“It won’t hurt you.” I frown. “I don’t think.”
“Shouldn’t you know for sure?” he asks, backing up a step. “They can swallow whole cows.”
I pet the snake, the wool soft under my fingers. Its silver eyes gaze at me with apparent fondness. Then it turns its head toward the vigilante. “I made it. With my weaving.”
“What do you mean ‘with your weaving’?” he asks hoarsely.
The rest of the animals come out of their hiding spots: the jaguar and the condor, the sloth and the parrot, the fiesty llama and the frogs. “I weaved them in my tapestries using—using a special thread—and they came to life. Remarkable, isn’t it?”
The vigilante takes a step toward me. The jaguar stills. I make shushing noises at it and reach a hand over to its ear. “It’s all right.”
“This is—I’ve only seen this kind of talent in Princesa Tamaya. I never thought anyone could … This is …” He pauses, shaking his head, as if sorting his thoughts. “And the fact that it’syou.I hardly know what to think.”
I take his hand and bring it to the jaguar’s head. The animal stiffens but relaxes under El Lobo’s tentative fingers. Soon it’s purring.
“That’s my secret,” I say.
He slides a look my way. Then he crouches and reaches to pet the anaconda. Moments later the rest of the animals come out to properly greet him. El Lobo gently lifts the sloth into his arms. “Why did you make a sloth?”
I shrug. “They’re cute?”
His mask moves as he smiles. “Ilovesloths.”
The creature nestles closer, digging its face into the crook of the vigilante’s neck.
“I think the feeling is mutual,” I say. “They all look so fierce in their own way, clearly not part of this world. It’s amazing to see them interacting with another person.” As an afterthought, I add, “You’re the only one I’ve shown them to.”
El Lobo digs an index finger into the folds of the sloth’s woolly skin. “Why me?”
He knows why. Because I care about our friendship, however tenuous and fleeting it may be. I care about his opinion of me. And a small part of me knows that he cares just as much as I do. I count him as a friend. One of the few I have inside this castillo. “Don’t be an idiot.”
Despite everything, he laughs. “You’re not one to be coy, are you?”
We settle onto the bed, and the creatures follow. The entire surface is covered with woolly tails, paws, wings, and a hissing tongue. They blend in with one another until it becomes too hard to discern which animal is which. Except for the sloth, who remains in El Lobo’s arms.
“I’m supposed to be convincing you why our plan is the best for Inkasisa,” he says softly. “But here I am, covered in all of this, and thinking you’re not what I expected.”
“I know the feeling.”
“Do you regret showing me your secret?”
When it comes to my enemies, I’ve tried to avoid thinking about what we have in common. I haven’t wanted to see them as friends with families they want to protect and cherish. But now I’ve seen all those things in Suyana and Rumi and Juan Carlos. They’ve become friends, people whose company I enjoy. Even look forward to.
“No, I don’t.”
El Lobo sits up, gently removing my animals. There’s a new light in his eyes, as if he’s decided something.
He holds out his hand. “Come with me.”
A chance to leave the castillo? There’s really nothing to think about. I ask him to turn away so I can change into my darker clothing. When I’m finished, he turns back around and pulls an extra black mask from his pocket.
My mouth drops open and he shrugs, almost sheepish. “I brought it in case …”
“In case you thought I could be trusted?”
“Oh, I don’t know that.” He blows out a quiet breath, and I almost don’t hear his next words. “But I want to.”
My blood races warmer in my veins as I take the mask. The intimate way he’s gazing at me is hard to ignore. I slip the disguise over my head. “Ready.”
