Page 81 of Just for a Taste

Halfway down, my feet slipped out from beneath me. I groped helplessly at the surrounding terrain, grabbing at shrubs and stones, but it all slipped between my fingers. When my flashlight threatened to free itself from its place under my chin, I was forced to lean entirely into the dirt and slide the rest of the way down to save it. I hit level ground, and I sat for a bit.

“Ugh.”

Only minutes into the journey, and I was already aching. My palms stung from stems slicing through them, silt encrusted my rock-indented elbows, and the buckles from my backpack had pushed uncomfortably into my shoulder blades. I knew without looking that minute cuts and scrapes covered me, but I could attend to them later. For now, I had to focus on continuing.

I staggered to my feet and squinted ahead of me. Though plenty bright, my flashlight did little to cut through the fog, casting only a dim orb of light on the crag immediately ahead of me.

I would have likely felt disoriented from the get-go if not for being so close to the shore. Waves beat heavily against stone, and keeping the water to one side of me was the easiest form of navigation. But then, when the rain and fog cleared, I made the brief but horrid mistake of shining my flashlight off the side of the cliff.

The light could barely reach the bottom, and what little I could see consisted of white water lashing at daggerlike stacks of limestone. An intrusive, horrific query struck me: Would the ocean carry my body away, or would it remain impaled on stone?

The thought of both outcomes made me press my body even closer to the face of the cliff.

It seemed like hours passed as I walked heel to toe, but I knew it could have only been a couple of miles. Either way, relief flooded me once I could turn off onto a pedestrian footpath. The dirt path had been excavated between the backs of neighboring farms. Wild grasses and crops reached far above my head on either side, forcing me to focus my gaze on the wavering line a wheelbarrow had carved.

This should have been peaceful—time to spend with nothing but me, the road, and the sky above. But the moon was deep into its nightly journey, and all the animals around me seemed aware that the hours before sunrise were dwindling. I reached the apex of a hill and could finally assess my surroundings. My efforts revealed nothing but miles of rural land in every direction, barns and houses interspersed between greenery.

But then, to my pleasant surprise, I spotted an anomaly in the rustic scenery: a cell tower.

I sat on a rock and dug out my phone. It was a 2G connection, of course, but that was far more than I had expected.

I had typed out the message I was going to send to Noor long ago—had written and rewritten it several times—so all I had to do now was push a single button.

Hello, Doctor Ntumba. It’s been a long time since we’ve spoken, and I miss talking to you. I hope you, Lucia, Signore Urbino, and Signora Carbone are all well right now, since I fear that my and Zeno’s safety is in jeopardy. He is refusing to drink from me and has not gotten any transfusions. I think the only way all of this will end is if I figure something out. If Zeno asks, let him know that I am safe and I plan on all of us meeting again soon.

My thumb hovered over the button, and I was tempted to rewrite it for the umpteenth time, but pressed send before I could.

I didn’t expect any sort of response until later in the day, but for the first time in nine months, my phone rang.

Chapter 44: Va tacito e nascosto

“Hello?” My voice sounded hoarse and strange.

The voice that answered me was low and steady. “Is he visibly bruising now? How compromised is his health?”

“I—” I sucked in a deep breath and exhaled the next word. “Very.”

The phone crackled as she sighed into it. “I should have known. His calls to me have gotten fewer and further between. Is he refusing to have a transfusion at a nearby hospital?”

“Yes.”

“Cora, you’re making a mistake. Zeno did not tell any of us where you have been staying. He wants to keep your location secret.”

Even in the cool spring weather, I felt myself flush. “I know that, but—”

“What I am telling you, Cora, is that although I do not know where you or Zeno are, I am certain there are others who do. There are no secrets within the Medici family, and every Medici is a demon with many eyes and ears. Why Zeno is hiding from them, or what will happen when you are found, is unknown to me. What I do know is that it’s only a matter of time until youarefound. If you continue to act this reckless, I am confident the two of you will just become caged birds for Zeno’s father and cousin.”

Caged birds.

“Did someone break into the abbey?” I rasped. “And steal Leonore?”

On the other end, I could hear her moving around. When she spoke again, the eclectic chirping of various finches became audible.

“The bird? I don’t see her often, but no one has broken in. Why?”

My mouth felt painfully dry, as if cotton balls were stuck in it. “I found her the other day outside the door. Killed.”

There was a prolonged silence, and I might have thought we were disconnected if not for the sound of steady breathing on the other end. “How long ago was that?” she asked.

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