Hurricane - Book 2

Chapter 19

"Not only do I trust the man on a personal level, but he is also very well paid off to keep quiet. Feel better?" Mattias barked.

"So even if he does keep his mouth closed. So what? We are sitting in this house, waiting to be caught." Eshe said from atop the table.

"What are you talking about?" Mattias said, rolling his eyes.

At that moment, Luca came down and sidled beside Alberto, taking his arm.

"What are we doing here!?" Eshe yelled, addressing them all.

Alberto could tell everything she was saying had been building up for a long time. Today - she finally snapped.

"What are we waiting for? The enemy gets stronger every day. And what? Are we waiting for some hero to save us? For someone to create an opening for us?" She shook her head, then stamped her foot so hard on the table the wood gave a loud CRACK.

"We have to make it ourselves! Nobody is coming to rescue us!"

She looked at their stunned silence.

Eshe rounded on Alberto.

"Every day, more of our people die. And every day, we come closer to being one of those people. Unless we fight, unless we change this world ourselves - we will never be free."

Alberto's eyes widened.

She was right. So terribly right. Alberto had the same thought occur to him just last night. He wanted to protect Luca, but as long as the Visconti family was allowed to run their ships - they would never be safe. Especially Alberto and Luca. They were a prize to Ercole. If he ever found out they were still breathing, he would hunt them for the rest of their lives.

Before anyone could say anything, a knock came from the front door.

"Get down, Eshe! And dry off!" Mattias whispered hotly and walked to the door.

Eshe climbed down and reached for a blanket on the sofa. They heard Mattias exchange a few words them return.

"Message from Massimo." He said, holding up the letter.

"Read it!" Giulia and Luca said at the same time.

Mattias tore open the letter. It was short and looked like it was hastily written.

"He says that...." Mattias's eyes widened. "They're setting up hunting events for Sireni."

Eshe hissed, then kicked a bookshelf so hard it toppled over, sending books flying in every direction.

Mattias ignored her and continued.

"They're bringing in people from other towns to participate in the event since the people of Portorosso refuse. But they're being punished for it. If they don't participate, their food rations are cut."

"They're starving them?" Giulia asked, horrified.

"That's what it sounds like."

Eshe rounded back.

"Still think someone is coming to save us? This won't go away until we make it go away." She said in a calmer voice.

"Also," Mattias added, looking at the final sentence on the sheet. "The man looking for you, Alberto, is gone. Massimo says he hasn't seen him in over a week."

Alberto wasn't genuinely concerned about a random man looking for him, but he shrugged his shoulders anyway.

"Great. One less thing to worry about." He said.