“No!” I screamed, my voice cracking. “No!”
My vision blurred.
The room spun around me, the smell, the light, the faces all blending into one nightmare blur. My legs gave out, and somewhere between my scream and the silence that followed, the world went dark.
XII. LIAR
Iwalkedbackup.At the front door, Mia leaned against the frame, looking at me like I had done something wrong.
“What?” I asked as I climbed the stairs toward the entrance.
“She won’t last a day down there,” Mia said.
“Good.” I pushed past her and into the house.
The place felt empty. Most of the people had left with Rocco for Rome. Half of them technically belonged to me, but they wanted extra money, so I let them go. More work and more pay for those who stayed meant less for us who will be without performing for three weeks.
Outside, the lights were off, and some of the tents were already coming down after the carnival closed. Just the air stayed the same, the wet smell of popcorn and old sugar.
“Do you want her in the attic?” Mia asked, closing the door behind her.
I sat on the staircase and shook my head.
She came closer and sat down across from me.
“Very well. What’s the plan?”
“As far as I remember, they wanted her,” I said. “And tonight, they found out she’s here. It’s only a matter of time before they come, and when they do, I will hunt them, one by one.”
“And what about the girl?” she asked.
“I will break her until she has nothing left but to stay here,” I said, looking her in the eye.
“Do you still hear them?” Mia asked.
I closed my eyes. My jaw clenched. The noise in my head kept getting louder, an echo crawling at the edges. “Every damn day.”
I was fucked. To. The. Core.
The voices that lived behind my teeth wanted blood, and they did not stop until they had some, until I drowned in it.
Mia reached into her corset and pulled out a folded letter.
“Your brother was here,” she said. “He said something about that night a year ago, and that you should meet him at Punta Nora.”
I took the letter and opened it fast. The handwriting was messy. It read:
“come after 3 a.m. ALone and brIng shoWel. E”
One thing was for sure, even though my brother Enzo thought he was smart, leaving me notes with capital letters spelling “ALIWE”, he sure did not know how to spell. I folded the note and shoved it into my back pocket.
“Does she know,” Mia asked, “that you are Rio’s brother?”
I pressed my palm over my mouth, dragging it down along my jaw. “No,” I exhaled. “Not yet.”
Mia sighed. “I’ll bring her food,” she said, already turning toward the hall.
“Don’t.” My voice came out rougher than I meant. “Let her starve a little. Fear keeps them quiet.”
