"Then let it consume you. And you will rise from its ashes anew. Do you trust me, Luis?"
Oh, Dios…
"I… I—Of course." I stuttered.
"Then trust this," he voice was turning cool and sharp like a blade across the throat.
"This is the only path. If Axel doesn't marry her, she can't move to the packhouse. And if she doesn't move to the packhouse in five days…"
He paused and let his eyes gleamed wickedly.
"…you'll lose everything."
A cold sweat bloomed across my back. My master never makes empty threats.
"What happens in five days?" I rasped.
He didn't answer.
Instead, he paced slowly around me, his footsteps warping the floor. "There is a reason. One you will not regret. The girl must move in. She must marry him. And you—you will benefit from it most of all."
I tried to breathe. My chest rose and fell like a bellows choking on smoke. I couldn't imagine María José saying 'I do' to that pompous idiot or anybody else.
