Charlie Hernández the Castle of Bones by Ryan Calejo

Author:Ryan Calejo [Calejo, Ryan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, young adult
ISBN: 9781534426610
Goodreads: 43822802
Publisher: Aladdin
Published: 2019-11-12T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

How?… I mean, HOW?” was all I managed. Not exactly Shakespeare, I know. But I was in so much shock that the fact my mouth still worked—if only barely—was a small miracle in its own right.

La Cuca’s bloodred lips split into an evil grin as her eyes locked with mine. “You didn’t think you had actually defeated me, did you…? A runt like you?”

Her suddenly furious gaze blazed brighter. In that same moment some invisible force seized me, pinning my arms to my sides and making it impossible to move, scream, or even blink. Immediately my survival instincts began screaming at me to do something—anything!—but before I could figure out exactly what, the witch tightened her hold, tightened it around my throat, and now I couldn’t breathe! Another wave of panic crashed over me as I struggled and squirmed, trying to break free. But it didn’t take me long to realize that it was completely useless. This was just like the last time we’d fought—there was no way to overpower her!

“You’re too weak, Charlie.…” La Cuca laughed, sending a chill, like an icy blade, through my heart. “You can’t control your manifestations. You can’t help Joanna. You can’t save those you love. You can’t even save yourself!” As she stalked forward, her long, black-nailed fingers slowly curled into fists and the pressure around my throat suddenly clamped down like a vise. Waves of agony crashed over me. Black spots danced in front of my eyes.

I grimaced, crying out in pain, though no sound actually made it out of my mouth. Already I could feel my lungs burning for oxygen, starving for it; could feel myself teetering on the verge of consciousness. Worse, there wasn’t a single thing I could do about it. Nada!

But even more terrifying was the realization that when la bruja was finished with me, she’d go after Violet next. And then she’d go after my par—

Hold up a sec! I shouted at myself. This makes, like, ZERO, sense.…

How could La Cuca be here with me when here didn’t even exist anymore? This house had been obliterated during our battle. And how could she be standing right in front of me, looking as whole and evil as the first day we’d met when I’d already defeated her, when I’d already watched her burn up in the mesosphere like a falling comet?

Two really good questions. And the answer, of course, was pretty simple: She couldn’t.

Which meant that none of this was actually happening.…

“This isn’t real,” I heard myself say.

And it was right then, right as the truth of those words sank in, that the scene around me once again changed: Suddenly La Cuca vanished, as did the rest of the house on Giralda.

I was back in Saci’s hotel room again. And the second that sank in, I looked wildly around and spotted Violet first, then Saci. V was off in the far corner, crying and shivering, while on the other side of the room, by the row of

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