40 Faking It

After Taylor had finished her drink, she said, “It’s getting late. Are there any hotels nearby?”

“Hotels?” Chispa said. “No, of course not. But I wouldn’t let you stay in one anyway. What kind of host would that make me? I hope you don’t mind sharing rooms. We had five rooms available, so I put you with Michael, Ostin with McKenna, Tara with Nichelle, Quentin with Zeus, and Ian by himself. Your rooms are ready, if that works for you.”

“Thank you,” I said. “That will work just fine.”

“I’ll have one of our staff lead you to your room. If anything isn’t to your liking, please let me know.”

“I’m sure it will be fine. Thank you.”

Chispa raised his hand, and another staff member, this one a young female, was almost immediately at our side. He said something in Spanish, to which she replied, “Sí, señor.” She smiled at us and said in stilted English, “This way, please.”

“Oh, one more thing,” Chispa said. “Our breakfasts are rather casual, just a continental cuisine with oatmeal or muesli, near the kitchen. It’s that room right there.” He pointed to a door. “I won’t be joining you, since I will be out checking on the whereabouts of your friends, Jack and company, but I will be back by noon. We’ll have a nice lunch, and I will introduce you to the other members of the colony.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“Will Abigail be at breakfast?” Taylor asked.

“That’s up to her. If she wakes, I’ll let her know that you’re here, but, considering how miserable she felt, I think it’s best that we let her wake on her own.”

“Of course,” Taylor said.

“There’s cold water and snacks in your room. If you need anything to eat, the kitchen is always open.”

“Thank you,” I said again.

“Don’t mention it.” He turned to the young woman. “Vamos.”

I noticed she recoiled slightly. “This way, please,” she said to us again.

We followed her down a long corridor lined with potted plants and pedestals with busts of stoic-looking men, past a half dozen doors. She stopped at the last one.

“This is your room,” she said, opening the door.

“Thank you,” Taylor said. She walked inside, and I followed her in. The room was spacious and clean, it’s walls decorated with a large Peruvian weaving and watercolor landscapes. There were fresh flowers next to the bed, along with a tray of various snacks. There was also a bucket filled with ice and their own bottled juices.

We thanked the young woman again, then shut and locked the door. After she was gone, we just looked at each other.

“This is bizarre,” I said.

“This is nothing like I expected,” Taylor said.

“Are you sure he’s the same guy from your dream?”

“I think he’s the same face, but… he’s nice.”

“Even serial killers can act nice.”

“He’s pretty convincing. Even his explanation of why he kidnapped Abi made sense. Honestly, if I were in that much pain, and then I suddenly found out there was someone who could take it away, I might do the same thing.” She looked me in the eyes. “Do we believe him?”

“I don’t know. I’ll be more convinced after we talk to Abi.”

“Me too. And what about Jack and the team? I’m so worried about them.”

“I can’t wrap my mind around that. None of that makes sense. Like, why didn’t they call us while they were being chased? Or, even more bizarre, how did their trackers disappear a hundred miles from their car?”

“Do you think it’s possible the guerillas captured team A?”

“Down here, anything’s possible.” I exhaled lightly. “Did you notice his slip? We were talking about Jack, when he said if ‘they’ came from the north. We didn’t tell him until later that there were others.”

“Maybe he just changed his pronoun. Randomly.”

“I doubt that. I see two possibilities. One, Chispa’s exactly what he appears to be and this is all a misunderstanding, or two, he didn’t kill us because he wants something from us.”

Taylor pulled on a nightshirt. “What would he want from us?”

“Same thing that he wants from Abi. Our electric powers. He knows that we defeated the entire Elgen army.”

“Why does he need our help? It seems like he’s doing okay with his own people.” She pulled down the covers and got in bed.

“I don’t know. But either way we’ll know soon enough.”

“So what do we do in the meantime?”

“We see Abi tomorrow and hopefully find out what’s really happening. And then we find Jack. In the meantime, we accept their hospitality like normal guests—whether it’s real or not.”

“So we’re faking like we’re good guests, just in case they’re faking like they’re good hosts,” Taylor said.

“It sounds funny when you say it that way, but that’s basically it.”

“What if they’re not faking it?”

“Nothing would make me happier.” I took off my shirt and then climbed into bed next to Taylor.

We kissed, and then Taylor asked, “Do you think we’ll really see Abi tomorrow?”

“I hope so.”

“Me too,” she said softly. “So, until we know for sure what’s going on, we keep on faking it.”

“We just keep on faking it.”

Taylor sighed lightly. “This whole thing is such a fraud.”