The mattress has been torn off the bed, turned over, and slashed open. Feathers drift in the air, floating about on the breeze coming in from the open window. Shattered glass litters the floor around Rosalita’s vanity, peppered with smears of rouge and dusty powders. The doors of the wardrobe stand wide open, one ripped nearly off its hinges. Her dresses—the beautiful, delicate, flowing gowns Rosalita so loved—lie on the floor, shredded like discarded ribbon.

Kiki steps around me, tiptoeing over a broken vase. “What the hell happened here?”

I shake my head. “Nothing good.” Fear and worry and confusion bubble up inside me like champagne that’s gone sour.

The girl is still standing in the hallway, her curiosity evidently more powerful than her sense of self-preservation.

“Who was here last night?”

The girl frowns at me. “Some old rich man. I don’t know. Think he might have been a magistrate or something.”

“Do you remember his name?” Kiki asks.

The girl crosses her arms, as belligerently stubborn as she was before. “Can’t say I recall. My memory might need some jogging.”

I take a step toward her, ready to give her memory all the jogging it needs, when Kiki inserts herself between us. A shiny gold coin appears in her hand. “How about now?”

The girl snags the coin from Kiki’s hand. “De la Vega. That’s what Doña Esmeralda called him.”

Kiki’s brows draw together. “Magistrate de la Vega? He’s a friend of my father’s. I didn’t think he was the type to—”

The sound of boots pounding up the stairs steals the rest of her thought.

Two of Esmeralda’s goons appear at the top of the stairs. The one from yesterday and the one from tonight. They’re each twice my size, easy. But oh well. I have toppled greater mountains.

But then, Esmeralda comes up behind them, her eyes gone storm gray with righteous fury. At the sight of her, doors slam shut behind me, as all her precious “jewels” tuck themselves away from what I am certain is about to be a hell of a fray.

“I put a roof over your head. Food in your belly. And this is how you repay me? By damaging my property?” She shakes her head. “You can leave here quietly or not so quietly. The choice is yours, ladies.”

I chance a quick look at Kiki. Her eyes are trained on Esmeralda’s and her minions, but she must feel me staring because she nods her head just once, almost imperceptibly.

“Doña Esmeralda,” I say, drawing a dagger from its scabbard. “I have never done anything quietly. And I do not intend to start now.”

CHAPTER 20

Kiki

I should have stopped her.

I should have told Ana to sheathe her blade so we could all carry on with our lives.

I should have placated Esmeralda.