Page 5 of Savage Kingdom

Touché. I gave a slight nod and watched as our jeeps went deeper into the Colombian jungle.

Colombia’sparamilitary groups fought to better their country from corrupt politicians. Both sides fought with lead and paid with powder. The coke trade was their moneymaker, and as much as they hated the Mexicans, they needed them to flood the United States with their white powder.

Escobar couldn’t have known the Pandora’s box he was opening when he unleashed cocaine into the world. Tents were set up all around camp, men in military outfits patrolling while the workers packed the product. As soon as the car parked, Bastian was on my side, helping me get out. No matter the training I gave him, he still tended to worry. I needed to keep reminding myself he was fresh.

“Pasenle, pasenle, estan voz esta en su casa. Como le gusto la selba nena?”Come, come, you’re at home. How did you like the jungle, babe?Sergio put a hand to my lower arm and led me to the center of his operation. With casual ease, I glanced around. After all, I was here on Sekten orders. Sergio didn’t need to know that I was gauging how far away his men were stationed from each other. What kind of weapons they had or the fact that the trees to the west left a blind spot from the other side of camp, leaving them vulnerable to an attack. No one wasthatstupid to make an attack like the one I planned.

I’d like to think I wasn’t stupid, but my decisions tended to say otherwise.

“La Sekta le gustara saber que todo esta en orden.”The Sekt would like to know everything is in order.The Sekt was the best at everything they did. There was no denying that. My great-grandmother had learned from the mistakes of her father. She’d discovered the flaw in men, the blindness power caused. All that blindness was the downfall of their empire. She taught my mother the art of men, to seduce with words and not just the body, to feed them lies and let them see what they wanted. I was trained to be a weapon.

Men quickly thought me stupid. It wasn’t until they saw death in my face that they realized their mistake. Unfortunately for me, the man whose eyes were boring into me didn’t underestimate me one bit. I could get drunk on his gaze alone, and I wouldn’t be easily fooled again.

“You know what I don’t understand?” I whispered low enough for Sergio to hear me. “Why is the Rivera cartel here? We both know that with the Sekt alone, you won’t need their contacts to cross snow into the united states.”

Sergio smiled at me, his dead eyes sparking with a fire of death. “The same reason you’re here.Manten a tus amigos cercas…”

Keep your enemies closer.

Sergio turned his back to me and walked away. Like me, he knew the Sekt could be his biggest ally but also their deadliest enemy. With agents all over the world, you never knew when they would strike.

“Should I start making you guys best-friends-forever charm bracelets? That looked like it went well.” Bastian stood next to me, full of humor.

“He’s not the complete idiot we thought he was. That reminds me, I need you to hire men.”

“But I’m not allowed to bring anyone into the Sekt yet.”

Bas hadn’t paid his dues; he hadn’t bled for the cause he was still being tested for. And I was only allowed to bring someone once every four years. It was a rule that had been set early, one ensuring that not one person would hold too much power.

Ideology was a beautiful thing to have. Too bad it was just that—an idea.

“They will be your personal guard.” I led Bastian away from the soldiers, walking around closer to the blind spot in the camp. “Remember what I told you in New York?” Bas’s jaw clenched, but he nodded. We both knew how much pain it caused him to be reminded ofherand his stupidity. Bas learned the hard way that you couldn’t trust anyone, and family was just a word and nothing more. “It’s just a matter of time before they chose the next city to open shop at.”

Chicago was a fail; all it did was gain attention. But of course, the United States government didn’t want word getting out, so they downplayed everything. The organization that had the human-trafficking ring was a mess. It had been easy to infiltrate. I’d saved the asses of more men than I could count by giving the files to Damian after I had gotten copies for my personal collection.

One of the men stupid enough to get caught in the raid was Julian Sr.

Now he was the type of man I despised the most. Men who wanted blind loyalty wanted their men to bleed for them when they were nothing but rats. Julian got his cartel by giving the CIA the head of his boss. The internal war was over quickly with the help of Sergio, leaving scared men or men with no code at his disposal, and that made him the most dangerous of everyone here.

Men with no code didn’t hesitate to stab a knife at your back.

“Don’t you two look cozy.” Gideon walked up to us, making my heart beat erratically, wondering how much he heard. “One would think you were plotting someone’s murder.”

I couldn’t resist myself and smiled at Gideon, who kept looking between Bas and myself. “Yes, yours.”

“Oh, Petal, we both know you don’t want me dead. I’m the only one who saves your arse in your suicide missions.”

“I’m sure I can find a replacement.”

Gideon’s eyes grew dark, and his jaw ticked. I pissed him off, which was a plus, though I couldn’t understand why exactly. I also told myself I didn’t care.

“Give us a moment, Kingsley,” Gideon demanded without looking at Bas. We both knew he used Bas’s last name as a weapon to show he knew who he was.

“This might be the time she actually kills you.” There was humor in Bas’s tone. He patted Gideon’s back as he walked away.

Not wanting to have this conversation where people were watching, and where someone might hear us, I walked out of the safety of the camp and into the jungle.

“Speak.”

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