“Stop,” I say, darting forward. I push past her to hit the lobby button, but the doors close. “Damn it, Catherine. I have to get my brother!”
“Daniel is perfectly safe,” she says, casting a look at the invitation in my hand. She adjusts her stance, gorgeous in her white dress and perfect makeup. “Your dysfunctional family dynamics can wait.”
I notice that she’s shaking, and my anxiety spikes. “What happened?” I ask. “Where’s Elias?” Is Catherine like me too—caught in some in-between? Or is she just a person who’s trapped here, talking to ghosts? The elevator stops and signals the basement floor.
Catherine walks out into the hallway and then pauses to look back at me. “You need to see this, Audrey. You have to know this part of the Ruby before you go blindly into that party.” She groans when I don’t immediately move. “This is ironic, you know,” she says, clearly irritated. “I’m trying to save you, but it’s not because I like you, or even because I like your brother. I’m doing this because Eli cares about you. Even if I think he can do better.”
Elias must not be injured; otherwise, Catherine would be running to him. But the image of them in the billiard room is still fresh in my mind. The gentle way they spoke to each other. The way they touched. I freely admit to my jealousy, and I’m pitiful when I ask, “Do you love him, Catherine?”
She smiles softly. “Always.”
“Does he love you?”
“Never.” Her response is immediate but not cold. She states it as a simple fact—a painful one, judging by the way her eyes glass over. She could have drawn out the moment and tortured me, but she didn’t. She may not be completely terrible after all.
“Now,” she says, sniffling. “Unless you’d like me to tell you you’re pretty, too, I suggest we hurry up before the rest of us are set on fire.”
My stomach drops. “What?”
Catherine slips out of her shoes, hooking the straps over her finger to carry them, and starts to dash down the hallway. I have to run to catch up with her, tottering in my own heels. Catherine, of course, is the picture of elegance, even when she’s jogging in a sequined gown. We turn the final corner, and my worry deepens when I see several staff members gathered outside Lourdes’s door. They shrink away as we approach, avoiding eye contact with Catherine.
“The concierge doesn’t want guests in housekeeping,” Lourdes told me when I first met her. More than ever the staff are frightened, and I can’t help but to absorb some of their worry. I can barely catch my breath when I reach the doorframe, petrified to peek inside the room. But Lourdes is my friend, and I won’t walk away from her if she needs me.
I steady myself and then look inside. The first person I see is Elias, positioned on the edge of the bed with his elbows on his knees, his face in his palms. The room is dimly lit, blood soaked into the carpet where Kenneth died, lamps and dishes broken. It takes a moment for me to understand the rest, and I recoil in horror, dropping my invitation.
Lourdes lies in bed, only I wouldn’t recognize her if it weren’t for her hair. Her skin is burned, so horribly burned that I scream and trip over my heels backing out of the door. I hit the floor hard but keep sliding back until I bump the wall. I smother my mouth to quiet my screams, my eyes fixed on the terrifying scene in front of me.
Lourdes’s charred skin is black as charcoal, bits of red muscle peeking through the broken edges. Her fingers are gone, her arms lie limply next to her, her nose and lips decimated. Her eyes rest wide and unblinking because the lids have been burned off.
I cover my face, my head between my knees as I sob. Kenneth did this. I told him in the elevator that I’d burn this place down to get out, and now he’s burned my friend. This is my fault. This is how he’s punishing me.
A warm hand slides over my arm. I yelp, struggling until I realize it’s Elias. “Audrey, you shouldn’t be here,” he says, taking my elbow to help me to my feet. “You . . .” He stops when he notices my dress, and shoots Catherine a questioning look. She avoids his eyes and walks inside the room. I’m half out of my mind and clutch Elias’s white shirt for balance. “You have to go back to your floor,” he tells me firmly.