I needed to go.
I had a daughter to find…
Along with a devil to send to hell.
“We’ve all lived in the flames far too long,” I whispered, speaking nothing less than the truth. “It ends tonight.” I lifted my dirt-smudged fingers to my lips and blew her a kiss. “I love you, Faye,” I repeated. “I’ll be back soon.”
It was a lie I hadn’t meant to tell.
Thirty-Five
Carmen
A small puddle of coagulated blood stained the sidewalk in front of the trap house.
The mere sight of it made my stomach wrench as I dashed past it and sprinted up the porch steps before bursting through the permanently unlocked, red front door.
I saw no one anywhere.
The house was silent.
Devoid of a single soul.
It was… unsettling.
Especially given the situation.
Attention moving to the closed door near the top of the stairs, my eyes narrowed. It was never shut unless someone was inside. I just prayed that it was mi chicas as opposed to an estúpido puta like Darcy.
I sneered at the thought. If I’d ran into that perra I would’ve killed her. She’d caused me so much pain. And the things she’d done to Ashley…
My hands shook just thinking about it.
Breathing around the hate that filled my lungs like a toxic gas, I tightened my loosened coat and ascended the stairs, taking two steps at a time.
Not stopping to twist the knob, much less knock, I burst through the closed door, slamming it into the wall, sending busted, graffiti-covered plaster flying.
I cared little about the damage I’d caused to the dump in which I lived, because right there, ten feet in front of me, was two-thirds of my entire world.
“Chiquita…”
Relief like I’d never felt before flooded my veins when I caught sight of her lying on the floor, her eyes open, and lungs still rising. Next to her was a pale-faced Jade, who held a blood-soaked cloth in her hand.
Mi chicas… they were okay.
At least, for the most part.
“Dios mío!” I screamed, unable to keep my unstable emotions in check. “What the hell happened?”
When a terrified-looking Chiquita didn’t speak, I looked at Little One, expecting her to fill me in. “Dominic shot her,” she said, sneering. “Well, he grazed her.”
A red stain marring Ashley’s shoulder stole my focus. Seeing it both enraged and calmed me. Enraged because she’d been shot. Calmed because it was only a minor flesh wound that James could clean and care for easily.
“You know he wouldn’t actually shoot her,” Little One continued, referring to the fact that Dominic had winged mi Chiquita instead of burying the bullet in her chest, which is what he would’ve done to us. “I mean, he would, but if he did, she wouldn’t wake up.” She cringed. “I should probably shut up now.”
Cheeks on fire, I crossed my arms. “That cabrón!” I shouted, unable to stop myself. “I ought to smash his huevos with a sledgehammer!”
Before I slit his throat, I mentally added.
Jade sucked in a breath. “Carmen, for heaven’s sake,” she fussed. “Don’t say that. If he hears you—”
“The no-good shit-stain won’t hear me.” I stomped toward the front window that overlooked the dimly lit street below. “One of his lackeys jacked up a dope delivery, so he’s outside handling him.”
At least, I guessed he was outside.
He hadn’t been inside.
Not that I saw.
Over my shoulder, I looked at Ashley. “Guess you won’t be the only one getting a bullet tonight.”
My face fell when she flinched.
“Sorry, Chiquita,” I apologized. “That was a rotten thing to say.” Mad at myself for saying such an estúpido thing, I stomped back across the room and dropped to my knees beside mi oldest chica before cupping her bruised face. “Who did he send you to tonight?”
I traced the bruises painting her pale skin in a myriad of purple tones. “Which pendejo did this?”
“Ellington,” Little One spat, answering for Chiquita. “That psycho is the entire reason Dominic flew into crazy mode and almost killed her.”
My jaw ticked. “Explain.”
“He kissed me,” Chiquita answered. “The man”—she never called Ellington by his name—“broke the rules and kissed me. Dominic saw him and—”
“To hell with Dominic!” More than furious, I dropped my hands from her beautiful face. “I am sick and tired of him and his rules! I’ve met a lot of idiotos in my life, but he is the stupidest puta madre I have ever met! He claims you as his own, acts like he’s obsessed, but then sells your body to other men repeatedly, yet later almost kills you over a kiss?”
My words were too much for Chiquita.
Falling apart, she began to cry. “It’s my fault. Everything… all of this… it’s all my fault.”
Her words hit me right in the chest. Like me, she blamed herself. But none of it was her fault. I had to make her understand that.
“How?” Little One asked, brows rising.
Chiquita’s lips sealed, but I wasn’t having it.
“Answer her,” I demanded. “How is any of this your fault?” To free her from the demons that held her mind captive, I had to know what kind of pain the chains they used to restrain her were constructed of.
“Because I believed him…”
My heart sunk.
Straight to my toes.
“I believed him too,” Little One whispered, confessing a truth I’d known since the day Dominic convinced her to come back to the trap house with him after promising to keep her safe from the soul-hungry monsters that lurked in the shadows of the bus station where he’d found she and Chiquita both. Little did they know, he was the damned devil.
“You know what?” I said, more than ready to put a permanent stop to their pain. “This shit is ending tonight. El Diablo has stolen enough from us already.”
My eyes locked on the simple but beautiful tattoo decorating Chiquita’s wrist. It was one she’d gotten in honor of the daughter she’d never had the chance to raise.
The sight of it added to the fire dancing in my belly.
“You especially, Chiquita.” Refusing to let the hurt that welled in my throat stop me from speaking the words I needed to, I continued. “And I will not stand here and let him steal another precious thing.”
Taking each of their hands into my own, I
