Page 91 of Fortune's Kiss
“Are you sure about this?”
The sound of a deep voice made her stop.Who was Mayté talking to?Lo leaned closer to the opening in the door and peeked just in time to see Mayté rush over to someone.Her long robes spilled out behind her like moonbeams as she hugged the person.Holding her breath, Lo squinted, nose inches away from the cracks.Alejandro.
“Yes, yes, I’m positive!”Mayté’s voice rang out with absolute joy.The kind that was infectious.Lo found herself smiling.Mayté was surely using Alejandro for hints at surviving this next round.Smart.“Once I use El Beso de la Fortuna to win, I’ll get you out of here.I promise!”
Lo’s heart stopped.
She was planning on escaping withhim?What about everything they had been through?Their promises?Their pact.
No.This couldn’t be real.This was an illusion from the house.It was trying to make her hate her best friend.
But no matter how hard she squeezed her eyes shut and bit the insides of her cheeks, it wouldn’t end.She fought against the thought that wormed its way through her skull.
This is real.
A stab of betrayal and shot straight to Lo’s heart.She swore that she felt the blood draining from her body, leaving behind an empty cold.
Was Mayté just going to leave her here to die?It was impossible to wrap her mind around it.This couldn’t be, yet the truth shone before her.The girl she’d thought was her best friend was plotting with some worthless boy behind Lo’s back.
Behind my back.
“Don’t look at me like that!”Mayté grabbed Alejandro’s shoulders.“We’re doing this.It’s going to work!It has to.”
“Mayté!Oh, Mayté!”Alejandro suddenly lifted her up in the air.Mayté shrieked and the two burst into laughter.Then they kissed.
Lo backed away, shaking.She was too numb to feel the achy lump in her throat.
“As soon as we get back to Milagro, I’ll teach you how to paint.”
“I think I’d much rather seeyoupaint.But I can show you my drawings.”
“Perfect.We’ll make art together.”
Lo stormed off, unable to take any more of it.With every step, the walls swayed.
How could Mayté do this to her?How could she let herself fall for him?Was it because he was the first boy to show her the least bit of attention?Was Mayté that pathetic?That desperate?Didn’t she realize men couldn’t be trusted, especially the ones here?
La Sirena was right, Alejandro was going to shatter Mayté’s heart the first chance he had.
But maybe she deserved it.
Lo reached the elevator and smashed her palm against the button.
“Lo?”
Lo bit down on her lip and clenched her fists, before turning to see Mayté rush over.
“I … I’m so sorry.”Mayté’s eyes filled with tears.
Sorry?
“I shouldn’t have been so dismissive about your mother.I never wanted to be right about her.”With a small whimper, Mayté hugged her.
The hug should have been warm and comforting.Just hours earlier, it would have been something she desperately needed, but now Lo stiffened and didn’t return the embrace.A silence lingered between the two.But it wasn’t the normal kind of silence.The kind on cool summer mornings where Mayté toiled away trying to paint the distant mountains as Lo lay in the grass.This silence, in the midst of lies, deception, and betrayal … this silence was deadly.
“It’s fine.I’ll get over it.”And she would, once she destroyed everything.
Mayté pulled away and looked Lo up and down.“Your dress,” she said with a frown.
