Fruit of Misfortune (22 page)

The question caught me by surprise.

“I do.”

“He spoke to me once.” She touched the scar
on her chin. “He told me my purpose. Do you want to know what He
said?”

A little shiver ran up my spine. I rubbed the
back of my neck to settle the goose bumps. “Okay.”

“He said He had a job for me. He said I could
die if I accepted. Then he showed me an image.” Paulina’s bronze
eyes wandered over to the metallic cross on the wall. “I was only
seven years old, but I understood.”

“What was it—the image He showed you?”

“It was like…” Paulina shrugged. “It was
nothing.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I saw absence. There was nothing left.”

“Nothing left of what?”

“Of anything. It was over. We were gone.”

“You’re talking about the end of the
world.”

“No, the world was still here. It was life
that was gone.” She rose up from the suitcase, glanced at the
crucifix, then back to me. “You should know that I’m no longer your
scapegoat. You’re on your own. I’m sorry for everything you’ll have
to deal with.” Paulina spun on her heel and walked toward the
door.

Could it be that she had been taking all the
attacks that were intended for me? It made sense. She was a decoy.
My decoy. But there were still something I wasn’t clear on.

“Wait—wait,” I said, walking after her and
taking her by the arm. “You told me that Camilla said I had a
purpose. What am I supposed to do?”

“Ugh!” Paulina flinched at my grip on her
arm, and I released it. I guessed my physical strength was
increasing as Eros had said.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“If I knew what your purpose was, I would’ve
already told you.” She twisted the knob and stared at the door for
a moment. “You have to leave here. Run. Hide. Stay alive. Kill if
you have to.” She turned to look at me. “And if you say anything
about Camilla, I’ll tell your boyfriend about you and the
Frenchman.”

My stomach cramped with nerves from both the
advice and threat. Paulina didn’t give me time to react. Her skirt
tail floated through the doorway, following her into the hall, her
back straightened in poise. A moment later, I hurried after her and
caught up.

“Murder is hardly a comparison, you know?” I
said in a hushed voice.

“Life, death, and love have the same
worth.”

I couldn’t argue with that. I knew it too
well.

Standing next to Susana and Nyx, David looked
surprised to see Paulina and me entering the living room
together.

“Everything alright?” David asked, and I
nodded.

Paulina lowered her head and glanced at David
from under her black lashes, then quickly looked away. It wasn’t
hard to see that Isis Martin number two was still attracted to him.
It annoyed me. I grimaced at the thought of David being with
someone other than me.

I’m a hypocrite
.
He’ll be better
off without me.

“Your mother needs to rest,” Nyx said to
Paulina. “We all do.”

Susana looked at us with weary eyes and took
Paulina’s arm.

“Buonanotte,” Susana said in Italian.

“Buonanotte,” David and Nyx responded to
Susana.

“Goodnight,” I said.

Mother and daughter disappeared into the
corridor, and soon after, we heard the door to Paulina’s room
close. David locked his hands behind his head and looked up at the
ceiling, taking in a lungful of air.

“Your father’s call,” Nyx said. “What
happened?”

“Our absences in the meetings of the Clergy
haven’t gone unnoticed. The Council is questioning Father. We must
all make an appearance tomorrow during the morning summit, or
they’ll come here.”

“We’ll go to them.” Nyx looked at David with
concern. “Are you still able to cross between realms?”

“With effort, but I can.”

“Then it’s settled.”

“But Isis will be alone. She’ll be
unprotected. I can’t leave her.”

“We have no other choice. It’ll be two, three
hours at most. We have to attend. They may not suspect anything of
you, but if they come here looking for the reason behind our sudden
distancing from The Clergy and find Isis…” Nyx shook her head. “Her
condition is too far advanced. The Council Members that possess the
slightest empathy will notice a strong peculiarity in her. Even
without trying, I can sense that she isn’t human or deity. We can’t
hide it anymore. To be honest, I’m surprised Eros hasn’t said
something.”

He already knows
.

David dropped his shoulders, defeated by his
mother’s reasoning.

“What time’s your meeting?” I asked.

“At dawn. We leave shortly before. I trust in
Deus that you’ll be fine.” Nyx turned to David. “Where are your
brothers? We have to tell them.”

“Eryx is keeping an eye on Carboné’s place
tonight. I don’t know where Galen is. He was speaking with Galilea
on the phone when I last saw him.”

“Who’s Galilea?” I asked.

“His ex-girlfriend,” David said.

“That poor girl,” Nyx said.

***

With the utmost care, I opened the door to my
room and tiptoed down the dim left corridor. Eros’ door was half
open. I stood at the entrance of the dark room, holding my
breath.

“The door’s open for a reason,” Eros’ voice
came from within the blackness. I heard a click and light flooded
the room. Eros was lying on the bed with his hands behind his head,
shirtless, and wearing a pair of silky, gray pajama pants.

Oh Gawd! Why couldn’t you have a muffin
top or a beer belly?
I tried not to stare. A wry smile was on
his face as he motioned with his index finger for me to step in. I
closed the door and leaned my back against it. My face turned warm,
a reaction to the uncomfortable feeling that his stare
provoked.

“Stop looking at me like that.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not your next meal.”

“We’ll see about that.” Eros winked. I hated
how he had turned that into a double entendre.

“Shut up.” I frowned. “I came to tell you
something.”

“Oui?”

I watched his well-defined torso rise and
fall for a few seconds.
Muffin top. Muffin top
. I tore my
eyes away from his abs and looked past his gaze.

“We leave tomorrow morning,” I said.
“Early.”

“My, my. You’re in a hurry, aren’t you?” Eros
sat up. “Come here, my sweet.”

“Uh—no. See you tomorrow.” I cracked the door
open. “
Early
,” I reiterated, looking over my shoulder. “And
put a shirt on.” Eros was smiling when I shut the door behind
me.

Tiptoeing, I made my way past my room and
across to the right corridor. I tapped on the door and waited. A
drowsy David stuck his head out.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I looked up at him. “I was
wondering—”

“If you can sleep here tonight?”

I nodded.

David slipped an arm around my waist and
pulled me into the room. With his free hand he closed the door and
turned the lock. In one swift move, he scooped me up into his arms
and carried me to the bed. He planted soft kisses around my neck
until he reached my ear.

“I love you so much,” he whispered.

“How much?”

“I would die for you,” he said, and I stilled
under him. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No.” I pulled him closer to me. I was
grateful for the darkness in the room because he couldn’t see the
tears in the corners of my eyes. “I would die for you, too.”

I pulled his lips to mine, and I drank him
in. His fingers traveled under my nightshirt and over my rear. He
flooded my skin with savory kisses that made my bones quiver. Like
entangled vines, we curled and coiled, neither surrendering our
hold. David nestled my head on his chest where I could hear the
beat of his heart. The soothing rhythm had served me as a lullaby
on other nights, making me give in to a blissful and profound
sleep. Tonight was different, however. Tonight was the last night
I’d spend with him, and I didn’t want to sleep through it.

***

At the break of dawn, David woke me with a
kiss on the lips. He was kneeling on the floor next to the bed. He
handed me a piece of paper and a red rose, which I guessed he had
picked from the back garden.

“This is for you,” he said.

“Thanks.”

“And this.” David held up his right pinky
finger, displaying the red ruby ring band I had seen him toss into
the large vase in the foyer. He poised his elbows on the bed and
leaned in so I could see it better. “These red stones,” he pointed
to the rubies, “they signify how my heart bleeds for you when we’re
apart.” He placed the ring on my chest and kissed my forehead. “Now
you know how much I love you.” He rose to his feet. “Everyone else
is gone. I have to go, as well.”

“David—you know that I love you, right?”

He raised my hand to his lips and kissed
it.

“Yes. And I love you.”

He stared at me for a moment. Then, like many
times before, a golden shimmer formed around and within him, and he
disappeared. That was the last time I would see him. I was going to
break his heart, and I hated myself. It served me well, too,
because I wasn’t worthy of him. He was too good a person to be with
me, and I had known it all along. It was too good to be true. There
were no happily-ever-afters in my life.

My chest ached as I sat on the edge of the
bed staring at the ring in one hand and the note and the rose in
the other. I opened the folded paper and read.

Essence of glory,

Creating martyrs of sight,

And you, beautiful creature,

This poor man’s delight

Defiance of nature,

The hope of old seers

And you, magnificent creature,

Rob me of my fears

To have for my hold,

To expire over your soul,

And you, marvelous creature,

Blind me of my role

Faith, my beginning

Avarice, my flaw

And you, untamable creature,

Depart my skin raw

Only Yours,

David

I grabbed a pillow from the bed and breathed
in David’s sandalwood scent. I buried my face in it and wailed into
it for what seemed like an eternity. The pain drilled deeper into
me as my thoughts turned to my mother and how devastated she would
be when I didn’t return.
She’ll be alone
. I held the pillow
over my face and wept and wept—and wept.

My eyeballs felt like they were swollen and
boiled. I gasped for air as I fought with myself to regain control.
I touched the Star Crest that hung from my necklace, focusing my
thoughts back to David.
He’ll hate me
.
He’ll never
forgive me
. I wiped my tears on the pillowcase, and held the
ruby ring band up to my eye level.
My beautiful dream boy
. I
placed it on the nightstand and took a deep, ragged breath. Hugging
the pillow against my chest, I walked out of David’s room and out
of his life forever.

Checking
the time on the nightstand clock, I knew I had wasted too much time
already. I threw on a fresh pair of jeans, stepped into my tennis
shoes, and packed a few changes of clothes and essentials,
including my journal. I slid my cell phone into my back pocket and
looked around the room to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything.
Satisfied that I had what I needed to survive for a few days, I
zipped the carry-on bag that I had used for the plane trip and set
it on the floor by the door.

A quick stop to the bathroom was all I
needed, and I’d be ready to go. As I held my hands under the stream
of water from the faucet, I noticed that the cut I had gotten on my
thumb on the night that Camilla had died hadn’t closed. The skin
around it was wrinkled. I picked at the edge of the wound with my
fingernails, wincing and expecting it to hurt. To my surprise,
there was no pain. I lifted the skin off the edges with my nails
and pulled. A section of epidermis tore off my thumb and a fraction
of my hand. “Whoa!” I said aloud, staring at the piece of skin
between my thumb and forefinger. I dumped the patch of skin in the
toilet and flushed. I didn’t have time to marvel over dead
cells.

I hung the bag over my left shoulder as I
left my room. I was about to head down the left corridor when I
spotted Eros coming up the staircase with a grin as big and stupid
as his ego.

“Ready?” he asked.

I nodded, walking past him down the stairs,
to the bottom floor and out the front door. Eros was quick to
shadow me. There was a new car in the driveway with the trunk open.
It was a gray Jaguar with dark tinted windows. I didn’t bother to
ask Eros how he had managed to get another car so fast. I opened
one of the back doors and dropped my bag on the carpeted floor, and
then slid onto the tan, leather seat.