Page 43 of Lourdes & the Mafia
“I don’t know, mija. She never told me. But if there are people after you, then you must protect yourself.”
If I knew how to do that I wouldn’t be here.I don’t say those words though because my uncle beats me to it, standing up and pointing at the door. “I think you should leave,” he orders. “You came here while someone was after you, knowing that the children live here?”
My heart pounds in my chest, striking up to my throat.
“Sebastián, silencio,” my abuelita chastises. “This is her home, too.”
“She’s putting us in danger by even being here and associating with us. We all may be of the same bloodline, butshe’sthe seer.”
“She’s family. We need to protect her.”
“What can we do? We barely have magic ourselves!”
“We should call the police.”
“They don’t do anything. Especially not for people like us.”
“I say she’s on her own.”
The chorus of voices rise, each one talking over one another. I can do nothing but stand there and listen to it. It makes my head twirl with dizziness and suddenly, something changes. I’m hit with the impact of pain as a vision quickly spreads within my mind. There and gone in a flash, and as soon as it leaves, the doorbell rings. I can hear my titi walking to open it, a curse on her lips. I want to stop her, but it’s already too late.
She opens the door and I know who’s going to be waiting there on the other side.
Someone I never wanted to see again.
Kane
“Apologizetoherforbreaking your word.”
My fingers tangle within the curls of my hair as I walk down the hallway and towards Lorenzo’s room. I’ve given her sufficient amount of time to deal with her anger, and now it’s time for me to go apologize like they demanded and get this whole stupid fucking thing over with.
I shouldn’t have to apologize at all.
She’s ungrateful, that’s what she is. I did what I did for her. I did what I did because…
Because it was fucking instinct and for no other reason. Because I’m the King of The Pit, and souls are mine to torture. Sinners are mine to punish, and that woman was a sinner. A feral menace left out in the real world.
She deserved what she got.
Whydid the woman even want to keep that shit-stain alive in the first place? It didn’t make any sense.
Shoving my hands deep into my pockets as I approach Lorenzo’s suite door, I take a breath, steeling myself before using the tip of my shoe to rap on the door.
I wait for her response.
Nothing.
My irritation flares.
How dare she ignore me? She hasno ideawho she’s dealing with.I am King of The Pit.I could make her see nightmares that will destroy her very soul, tear her apart from the inside out with shadowsalone,and she has the audacity to ignoreme?
With a growl, my foot connects with the door, busting it open. I charge inside, words of disdain on the tip of my tongue that cut short when I see just how empty the room is.
Fuck.
She’sgone.
“Brothers,” I growl down our connected bond. “The apology will have to wait, seeing as how your precious little human is nothere.”
