Say the Word(61)

She had me cornered, and she knew it.

I’d gotten about five feet from her when her voice rang through the air, loud enough to draw attention from nearly everyone on the floor.

“Lux!”

I turned and faced her, filled with foreboding. Her expression was gleeful, but her eyes showed a deep malice. I wasn’t sure what I’d done to this girl, besides accidentally drop a salad she likely had no intention of ever consuming, but she seemed to hate me a great deal.

“I forgot to put condoms on the grocery list. Would you be a dear and swing by Duane Reade to grab some? Oh, and Seb—” She broke off, grinning at her accidental slip up. “My boyfriend has been practically insatiable for the last few days, so make sure it’s the jumbo pack.”

Her words were a kick to the gut. I nodded robotically and turned on my heel, so I didn’t have to look at her anymore. An icy weight dropped like a stone into my stomach and my limbs felt leaden and uncoordinated, as though my neurons had frazzled and the entirety of my system was shutting down.

I made it to the elevator on autopilot, trying my best to tune out Cara’s triumphant laughter. When the doors closed behind me, I leaned back against the mirrored wall and forced deep breaths into my lungs. I hated how much her words had affected me, but the thought of him going home to Cara after what had happened between us last night made me feel physically ill.

The worst part, though, was that Cara had only been toying with me — piling on one more degrading task to my list of chores. She wasn’t even aware how deeply her words would cut or how very personal her attack had been. If she ever found out about my past with Sebastian, I could only imagine the extent to which she’d go to torture me.

I prayed that day would never come as I hailed a cab and headed off for an afternoon of errands.





Chapter Twenty





Now


My gaze scanned the coffee shop twice as I walked through the doors, but I didn’t spot Miri anywhere. I was running twenty minutes late, so I hoped she was still waiting for me. As it turned out, Cara actually did ingest more than Starbucks lattes and salad; her grocery list had been quite extensive. I’d spent most of the afternoon trying to discern the difference between sushi and sashimi, attempting to track down the exceedingly rare — and apparently highly in-demand — imported white sapote fruit so Cara could make her morning smoothies, and asking three different Whole Foods employees to help me find a very specific brand of raw milk artisanal cheese. Though my own eating habits had evolved in recent years to include Merlot and the occasional box of macaroons, for a girl who grew up on spray-cheese and Spam, I was a bit out of my comfort zone.

In a shocking turn of events, I’d “forgotten” to swing by Duane Reade to restock Cara’s condom supply. Oops. Thankfully, picking up her dry-cleaning had only taken a few minutes and, as promised, her concierge was expecting me when I arrived at her building. He’d helped me lug the grocery bags up to Cara’s apartment and even stayed to unload them with me.

Still, getting across town during the evening rush was always a nightmare, and by the time I reached the Village I was late for my meeting with Miri. Hopefully, she was still around here somewhere and we’d get a chance to talk. I approached the counter and ordered a chai tea latte. After the day I’d had, I was in desperate need of something soothing to sip on while I waited.

“Name?” the girl taking my order asked, her sharpie poised over my paper cup.

“Lux.”

She stared at me for a beat, her dark blue, heavily-lined eyes evaluative. When I blinked and averted my gaze, unsettled by her intense stare, she scribbled my name onto the cup and passed it down the line to the barista.

“Were you meeting someone here?” she asked, rather strangely.

My eyes flew back to her face and I nodded.

“Young girl, around fourteen? Brown hair? Foreign accent?”

“Miri,” I breathed, instantly uneasy. “I was supposed to meet her here at six, I’m running late.”

“She left this for you,” the girl said, reaching one tattooed arm beneath the counter and revealing a sealed white envelope. I grabbed it from her hand, staring at the three swirling cursive letters that had been scribed across the front: LUX.

“What did she say?” I asked, my eyes fixed on the envelope as I handed over a five-dollar bill.

“Not much.” The cashier shrugged and passed back my change. “Seemed kinda scared though. Flighty. Looking around in every direction, like someone was watching her or something.”

My heart picked up speed and my fingers itched to tear open the letter.

“Thanks,” I murmured.

As soon as the barista called my name, I headed for a small table in a quiet corner of the cafe with my latte in hand. My drink sat before me untouched, growing cold as I read Miri’s letter over and over. My eyes scanned the handful of short lines so many times they began to blur together into one smeary brick of black text.



Lux,

I’m sorry I couldn’t wait for you. Santos was standing outside my apartment when I got home yesterday. He was watching me. I’m scared, Lux. They can’t know I talked to you, or I’ll disappear like Vera. Please don’t come back to see me. It’s too dangerous. I’m sorry again. Your friend,

Miri