Falling With Grace

“They’re—”

“Grace?” Carlos squinted his one eye, his split lip hanging with inflammation. “Run. You shouldn’t be here.”

A shaky smile quirked my lips. “Hola, Carlos.”

Elias raised a brow. “What are you doing down here?” Elias growled, his teeth clenched, the knife tight in his grip, causing my knees to wobble. He pointed the sharp end towards me.

“I…” My mouth dried, and my hand twitched, searching for the rosary.

Shit.

It’s upstairs.

“I thought you were hurt.”

His taut expression softened for a fleeting moment, only to revert to stone. “Wanted to watch me take my last breath?”

My stomach twisted as if he had struck me with a two-by-four to the gut, the tears stinging my unwilling eyes. I cleared my throat. “Carlos doesn’t have the answers you want.” I rolled my lips, my lungs rapid and aching. “He’s telling you the truth.”

Javier dropped the hammer onto the table behind him with a metallic clang, making the other objects shudder, then wiped his hands on a towel at his waist. “And what truth is that?”

“He can’t help you locate Andrés.” I tucked my hands behind my back, my muscles shaking like I’d stepped out of Icelandic waters. “He hasn’t been around Andrés since we moved about two years ago.”

“Is that right, Carlos?” Elias lifted his chin and adjusted the knife in his hand. “Are you no longer useful to me?”

Carlos’ eyes expanded, darting back and forth between Elias and me. His lips quivered.

A sinking ache punctured my belly.

What’s happening?

Why does Carloslook so scared?

I lifted my trembling hand into the air, and my heart lodged in my throat. “You can—you can let him go now.”

Elias turned back to me and cocked his head to the side. “That’s not how this works.”

“What? What do you…”

Elias rotated the pointed end of the blade down his forearm. With a swift motion, he lifted his arm and pushed backward, driving the knife through the underside of Carlos’ chin—his gaze fixated on mine.

A scream, raw and unbridled, tore from the depths of my throat, shattering the oppressive silence. My heart froze within my chest, its rhythmic pulse replaced by a suffocating stillness.

The world blurred around me, and I crumpled to the floor, shock coursing through every fiber of my being.

Carlos’ mouth fell open, revealing the blood-soaked blade passing through his tongue and into his palate.

Bile clawed at the back of my throat, the world spinning in disorienting chaos.

Elias’ shoes parked in front of me, my hand clasped over my mouth as he sank onto his haunches, his fingers wiped clean by the towel he held. He tossed it aside. “Thank you for saving my precious time.”

Hot tears paved a burning path down my cheeks, and my cries muffled.

He… he killed him.

“What did you think would happen, Grace?” He tipped his head, his blurry features flooding my vision. “Did you think I’d let him go on his merry way and tell Andrés what a good little soldier he was?” He scoffed, his head shaking. “This is war. This is how things are done.” His hands wrapped around my wrists, pulling my hands away from my mouth. “Speak to me, Grace.”

My mouth moved like a fish out of water, the words escaping into silence. A high-pitched ringing pierced my ears.