Fruit of Misfortune (31 page)

“The Council will force a confession from
them,” Galilea said. “And then…”

I heard a soft whimper coming from the
backseat. I didn’t have the nerve to look at Nyx. I should’ve
offered her comfort, but what was I supposed to say—
I’m
sorry
? As if being sorry would undo all the bad things that
were happening to her family because of me. I had never felt more
disgusted with my existence.

Why couldn’t I just disappear? The only
things I had to give anyone I was close to were problems and
pain—and let’s not forget death. One way or another, the Council
would find out what I was and my friends would pay the price for
trying to protect me. And worse yet, my mom, who was oblivious to
all that was happening to me, would never see her end approaching.
The irony is that I tried to protect Claire by keeping it all a
secret. But now, even without her knowing, I couldn’t protect
her.

It
was well after nightfall when we reached the address on the map
that Dr. Gunn had drawn for us. Galilea drove past the mansion. My
nerves were on end the entire way to Athens, and now my stomach
cramped from the tension. Two of Carboné’s men stood inside the
gates, smoking.

Galilea parked the car under a tree, about
half a block from the mansion.

“Ready?” Galilea glanced at Nyx.

“Are we just going to walk in there?” I
asked. “Aren’t we supposed to have some sort of plan?”

“Of course we have a plan. The plan is: we
walk in there, we get David, we get out. Oh, and you stay here
while Nyx and I do all of that, okay?”

“
Excuse me?
”

“Isis, you can’t go in there,” Nyx said.
“It’s too dangerous.”

“I’m going.”

“Isis…” Galilea shook her head at me.

“I said I’m going.”

“And I say you’re not.”

“Try to stop me.”

Galilea pulled a knife from her boot and held
it close to my neck. “If you move from this car, I’ll do the
Council a favor and kill you myself.”

“Be my guest.” I leaned into the sharp edge
of the dagger. I felt the metal slice into my skin and a sting
followed. Galilea dropped the knife and quickly applied pressure to
my throat.

“Are you stupid?” She looked at me
wide-eyed.

“Let me see.” Nyx pushed away Galilea’s hand.
“She’s not bleeding. It’s just a scratch.”

“This is a great example of why you can’t
come,” Galilea said. “You keep pulling these childish, idiotic
stunts.”

“Fine. Just leave me here for the
demons.”

There was silence as Galilea and Nyx stared
at each other.

“You’re coming,” Nyx said.

I got out of the car and stood under a tree,
hidden by its shadows. Nyx and Galilea joined me. Nyx unraveled the
shawl from her torso and flung it into some bushes. Without saying
a word, we started down the sidewalk to the mansion’s gate. I don’t
know if it was from nerves or riding in a car almost an entire day,
but all of a sudden, I really had to pee.

Carboné’s men were still at the gate. One of
them was looking in our direction. I looked back to see who or what
he was looking at, because we were invisible. We stopped at the
gate and one of the men stepped forward.

“Hey, Franco, did somebody order hookers?” he
asked the man to his left.

I guess we’re
not
invisible.

“Not that I know of,” Franco said.

“We’re here to see Gio Carboné.” Nyx put her
arm through the gate’s metal bars and swept the man’s cheek with
her finger. “Is that your name, love?”

“I wish it was,” he said.

“That’s too bad,” Nyx said, sweetly. “Can you
let us in to see Gio?”

“No can do,” said Franco. “Mr. Carboné don’t
see anyone without an appointment. And we don’t have any orders to
let anyone in tonight.”

“That’s because he’s not expecting us,” I
said. “We’re a gift from one of his, uh, potential business
associates.”

“Which one?” Franco asked, oogling Nyx.

“We’re not supposed to tell.” Nyx smiled at
him. “It’s a surprise. You wouldn’t want to ruin Gio’s surprise,
would you?”

“No one comes in,” Franco said.

“Well, okay.” Galilea leaned against metal
gate bars and sighed. “But if this deal goes sour because you
didn’t deliver Mr. Carboné’s three gifts to him, it’s your ass. And
just know that our employer will be more than offended.”

“On second thought,” said Franco, “I don’t
wanna get on the boss’s bad side, Tony. I mean, I only got eight
toes left.”

Tony scratched the back of his neck and
thought for a moment. He reached for the control pad on the wall
and entered a code. The gate locks clanged and the arched metal
doors began to open.

“Take the stairs,” Tony said. “Mr. Carboné’s
room is the fourth door on the right.”

“Thanks.” Galilea winked at Tony. He blew her
a kiss.
Gross
.

Another of Carboné’s men opened the front
door for us.

“Who are you?” the man asked.

“Late night entertainment for Mr. Carboné,”
Galilea said.

“Hang on,” he said, and then talked into his
earpiece. “Tony, what’s the deal with the three broads you let in?”
He eyed us. “Okay. It’s your ass.” He stepped aside. “Go on
in.”

The floors were polished white marble with
specks of soft gold. There was an odd smell in the air that
reminded me of the biology labs in high school. In the center of
the first floor was a mermaid fountain. Water spilled from the
pitcher in her arms, landing at her finned tail.

“When that guard turns away, we’re going
invisible again,” Galilea whispered as we walked slowly past the
fountain and to the stairs. “We have to find a door that leads to
the lower level of this place so we’ll have to go back downstairs
and past the guard.”

“How much time can you hold your block?” Nyx
asked her.

“You’re scanning me?” Galilea sounded
annoyed, and Nyx nodded. “I’m worn out, okay? We have thirty
minutes, at most, so let’s do this fast, yeah?”

“That’s not enough time. This place is huge,”
I said. “Look at all these doors.”

“Why are you walking like that?” Galilea gave
me a funny look.

“I have to pee.”

“Hold it,” Nyx said.

“I have been—for like nine hours.”

“He’s not looking,” Galilea said, softly.
“We’re invisible now.”

I didn’t understand how—being that we were
invisible—we could still see one another, but others couldn’t see
us. Then again, I never did understand much about the powers that
deities possessed.

We walked down the stairs without making any
noise. With her index and middle finger, Galilea pointed in the
direction that each of us should go. I walked past the stairs and
to the left. There was a hall and a door.
Which do I take?
I
decided to crack open the door. It was dark in the room. I peeked
over my shoulder to make sure no one was watching and walked in.
Pitch-blackness surrounded me. I felt around the smooth walls for a
light switch.
Found it!

I was in a utilities closet.
Great
. I
turned off the light and cracked the door open to scout the place
for more of Carboné’s minions. The area was clear. I stepped out
and closed the door. I headed down the hallway, which to my relief
was minion-free. I saw one door on the right. I headed to it. I
turned the knob and peeked in. With the illumination from the
hallway lights, I could make out a vanity. I turned to make sure no
one was coming and flipped the light switch.

Sweet. Baby. Jesus! A bathroom!

Wait. What was I thinking? I couldn’t stop
for a bathroom break. I had to find David. Our time was limited
and… and… I couldn’t hold it anymore. I just couldn’t. My stomach
began to cramp at the sight of the toilet bowl, and before I knew
it, my pants were down.

I let out a sigh of relief as I buttoned my
jeans. I needed to get back out there and find the staircase that
led down. I decided not to flush for fear of having someone hear. I
walked to the vanity and turned the faucet the slightest bit—only
enough to wash my hands as fast as I could. I caught sight of my
reflection in the mirror. How could I be invisible and see myself?
I noticed how odd the thin red line on my neck where Galilea’s
dagger had broken the skin looked. I touched the area with my
fingers. It looked like the skin around the abrasion was somehow
detaching from my neck. It was loose, but maintained its form. Had
it not been that I was using the same hand I had cut with the glass
pitcher a few weeks before, I wouldn’t have noticed that the same
thing was happening to it. I found it strange, since it hadn’t
looked like that in the morning. The skin on my hand was separated
just like the skin on my neck. It was like a thick, rubbery
membrane. As awed as I was, I didn’t have time to keep staring at
myself. I’d worry about it later.

I turned the bathroom light off, and peeked
out in the hallway just as a man with a large gun strapped across
his back walked by. I was still as he passed right in front of me.
He didn’t see me. I watched him head down the hall and turn the
corner. I followed him, leaving a safe amount of distance between
us.

The man reached the end of the hall and
stopped to light a cigarette. Behind him, I could see an entryway.
If it had descending stairs, I was sure they’d lead me to David. I
wondered how long it would be before he moved out of the way so I
could take a quick look.

The minion took his cellphone out of his
pocket and smiled at the screen.

“Hey, baby,” he said as he answered the
call.

He pressed his back against the wall next to
the doorway and laughed at whatever “baby” said in response. I took
a deep breath and angled my body sideways so I wouldn’t touch him.
I took two sidesteps past him, and I was at the door. I hoped he
didn’t decide to move, because I was right in front of him. I
glanced into the dark entryway and saw what I had been hoping
for—stairs. The minion peeled himself off the wall and walked down
the hall. I watched him to make sure he wouldn’t come back. When
he’d disappeared down a corner, I started down the stairs. My heart
beat harder with each step I took down. I wished more than anything
to see David again. Finally, I reached the bottom.

The place looked like a dungeon and not a
cellar. I gasped as I discovered five bloodstained bodies lying on
the floor. Then I saw that Nyx and Galilea had beaten me there. Nyx
was holding her hand over her mouth, letting out muffled cries. Her
other hand was clutching Galilea’s arm. Galilea looked at me, but
said nothing. I didn’t understand what was happening. Was Nyx
hurt?

Wailing, Nyx dropped to her knees. Her
screams made my skin crawl and my heart sink deep into my chest. I
looked to Galilea for answers, but no matter how hard I tried, my
vocal cords couldn’t produce a single sound.

I stood there immobile and waited for an
explanation. With long strides, Galilea met me at the foot of the
stairs, her arms reaching out to embrace me. I gasped when I felt
her arms tighten around my shoulders. She was shaking.

Then, in one instant, my world shattered to
bits of shrapnel that burrowed deep into every part of my body
capable of feeling pain when I heard Galilea say, “He’s dead.”

I didn’t move. I didn’t blink. I didn’t
breathe.

The emotion that clawed at my chest was the
most dreadful thing I had ever experienced, and at the same time,
my body was numb. Somehow, I pushed Galilea away and walked
forward, focusing on the curled body in front of Nyx, whose cries
had faded into the background and vanished like everything else
around me.

Is this a dream?

I dropped to my knees and reached out to his
face. His lips were blue. His skin was ashen. He wasn’t breathing.
I drew my hand away.

I’m not dreaming.

He’s cold.

Lifeless.

Dead.

It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. I was
supposed to free him. I was supposed to save him. I was supposed to
save everyone.

I breathed in a ragged breath.

If I hadn’t been such a coward—if I had used
that knife to—

Then I remembered the conversation I had
overheard earlier. I replayed it in my mind.

“
What happens if you don’t get the dosage
right?” asked Galilea.

“
If it’s too low, nothing,” Eileen
answered. “But if it’s too high, she’ll go into cardiac
arrest.”

Cardiac arrest—cardiac arrest,
the
words echoed in my head.

Yes. I could still save them. Spare them from
the misery that I had brought with me at my birth.

From my jeans pocket, I dug out the tiny
glass vial I had taken from the scientists. I pulled out the round
cork. I raised the tube to my lips. In one quick gulp, I downed the
yellow liquid. Three seconds later, my heart suffered the shock. My
breath hitched. The vial slipped out of my hand. I hit the
ground.