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“Mackenzie, look at me.” Rosario is in my space, so close I see the worry in her dark chocolate eyes. Her arms are around me, holding me up. “It’s gonna be okay. Chase is strong and smart,” she whispered.
Tears fell like hot rivers down my cheeks. While Chase is all those things and more, he’s also my everything. I don’t want to do this life without him.
She hugged me tighter, whispering that she understood. I was skeptical that she grasped the depth of my feelings for Chase until she began talking about being held captive in the attic with Emersyn.
“W-What happened to her?” I tearfully whispered,
Rosario shook her head, the sadness, guilt, and evidence of grief all over her face. She fingered the edge of her long, lacy veil. “I carry a piece of her with me wherever I go.”
I sobbed harder, breaking down at the thought of Chase no longer being on this earth with me.
“Stop, Mackenzie. Chase will be fine.”
“Then why did you tell me about Emersyn?”
“Because I’m still here. And I’m confident you and Chase will find a way out.”
I stare at her, speechless.
Finally, I lift my gaze to the ceiling as if I can somehow see what is transpiring in the attic above.
“W-What i-is- h-happening?” I whisper.
She lifts one shoulder in a shrug. “I don’t know. But I believe Daemon and I underestimated Orpheus.”
Her words are like an ice pick through my heart. This whole situation is messed up enough without all the weird cult dynamics and power plays.
“Come now. Wash your face so Chase doesn’t know you were crying.”
Taking deep breaths, I try to get my emotions under control. Once I’m composed, I do as she instructed, then dry my face.
“Rosario?” I whispered.
Her eyes were already on mine, understanding dawning in them. For the first time, I noticed the scars on her face beneath the veil. Although I didn’t intend to ask her about them, the words slipped out. “What happened?”
“Orpheus.”
Sadness and rage battled for dominance inside me.Who knows what kind of horrors she suffered at the hands of that monster? Yet, she’s still by his side, despite all he’s done.
“Why?”
She released a shuddering breath, her petite hands shaking. Slowly, she gripped the edge of her veil, pulled it over her head, and revealed her face to me.
Rosario is stunningly beautiful, even with the scars lining her face. Now I understood why she always wore the veil or painted her face for the rituals. It’s not about proving she’s part of the cult. She’s hiding the physical scars left by a monster.
As if she had read my mind, Rosario whispered, “I didn’t have a choice. The last thing Emersyn made me promise was that I’d survive, no matter what. I had no options. Orpheus killed the boy I came with. I didn’t have any family, and the foster houses I was in and out of were a dime a dozen.” Her face was full of resignation when she added, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. That’s what I did to survive. I kept my promise to her.”
I had a newfound respect for Rosario.She isn’t weak at all. She’s a survivor.
Lifting my chin, my hands tightened into fists as my gaze moved back to the ceiling, then to Rosario. “If I get the chance, I’m taking my man and leaving.”
Pride shone within Rosario’s dark brown eyes. “I would expect nothing less.”
We stood there, two very different women, bound by similar trauma.
I wish I could kill Orpheus and remove Rosario from this house of horrors.
The silence was broken by the thud of footsteps on the attic steps. I held my breath, my ears straining. The door closed, then locked. We listened to the steady thud of Orpheus’s footsteps growing fainter until they disappeared.
