Chapter 6: The Devil Came Home
688 Words
Annie stood frozen in the doorway.
Rainwater dripped from her hair onto the worn wooden floor of her apartment.
Her heartbeat echoed in her ears.
Three men in black suits stood silently around the room.
Each of them wore an earpiece.
Each of them watched her every movement.
And seated calmly in the only chair she owned...
Was the man whose life she had saved twice.
Lorenzo De Luca.
He looked completely different from the bleeding stranger she had pulled into the café's storage room.
His charcoal suit was perfectly tailored.
His dark hair was neatly combed.
The bullet wound was hidden beneath expensive fabric.
Power seemed to surround him like an invisible force.
Yet his piercing blue eyes remained fixed on Annie.
Neither of them spoke.
Finally...
"You broke into my apartment," Annie said quietly.
One of the bodyguards frowned.
No one had ever spoken to Lorenzo that way.
Lorenzo, however, remained calm.
"The lock wasn't damaged."
"That's not an answer."
A faint smile tugged at the corner of Noah's mouth.
She had courage.
Or she simply didn't know who she was talking to.
Lorenzo slowly rose to his feet.
"I wanted to speak somewhere private."
"You could have asked."
"I wasn't sure you'd agree."
Annie folded her arms.
"So you decided to invite yourself in?"
For the first time in years...
Noah saw the slightest hint of amusement cross Lorenzo's face.
"I suppose I did."
The tension eased for just a second.
Then Annie remembered the sniper.
The gunshots.
The strange visions.
Her expression became serious again.
"Who are you?"
Lorenzo studied her.
"You truly don't know?"
She shook her head.
"No."
He glanced toward Noah.
Noah stepped forward and placed a newspaper on the table.
The front page carried a single photograph.
Lorenzo.
The headline read:
Business Magnate Lorenzo De Luca Attends International Charity Gala.
Annie frowned.
"A businessman?"
Noah almost laughed.
"If only it were that simple."
Lorenzo silenced him with a glance.
"There are things about my life that cannot be explained tonight."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because someone tried to kill me."
"I know."
"And somehow..."
He stepped closer.
"...you knew before the bullet was fired."
Annie's fingers tightened around her bag.
"I don't know what happened."
"But it has happened before."
She hesitated.
"When I touch some people..."
"I see things."
The room fell silent.
Noah exchanged a quick glance with the other guards.
Lorenzo's expression didn't change.
"What kind of things?"
"I don't know."
"They feel real."
"I see moments..."
"Feel emotions..."
"Sometimes danger."
She lowered her head.
"I thought I was imagining it."
Lorenzo believed many things.
He believed in loyalty.
Power.
Strategy.
Fear.
He did not believe in miracles.
Yet twice...
This ordinary young woman had saved his life.
That couldn't be ignored.
Before he could speak, one of the guards pressed a hand against his earpiece.
His face changed instantly.
"Boss."
"What is it?"
"We've lost contact with Team Three."
Another pause.
Then...
"They're all dead."
Silence swept across the apartment.
Lorenzo's eyes hardened.
"Who?"
The guard swallowed.
"They left one message."
"What message?"
The guard looked directly at Annie.
"They wrote it on the wall..."
He took a slow breath.
"'The girl belongs to the Covenant.'"
The apartment suddenly felt much colder.
Annie blinked.
"The... Covenant?"
The name meant nothing to her.
But the look on Lorenzo's face...
Told her it should.
He looked at Noah.
"Double the security."
"No one leaves this building."
Noah nodded immediately.
"Yes, Boss."
Annie stared at Lorenzo.
"I don't understand any of this."
He walked to the window, watching the rain fall over the city.
Then he spoke without turning around.
"You don't have to understand it."
"You only have to survive it."
Outside...
Across the street...
A hooded figure watched the apartment through a pair of binoculars.
A faint smile spread across hidden lips.
"So..."
"The Devil has already chosen his queen."
The figure disappeared into the night before anyone noticed.
Inside the apartment, Annie had no idea that her ordinary life had just ended forever.
And somewhere in the darkness...
The Covenant had already begun hunting her.
- Writer
