Shangri-la
Chapter 18
Iris felt relaxed by the time Lotus parked the car, and she was sure that Alder wasn’t threatening them anymore. He had plenty of opportunities to try to stop them, and he hadn’t taken any of them. Now they were at the threshold of Shangri-la.
Stepping out of the car, Iris looked around at the wild forest that was thick with deep browns and greens. The birds were loud, singing in a joyous choir that heralded their arrival.
Shangri-la.
“This is it,” Oran said, slamming his own car door shut and staring into the forest, pushing his glasses up farther onto his nose. “This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for.”
“None as much as I,” Lotus breathed, stepping forward and closing her eyes. “Oh my dear Shangri-la,” she whispered, “if only I could have opened you when I first found you. If only I could be the one now.”
Suddenly it clicked. Standing on the eve of a new life, Iris could feel the lies that lead her there. The constant uneasiness in her chest, the meaning of Alder’s words, all came crashing down on her.
“Lotus,” Iris said quietly, “tell me the truth. You aren’t a key to Shangri-la, are you.”
Lotus stiffened as she put on her mask, and she turned to face Iris. “No. Did you think that I was?”
“Only because you led me to believe that!” Iris snapped as pain overtook her heart. She didn’t really care that Lotus wasn’t a key. Instead, the real reason for her sorrow bubbled out with the words, “You lied to me to use me.”
Lotus’s mouth remained closed in a straight line, but her eyes screamed with a thousand thoughts and emotions. She was on the verge of manipulating Iris again.
“I abandoned my family and best friend for you!” Iris yelled quickly. “And you don’t really care about me at all.”
“Why should I?” Lotus asked quietly. “You’re nothing more than an emotional teenage girl.”
Iris pulled back as the words hit her, and tears filled her eyes. “You’re a bitch!”
“And so are you. But what are you going to do about it?”
Biting her lip, Iris knew what she wanted to do, but she couldn’t bring herself to act just yet. She had a horrible feeling that she knew the reason why Lotus’s deceit hurt so much when it shouldn’t have mattered at all, and that kept her feet firmly locked to the ground.
“Lotus,” she said, “it’s not nice to play someone like that. You should have just been honest with me, instead of breaking my heart!”
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