But I didn’t mind. In fact, I felt electrified, like one of those bolts of lightning in the sky had just zapped me on the head.

Then her lips parted. Mine did too. Our tongues touched—

I pulled back, frazzled, guilt-ridden.

What the hell was going on?

Elizaveta was looking at me with her sparkling green eyes. Her face was slightly flushed. She clearly had no problem with that kiss.

And I realized I had to stop whatever had started. What we were doing wasn’t right. It didn’t feel right. People were going to get hurt. Pita would, Jesus would. I didn’t care about Jesus actually. But I cared about Pita. And this was wrong. It was way too soon. Elizaveta was her friend.

“What are you thinking about, Jack?” Elizaveta asked.

It was the same question Pita had asked me two hours before, while we’d been sitting out on the porch together.

I felt worse than ever.

“We can’t—” The rest of the words caught in my throat.

“What’s wrong?” Elizaveta asked. She looked where I was looking, at the table. She stood quickly. “Another scorpion? Where?”

I shook my head, standing too. I pointed at the table. “Did you move the doll that was there?”

“What doll?”

I remembered it clearly. Black hair that smelled like citrus, painted lips, heavy eyeshadow, the dress that may or may not have been concealing a hole between its legs.

I said, “There was a doll on this table earlier.”

“So what?”

“Where is it?”

Elizaveta looked around the room. “There are dolls everywhere, Jack.”

“There was a doll right there. It was special.”

“Why special?”

“It just was. It was all dressed up. Solano put makeup on it.”

“What?”

I moved to the end of the table, opened the shoebox, and slid it to Elizaveta. “Makeup.”

“I don’t remember any doll on table, Jack.”

“When I came here before, when I found Rosa, it was still daytime. It was the first thing I saw. A doll. Right there.” I pointed again. “Did someone move it? Did Jesus or Nitro move it?”

“No,” Elizaveta said. “Nobody did. There was no doll, Jack. I remember. I lit that candle when we first arrived.” She indicated the half-melted candle on the table. “There was no doll.”

“What doll?” It was Pita. She stood at the threshold to Pepper’s bedroom. We’d raised our voices, woken her—if she’d ever been sleeping and not eavesdropping on us.

“Do you remember seeing a doll on the table?” I asked her.

“No…” She shook her head more decisively. “No.”

“There was one there earlier, and now it’s gone—

The front door to the cabin burst open, and Nitro staggered inside, spraying blood everywhere.

6

I’d never witnessed anything like the spectacle that unfolded before us, and I found myself rooted to the spot in horror.