I’m at the window before Leo says another word, but I can’t see anything. Daenis starts to whine and scoots to my heel, sensing my unease.
“It must be the helicopter on its way back to take them into the city again.” Turning away from the moody sky, my skin prickles.
The loud rumble sounds like two helicopters are coming our way.
“Leo,” I say his name with a quick exhale. “Something doesn’t feel right. Come on. We need to go back.”
He doesn’t say anything when he reaches out and takes my hand, neither of us sure of what’s going on. It’s rare for any sort of aircraft to fly overhead, never mind two.
Together, we charge across the library and dart into the hallway, practically running toward the kitchen. But before we get there, the lights are cut. The second they go dark, it's like I'm blind. I break out in chills, instinctively understanding this isn’t a test.
“India?” Leo’s small voice comes at me from the darkness. “Who turned the lights off?”
“It’s okay.” I swallow my panic and close my eyes to focus, stepping sideways into the wall, my shoulder bumping cold plaster. “Stick to me. I know my way to the kitchen from here.”
I walk against the wall, holding Leo’s hand and talking to him quietly, trying to keep us both calm. Feeling along ridges with my fingertips, I know we’re at the doorjamb. I ignore my full body shiver and slowly move inside, pulling him with me.
A pale haze from the window helps me to see better. But when I press my hand on the wall mounted screen to unlock the door, nothing happens.
“Shit!” I fist the wall. “Blackwater is locked down. We’re stuck in here until Gio comes for us.”
This must be protocol when there’s a potential threat. The sensors switch everything off, making the modern extension impenetrable. I press my forehead to the door for a second to think. We’re trapped and I can’t get to the underground weapon room.
“We’re locked in here, aren’t we?” Daenis sniffs along the tiles, snorting and scampering from scent to scent.
The engines from outside are louder now. I was wrong to think there were only two––there’s a racket of helicopters bringing a war to Blackwater, and I’m unarmed. We’re sitting ducks.
“We have to go upstairs.” I hunker to eye-level and stroke a curl out of his lashes, the subtle moonlight making the whites of his watery eyes sparkle. “You know the passageways, don’t you?” He nods. “Can you take us to my old bedroom?”
28
GIOVANNI
“Why the fuck isn’t she picking up?” I grip the satellite phone next to my ear, panic rushing through my veins.
Loaded with weapons, we switched drivers so I could have my hands free. A few members of The Covenant have hitched rides in the rear of our soft top Jeeps.
Matheus slams his foot on the gas and takes the lead, with Tomás and André right behind us. I can’t see shit right now, because of the overgrown wild plants sheltering the dirt track. But I sure as fuck can hear the helicopters and feel the warning as it buzzes on my wristwatch.
“Christ, India, answer the damn phone!” The ringtone stretches my patience.
I pinch the bridge of my nose when it goes to an automated voicemail message. Immediately after hanging up, I call her again and shove shaky fingers through my hair in an attempt to establish some sort of balance within me.
My hands haven’t been this unsteady for years, not since I was a teen. My emotions are haywire and my heart slams into my ribs.
This is it.
The day I lose my fucking mind forever.
When it rings off again, I call Lola, who answers in a fluster. “Giovanni… they’re not here!” she says, out of breath. “They’re in the manor house. I can’t get to them. They’re locked in. The door won’t open.”
Nausea burns in my throat and a bead of sweat trickles down my spine like a jagged icicle. “Blackwater is in automatic defense mode. You can’t reach them now. I’m on my way.”
A burning ache spreads through my heart, the pathetic organ beats for her––for my family. Everything goes blurry beneath the sound of blood whooshing in my skull. I hang up and toss the phone into the footwell.
Pushing to a stand, I set the assault weapon on the metal bar in front of me while the rest of it sits on my shoulder. High-speed air hits my face. My knees bounce when we fly over a hump, the front wheels smacking the dirt when we land again.
A mist of darkness creeps over me, my veins running ice-cold.
