I sniffle back the rest of my tears and turn to her. “Your sister is here?”
“Not anymore.” She looks at the floor, tracing her finger over a pattern in the carpet. “Corey left, hated it here. Lourdes told us what was happening, and Corey—she came unhinged, broke things. Scared a bunch of the others, so much so a news van showed up a few weeks later to do a story. Lourdes got sent away for that—burned first, just like today. She was gone until you came. She’s part of the hotel, and the Ruby expects her to welcome new guests. Even Kenneth can’t control that.”
“What about you?” I ask, starting to regain my focus. “Why are you here, then, if you knew?”
“Because it was too late for me,” she says. “I’d already gone to the party, wanted to wear a beautiful dress. Be somebody. I thought, life’s a bitch and then you don’t die. You stay forever in a hotel with a bunch of other ghosts, passing time, going to parties, kissing in hallways.” She smirks at me. “But my sister left me here. And once Lourdes was sent away, I became part of the staff in her place. Just as well. The party really wasn’t worth it.”
“Do you hate your sister?” I ask. “Do you hate her for leaving you?”
Tanya tilts her head, thinking it over. “At first. But I wanted her to go, to live her life. It wouldn’t be fair to want otherwise.” Tanya surprises me when she reaches over to brush my hair behind my ear, a movement so motherly it nearly sends me crying again. “Daniel will understand if you leave,” she says. “He’ll also understand if you don’t.”
Tanya exhales, leaning her head against the wall. “Your brother’s going to be just fine here,” she says. “It’s Elias I feel sorry for. All the years I’ve watched him hate those parties. Always so sad and alone. The staffers say he’s been involved with girls other than Catherine, especially the few who’ve passed through the thirteenth floor.” She shrugs. “But from what I’ve heard, he never wanted any of them to stay. Who knows—maybe he only picks the girls who are going to leave. Or maybe”—she smiles—“he didn’t care because they weren’t you. All this time, Elias was waiting for you. He doesn’t want you to go, Audrey. He told us so.”
“I can’t stay,” I tell her. “He knows that.”
“Which is why he would never let you,” she says sympathetically. “I just wanted you to know you had a choice. The Ruby’s giving you a choice.” She touches my shoulder and then stands up. She holds out her hand, and as I get up, I’m reminded that I’m still in a gown and heels. Still dressed for a party, the black invitation on the floor in front of me.
It’s impossible to digest all I’ve learned. All that’s happened. But I have to see Daniel and my father again—I have to say good-bye. When I imagine it, my heart breaks. How can I not try to save them? I have to at least try.
“Good luck, Audrey,” Tanya says, walking back to Lourdes’s door. “I’m really rooting for you.”
I thank her and watch her go. I don’t have a plan, but either way, nothing will ever be the same. So I pick up the black envelope and head toward the elevator.
The lobby is alive and full of people. Many are dressed in gowns and tuxedos, but there are a few in casual clothes. The other ones, I think. The people here for a show. For a haunting, even though Catherine says she can’t touch them.
I stop suddenly, thinking back to something Tanya said. Her sister threw a tantrum, scared the guests—the real ones. How? I mean, if anyone were going to be vicious, I’d put my money on Catherine. So how did Tanya’s sister have any effect at all?
A guy stops near me, wearing a backward cap, basketball shorts, and a smug smile. He smells of too much Axe and leers at the female guests. Suddenly I have an idea, and my heart starts to race. Slowly I reach to touch his shoulder.
He yelps and spins around, looking in every direction. Looking through me. A chill comes over my body, and I step closer to him. “Can you see me?” I ask in a shaky voice.
The guy doesn’t respond, not until I run the backs of my fingers over his cheek. He slaps himself in the face, like he’s swatting a fly, but he’s scared. He’s terrified as he backs away, too embarrassed to ask for help, but too frightened to ignore me. He knows I’m here.
He knows I’m not.
The thrill of it fills me with courage, and I start toward the ballroom. I push the guy in the hat to the side, making contact with his body. He swats around himself manically before running off. The weight of his body on my palms fills me with possibility. I’m going to face Kenneth—even if he burns me to ashes, I’m not leaving without a fight. I won’t leave my family under his oppressive watch.
There is a small group gathered at the entrance of the ballroom, and I walk purposefully toward the throng, ready to demand I speak with the concierge. But then I see the blond head of my brother, Elias at his arm, rushing out the doorway in my direction.
Chapter 20