<h4>Chapter 124: _ A Night Of Screams</h4>


    The night was a mess of noise.


    I bolted to my window, heart hammering, and yanked it open. The cool night air rushed in, but the chill in my bones had nothing to do with the wind.


    Shouts resounded from outside, mixing with running footsteps crunching against the gravel. My gaze darted toward themotion, and my jaw cked at what I saw.


    There were men. At least five of them. Their uniforms were unmistakable; Don Diego’s patrol team. They were running toward our vi like hellhounds were nipping at their heels.


    What the...?


    I had never seen them move like that. My father’s soldiers were as stiff and expressionless as statues, trained to be silent shadows. They weren’t the type to go running and yelling like their tails were on fire. Something was wrong.


    I didn’t think. My feet moved before my mind could convince me to stick to my room and bury myself under my sheets like the coward that I was.


    Slipping out of my room, I padded barefoot down the hall, the wooden floors cold against my soles. The vi was already awake, doors creaking open and murmurs in the air.


    I wasn’t the only one who had heard the ruckus.


    By the time I reached the grand entrance, Rosa and Cami were already there, standing stiff as statues in their nightgowns.


    Cami had a silk shawl wrapped dramatically around her shoulders like she was the lead actress in a tragic y. Our father, Don Diego, stormed out of his room all tensed and at alert.


    "What’s going on?" Cami asked with irritation.


    She wasn’t a fan of being woken up in the middle of her beauty sleep.


    No one answered.


    Rosa, as the loyal and reliable daughter, hurried after our father. The rest of us followed; a crowd of housemaids and servants who had alsoe to see themotion.


    We had barely gotten outside before we were presented with the view.


    The patrolmen were carrying something... a body.


    A <strong>half-burnt body.</strong>


    The breath in my lungs froze solid.


    The atmosphere changed, filled with something foul; charred flesh and smoke.


    Gosh, it was a sickeningbination that made my stomach churn. Gasps burst through the crowd, the maids pressing trembling hands to their mouths with their eyes wide with horror.


    My father’s face darkened like a brewing storm. "What happened?"


    He was supposed to be the protector of the pack. He hated it when things weren’t falling in ce. He hated to be deemed <i>ipetent </i>especially since the Alpha was his greatestpetition, and a murder meant getting questioned by the Alpha himself about his job.


    One of the patrolmen stepped forward with a pale face. "We were patrolling near the western border when we heard screams, <strong>Se?or.</strong> We rushed over and found... this." He gestured to the ckened corpse, swallowing thickly. "It was already on fire when we got there. We managed to put it out, but..."


    The sentence trailed off, but the meaning was clear. There was no saving whoever this had been.


    Murmurs spread like wildfire through the crowd.


    Cami let out a horrified gasp—dramatic, of course. "It’s her curse."


    <i>Huh?</i>


    The crowd was stunned by her silent deration after that gore revtion and heads turned to her.


    "My wedding is in just a few days, and now a man has been <strong>burned alive</strong> on ournd?" Cami’s voice rose, oozing with hysteria. "It’s María José! Her curse is trying to ruin my marriage!"


    Oh, for <strong>fuck’s sake. </strong><i>Did she really have to make everything about me? How the hell did Ie in where this is concerned?</i>


    Father turned her way, eyes sharp as steel. "Cami, enough."


    If the case were different, he might have supported her motion, but even <i>he</i> was on the edge now.


    Cami’s lips parted, scandalized that she had been silenced.


    I barely heard the rest of my father’s orders. He waved a hand, dismissing the crowd. "Everyone, go back inside. Now."


    <i>No one dared to defy that order. </i>


    The maids scurried off like frightened mice. The guards carried the burnt corpse away. But even as the crowd dispersed, I could feel all of their stares on me.


    Whispers in the air; <i>we live with a cursed girl. It could be us next. </i>


    Dios mío, I was in my room having a nightmare. How on earth was any of this my fault? It wasn’t like I was with the victim or knew them anyway.


    So why me me? What the heck did I do wrong?


    The second we were back inside, Cami whirled on me, her finger jabbing toward my face. "You just <strong>can’t stand</strong> that I’m getting married to álvaro, can you?"


    This was the most ludicrous statement of the year. I could gag from the irritation curling in my throat. Cami and álvaro could go to hell for all I cared.


    My head snapped up so fast that I nearly gave myself whish. "Excuse me?"


    Her eyes burned with fury. "You think you can ruin my wedding? That you can curse me? Well, <strong>guess what, bruja?</strong> I won’t let you!"


    I blinked with stupefaction. <strong>Did she just call me a witch?</strong>


    I tried to ignore her, <strong>I really did.</strong> But the stress of the night—the dream, the ck hair, the burnt body outside had already pushed me to my limit.


    And now Cami, of all people, was in my face, spewing <strong>bullshit.</strong>


    <i>I lost it. </i>


    Before I knew it, my hands <strong>moved on their own </strong>and I shoved her the hell away from my face hard.


    Cami shrieked as she <strong>toppled backward like a poorly bnced statue, arms iling.</strong> Shended on the marble floor <strong>with a very undignified yelp,</strong> her silk shawl flying off as dramatically as it was worn.


    The silence was deafening.


    Rosa gasped. One of the maids dropped a tray. Someone whispered, <i>"Dios mío..."</i>


    Camiy sprawled on the floor, blinking up at me, <strong>absolutely stunned.</strong>


    I wasn’t sure who was more shocked—her or me.


    Then, she let out an <strong>ear-piercing scream.</strong>


    "<strong>?PAPá!</strong>" she shrieked, scrambling to her feet like I had just <strong>stabbed</strong> her instead of <strong>lightly</strong> pushing her. "Did you see what she did? She attacked me! She attacked me out of jealousy!"


    I groaned, dragging a hand down my face. "Oh, <strong>for the love of...</strong>"


    "YOU’RE A MENACE, MARíA JOSé!" she continued, waving her arms like a possessed windmill. "A CURSED, BITTER MENACE!"


    I let out an <strong>exhausted exhale. </strong>It had been a long night. A very <strong>long</strong> night. And I wasn’t sure how much more patience I had left.


    She pounced on me, provoked by my chill exhale, and I had no idea what prompted me to react the way I did.


    "Get the fuck off of me, you bitch!" I hollered, pping her across the face in a deafening <i>crack</i>.