Page 91 of Forbidden Fate

Maybe because after everything that has happened, the idea of one more unknown thing waiting to be revealed makes my skin prickle.

I cut the deck.

Mercedes takes the top card and flips it.

Ace of Spades.

The room changes, as if half the air is sucked out of it.

Mercedes gasps and covers her mouth with one hand.

Esmeralda does the same.

The playfulness drains from both their faces so completely that my pulse skips.

I look at the card.

I don’t know much about playing-card symbolism, but I know enough to understand this is not getting the same delighted reaction Cruz’s card got.

“What?” I ask.

Neither of them answers.

Cruz has gone still.

Very still.

His eyes are on the card, his expression unreadable again, but the muscle in his jaw has tightened.

“What does it mean?” I ask.

Mercedes lowers her hand. “It can mean many things.”

“That’s vague.”

“It is supposed to be vague,” Esmeralda says, but her voice is softer now.

“No. What does the Ace of Spades mean?”

Mercedes swallows. “It can simply mean finality.”

Finality.

The word lands cold in my stomach.

“Or,” Esmeralda says, “that something is about to change.”

I let out a small breath.

Okay.

That isn’t necessarily bad.

Change can be good. Change can mean escape. It can mean leaving Colombia for good. It can mean getting back to the United States, back to my family, back to a life where I understand the rules. Maybe not a safe life—clearly safety was an illusion all along—but at least my life.

A change of scenery would be a good thing.

I can go home. I can tell my brothers everything. I can find out what happened to Belinda. I can help Daniela.