I answer for Emma and me. She is incapable of words at the moment. I don’t know what she thought was going to happen. He has a part to play, and so do we. We just have to trust that everything will come out okay.
To put your blind faith in someone is hard. You just have to trust them to come through, and not seeing anyone this week has really made it hard not to feel abandoned. Yet here we are,placing our faith in our brother to end this war that has been a long time coming.
I shake Emma’s arm, and she looks at me. Her eyes harden, and I smile.
“Let’s do this. Lead the way, brother.” I motion with my hand in front of me.
He nods, a slight smile to his mouth as he turns around, and we walk out to the party where shit is about to get real.
We walk down the hall as the music and noise get louder. “Walk behind me, please.”
As we arrive at the grand staircase, we are met by Mr. Martinez and his father, Ramón. Mr. Martinez looks us over with his hungry gaze that makes me want to vomit, but I won’t show him any weakness. Mateo and Ramón move to flank Mr. Martinez on each side of him, thereby hiding us from view.
“Can I please have your attention?”
The music stops, and the crowd grows silent. I can’t see anyone from here, but I know there are many guests present for this. The faces blend into one another as if they are melting.
“I’d like to welcome you to my home and, for some of you, into my family. You know my father, but you may not know my son, Mateo. Much like the prodigal son, he has returned home, and I welcome him with open arms. He is my true heir, and he brought us our very special guests for tonight. They are quite lovely, and I know that two of you here tonight will be fortunate enough to make this collaboration worth every penny. I will pass this over to my son to make further introductions.”
He slaps Mateo on the back and hands him the little microphone. He smiles widely with excitement.
“Hello. As my father introduced me a moment ago, I am Mateo, his son. Thank you all for coming, and I look forward to doing business with you in the near future.
“Without further ado, I know that you are here for the lovely women we are offering tonight, so I’d like you to meet them.”
Mateo motions for us to come forward, but I cannot move. I am the center of attention, and the hushed whispers make the perspiration drip down my back. Marcus is at the top of the stairs and pushes us forward.
“My sisters, Evie and Emma Ortiz Taylor.” Mateo holds out his hand for us to take, one on each side of him.
The music starts up again with a bass riff and a flute, lightly fluttering notes in the background. The singer belts out jazzy vocals as we begin our walk down the long staircase toward an uncertain fate.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
EVIE
“Seventy Thorns” by Jonathan Davis and Kim Dracula
One thing I notice straight away is that there are a lot of men here. I gulp, holding onto Mateo’s hand with a firmer grip. The second thing I notice is Oro, standing by the large picture window, flicking his tongue at me. My nostrils flare. He’s provoking me. His laughter rises up above the crowd to mock me. My anger takes over as my primary emotion as I envision his head exploding. Gray matter flies out of his brain with force as a projectile shoots through his skull, causing his head to crack open like a watermelon. I hear the gasps as people duck and run.
I blink, but the image stays.
That’s when I realize hewasshot, and what I was envisioning wasn’t my imagination, but it really happened.
The band breaks into another song with harsh lyrics and death metal vocals. I feel like I am in one of my nightmares—a kaleidoscope of images and lights flickering from one scene to the other. Too much is happening that I can’t focus on one thing. The images shift and then disappear as bodies fall to the flooras the sound of gunfire echoes in the mansion—dead men who wanted to purchase two young women.
A person jumps through the fractured glass, causing me to gasp in surprise. The glass further shatters the remaining window pane as men in tuxedos and skull face paint begin to surround us.
People run for the door, hit with bullets before exiting and landing facedown, taking their last breath before the light vanishes from their eyes. Blood pools all around, and the screaming and yelling escalate along with the frightening lyrics that continue to play forth from the band, making for a hellish sight. The security guards turn their fire onto the crowd.
I hit the SOS button and see one of the masked men shift his face to me.Why is he looking at me? Did he hear it? How could he possibly…Then recognition hits.
It’s Jameson. He’s here. I look around at the other masked men, now approaching us at an alarming speed. Knowing who they are, I smile, and Jameson’s smile mimics mine. He strides toward me with purpose but gets punched by a man with a bald head. He is not one of the paying guests, but as it turns out, he is one of Mr. Martinez’s security detail.
I turn around to see Marcus coming at me. He grabs my wrist, and I pull it toward me and push it out of his hold as my other hand hits him with the flat palm of my hand, striking him with a hard upward motion straight to his nose. I feel the crack under my palm. He raises his hands to stop the blood pouring out as I knee him in the balls. He drops forward onto his knees, not knowing what to hold.
Mateo takes his gun out and shoots Marcus, while Emma pushes his collapsing body over the balcony railing, where he falls in a freakish fashion. When he hits the highly polished flooring, his legs and arms are bent unnaturally. His eyes areopen, staring into nothing. Blood quickly drains from his lifeless form, pooling underneath and outlining his body.
Mateo has his back turned, so he doesn’t see what happens next. Mr. Martinez makes a rush for him. His gun is raised as he points it with his sights locked on Mateo’s chest. I hear someone call his name, and he turns to see where the voice came from.
