Page 63 of Lourdes & the Mafia
“Sorry.” I cock my head slightly to the side. “Do we know one another?”
He chuckles and adjusts his posture on the couch. “Please, sit.”
I want to refuse, if only because he gives me a bad feeling. I do as I’m told, though. Particularly when Lorenzo tugs on my hand and guides me to a couch opposite of the man. I sit, and the brothers sandwich me between them. All except Kane, who stays where he is by the door with his arms crossed against his chest like a quiet sentinel.
Once we’re seated, the man leans forward, taking a glass of dark whiskey and pulling a sip to his lips. He hisses, “We have not met, seer.” His eyes flash as I tense. “But I know of you.” His gaze crawls over my whole body, stopping where my hand is joined with Lorenzo’s. He looks up, smirking. “I never expected to find you here, of all places.”
“Lourdes, this is Leon Carter,” Ramiel cuts in, his voice brokering menace. “Let us say he is an… acquaintance of ours.”
“I confess, when you asked me to meet you here, Ramiel, I was very curious. Now that I see you’re with the seer, I have to wonder…”
“There’s a price on her head,” Ramiel cuts in. “Do you know about that?”
Leon toys with the glass in front of him. “The entirety of the criminal world knows about that. I’m surprised you didn’t.” He leans back again. “That’s what happens when you grow lax in your kingdom.”
Ramiel makes no comment, though I feel it as an insult. The room pulses with a hint of his magic.
Dangerous magic.
The magic of death.
It sends fear sliding through me, but Leon just snorts. “Funny,” he says, his tone still laced with something insulting and mocking. “The Mafia of the Underworld has spent so much time in hell that they’re losing their grip here on earth.”
“Fuck off,” Kane growls.
Joder.
I blink at him and the words that just came out of his mouth.Mafia?What the fuck?!
The shock must be prominent on my face because Leon soaks it up, looking at me with too much delight. “You didn’t know who you’re hanging with?” He gestures at Ramiel, Lorenzo, and Kane. “This is the mafia. The three demon kings of the Underworld and of the entire supernatural world.”
He stares at me following the declaration with a malicious gleam in his eye, like he expects me to blanch. To cringe in fear. To run away screaming.
Inside, I might be feeling all of those things. Overwhelmed. Shocked. Afraid.
But there is no sense of betrayal. They’ve been transparent about their magic and their powers. They might not have outright claimed to be mafia, but their status as kings was obvious as the demons in the Underworld did their bidding and literally called them kings.
So if he expects a reaction out of me or to turn me against them, he’s a fucking pendejo.
Because if there’s one thing I have, it’s loyalty.
And stupidity to last me in spades, but that’s a personal problem. So is my stubbornness to not be made a fucking fool of.
I square my shoulders, lifting my chin, giving him my best smile. “Is this supposed to be news to me?” I laugh mockingly, rolling my eyes. “Por favor.”
Lorenzo squeezes my hand.
Leon leans back in his seat, the jovial expression twisting into displeasure.
Ramiel leans forward, pressing his forearms to the tops of his thighs. “Tell me what you’ve heard.” It’s an order, one that brokers no argument, followed by the pulse of his power. It echoes through the room, and I can feel it like it’s a living thing against my skin. Much like Ramiel, it’s dangerous with the promise of violence and an end. Yet I know it would never hurt me. I don’t know how, I just do.
And that’s something I crave.
“There are whispers,” he begins, staring at Ramiel, eyes glowing fervently. “Nothing concrete, mind you, but it’s going through the underground that someone wants the seer.” He looks at me then. “Someone put a pretty hefty price on your head to be taken in alive.”
“Who?” I demand, voice firm, even if on the inside I’m trembling.
As if he knows, Lorenzo squeezes my hand in support, silent next to me.
