The sky rains with ash. It’s so thick, everything has a sepia tone. The pink sun hangs like a Chinese lantern. I’d rather look at it than the hundreds of acres burning.

Underneath the dreamlike horizon, orange flames eat through a grove of cacao trees, belching black clouds. Charred seed pods lie on the smoking floor. The dorms have collapsed. Sparks shoot from a wall of flame, igniting bed frames and wardrobes. The heat bakes the earth. It pulses under my sandals. 

Dozens of homes, jobs, and futures—gone. 

“This is your doing,” General Espada says, standing beside me. “I told you there would be consequences.”

“Eat shit.”

“Come.” He grabs my arm. “Let’s meet the people whose lives you ruined.”

Trapped, I follow him around the blaze to the huddle of evacuees. The general marches me toward them, his cruel smile mellowed into grim resignation.

He addresses the sad, worn faces. “You have this woman to thank for losing your houses and livelihoods.”

He pushes me forward. A man approaches, hatred lining his weathered face. He’s blocked by soldiers. A stream of expletives bursts from his mouth. 

They hit like a lash from a whip. “I’m so sorry.”

Sadness lines every wrinkle and blushing bruise. Some of them spit at my feet. Others squat by the wreckage, wailing. Mothers comfort screaming children. All the while, the general shrugs as though it was unavoidable. That the destruction of their possessions was a necessary evil.

He ordered his men to set these people’s homes ablaze. 

I ball my fists, quaking from rage. “You bastard.”

“I didn’t do this. You did.” His impassive gaze sweeps over the red fields. “And they were getting so fond of the American girl.”

That’s what this is about, inciting hostility to further his agenda. “August will never forgive you.”

“Augusto doesn’t have to. I just need him to obey.”

“You’re not a leader.” My insides clench with pain. “You’re a rabid dog. Soon they’ll treat you like one. You’ll be taken out back and shot.”

Not liking that, he hauls me from the weeping families to the piles of smoking ash. “I’ve instructed them to clear the mess. In its place, the president plans to build a reform school for delinquent youths.”

“You honestly think that’ll endear you to the public? You destroyed their jobs. They loathe you for what you’ve done.”

His grip bites my arm. “Watch.”

A man old enough to be my grandfather scoops wood into a dustpan. My heart breaks as he works on the mountain that used to be his home. Some fish for belongings from the destruction, only to find charred remains.

General Espada watches the scene and yawns as though he’s had a long morning. My stomach turns as people devastated by the fire fight the barrier of soldiers protecting us. It’s a matter of time before someone throws the first punch, and I know General Espada will have no qualms about leading them into vans with their wrists tied.

He seems to have the same concerns. He orders his men to push the crowds as he takes me on a macabre tour of the ruined acres. 

Hardly anything was spared. Not the bean to bar machinery that cost tens of thousands, or the dorms that housed August’s employees. This was his life’s work. He will be gutted. 

I have to fix it, but I’ve never felt so powerless. There’s no government to appeal, nothing to oppose President Cortés’s absolute power.

We reach the skeleton of the pomegranate tree August stuck in the factory’s lobby. That’s when it finally hits me. A gut-wrenching nausea slams into my body. Hundreds of people’s lives were destroyed.

I double over and vomit bile. 

The general frowns. “We should take you home. The smoke isn’t good for the baby.”

“I want my husband. Please.”

Espada wipes flecks of gray from his midnight-black uniform. “You’ll be returned to your room. You must be exhausted.

“Alejandro.” He snaps at the only soldier who’s devastated. “Bring her back.”

Grief strains the silence between us. 

Alex can’t face me, and I’m too angry to look at him. I know what I’ll see. Regret. His quick, panicked breaths give him away. He mutters a stream of Spanish. A prayer. I hope he’s begging forgiveness from God because he won’t get it from me.

I rip myself free when I pass the threshold. Alex closes the doors, guilt shattering his cold facade. 

I drop all pretense. “What the hell did you do?”

He shuts his eyes, pained.

“We need to fix this.” I open the laptop, forgetting that my Internet access was revoked. “I can’t fucking believe this happened because of one man’s crush.”

He flinches at that. “I swear to God, I didn’t realize this would happen.”

Stupid excuse. “He’s done horrible things his whole life.”

“I know,” he says again, with a hopeless misery. “I wasn’t thinking.” 

That’s obvious. “People were depending on those jobs. They are homeless. You can’t just stand there! How did August react to the news?”

“I haven’t told him.”

“Let me go to him.” There are bigger problems than my broken heart. “August deserves to know.”

He shakes his head. “I can’t.”

“This is an emergency! Dozens of families have been displaced. Do your goddamn job, and fix the mess you made.”

Alex grimaces. “My father has barred visitors for August.”

Does he not understand how important this is? “Who cares? Stop standing with your dick in your hand, and do something.”

“If I disobey him, he’ll throw me in a cell.” Alex rakes his hair, his body stiffening. “Shit.” 

“What?”

“Never mind. It doesn’t matter.”

“Take me to him. Now.” 

I don’t know what it’ll accomplish, but I can’t stay in this room.

“Fine,” he snaps. “Follow me and say nothing.”

He walks through the doors. Stationed guards question Alex, but he silences their queries. 

“She needs a doctor. I’m taking her to the city.”

I clutch my stomach, trying to appear pale and nauseated. It doesn’t require that much effort. I could spend the day curled up near a toilet.

One of the guards watches us, suspicion narrowing his gaze. He speaks into his radio. 

“I don’t think you convinced him.” We hurry down the cream steps, navigating under the eaves.

Alex leads me to the service elevator I used to escape. We descend below the parking garage, to a basement level I’ve never been to. 

“Aren’t we going to jail?”

“No. My father didn’t want the media capturing his son in handcuffs.”

General Espada gladly razes homes but damned if he puts August in prison. “Can’t he bully them into destroying the photos?”

“Too risky. A leaked photo would be too damaging.” 

How will I get him out? My heart pounds. I can’t leave August in prison to rot.

The elevator opens. We step into a cold hallway, where there’s a maintenance room. Alex approaches the steel door, rapping his knuckles. 

It clicks, opening to a guard in fatigues. “She’s not supposed to be here.”

“We’ll be in for a few minutes. That’s it.” 

“Make it quick.” He frowns before stepping outside. 

Alex walks into an electrical closet filled with switchboards and circuits. A man sits in a wooden chair, strapped to it with zip ties. 

“You.” A snarl explodes from his chest. “Fuck off.”

“August.” I slide into view. “Jesus, what did they do to you?”

Red welts cover his skin. His shirt hangs in tatters. I touch his neck, the only part of him that isn’t flushed. 

“I’m okay. He used me as an example.” 

Alex cuts through his restraints with a pocketknife. The plastic falls from August. 

He massages his raw flesh, seething with anger. “What are you doing here?”

Alex turns his gaze to his boots, anguished. “I’m sorry.”

The chair scrapes as August stands, releasing a sigh. “I’m still in one piece. I’m more worried about my wife.” 

August touches my cheek. I flinch. 

“Lily, believe me. I never wanted this to happen.”

I’ve been trying and trying to block what he did. “August, something terrible happened.”

“I’ll be out there,” Alex whispers. “You have ten minutes.”

The door slams behind him. 

August swallows hard. “What is it?”

I take his hand, tears swimming in my eyes. “It’s all gone. Your farms. The housing.”

He shakes his head, whispering a single word. “No.”

“Everything is wrecked. Your dad torched the fields and he—he razed the crops.”

“He followed through,” he deadpans.

“I’m so sorry. It meant so much to you.”

Fury breaks through the calm dam. Black flame consumes him. August paces the too-small enclosure, reminding me irresistibly of a lion. He catches his reflection in the electrical box and hurls a fist. He unleashes his rage, pounding the steel like a punching bag. Blood smears the concave metal. 

“That’s not helping!”

He whirls around, trembling. “I fucking hate him.”

“Some people lost all their things. You weren’t there—you can’t imagine how devastating it was to see everyone. I don’t know what to do.”

“There’s little you can do except return home.”

My mouth is numb. “What?”

The fire banks, dampened by grief. He pulls me into his arms. “Leave without me.”

Bitterness curls my tongue. “So that’s it?”

He softens. “I wish you could stay.”

Another lie. “Now that citizenship is off the table, I guess you want nothing to do with me.”

“That’s not true.”

“Don’t worry, August. I’ll find a shack in California and raise your baby. Everything will be fine, right?” I wipe my face, frustrated by my tears. “Fuck you. You never wanted me.”

“Lily, that’s insane. From day one, I was obsessed with you.”

“Give me a break, August! I was your ticket out of here.” My voice rings off the walls. “You hoodwinked me into changing my whole damn life forever. It’s over.”

“You’re not ready to hear this,” he says, lips shaking. “But I’m saying it anyway. I love you. I’d fucking die for you.” 

He’s wrong. It’s too late. “Save it, August. I’m done.”