You're Invited(96)

“Hello, Mr. Ferdinand.” I recognized the name of the manager who searched my room this morning. “We need to move all the guests over to the main ballroom now. Please inform your security. Yes. This needs to happen right away.” She paused for a moment.

“I don’t care if the ballroom hasn’t been arranged, Mr. Ferdinand. They need to be moved now.”

When I grow up, that’s exactly the kind of woman I want to be. One who knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to get it. I just wished we were both on the same side.

“Ahuna, nedha? Okkoma guest-la tika vahaama ballroom ekata geniyanna. Kaale nasthi karanna epa, ahuna neh?” Did you hear me? Escort all the guests to the ballroom immediately. Don’t waste any time, understand?

And then her eyes fell on me.

“What are you doing here?”

“I—” I tried. But she had bigger things to deal with right then. Like a missing groom to match her missing bride.

“Just get her to the ballroom with everyone else.” She waved me away. “You also, Nihal. I’m sorry, but it’s for your own good. There might be someone dangerous on the loose in the hotel, and I need to make sure you’re safe.”

Mr. and Mrs. Fonseka both nodded and allowed themselves to be led, along with me, back downstairs and to the main ballroom.

There were already a few guests making their way there. All of them whispering, suspicious.

“What’s going on?” they whispered.

“I heard she’s dead.”

“I thought she’d killed herself.”

“I knew it: she has run away.”

And still, in the middle of all that—

“I love your shoes, aney.”

“Haven’t seen you in so long. My, you’ve lost weight.”

“Do you think they’ll at least have the lobster station open for dinner? The room service food was horrendous.”

This was all just entertainment to them.

I felt like screaming. I needed a moment, just a small moment, to be alone. To think things through. To figure out a plan.

I hung back on the staircase and stubbed my foot against the edge. I was hoping the cut I made on my toe this morning would sting, but the sneakers I had on padded my wound too well. I bit the inside of my cheek instead. It hurt, just not nearly enough.

This is not what Kaavi and I discussed last night. This is not how things were supposed to turn out at all.

I took a moment and ducked into a quiet corridor. The hotel security were too busy with the crowds, so it was easy enough for now.

Trying to take a deep, centering breath, I thought back to yesterday.



* * *



—

“I KNOW. I know you don’t want me here,” I had said, my voice coming out all high-pitched and breathless. “But please, you have to listen to me.”

“For fuck’s sake, Amaya, I don’t have time for your bullshit right now.” It had caught me by surprise again. The way she sounded. Not like she spoke on her Instagram Lives, or in front of a crowd of people. She had sounded rougher, somehow. Mean.

“No, listen, please. I know you think I’m some sort of nutjob who flew over here to ruin your big day—”

“Like you didn’t try?”

I felt my face redden. She was right. I burned her dress. I was here to stop the wedding. But not because of what she thought. I wasn’t here because I was in love with Spencer. I was here because I loved her. And Nadia. And yes, even the rest of her family. I was here because I couldn’t bear the thought of a monster living with them, making himself at home, being close to my child.

I had to make her listen to me, at least one more time.

And if she didn’t—well, I knew Spencer’s room number. I had the knife. I’d probably be caught. I’d probably end up as one of those slimy, disgusting headlines. Jealous Ex-girlfriend Stabs Groom to Death the Night before His Wedding. But I didn’t care. Let everyone blame me. I didn’t give a hoot. At least my family would be safe.

“Please, just give me five minutes. Okay? Five minutes and then if you tell me to I’ll be out of your life for good. You’ll never see me again, okay? I promise.”

Kaavi suddenly looked tired.

“I never wanted to not see you, you know? You’re the one who just disappeared.”

“I know. But please listen?”

She went over to the minibar and pulled out two miniature bottles of whiskey and tossed one to me.

Relief flooded through me.

I twisted off the top and downed the entire thing in one shot. Well, I tried to, at least. The whiskey burned when it hit the back of my throat and I spluttered, managing to spill a fair bit of it onto my white T-shirt.

Kaavi raised an eyebrow at me, the way she did if I did something stupid when we were kids, and had tossed her head back and downed it in one go. Always more graceful, always more elegant. Then she threw a fresh T-shirt at me.

“Put this on. There’s no way I can concentrate with that giant stain on your boob.”

I did what she asked. I’ve always done what she asked.

She sat on a chair and crossed her arms.

“Go on, then?”

I didn’t sit. I paced around her room as I told her. I told her what things were like with Spencer. About how he treated me through college. About how I loved him in the way you do when you don’t know any better—so deeply that you lose your sense of direction. That it was nearly impossible for me to find my way back. That I knew I had to, after what I found out about him. The thing to finally break the spell. Or the curse.