I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Abuela, in the future, exorcism is not a good matchmaking device.”
“Pero it worked, sí?” She winks and moves to Caro, who has thrown her massive bouquet into the water.
“It’s a sign from la Luna,” Caro declares. “I’m not marrying Matteo.”
Matteo, who is still undergoing an exorcism by two Boricua mamis, has nothing to say on the matter.
My youngest sister Corinne giggles with glee as she films the proceedings on her phone. “This is un escándalo for the ages. I can’t wait to upload it to InstaBruja.”
Dad snatches the phone out of her hands. “No going viral at the expense of your sisters.”
“Pero Daddy!”
“You know the rules.”
My sister Cleo looks bereft. “Wait, you mean the cameras weren’t real? ¡Coño!” She stomps off toward the house in tears.
Crystal snaps her fingers in Diego’s face to get his attention. “Hey brujo. How about releasing the binding circle so we can all go inside and get drunk?”
“Oh right.” Diego lets go of me and claps his hands. “The circle is closed.”
The clap reverberates through the space and the guests cheer.
Crystal whistles to get their attention. “Open bar, baby! Last one to the ballroom’s a pendeja!”
Most of the crowd moves to follow her. Some gather around the pier calling out advice to my mother and Señora Paz, but more than a few people cast speculative looks in my direction.
Diego’s great-aunt winks at us. “Ay, pero maybe we can have a wedding today after all?”
Another vieja—possibly a cousin of my dad’s—checks her watch. “If they hurry up with the exorcism we can fit in another ceremony before la Luna sets.”
I cover my face and mumble to Diego through my fingers. “Get us out of here.”
“This is your land, remember? I can’t teleport in or out. But you can.”
“Blessed Luna. That’s right, I can!”
I throw my arms around him and call my magic, directing it to take us to the inn. Wind rushes around us and a second later, I’m standing on asphalt instead of grass. Nestor is sweeping the front walk when we appear.
“Welcome back, nenes!” he calls. “Did you banish el demonio?”
Diego rubs his forehead. “You knew about that too?”
“Claro que sí. Matteo was never so interesting as he was this week. That’s why I didn’t go.”
I kiss Nestor’s cheek on our way into The Crone’s Nest. “Thank you, Nestor. For everything.”
He winks at me from beneath the magenta bangs of his wig and continues sweeping. Before we can close the front door behind us, he calls out, “Don’t forget to return all my supplies to where they belong!”
Diego shakes his head and sighs as we climb the stairs to our room. “Everyone really does know everything about each other on Isla Bruja.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if your tío and my abuela were in cahoots.”
“I’m sure they are.”
Inside our room, I snap my fingers and all the candles flare to life, a small act of magic I’ll never take for granted again. “We make a pretty good team, don’t we?”
“I can’t think of anyone I’d rather exorcise a demon with.”
