Page 57 of Sins of Leo

As they set off, she didn’t say much, couldn’t with her tight throat and knotted belly. A tense Leo had gone from tender lover to alert warrior. Seeing him so serious, his head constantly swiveling to watch their rear, let her know he thought the situation dire.

Santos led them into the jungle, and she had to wonder at his change of heart. At dinnertime, he’d seemed rather adamant about not guiding them to the area her father had last been seen in. Then again, he and Leo hadn’t said where they were going.

The men adopted a rapid pace that left Ruth quickly tired with protesting muscles. Hiking in the woods at night on uneventerrain proved difficult, but she did her best to keep up, despite the drenching sweat and her huffing lungs and screaming thighs.

It proved easier to find fuel for her flagging energy when she heard the distant shouting. Shouting in the middle of the night in a quiet village didn’t bode well. She only hoped the folks living there didn’t get caught up in any trouble.

They finally took a short break when Leo insisted, “Ruth needs a drink of water.”

She gulped thankfully before panting, “Are we sure those folks were after us?”

Leo shrugged. “According to Santos, Maria was talking to them and they were armed. Can’t see any other reason for them to be out here.”

“Bad men,” Santos agreed as he gazed off in the distance.

“Where are you taking us?” she asked.

“Road. Safe.”

She shook her head. “I can’t leave. I need to go to the place my father went missing.

Santos glanced at her with a frown. “Bad place. No go there.”

“But I have to,” she insisted. “I need to find the door he drew. It’s very important.”

“Bad door. Bad spirits.”

Santos remained adamant, and she didn’t know how to better explain the urgency of their mission.

Leo stripped his shirt. “The spirits won’t hurt me.” He turned and presented his tattooed back to Santos.

The man’s eyes widened.“¡Dios mío!” He began chattering in Spanish, and she couldn’t follow, but his tirade ended with. “I take. No stay.”

“Deal.” Leo held out his hand to shake, but Santos retreated, suddenly wary of Leo.

Something about Leo’s tattoo had obviously triggered something in him. The language barrier made it almostimpossible to find out what it meant to Santos, but he obviously recognized it.

As they resumed walking, she murmured to Leo, “How did you know the tattoo would convince him?”

“He’s got a Zodiac symbol etched on the inside of his wrist.”

“Meaning he’s met a warrior before.”

“Most likely.”

They walked forever. Unlike the movies, she didn’t glow. She sweated like a pig. She didn’t get exhilarated. She got more and more tired. The bugs proved relentless, and she kept swatting, to which Leo teased, “I’m not the only one who finds you tasty.”

The blush surprisingly didn’t light their way. She didn’t know how Santos managed to guide them in the dark. She could barely see their guide walking in front of her. Leo trailed behind Ruth, still on high alert, even though it had been a while since they’d heard anything.

When dawn began lightening the sky, visibility improved, but the situation remained the same. Walk, walk, trip, walk, slap a bug, walk, stumble, lose a decade of life as something with many legs landed on her, walk.

She fell into a monotonous slog, one foot after the other, moving without thinking, until she almost ran into Santos.

Their guide stopped abruptly and pointed. “That way.Puerta estrella.”

“I don’t see it,” Leo commented, moving up to look.

“Door. There,” Santos insisted.

---