Page 61 of Hostile Devil
I waggle my brows. “Oh, yeah… potato chips and maybe a few chocolate bars. How about we build a blanket fort and stay up late?”
“Yes!” He lets go of my hand and runs ahead, his slippers thudding the tiles. “I’ll grab some stuff.” His voice becomes distant when he enters the kitchen before me.
“I know the perfect books to read. Have you heard of the Famous Five?” I call over to him, watching as he raids the fridge and shoves snacks into his school backpack.
Leo shakes his head, more interested in packing our supplies. “That blanket could work.” He points to the couch. “It’s big.”
“Sure, I’ll grab it. There are a few more in the library too.” I walk around the island and move into the sunroom, my eyes catching veins of lightning spreading across the sky in the distance.
Throwing it over my shoulders like a cape, I hug it close. The softness comforts my simmering anxiety.
“All set?” I turn, walk back to Leo, and close the fridge door as he zips everything inside his bag.
“I love you, India.” He grins up at me and starts to drag the bag across the floor. “Lola would never let me eat chocolate bars or candy after dinner.”
“There’s a reason for that.”
“I know,” he sing-songs. “My teeth would rot and fall out.”
“Is that what she tells you?” I giggle. “It also makes bending the rules more fun when you have a sneaky late-night feast. I won’t tell if you don’t.”
He pretends to seal his lips shut and throws away an imaginary key. “Souza swear,” he whispers.
Together we leave the light and step into the concrete corridor linking modern and gothic, heading toward the darker half of Blackwater. Holding my palm to the wall mounted pad, we wait for my fingerprints to glow before we’re permitted access.
Sporadic flashes of lightning play with the shadows peeking out of every corner. I cross the kitchen, skirting the large island. Flicking the light switch by the doorway, I suddenly realize I’ve forgotten my satellite phone.
“Dammit,” I mutter to myself.
Leo is beside me in seconds. “What’s wrong?”
“I left my phone behind. I’m supposed to keep it with me.”
“It’s okay.” He tugs me into semi darkness. “You’ve got me. Yanni will be back soon. He’s going to love our fort. I know he will.”
He’s right. It’s not like I’ve wandered off and need to be rescued. We’re only going to my favorite room in the whole house, where Gio could easily find me.
Walking into the library, Leo drops my hand, runs straight to the couch, dumps his backpack, and gathers the blankets into a bundle. I wander over to the hefty mantelpiece, pat the ledge to find the lighter, and stand on my tiptoes, lighting a few of the melted candles, shivering from the switch in temperature.
With its high ceilings and cavernous space, this room is always chilly until the fire is roaring.
“Come on, Indy,” Leo shouts, using the name he’d heard André call me. “We have to build the best fort ever to keep the monsters out.”
“There aren’t any monsters in here.” I join him, grab one end of a blanket, tuck it into the sofa, and let it drape over the back to create a tent.
“Yes, there are.” His head cocks as he stops trailing another blanket along the floor. “Monsters are everywhere.”
“I guess they are. But I’ve always got your back, little guy. Okay?”
He trots over to the mahogany desk and climbs into the leather chair. “Then we need to make swords to slay the dragon. There’s lots of paper here.”
A chill runs over my scalp and a terrifying thought runs through my mind.Slay the Dragon.What if The Covenant turns on the most powerful men in Colombia––my family––while they’re all together––trapped in a cave?
I falter. My pulse thrums in my throat and I stare at the little boy folding paper into an origami sword. Standing here, I don’t say a word. Instead, I keep my spine rigid and do my best not to show the concern unraveling in my chest.
“What’s that noise?” His forehead creases as he looks up, his eyes suddenly serious.
I hear it too, in the distance, and it's not thunder. It sounds more like an incoming helicopter. And I know the brothers left in Jeeps since that's what Giovanni brought me home in the last time.
