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“And I’m only alive when I’m with you.” I murmur, sealing my lips to hers in a gentle kiss, feeling her soft curves press against my hard ones.
A part of me feels alive that this is finally about to be over. My blood hums as it pumps through my veins, anticipation of ending Santiago once and for all. Then there’s another part of me, a small part that wants to clutch Ivy in this bathroom and not let her go. A part of me that tells me to not leave. It’s a warning, I realize.
I clutch Ivy to me as I close my eyes, stomping out my worry. It has no place here. I refuse to allow it to suffocate us tonight.
Fuck the worry. It’s time to finish this.
21
Ivy
“You okay?” Aziel shouts over his shoulder at a stoplight. We’re about a block or two away from our destination. The sights are becoming more familiar to me, and with every piece of scenery that pulls from the depths of my brain, my blood pumps harder. I can feel my jaw clench and my limbs lock up.
I can hear the sounds of the party in the distance. The cars and voices chatting and speaking the familiar Spanish lilt that I’ve come to understand.
“I’m fine.” I choke out.
“Doesn’t seem like it.” He squeezes my wrist. “You grip me any harder and you’ll lose the circulation in your hands.”
I force myself to loosen my grip and we start driving again, parking far away from the entrance. A Harley bike is not something any of Santiago’s guests would arrive in, so we’re going to have to park a distance away and walk up to the entrance.
“Ready?” He asks as he turns off his bike. Reaching his hand towards me, he looks like the perfect gentleman with his arm extended in his tuxedo. His makeup is the only thing that throws off the dapper look. The sharp shadow of his jaw leading to his decayed looking teeth look alarming. Menacing. It pulls a heavy shiver through my body, undeterred.
“Time to move, Aziel.” Lynx says from behind him, the heavy roar of his own bike vibrating through my chest.
“Ready or not, I guess it’s time to go.” I wipe my clammy palms on the black silk of my dress. Glancing up and down the street, I see Pascal down on one corner and Cassius down the other. Jex has the black SUV ready to pull up and grab Santiago when necessary. Niles and West are already at the house, scoping out the perimeter and looking for anything that would alert them to call the mission off.
We’ve got this place surrounding with men. My fingers prickle in anticipation. I’m ready to end this once and for all.
“Something seems off, you bail. Got me, son?” Lynx grips the back of Aziel’s neck.
“I’ll be fine.” Aziel slaps his dad’s palm and pulls it off his neck.
Lynx shakes his head and revs his bike, pulling off slowly down the road as he heads towards Pascal.
Aziel grabs my hand, lacing his large fingers through my small ones as we walk up the street. The lights glow over the hill, the life of the party peaking at us from up ahead. It’s well past sundown, which means the party must have started only a short while ago. People will mingle and drink, talking with other buyers before the announcer takes the stage to start the bidding. There is no formal dinner during Día de los Muertos. Hors d'oeuvres and appetizers will be served throughout the night by waiters and waitresses, most of them slaves.
The thought makes me think of Alexia.
Alexia.
Nerves grip my stomach, and I’m sure I won’t be able to stomach any sort of food tonight.
We don’t say a word as we walk towards the house, which doesn’t help my anxiety. The only sound I can hear is theclap, clapof myheels as I walk up the street. I take a deep breath, and I swear I can smell the fear of the girls inside that mansion up ahead.
Or maybe it’s just my own.
There is no breeze this evening. No dance or bend of the bushes and trees. It’s all still as the night. As if the trees are as petrified as I am.
“This is it.” Aziel mumbles.
I pull him to a quick stop. “Wait. Your voice.”
The dark circles around his eyes pull downward. “What about my voice?”
“It’s too… familiar. You have to like… add an accent. Add a Texan accent or something. Can you do that?”
“’Course I can, darlin’.” His teeth show between the teeth painted around his lips, and another shiver breaks out along my spine.
