Page 59 of Falcon's Prey

Without fail, I felt eyes on me once again. After being alone for so long, they were welcome. With the world looking at me, it meant Silas was a little out of reach.

I held my head high as I made my way through the crowd, aware of every movement from the two security guys in front of me and from the two next to me. For now, I had to play by their rules even if I hated it.

Every year I hung out at the same vendor, pretending that I was with family just like everyone else.

My hands went to a white candle with an angel helping two kids cross a bridge to safety. Taking it, I gave it to the old lady and handed it to her, hoping she could get the hidden meaning behind my candle of choice.

“Pay her,” I snapped at Gio.

As he handed her the money, the lady gave me a look because I was not my usual self, and she knew it. In this place, among the living worshiping the dead, I was not Ember Remington; among them, I was another girl making anofrendato a dead mother she never knew.

“¿Estás bien, niña?”Are you all right, child?she asked.

“En cuando me quite mis sombras, lo estare,” I told her.As soon as I get rid of my shadows, I’ll be fine.

“Let’s go, Miss Remington,” Gio said, pissed.

Apparently this was one of those things people were surprised I could do. I wasn’t ignorant. I went to the best schools and wanted to know everything about my mother, down to her native tongue.

“The dance is about to start,” the vendor lady said, and I smiled at her.

“Gracias.”

Gio put his hand on mine, dragging me away. “What did Silas tell you? If you tried anything, it would—”

“What, my ass on the line?” I bit back. “I was getting a fucking candle. Let me go before there’s a picture of you manhandling me.”

He looked at me with hate, but ultimately he let me go because I was right.

I made my way to where they had altars where people were putting out their candles as others said a prayer to walk the poor souls to a happier afterlife.

A day like today, I really missed the diamond against my skin, reminding me that I had a lot to lose. I did the sign of the cross as my heart thrummed faster. My ears began to pound, but it wasn’t my own heartbeat; it was the drums from the parade. I made my way to the farther edge from where the parade had already started, having missed the beginning.

The guys were at my back, their presence fueling the fire I’d carried since the day in the limo. I got up on my toes, and across the street far off, I could see the coffee shop Dr. Wozniak had mentioned.

We never talked about coffee or shops, so for him to mention this place after finding out my whereabouts, it had to mean something. Or maybe I was grasping at straws, but I wouldn’t know until I tried.

“People saw enough of you. Let’s get going.”

“Give me a second. This next float is my favorite.” I removed my hand from Gio’s grasp.

The drums got louder and faster, and the people in the crowd got hyped, me included.

Just then, women dressed in black and red dresses came into view. They twirled their skirts in synch. It was hypnotic watching all these women who looked like death dancing to the beat of the drums. I waited as I felt the beating of my heart in my throat and my hands wanting to shake a bit. Men dressed like charros and Death stepped in front of the sidelines. My eyes met Jorge’s, knowing he had probably already spoken to his grandma, and that was when I ran.

I moved fast and in between them yelling, “¡Ayúdeme!.”

Help me!

I ran past the women who were twirling and dancing, not wanting to miss a beat, and then pushed against the crowd on the other side. I heard shouts and people yelling. I knew Gio and the men wouldn’t care to use their force, but I just needed enough time to pull away.

My lungs were on fire, my throat burned with the breaths I was barely taking, and every cell in my body begged me to slow down. It asked me to get high, but right now, fear and survival dominated.

A car honked, and people yelled, but I didn’t care to stop. When I made it to the little coffee shop, I opened the door and ran in. I didn’t dare look back, but I ran to the back, and then I locked myself in the men’s bathroom—just in case.

As soon as the door was closed, I slid to the floor, my chest heaving, trying to get air back in my body. I felt like I was dying. There were no other doors and no exits this way, so if Silas wanted me, he would have to drag me through the front door.Not before I sing bloody murder.Silas changed the game on me thinking he still had the upper hand, and all he’d given me was the courage to do what I had been too cowardly to go through.

Not. Any. More.

---