to keep my eyes open, and the urge to nap in the warm afternoon sun started to take over. I had only meant to close my eyes for a little while, and I didn’t realize I’d fallen asleep with my face between the pages until I opened my eyes, momentarily blinded by the sun. I thought I was dreaming. I swore I saw Nix brushing Amador’s hair behind her ear and Amador gazing into her eyes. But the next time I blinked and sat up, Nix and Amador were on opposite sides of the room. I sat up and stretched, and Nix perked up when I did. “Good! You’re awake! We found something.”
That woke me up even further. “Oh yeah? What?”
Nix sat down beside me and opened a book about the five elements: earth, air, fire, water, and spirit. She pointed to a page that was covered in diagrams. “This chapter is about the magical properties of the four elements of nature, and this section is about the healing powers of water. It says here that there is an incantation to make the water even more pure. What if we used one of the natural springs here to amplify the effect? Edgardo said that the springs around here have some minor healing abilities, so allwe’d need to do is say the right spell andbam! Super mega healing water.”
“Of course! Kind of like how vampires are weak to holy water!” I said, smiling. “It’s the next best thing, right?”
“Maybe we can wash it away like tar—scrub the curse out of you!” Nix laughed for what I think was the first time in days.
I turned to Amador for a little support, but she kept her face buried in a book. I could see the blush on her face even from behind the cover. “What are we waiting for?” she asked. She snapped the book closed and headed for the door.
She was definitely acting strangely, but I was too excited to care.
We wasted no time in heading to the springs in the jungle. Amador had been to them all since we got here, and she remembered each and every one. She led us to a spring that was about a forty-minute walk from the manor. At least one of us had been enjoying our vacation.
It was an almost perfectly circular spring, with a giant rock outcropping that jutted overhead like a tall diving board. The water was so blue, gradually deepening in color in the middle. It reminded me of the swimming holes in Mexico called cenotes.
I could already feel the magic in the air.
Nix and Amador stayed on the shore while I waded waist-deep into the spring, fully clothed. The water was the perfect temperature; it almost felt like I wasn’t in a spring at all.
Nix called out to me, “I’ll try to bring out the healing properties as best I can and say the incantation. If you feel anything weird or if you think something is wrong, let us know, and we’ll pull you out.”
Amador nodded, and I pressed my lips into a firm, determined line. I really hoped this would work.
As I waded deeper into the water, disturbing the glass-like surface, Nix raised her arms over her head.
“Oh, water, giver of life, hear my voice.” She muttered the incantation under her breath and focused her power into the spring. At first, it felt like nothing was happening, but then I noticed that the spring was starting to glow, much like lights in a swimming pool, a kind of muted yellow from below.
When I cupped the water in my hands, it still had that same glow, like I was holding a pool of sunlight in my palms.
“You’re doing it, Nix,” Amador said.
Nix didn’t open her eyes, but her eyebrows raised as if she, too, was surprised. “Wash away the darkness, cleanse and purify and renew.”
My muscles relaxed as the water temperature rose, soothing my body into a soft daze. I dropped forward and below the surface, then sank down to the sandy bottom.
