A group of people huddled together on the other side of the room.Their bodies blurred until she saw a familiar rebozo and long pair of braids.Mayté.
Just the sight of her best friend was enough to vanquish the hell in her head.Lo blinked back tears.Without a doubt they had both made it into Fortune’s Kiss.“Mayté!”Lo almost tripped over her cloak as she rushed to her best friend.
Mayté whirled around and her face lit up.“Gracias a Dios!”
They held each other tight.The smell of cinnamon with the subtlest hint of paint hit her nose.Mayté’s smell.The best and most comforting scent in all of Milagro.
“I’m so relieved,” Lo cried out.
“Me too,” Mayté said.“For a moment, I didn’t think I’d made it.”
“Yes, I was so worried, but as soon as I saw your rebozo, I knew everything was going to be all right.”Lo tugged at the fabric.
“Ay, that’s why I wear it.It’s my signature look.”Mayté twirled.Lo tried to scoff, but she couldn’t stop smiling.“But wasn’t it so strange?”Mayté asked.“Did you have to drink a potion too?”
Lo’s heart stopped.She slowly nodded.
“Ah!Then maybe all of us had to.As soon as I drank it, I had these strange visions.I saw myself as a famous painter.It was amazing.All the nobles were bidding on my artwork.Mine.”
“Well, my father became a good man,” Lo blurted before Mayté could ask what she had seen.“And my family was happy.”She slipped on a smile, even though everything inside her churned like a sick storm.Lies.But reliving the truth even for a moment would make her vomit.
“Oh, really?”
Lo nodded.She couldn’t meet her best friend’s eyes.Her own gaze traveled to Mayté’s skirt.Scarlet and flowing.
Just like her father’s blood.
A chill gripped Lo and the tiniest of voices whispered in her ear.What would your dear friend do if she knew you murdered your father?
“Lo?”Mayté gave her a questioning look.
“You’re both here too?”a new voice interrupted.
Lo gasped and Mayté’s mouth dropped.
Dominic Castro waved.He wore a bright red cravat at his neck.In the candlelight, his white suit almost appeared to glow.“It’s good to see some familiar faces.I was worried I wouldn’t know anyone.”His cheeks were flushed, and black hairs stuck to his forehead.
Lo fought a frown.She came to Fortune’s Kiss to escape her suitors.Still, he was the least offensive of them.He had laughed at Juan Felipe when she snapped at him, so he had a sense ofhumor.She managed something of a smile.“Dominic, I never expected to see you here.”
“Yeah, whatareyou doing here?”Mayté bluntly asked.
An heir from Las Cuatro didn’t need Fortune’s Kiss, especially the oldest son.Someone like Juan Felipe or even Ernesto would have likely used their wish to make their family the most powerful in all of Milagro.What was Dominic’s end game?She would have to keep her eye on him.
“I could ask you the same.”Dominic quirked an eyebrow.
“I think it’s obvious why I’m here.”Mayté rolled her eyes.
“You’re right.I’m sorry.”He offered a weak smile.A genuine-seeming gesture, but Lo knew all too well that everyone wore a mask.
Mayté huffed and tugged her rebozo.
“Well, I …” Lo tried her best to muster up naive innocence.“I thought Fortune’s Kiss looked fun, you know?”
“You’re gambling your dreams just for the fun of it?”Dominic stared at her as if he saw through to the truth of her sins.
No, no.That was the paranoia talking.It must have been a lingering side effect of that damn potion.“Maybe.”Lo smiled, resisting the urge to pull her cloak tighter around her.She needed to get a grip.
Before Dominic could question her any further, Mayté suddenly gasped, loud and strangled as if someone punched her in the gut.“Carlos?”
