will be here early tomorrow. Will you be there?”
He kept walking.
“Leo?” she tried once more. The man didn’t bother to turn, didn’t even respond. Before she could read his feelings, he disappeared into the trees.
“Blasted man,” she snapped. Really, the first thing he needed to learn was manners.
Chapter 5
“Leo, wake, my love.”
Leo’s lashes fluttered. “Mum?”
Slowly, her familiar features came into focus. Lantern light flickered over her pale face, while shimmering yellow flames danced in her wide eyes.
She lifted her finger to her lips. Without another word, she turned her back to him and peeked through the thin crack where the tent flaps refused to join. Orange shadows from the fire outside leapt against canvas walls, creating an eerie glow inside their dwelling. Each crack, each pop, each sizzle of the wood and cow dung made him jump.
Through the stillness of the night, low voices rumbled like thunder. Two? Three? Leo couldn’t tell how many.
His mum gasped, the sound harsh in the quiet. Before he could question her, she rushed to the trunk in the corner of the tent, her blue skirts billowing like the hot-air balloon they’d seen last week in Bombay.
“Leo,” his mum whispered, tossing his trousers to him. “Dress, hurry, we’ve no time to spare.”
With hands that trembled, Leo tugged his pants into place.
“But, Mum.” He shook his heavy leather boots to make sure nothing had slipped inside for a quick nap. “What is it? What’s happening?”
“Leo, go. Slip out the back and go to the village. It’s not far. You remember the path, don’t you, love? Please, you must get help.” She took his hand and pressed something round and cold into his palm. “Show them this. Tell them who your father is, and they will help. Promise them anything, Leo. Anything.”
Leo swallowed hard and nodded. When he opened his fist, he saw his father’s silver ring with open-mouthed lions on the sides and on top, a flower-shaped emerald. An emerald that seemed to pulse, that pulled him in until he felt as if he were falling…falling…falling.
“How could you, Will?” his father asked in a hushed tone.
Leo jerked his gaze from the ring to the shadowed forms outside.
“The map belongs to the tribe. Do you have any idea what that power could do in the wrong hands? Will, you don’t have to do this. I will give you the money,” Father insisted.
“Mum, who is—”
“You don’t deserve to be the keeper of the map,” an unfamiliar voice hissed. “I should say I’m sorry, but the truth is, I’m not.” The man swung his shadowed arm forward, and Leo stifled a cry.
“Archie,” his father yelled to his friend for help and the three men came together in a blob. Their shouts rang through the forest, mixing with the high-pitched screams of monkeys.
His mum pushed him toward the back of the tent. “Go, Leo, now, hurry.”
“Leo, wake up. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and I overheard a beautiful woman downstairs asking after you.”
The deep familiar voice jerked him from the dredges of slumber. Leo bolted upright from his makeshift bed on the floor, his breath coming out in harsh pants. Go, Leo, now, hurry. His mother’s words still echoed through his mind. The same dream he dreamt every night since he was a child. He raked his hair from his face, ignoring the tremble of his hands. Would he never be left in peace?
Curtains were thrown wide, and sunlight burst into the room like an unwelcome visitor.
“You’re back,” he finally managed.
“Of course. And you sound thrilled to see me. Still forgoing the bed?”
“Too bloody soft,” Leo muttered. Realizing he’d never return to slumber with memories of death pulsing through his veins, Leo stood and rubbed the sleep from his face. “I take it since you never sent word, you failed to find anything of substance?”
Akshay paused near the windows, tall and slim, his hands on his hips and a brilliant smile lighting his tanned face. “Actually, I did. When your uncle went to the Continent, he took along his son.”
Leo stiffened, instantly awake. “Henry was there?”
Akshay nodded.
A shiver of unease raised the hairs on Leo’s skin. Cazzarola. Had Henry been an accomplice? At six years Leo’s senior, he would have been old enough. Blast, why couldn’t he remember more? Why hadn’t he stood his ground instead of running?
Akshay’s merry features caught his attention, and his ire grew. “And that fact makes you smile?”
Akshay spread his arms wide and breathed deeply. “Why not? The sun is shining, the birds are chirping—”
“I heard you the first time.” Leo stomped toward a pitcher and splashed water on his face, but the tepid liquid did little to ease his troubled mind.
“Are you going to tell me who the woman is downstairs? She looked so forlorn when she heard you were still abed.”
Leo patted his face dry with a towel. “Are you going to tell me what happened in London?”
“So surly this morn, what has you in such a temper?” Akshay collapsed his gangly body into a chair by the fireplace.
Leo tossed the towel onto a table. “Nothing. Everything. Not knowing. Being in England.” How off balance he’d felt since he arrived here, especially in the last few days.
“The girl?”
Leo stiffened, annoyed Akshay could so easily read him. “Do not be ridiculous. Another attempt on my grandfather’s part to tame the beast that is me.”
Akshay laughed. “Surely not a governess? She’s younger than you!”
Leo sent his friend a warning glare.
Akshay pressed his lips together, an obvious attempt to fight his mirth. “I see.”
How could he see? Leo barely saw. He was here to find his parents’ murderers, not dally with a woman…an Englishwoman…who made his body heat with a mere glance. He closed his eyes and swallowed. The image of her wet and glistening flashed to mind—it had taunted his dreams. At least for most of the night he hadn’t dreamt of the India, but he wasn’t sure which torment was worse.
He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anyone…anything. Perhaps he admired her courage, or her innocence. Or perhaps he merely admired her soft curves. Gritting his teeth, he sucked in a slow, deep breath and pushed her from his mind. He must remain focused on his goal. Until he understood why his parents had been murdered, he’d never be free of their ghosts.
“So, will you go to this dance lesson I heard the girl speak of?”
Leo crossed his arms over his bare chest. “How much, exactly, did you overhear?”
Akshay’s grin deepened. “I’ve never seen you this upset over a woman.”
“I did not say it was because of…” He took in yet another deep breath and forced himself to uncurl his fisted hands. “Tell me about London.”
He would find his parent’s murderers. He would stay focused on his goal.
But even as Akshay started speaking about London, Leo’s mind slipped back to Ella and the confusing emotions she stirred within.
He wasn’t coming. She didn’t know why that realization depressed her so. Perhaps because she thought…well, that after yesterday they’d formed a bond of sorts. She sighed