Page 63 of Fortune's Kiss
“Wha … what does that mean?”Lo whispered.
“His feelings.Memories.Everything that makes him who he is!”Mayté covered her face with her hands and cried aloud, “There’s no good way out.The only way is to win.”
Lo stared as the words sank in.“Is … is it like that foreveryonehere?”
“Most likely.”
Lo rubbed her mouth.Dare she mention Mamá?Mayté wouldn’t like it, but Lo couldn’t hold it in any longer.She would just have to convince her that Mamá was here.“There’ssomething I need to show you.”She scurried to the table and lifted the platter lid, revealing the untouched paella.“This is what came.My mother’s favorite meal.Made her special way, without the mussels.Supposedly what I desired to eat most, but I hadn’t even been thinking of it.”
Mayté opened her mouth, but Lo wasn’t done.
“The Banker brought it.And he tried to make me think she’s dead, but it must be a trick.The house must not want me to find her.”
Mayté’s face fell.“Lo.”Her voice was soft and regretful.
Lo’s heart plummeted.“You don’t believe me?”
“It’s not that.But are you sure the house isn’t just trying to fool you?It showed you your mother and almost made you miss the last round.Don’t you think it’s trying to distract you from winning?”
Mamá wasn’tjust a distraction.Lo’s throat burned, and the angry heat spread all the way to the palms of her hands.“We’re using the house, so how can it be tricking us?”
“That’s exactly the problem, I think.”Mayté went on to explain her time with Alejandro and how the art supplies had suddenly transformed.“Alejandro said everything comes at a price, and it’s even steeper for those with bad intentions.”
“Ourintentions are bad?”Lo asked with a frown.
“Well, we’re trying to gain an advantage, bend the rules, which means other people will die, or be damned.I think the house is turning on us, if it hasn’t been toying with us from the very beginning.It’s showing us illusions to distract us—” Mayté interrupted herself with a gasp.“And now I think about it, it might be trying to mess with how we feel about each other.”
Lo shook her head.What did Mayté mean?She explained that, during the last game, the house made her think thecroupiers were all cheering for Lo.“It was like it was trying to make me jealous.”
Lo bit back the urge to sarcastically ask if Mayté had always been jealous of her.But no, maybe Mayté was right.Maybe at this very moment the house was trying to make her resent her best friend.
Mayté was just trying to protect Lo’s feelings and keep her from getting her hopes up.Right?Lo tried to subdue her anger.“Okay.We have to survive to win, and if that costs us something, we’ll just have to endure it.In the end, it’ll be worth it.For the next round, we have to block out everything else and be ready for whatever the house tries to throw at us.Right?”
Mayté was supposed to agree.She was bold and determined, always recovering from setbacks, but this time her wide eyes filled with tears.She collapsed onto the bed.“But even if we survive this next round, I don’t think three people have ever won.I—I don’t think they can,” she whimpered.
“Mayté.”Lo sat next to her and put an arm around her.A lump formed in her own throat.Was it true?It couldn’t be.She wouldn’t let it be.“I spoke with the Banker.”She used the frill on her sleeve to dab at the tears on Mayté’s cheek.“He came to the room and told me a bit about the game.He said any number of people can win, so long as they make it to the final round.”The lie slipped off her tongue, cool and smooth as sugared cream, yet something lurched in the depths of her stomach.She had lied many times.To her father, her suitors, and many others.
Never to Mayté.
Not until Fortune’s Kiss.
But this was different than those other lies.This was agoodlie.One purely for Mayté’s sake.One that would keep her safe.IfMayté thought there was hope, she would keep fighting.Because the only sure way to lose was giving up.
“That’s what we have to focus on,” Lo urged.“Making it to the end.”
“Okay.”Mayté rubbed the tears from her face.“One step at a time.I can do that.”
Good.Lo took her best friend’s hands and led her to the table.“We should eat before the next round.”
As they ate, they discussed strategies.Different ways they could will the house to tilt the game in their favor without being obvious.In the end, they decided it was best to see if they could bend the game so that the players were able to choose their own wagers.That way, they could all keep their wagering low.
Even better would be making it so none of them was chosen for a challenge.That way, there was no risk of losing at all.It was bolder, perhaps riskier, but it was worth a try.
With that resolved, the two left the room arm and arm.Throughout the entire walk and elevator ride, Lo repeated the same mantra in her head.
Allow everyone to make their own wagers.Don’t challenge me, Mayté, or Carlos.
Soon they reached the gaming den.Everyone else was already seated.Mayté made a beeline for the two seats next to Dominic.He must have saved the seats for them.As Lo sat, she noticed a middle-aged man with a mustache staring at them.She didn’t know who he was, nor did she particularly care.He wasn’t a noble, and he didn’t seem like a threat.He would probably die in the next round.
