Perfect Enemies

1 OceanofPDF.com N VALENTINA ight had leached the city of color, but I could still see the heavy purple bruising blossoming around Reyna’s left eye as if an inky shadow from the trees above had cast her face in splotchy darkness. That would have been far less sinister than the truth. The mark wasn’t a magical trick of the moonlight, much to my horror. Someone had hurt my friend. “Reyna, honey. What happened?” I wrapped her in my arms, the arctic December air forgotten. Reyna had sent me a cryptic message to meet her halfway between our houses. I’d been so worried that I’d snuck out of the house in a hurry, only realizing I’d left my coat at home once I was two houses away. I’d debated running back, but now I was glad I hadn’t wasted another second. My friend shook in my arms as violent sobs wracked her entire body. I gave her time for the emotion to work its way through her system. Only once her jerky, turbulent breaths evened did I pull back to search her face for answers. In the months we’d spent getting to know one another, Reyna had never been forthcoming about her background, but I’d never imagined she was in danger. I’d gathered that her family situation wasn’t great. It was relatively common for students at an elite private school to experience a bit of neglect or have unrealistic expectations placed upon them. Still, it never occurred to me that someone might be hurting her. Shock and horror hollowed out my insides. Remorse over not figuring it out earlier made my lungs burn with every shallow breath. Reyna refused to meet my gaze. “There’s something I should have told you months ago, but I … I didn’t know how.” “You can tell me anything, Rey. You know that.” I adored my best friend. Reyna Vargas was the most genuine, kindhearted person I’d ever met. I’d felt an urgent need to take her under my wing the first day she joined our school at the start of senior year. She was so soft-spoken and delicate that she would need protection if she was going to survive the hallways of Xavier Catholic School, where privilege was the backbone of the curriculum and the air itself was infused with the fresh leather scent of entitlement. The kids at my school were carbon copies of their CEO fathers and corporate counsel mothers. They’d been trained since birth to smell blood in the water from a mile away. Xavier bullies could teach the CIA innovative new torture tactics. Reyna had been a brand-new shiny target in a plaid pleated skirt until I took her in my arms and claimed her. No one at school had dared touch her after that. As one of the students who’d been at Xavier since preschool, I’d had plenty of time over the years to ensure everyone understood that messing with me would have consequences. I had acquired dirt on all my classmates and had earned sainthood in the eyes of the faculty. By means of our new friendship, my status extended to Reyna for the most part. Life slipped into the comfortable embrace of routine as our senior year unfolded. Despite knowing my other friends most of my life, Reyna became my closest confidant. She was loyal with a dry sense of humor that most people missed entirely. I saw past her shyness to her incredible insightfulness and found a lasting friendship I’d never expected. I hated to think she was scared to ask me for help. Rey shook her head, her face scrunching as if caving to another onset of sobs, but she took a deep breath and reined in the wayward emotion. “No, this is different.” Her watery eyes finally lifted to mine. “My dad is part of the Sonora Cartel—the head of it, now that my uncle is dead.” The words were whispered into the darkness as if the wind might carry them away and spread her shameful secret. My body went rigid. The impact of her admission invited the bitter cold to seep deep into my bones. Reyna’s family was cartel. My family was at war with her family. My eldest sister, Giada, had been kidn*pped by the cartel and had only escaped home the night before last. We’d spent weeks terrified we’d never get her back. I c****d my head and tried to make sense of the information—of how my heart could mislead me so terribly. How could someone I’d protected and called my closest friend also be my enemy? “Did you know? Did you know who my father was?” My face contorted along with my heart, horrified at the possible implications. I tried to pull back, but Reyna clasped my hands. “Please, give me a chance to explain.” More tears trickled down her cheeks. “I knew who you were. My dad told me to befriend you in order to feed him information, but I swear on my life that I never once gave him anything. They’re wretched, awful people, Valentina. That’s why I never talk about them. Please—” Her breathing hitched. “Please don’t push me away. Not now. Not when I need you more than ever.” Reyna’s Latina genes had gifted her with flawless olive skin, full lips most girls would kill for, and mesmerizing dark eyes that tilted up to give her an exotic vibe. While she was different from most girls at school, her uniqueness was its own source of beauty. Her looks and shy demeanor were precisely what made her such an attractive target at school. But nothing was pretty about her brutal honesty. No beauty in the gruesome nature of her swelling eyelids or the brutally raw depths of her remorse. Seeing her so distraught sent a wave of uncertainty crashing over me. I trusted my instincts, and they’d never once detected that Reyna meant me harm. Her plea was dripping with sincerity. Literally. A stray tear splattered on my hand where she clasped it between us. I looked at my friend, trying desperately to seek the truth. Maybe it was the bruising around her eye that tore at my heart, but I couldn’t paint her as a villain. She could have continued the charade without ever telling me who she was. If she’d meant me harm, she could have done it at any time. Her confession was purely for my benefit. In fact, her honesty was entirely counterproductive to any ulterior motives. “Why tell me now?” “Because I wanted you to know. And because I need your help. You’re all I have.” I stared deep into her chestnut eyes, nearly black beneath the shadows of an old oak tree, and felt the tendrils of friendship solidify between us. Reyna was my friend. The identity of our parents changed nothing. She needed me, and I would always help her. Tears welled in my own eyes as I pulled her into a hug. “I’m not going anywhere, Rey. You’re stuck with me.” Her chest shuddered against mine, arms clasping me tightly as though I might run at any moment. When her breathing settled, she pulled back and began to explain. “Your family ordered my father and his men back to Mexico. They showed up at the house yesterday, and Dad was so angry,” she whispered that last part, fear palpable in her broken words. “Is he going to leave?” I asked softly, pulling back to meet her worried gaze.