Page 43 of Promise to Break

"You are, Dear Cousin. It's a sweet dog. A male dog. Show him some emotion. It won't make you less cool, I promise."

Around us, the music lowers, and someone directs everyone's attention to the stage that's been set up. "Ladies and not-so-gentlemen, welcome to the Molina Brothers' Circus. We're going to start the night with a fine lady, a beauty like no other. The fairest of them all. Who is the most beautiful girl in here? Let's see, let's see. There you are, the one with the glowing red hair. You are the most beautiful of all your friends." The host points to Lila, who looks pleased.

"She wishes," Raven mutters, and Maricela shakes her head.

"Even a bitch can be beautiful, and she is."

Lila is pulled to the stage, and the magician parades her before the crowd. "Well, my beautiful lady, let me look at you up close. Wow. You are amazing. This dress is just made for your perfection. Did a fairy godmother make it just for you?"

Lila giggles. "I don't need fairy tales. Dior took care of it." She smiles, basking in her glory.

"Well, it's good to know you won't become an ugly pumpkin when the clock strikes midnight. You're too beautiful for us mortals."

"Tell me something new," Lila replies. "Challenge me." The crowd laughs at her self-assurance.

"Have you ever disappeared to a magical place, my fair lady? A place as picturesque and stunning as you?" She shakes her head. "Well, we shall rectify that. Please enter this door, and when I let you out, we'll all see what more you can become."

Lila does as instructed, and the magician locks the door behind her. He starts to sing a tune that sounds like a foreign language, and soon the real show starts.

"Help! Help! Please, I need someone to help me. It burns. What is this?" Everyone looks at the magician, who tries to open the door. He's a good actor. I'll give him that because he looks terrified as he tries to open the door again and again. After a few attempts, the door opens, and Lila stumbles out, covered with burns on her hands and face. People start to laugh, and she runs away. Now, my rage is truly satiated.

"You did it," Maricela says with a gasp and looks at me, really looks at me. Now she knows what a real monster really looks like. I don't try to deny it. I simply nod, and she hurries away.

Doesn't she know that prey shouldn't run?

It only awakens the visual need for a chase.

And she is my fucking prey.

Chapter nineteen

Maricela

It was Raven. She must have told him. I can't even muster the energy to be angry at her. I know why she did. She wanted to show me he wasn't part of the physical abuse. It was her way of protecting him, and she probably didn't consider the possibility that it would backfire.

I've heard the rumors and whispers claiming what he's capable of, but to see it in action was just too much. He fucking closed her in a box full of poison ivy. It's diabolical. But it is who he is. He's never hidden it from me. I knew it all along. It's what his family does. I saw how his brother killed a boy in cold blood, and I let my sister marry him. I knew all along that the press was right and that the authorities just don't have the evidence to do anything about the mafia's activities.

Run, Maricela, run! The voice in my head screams as people push and shove around me.

I don't stop, I can't, I won't. Mierda.

"Maricela, stop," Killian calls from somewhere behind me, his voice louder than the music.

I can't. I won't.

I don't hate running because I hate sports. I hate running because I can hear my father. "Maricela." It's his voice. He's going to hit me, to take my food away. I need to find the basement. Where is it?

"Maricela, stop. We need to talk." Talk? My dad never asked to talk to me. You're not back there. My mind tries to tell me, but I don't listen. My feet continue to move as if on their own, taking me away from the noise and the people. Away from him.

Still, I feel his steps. They aren't as light as mine. He's bigger than me, stronger than me, smarter than me, but he isn't faster than me. My legs, an entity all their own, run the show, taking me away, away from him.

He's stopped calling me, but I don't look back. As I get farther and farther away, my mind starts to clear. I'm not running from my dad. I'm running from Killian. Killian, who used his methods to avenge what was done to me. Killian, who has waited for me every morning for the past week at 4:45 a.m. near the kitchen, asking to talk to me. Killian, my personal bully, the one who kissed me again and again and wants to fuck me, to break me.

The same Killian you've wanted all along. My mind screams at me. He's just showing you the real him. You've wanted him since the very first moment you saw him on the news when the press was in his face asking him about a body found near the lake. He was so aloof, and instead of revulsion, you were intrigued. Weren't you, Maricela? You're as sick as he is, the voice accuses. But I'm not. I don't do bad things. I'm not. I protect those I love.

So, I run and run faster.

"Can you please stop, Wild One? Stop," he orders again.

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