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Queenie glances between me and Santiago before settling on him. “Are you a chess player,señor?” she asks quietly. “If so, you’ll know that the queen is always the most important piece on the board, not the king.”
That earns her a second gun pointing at her head.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“This is what he does.” She turns back to me, her blue eyes glassy with fear. “He gets inside your head. He twists everything. Don’t you see? You were never the end game, Grayson. He was using your past as a way to destabilize youandyour organization, to drive a wedge between you and her… When that didn’t work, he switched tactics.”
I stare at Queenie, the ground giving way beneath my feet. Not wanting to believe a single thing the traitorousperrais saying, but hearing the truth in every word.
“He wanted her out of New York. Away from your obsession. Away from her father’s protection. He knew she’d never stay on his island. She’s too restless. He was prepared to hunt her down wherever she went, but now she’s gone back to the one place he wanted her the most… Colombia.”
Ella.
“It’s always been abouther, Grayson. She’s the one he wants.”
I hear Santiago roaring for more answers as I’m sprinting for the door, pulling out my phone as I go, seeing fourteen missed calls from her and seven increasingly desperate messages.
I didn’t see past my own pain fast enough.
Her number rings out.
I dial again.
Nothing.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
When I reach the hallway, my father’s already halfway down the stairs, shouting out instructions to the pilot to get the jet ready.
That’s when I know.
There were three devils in this game, and one’s outplayed us all.
EPILOGUE
EDIER
Past
There’sa monster living inside me.
He was created from the slippery red tiles in the bathroom where she died.
He ruins everything that’s good, like when I’m walking with my newPá, and he’s telling me all about Texas and something called ‘The Alamo’, and making a part of me believe that maybe I’m not such a worthless piece of shit after all.
He dulls my days, and he darkens my nights.
He goes by another name, too.
Shame.
Shame that the people I was sent here to hurt only want to give me their love and protection.Shame that I’m still here, hanging around them like a bad curse.
When I kill my monster with the razor blade in my pocket later, I’m going to lie down and close my eyes too, and we can go someplace else together. There’s no reason for me to be alive anymore. My whole family are dead.Páand Nacio were killed by the tall man standing opposite me at the beach today, talking to my new family.
I’m happy about that. Sad about everything else.
“Edier, why don’t you go and paint me some rocks,” urges my newMamá.
