Page 49 of Lourdes & the Mafia
But she is staring at the human. I can’t read her expression at all, which is odd because usually she wears her feelings so freely on her face. Finally, she walks forward, ignoring the demons by completely stepping over them in her bare feet. As she approaches him, her fist strikes out. It catches us all by surprise as her knuckles connect to the man’s face, and his head snaps to the side, blood pulling from the side of his mouth.
“Damn, Amore,” Lorenzo comments. “Nice right hook.”
“You fucking pendejo!” Lourdes screams at the human. “What is your problem? And don’t tell me you did all this because we broke up. There’s more to it.”
He spits blood onto the ground and looks up at her, a cruel smile twisting his mouth. I know whatever he’s going to say can’t be good. While I want to protect her from the blow of the words, I know that whatever is about to be said is necessary. She deserves the truth.
“Of course I didn’t do it because we broke up. You weren’t even supposed to break up with me in the first place so I had to improvise.”
“Improvise what? Speak clearly, coño!” she demands her tiny hands curling into fists.
“You’re wanted…” he says. “You’re wanted, and there’s a reward in it for whoever gives you up.”
Lourdes rocks back on her heels, shock blanketing her face. “What do you mean wanted? Wanted by who?”
“You’re such a dumb—” He stops himself before he can say the word. As if he knows what’s coming for him if he does. “You’re a supernatural,” he says, “yet you don’t get involved in the community. You know nothing about your own heritage. You don’t even deserve the magic that’s coursing through you. There’s a whole world underground and you have no idea that you’re wanted in it.”
“Why would I be wanted?!” I can see her frustration. “I haven’t been messing with anybody. Since I got my magic I keep to myself.”
“And that’s what makes you stupid,” he growls. “You have magic and you never even bother to use it. Well, now that they found you, theywantyour magic. They wantyou.”
“Who wants me?” At the question, the human man looks up and says, in a voice that sounds demonic itself, “Someone that not even your precious Kings of the Underworld can protect you from.”
A shiver goes through Lourdes’ entire body. I can feel her fear like a living thing, so I step forward. “That’s enough.”
Kane immediately sets his demons on the human. They slither up his body, tightening around his mouth to keep him silent. Lourdes turns to me, her eyes wide with shock. I can tell how this news has impacted her.
I’ve heard of nothing in the underground, no whispers of a price on her head. It enrages me that I’ve been so neglectful of the supernatural world for so long. Sometimes, the same routine can become a bore. It is easy to constrict ourselves into a single territory, and with the flow of time in the Underworld moving differently, time flicks by in a mere blink and I grow to forget about the humans altogether.
But I will get to the bottom of this mystery.
“Vidente, it is time to decide once again. Do you want to stay here and watch what happens next, or leave with Lorenzo?”
She takes in a shuddering breath. “I’d like to leave, please.” She sounds so defeated. I hate the tone of her voice, and yet I know if anyone can console her, it’s him.
I nod at my brother and he takes her in his arms, wrapping them around her body. She goes willingly. That’s something, at least; she’s not fighting us anymore. I understand why she did at first. Why she was not quick to trust us, and why she left at the first opportunity. I don’t have to be happy with her decision to respect it, though.
It isn’t until they disappear that I finally turn to Kane.
His smile is manic, and I know he’s lost a grip on his control and is ready to relinquish his sanity and become the King of The Pit.
“Let us begin.”
Lorenzo
Windanddarknesswhisksus back to my room. As the dust settles, she pulls from my hold, drifting away from me to collapse on the edge of the bed. Her hands grasp the sheets, knuckles straining with the force, and her expression is completely blank, staring off at seemingly nothing.
I try not to contemplate how empty my arms feel without her in them. There was something comforting about her hold. It created a calmness inside of me to know that she was near, protected. Safe.
When we discovered her gone from the Underworld, several scenarios played through my mind, each one worse than the last. Ralgoron is a misfit, always has been. I worried the she-demon had deposited her somewhere we wouldn’t be able to reach her in time.
Usually, of the three of my brothers, I am always the one that tries to maintain the peace, the one who is not quick to anger. Not like them. Yet seeing the blood on the corner of her pretty lips and the burn mark against her skin made my insides roil.
I would have liked a moment alone with Dimas, if only to teach him to fight someone of his own size, but I know Rami tasked me with bringing Lourdes back for a reason.
I stare at Lourdes’ sad eyes, resisting the urge to crack a joke like I normally would. I don’t think there’s anything I can say right now that will make her feel better. She’s not one of my brothers, so the tactics I use with them when they’re in a mood won’t work on her. She’s a human woman. Sure, she is technically a witch, but all supernatural beings are mere humans to us. Particularly her, as she hasn’t had her magic that long from what I’ve gathered. This entire situation must seem very overwhelming to her.
In my head, I start mentally preparing a checklist of things that I think can make her feel better. Maybe a bath. A deep conditioning session. Clothes. Jewelry. A hot meal. A shit ton of chocolate. A demon to kick. There’s something very therapeutic about kicking demons.
