A scream tore through Mayté’s raw throat.“ALEJANDRO!”
The doors closed.
Mayté stayed in the elevator, curled up on the floor.Carlos and Dominic tried to console her, but she barely heard them.Soon the workers returned and dragged her back into the gaming den, now cleaned and sterilized.But Mayté remembered what had happened here.She would never forget.As soon asthey released her, she crumpled to the floor, where she remained and bitterly wept.
Dominic knelt next to her and hugged her tight.Her throat was too hoarse to sob anymore.All she could do was squeeze her eyes shut.
“Damn them,” Carlos spat.
“To El Infierno,” Dominic agreed before glancing over his shoulder at the figure who had just entered the room.
Mayté bristled when she caught sight of a black gown lingering near the gaming table.Shewas here.Lo.Mayté couldn’t bear to look at her.
Dominic held Mayté tight.
“Why?Why would Dios allow this to happen?”Mayté rasped.
“I don’t know,” Dominic whispered.He suddenly burst into hacking coughs.A painful kind full of wheezing.
Bright red blood stained his hand and dribbled down the corner of his mouth.
“Dominic …” Mayté looked at him.A ring of purple accentuated his puffy, bloodshot eyes.His cheeks looked sunken and feverish, and his brown skin had lost its golden glow.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.“It always happens at the worst time …”
“What?What’s going on?”
“I didn’t come here for riches or to make Lorena my bride.”He hacked into his hands, and let out a gasping breath.He held up both hands, soaked with bright red blood.“I’m dying.”
Mayté froze and Carlos’s eyes widened.
Lo stood still.
“D-dying?”Mayté whispered.
Dominic nodded and wiped his hand with his handkerchief.“It’s been almost a year.No one knows what’s wrong.We’ve tried the best doctors in San Solera, the most well-known curanderas who reside in the district.Not even the most powerful potions work for long.I brought along Dedo de Dios in hopes that it would hold off my fits until my wish was granted, but even that has stopped working.And now, it’s worse than it’s ever been.”He spit out more blood.
Mayté’s eyes filled with fresh tears.
A butler approached.She wouldn’t have paid him a second thought, but Dominic and Carlos stared hard at him, a look of horror growing on their faces.When Mayté looked again, she understood why.
It was Antonio, the shopkeeper.There were many reasons she didn’t recognize him.For one, he had his hair slicked back, and his mustache was trimmed, but most of all it was the vacant look in his eye.He didn’t stare at Mayté with contempt.Now he looked like a lifeless doll.Did he remember who he had been mere hours ago?
Misterioso and the Banker walked into the gaming den, trailed by a woman.Mayté choked.She had the same bouncy brown curls and lithe frame as Lo’s mother.
Lo hissed and looked away.
“Welcome to our final round,” Misterioso announced, a tense undertone in his words.“Gracing us with her presence is our supreme Gamemaker, Loretta de León.”His grin twisted into a sneer.
Mayté felt even more numb and empty than before.
Loretta de León.
They had all thought she was dead.Lo had been right all along.
The shopkeeper pulled out a chair for Loretta.With a satisfied smirk, she sat down, crossed her legs, and rested her chin in her hand.Like a queen sitting atop her throne.The true reina del Beso de la Fortuna.
“May San Fortuno show you favor,” she drawled.
