Page 79 of Fortune's Kiss
And she would use the house’s own magic against it.“Lead me to your demise,” she hissed under her breath as the doors opened.“I don’t care what it costs me.”She swiped at her dripping nose, not even recoiling as thick blood stained her fingers.Whether illusion or real, she didn’t care.Show me how to destroy this place.Show me now.
A cluster of monarch butterflies fluttered by.Were they remnants of La Mariposa?She chased after them through a winding hallway until one by one they dropped dead, transforming into orange marigold petals.A gust of wind blew the petals down a hallway full of doors.Maybe she was onto something.
She tried a door.Locked.Then another and another.Still locked.Was every door here barred to her?She pressed her ear to one but couldn’t make out any sounds.What could be behind them?It had to be something important.She pounded her fist against the wood.
“The answer is behind this door.Show me,” she whispered.Still locked.The fiery anger inside her blazed hotter.She tried the next one and the next one, yanking harder and harder.This hall of doors seemed endless, but it didn’t matter.She would stay here until the end of eternity if she had to.“Give me something I can use.Anything!”she spat and yanked the next one.
It flew open.
Lo peeked inside.It was empty and pitch-black, an endless abyss.If she stepped inside, she feared she might suffocate in a glob of inky blackness.Her eyes soon adjusted to the dark, or maybe the room itself changed, revealing a study.
She rushed inside.The crackling fireplace cast an eerie glow throughout the room.There was a desk along with shelves full of books and other knickknacks.A dog slept on the rug by the fireplace.No, not a dog.It had horns and spikes growing along its tail.Spots on its dark fur glowed bright orange.An alebrije.Lo froze.Until she realized it was just a statue.
She let out a sharp breath.There wasn’t time for paranoia.This place had to have some kind of clue.She hurried to thedesk, searching through the stack of papers and yanking the drawers until something gleaming and silver caught her eye.A letter opener.The handle had ornate carvings of skulls and flowers, but the part that interested her most was the sharp blade.She lightly touched it with her finger.With the right amount of force, it could do quite a bit of damage.She stuffed it down her bodice.The cool metal chilled her skin.
One of the drawers slammed shut.She jumped away, heart racing.Everything inside her screamed at her to run, but that was exactly why she needed to stay.
Sprawled across the desk was a map of San Solera and the surrounding countries.Circles in blood red ink covered the parchment.This included Ciudad Milagro.Was this a map of the places Fortune’s Kiss had visited?Could this be the study of one of the Gamemakers?
Lo snooped further.There was a cabinet full of potion bottles, all colorful and glowing bright.She frowned.It would have been helpful to have her best friend with her.Mayté always kept tabs on the potions being sold at the street mercado.They should have been working together, but now Lo was in too deep.If she left, the house might not let her return to this place.
On the next shelf was a thick ledger full of names.Workers, maybe, or perhaps contestants.She couldn’t tell with just the light from the fireplace, it was too dark to make sense of the names.
The candles flickered, suddenly going out.A burnt smell filled her nostrils, and tendrils of smoke curled like fingers warning her to keep quiet.
Her breathing became shaky.She slammed the booklet shut.
The next shelf was full of framed photographs of people.An altar of sorts.One caught her eye—an image of what appearedto be a man in a suit, but most of the face had been scribbled out.Next to it was a stack of documents; the name and other identifying information on them had been blotted out as well.She studied the photograph again, squinting.The bottom part of the face hadn’t been fully scribbled out.She caught bits of wide grin, angular jaw, and deep-set dimples.“Misterioso?”
Was this information about the Gamemakers?Why would the house send her here?Unless—she remembered the strange tension with the Banker and Misterioso, how the sensation only thickened when Pearla came onto the scene.Lo studied the papers more closely and found that someone had jotted down words in neat script.
Is there another copy?
She set down the page and found a framed photograph of the Banker.He looked exactly the same.Long hair slicked back into a low ponytail and all.On his lapel, he wore a Hispana crest.Lo swallowed hard.Many members of el orden antiguo wore them like a badge of honor.To think she had been trying to conspire with a member of La Orden.There was a twinge of bitter disgust, but apathy washed it away.With Mamá gone, nothing mattered anymore.
Next to his frame was a locket and a piece of paper.Lo grabbed the locket and studied it.The gold had begun to tarnish.She flipped it open and found a cameo of a girl.She was beautiful with rich brown skin, bright red lips, and the most striking golden eyes Lo had ever seen.Her black hair was pulled up into a loose bun, and wavy tendrils of hair framed her face.An old lover, maybe?
Lo set down the locket and found a folded-up piece of parchment.
Lo read it again.Wait.This Ana Lùcia came to Fortune’s Kiss in order to be with the Banker?But then how did he end up here as well?He must have followed her.Then … she must not have won the game.
Was there a way Lo could use this information to her advantage?
Then she heard the sounds.Distant wails of agony.Rasping breath and pounding on the walls.There was something nearby.She backed up against the wall next to the fireplace, and what she saw on the mantle took her breath away: Mamá’s comb.The one Lo had brought as her most prized possession.Mayté’s painting had been taken away too, along with everyone else’s prized possession, Lo imagined, but only Mamá’s comb was here.The house was taunting her.And it was really beginning to piss her off.
She snatched the comb, barely feeling the blast of hot air and smoke from the fireplace.The comb was just as she had left it.Without a scratch or chip.Her gaze traveled upward, and the comb slipped from her fingers.The painting above the fireplace showed Mamá.She stared at Lo, a knowing smile playing on her lips.
A scream bubbled in Lo’s throat, but then in the blink of an eye, Mamá winked.
“What do you think you’re doing in here?”
She whirled around and found herself face to mask with Misterioso.His lips, the only visible part of his face, curled down into a snarl.
“I—I—” She cleared her throat, regaining her composure.“Oh, I’m sorry.”She channeled innocence.“The door was unlocked.I didn’t know we weren’t allowed in here.”When she glanced back at the painting, it had changed once again now portraying a calavera sitting among decaying marigolds.
“I never showed this room on tour, as it is private.”Misterioso moved closer, backing her into a corner.“I know you’re up to something.”
Lo frowned.He seemed … threatened by her.But why?He was the man in control of this murderous place, and she was just a girl.He had every reason to consider her harmless, yet he didn’t.
