Page 11 of Close Your Eyes and Count to 10

The words echoed and bounced around the concrete, making Mav smile. Of all of them, Tavo was the only one who was—what? The same. Yes, the same as he had been when this all began. Wild. Always down for whatever, endlessly enthusiastic and optimistic. Alex had always been a bit of a nerd, but also a crack-up and a clown. Now all he cared about was money, how there wasn’t enough, how to increase revenue and cut expenses. Hector’s anxiety about their safety was reaching an annoying level. Angeline was hyperfocused on their charitable work.

Things were undeniably less fun than they had once been.

Life is not a game, son.His dad’s old lecture.Life is life.

What did that even mean? Mav preferred the quote from his favorite grunge rocker, Beckett:I’m gonna get my thrills before this crazy, spinning orb implodes.

Hector’s voice floated, echoing out of the darkness. “Okay, come on back up, Tavo. Did you hear that? That groaning noise? It sounds structural to me. And that’s a lot of water down there.”

Angeline frowned at that, opened her mouth to say more, but the rumble of an approaching vehicle caused them both to turn toward the entrance.

Overbright headlights cut through the night, moving closer.

Gustavo and Hector came up behind him, their laughter cut short as they approached. Alex, who hadn’t even bothered to leave the car yet, forever bent over that goddamn laptop, emerged from the back to join them.

The five of them stood as a beat-up old Jeep rolled up within a few feet and then came to a stop, sat idling for a moment. Finally, two bulky men clad in black cargo pants and tight T-shirts climbed out, door slams echoing in the night. They were armed, grim-faced, thickly muscled.

“Damn,” said Hector, with a nervous laugh. “What’s all this?”

Maverick could feel Hector’s anxious energy without even looking at him. Gustavo came to stand silently beside Maverick, his presence steadying, calming. His friend could always be counted on in a fight.

One of the big men opened the door for an older woman in robes, her face obscured by a headscarf. Short and wide, she seemed to glide through the darkness, followed by her tough-looking companions.

Mav felt a dump of dread in his middle. The armed men, the dark, their isolation. Bad things had happened before; they were still picking up the pieces.

The older woman pulled down her scarf, revealing a deeply lined face, haunting green eyes, a wan smile. She looked like a doll, a creepy doll that would sit on your chair during the day, come to life at night when you were sleeping.

“Angeline,” she said, her accent heavy.

Angeline met her with a hand outstretched, and the old woman took it in both of hers.

During their meeting in the church in town yesterday, where they’d negotiated for permission to use the Enchantments site for the challenge, the old woman had only spoken to Angeline, seeming to dismiss Maverick and Alex altogether. Hector and Tavo didn’t come to high-level meetings.

“What can we do for you tonight?” asked Angeline.

“I see you have ignored my advice,” the older woman said, her eyes glancing around.

“Not at all.” Angeline’s voice was respectful but firm. “We’re still just gathering information.”

Petra nodded, but her expression showed that she didn’t believe Angeline.

“Forty years ago, I stood on this very spot and spoke to a young man, told him that he was making a big mistake to build his hotel on this land. He laughed at me, called me a crazy old crone, said I was living in the past, afraid of progress.”

Petra lifted a crooked finger toward the hotel. “This place. It destroyed him.”

Wasn’t this like a thing? Wasn’t there always some old person telling you that you shouldn’t or couldn’t do the thing you wanted to do? Usually, it was his dad.How long can you go on this way, just playing these stupid games?he’d asked over pizza the night before Maverick left the country—on hisprivate jet. Last year, Extreme had grossed more than his father hadevermade inallhis years working in constructioncombined. But that didn’t seem to matter to Mav’s father. Now it was this old woman, Petra Arruda, thetown elder, whatever that meant.

“She’s a spiritual leader. The people listen to her,” Anton, the head of the tourism council, had told them. Everyone on the council had treated her with a kind of frightened reverence during the uncomfortable meeting where she withheld her blessing from their venture. Mav didn’t get it. What actual power did she have? Apparently none. Anton had assured him that permission was forthcoming.

Now the old woman was back on her soapbox.

“Over the centuries, people like you have come here totake. Land, resources, people. But this island doesn’t allow itself to be pillaged. The first European settlers left within a season. The trees, which have stood here since the dawn of time, refused to let themselves be cut down. The people refused to be enslaved or to sell themselves to corporations.”

Insert eye-roll emoji here. What was she eventalkingabout? Angeline had told him a bit about the history of the island chain,but he hadn’t really listened. He wasn’t much of a student, and history was like a movie you’d already watched. Boring. Over.

Gustavo was always going on about its natural beauty, the laid-back community of climbers and adventure-seekers who had made the place their home because of its affordability and the plentiful jobs catering to active tourists since it had become a destination for spelunkers, hikers, kayakers, and divers.

Petra went on, “This islandwillprotect itself.”

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