Page 117 of Forbidden Fate

In this room.

In this body.

In this horrible moment.

A floorboard creaks outside the bedroom.

Esmeralda’s nails dig into my wrist.

I open my eyes.

Another creak.

Someone is in the hall.

I hold my breath.

A knock sounds against the bedroom door.

Three soft taps.

Esmeralda trembles beside me.

“Robin.”

God. Cruz. My heart punches against my ribs.

“It’s me,” he says. “Cruz.”

For a second, I can’t move.

His voice is different.

Esmeralda’s eyes meet mine in the darkness of the armoire.

Another knock.

“It’s all right,” Cruz says. “I took care of him.”

Took care of him.

I know what those words mean.

I push the armoire door open.

Light spills in, making me blink. Esmeralda climbs out after me on unsteady legs.

I cross the room and open the bedroom door. Cruz stands in the hallway. For one terrible second, I don’t recognize him.

His face is covered in blood.

Not completely, but enough. A smear across his jaw. A streak near his temple. Blood at the corner of his mouth. More on his throat. His shirt is stained. His hands are worse.

Red.

So much red.

My first thought is that he’s hurt.