Falling With Grace

Javier shrugged. “You deal in flesh trade, why not this? If it will give you the answers you need…”

“I don’t traffic. I merely provide the secure transportation and location for the auction.”

“Is there a difference?”

“Tome,there is.”

Pushing the chair from the table, I walked to the liquor cabinet pressed against the wall.

The crystal decanter glistened in the natural light cascading into the room, a beacon of temptation in a world steeped in shadows. The light golden liquid sloshing into the snifter held a promise of escape from the darkness that clung to me.

Throwing back the snifter, I swallowed the tequila in one go, the fiery warmth spreading through my throat and into my chest. I poured another, the cool decanter in my hands, a stark contrast to the heat that surged within.

Taking the glass, I sat, placing the drink on the table. My sight drifted to the space Grace held in the garden moments before.

Mamá made her way inside, her fists full of white, red, and purple flowers—a perfect bouquet.

Javier shifted in his seat. “I’ll move Grace to the new location.”

Mamá stumbled, and I leaped from my chair, my feet moving at a speed I hadn’t seen since I was a child, making it to her side to help her up the stairs. “Mamácita. You must be careful.”

“Everyone stumbles now and then, Elias. If you keep fretting over me, you’ll end up with more wrinkles than I ever will.” Her laughter resonated a hearty sound that enveloped me in a wave of nostalgia.

“If I don’t worry about you, then who will?”

She paused and glanced up at me. “Where’s Grace? I turned my back for a moment, and then she was gone.”

My teeth clenched, the muscles pulsing. “She’s… sleeping, Mamá.”

“Mmm.” She glanced around the yard, then pushed the flowers into my hand. “Sometimes,mihijo,a gentle hand can grant a better responsethan a hard one.”

I accepted the flowers before she walked away, refusing my help, the petals bobbing. I glanced at the shed, then back to Mamá as she gripped the railing up the wide steps and went inside.

A gentle hand?

In my world, that didn’t exist.

16

Grace

“What’s the reason?”

The door banged open, and my hand flew up on instinct, shielding my eyes from the light shining through. “What?”

Elias took a step into my prison. “I’ve been asking you about Andrés for two weeks now. It’s time you enlighten me on why he’s earned your silence.”

Two weeks?

How has time slowed down?

“You’ll need to be more specific.”

He crouched in front of me, my shoulders raising to my ears as I hunkered in my corner. My once clean clothes were now mottled with grime again, and my braid was a matted mess on my scalp. “I want the reason you won’t give him to me. Are you in love with him? Do you fear him? What is it?”

My brows furrowed, and a heaviness settled in my gut.

Love?