Page 50 of Fortune's Kiss
More cheers and fanfare.
With her most beguiling smile, Lo spun around and curtsied.The croupiers went wild.They clapped, and their joyous yells became almost deafening.
Prickles of jealousy jabbed Mayté’s heart like tiny fingers.But why did she feel like this?It didn’t matter what the croupiers thought of her.She just needed to win the game.She choked down her envy and glanced back.Suddenly the cheers stopped.The croupiers stood at their tables silently watching, some even looking bored.Her mouth dried.Had all the cheering been in her head?Had the house somehow done this?
She let out a shaky breath as Lo sat next to her.“Where were you?Are you okay?”
“I’ll explain later,” Lo whispered, breathless.Her cheeks were flushed, and her bronze complexion glistened under the lights.“Don’t forget our plan for this round.Oh.”She lookedat Alejandro, then glanced around the room.“The Banker’s not dealing this round?”
“Afraid not,” Alejandro said, leaning against the table.He raised an eyebrow at Lo.“Disappointed?”
Lo rested her chin in her palms.“I’m not sure.Haven’t decided yet.”
Mayté’s stomach twisted.No.She chided herself.This was all a part of the plan.If anyone could get information out of Alejandro, it would be Lo.She was irresistible.More potent than any Quiéreme potion, Lo glowed like pure magic; next to her, Mayté was dull.Forgettable.No one ever gave her a second glance once Lo came into the picture.
But maybe she wanted to be the one to get the information from him.
“Well, I’m not disappointed,” she blurted before she could stop herself.“I like you more than the Banker.”
Alejandro blinked in surprise, but then smirked and nodded.
“Good.”Lo’s whisper startled her.“Keep it up.He’s already at your mercy.”
Mayté nervously laughed and resisted the urge to fan her face.Theywereon the same team, she reminded herself.This was all part of winning—surviving.Despite all the things she imagined, things seemingly aimed at making her resentful and angry, she had to cling to that thought for dear life.Alejandro wanted something from her, and she would use that to get exactly what sheneeded.
“Now that everyone is here and introduced, let us get started!”Misterioso said.
Alejandro closed his eyes, and his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.Bursts of lights flashed around him as Lotería boards appeared.“Choose a board, but choose wisely.”He spoke dryly.Almost as if this were the last thing he wanted to be doing.
One by one, each player chose one of the boards floating around him.Just like a normal game of Lotería, no one could see the front of their board until they chose it.Most would say it was all down to pure luck, but Abuelita would have begged to differ.It was about each player’s energy.And maybe the house would feel the same way, Mayté thought.She had silently begged for Lo to enter the gaming den, and a second later, she had.If she could will that to happen, then surely she could will herself into picking a lucky board.
When her turn finally came, she closed her eyes and held out her hand, slowly, ever so slowly, hovering it back and forth.
Feel for the heart in your fingertip.Follow, and let it decide.Abuelita’s words replayed in her mind.It was her philosophy when playing, and she almost always won.She’d had bags and bags of bronze coins to prove it.
She focused as hard as she could until she swore she felt a pulse in the tip of her finger.It was brief.Maybe even imagined.But there was no time to doubt herself.She reached out and grabbed a board.When she opened her eyes, Alejandro flashed an amused grin at her.Her face warmed.Lo lightly poked her under the table before closing her eyes and choosing her own board.
Soon, Alejandro snapped his fingers and a card deck appeared in his hands.He shuffled it, tossing cards around and letting them spin around him.His fingers moved so fast, they were almost a blur; he didn’t let a single card fall to the floor.One seemingly slipped away, but he kicked up his leg, balancing the card on the tip of his shiny black shoe.He kicked it back up and caught it up with the rest of the cards.Lo squealed, and Dominic clapped his hands.Truly, it was spellbinding.
So spellbinding, in fact, that Mayté almost forgot to look at her board.She flipped it over and studied the different images.Asusual, there were 16 spaces total: four down and four across.Some of the pictures were familiar, but many were not.The Lotería she knew by heart had fifty-four cards in all.One afternoon, many years ago, she had asked Carlos to help her figure out what the odds of winning were.She never cared for her studies, always succumbing to the urge to sketch in her workbooks instead, while Carlos seemed to be the exact opposite.He couldn’t draw much more than wobbly stick figures, yet he excelled at academics.Unfortunately, Lo had kept distracting him by sashaying around and trying to get him to focus on her.Eventually, she resorted to tickling him.They never did figure out what the odds were.
“For this round, the house will choose what you wager,” Misterioso said.“Your possessions are on the line this time.The round will last until a player gets a lotería.”
Mayté didn’t have many earthly possessions.Just some old paintings and art supplies, along with borrowed jewelry from Lo, and Abuelita’s favorite rebozo.Her gaze darted to Carlos.He didn’t have much of anything either.At least in this round, neither of them had much to lose.
Alejandro held up a card.“La Garza,” he called out, voice loud and clear.The card showed a white heron standing in the water, plucking out a fish.
The card glowed, and Mayté didn’t dare breathe.What would happen?Would someone die?
Something flew out of the card and landed on the table with a thunk.Lo shrieked.A fish.Don Zelaya and Xiomara burst out laughing.A huge white blur of a heron darted out of the card and scooped up the fish.It flew around the gaming room higher and higher until it disappeared.
“Don’t forget to place your beans on your board if you have La Garza,” Misterioso said.
Mayté looked down: sure enough, her board had La Garza on the bottom row, third column.She plucked up a bean and dropped it onto her board as a few others did the same.As soon as the bean landed, it melted into the La Garza space, causing it to glow.
“El Nopal.”Alejandro held up another card.
Bright green cacti sprouted around the gambling den.Most from the carpet and some from the walls.Some were tiny, while others kept growing more and more, some with heads with pink flowers.
