Vistaria Has Fallen (The Vistaria Affair/Vistaria Has Fallen #1)(5)

Calli could see a pair by the horse statue in the middle of the square. They danced together in a shadowy corner created by the marble soldier and the pawing horse. The woman draped her arm around her partner’s neck while he tightened his arm around her waist.

Calli watched him bend his partner over his arm. As she arched back, her head dropping low, he smoothed his hand up her torso in a long, loving caress that ended at her breast. The woman smiled as he lifted her back up, his hand still at her breast. They turned slowly, looking deep into each other’s eyes. Then their mouths met and their steps slowed even more.

Calli licked her dry lips and looked away. She cleared her throat. “They call this a fiesta?” she asked Uncle Josh. “This is more like a carnival.”

Uncle Josh shrugged, still busy scanning the square. “It’s a religious festival, although I don’t know what religion celebrates the moon except for the older pagan ones.”

“Isn’t Vistaria Catholic?”

“Nominally. There are pockets of this and that everywhere. Vistaria’s been invaded by a dozen different cultures throughout its history. Maybe that’s where the carnival atmosphere comes from. They’re not inhibited, are they?”

“No,” Calli murmured. Then she spotted Minnie and realized why they had not seen her straight away.

Shadow lay over the wall of the police station. The light from the paper lanterns didn’t reach that far. Minnie leaned against the wall, laughing up at a soldier who stood over her, his hand propped on the wall by her head.

“There she is,” Calli said.

The soldier’s head hovered by Minnie’s. As Calli skipped down the steps, heading in her direction, his finger slid along Minnie’s cheek. He was tall, as tall as Uncle Josh, with wide shoulders and small hips. He’d pulled his dark glossy hair back into a short ponytail, revealing the olive skin and dark features of a typical Vistarian. He was gorgeous.

Even as Calli made her way toward the pair, she marveled over Minnie’s ability to draw the sexiest man in the area to her side. Calli never had figured out the unique quality in her cousin. It could be her attitude, the way she walked, the shape of her body, her clothes. Maybe it was her beautiful, dark almond-shaped eyes and the strong brows over them. Perhaps it was all of those things. Whatever the ingredients, the effect was undeniable. Almost without exception, any warm-blooded male in Minnie’s vicinity responded to that mysterious element.

In Vistaria, during Fiesta, it would cause trouble. Minnie didn’t always know when to retreat. Calli, though, had experienced a tiny taste of the different attitudes here. Her gut clenched. No wonder Uncle Josh looked harried.

She hurried over to her cousin. “Minnie. There you are.”

Minnie smiled up at the soldier before looking at Calli. “Just having a chat.” She smiled. “Dad said it might take a while to find you. I stayed outside to listen to the music. Calli, this is Eduardo, right?” She looked up at the soldier.

He straightened from his lean and turned to face Calli squarely. He wasn’t one of the men in the holding cell. Good.

“Friends call me Duardo. I insist. Eduardo, I like not.” His voice was low. Rich. His eyes twinkled, as if he laughed mentally. He held out his hand to Calli.

She took the offered hand. He surprised her by turning her hand. He brought the back of it to his lips. They were hot against her skin. “My pleasure to meet you, Miss Calli.” His slow smile showed white teeth.

“...er...thank you.” Calli pulled her hand away the moment he released it. His old-fashioned courtesy had bamboozled her. She couldn’t help feeling feminine and appreciated. No wonder Minnie had succumbed.

She grabbed Minnie’s arm. “Say goodnight, Minnie.”

“Yeah, ‘kay. Duardo, it has been a blast.”

“Most certainly, Minnie.” His smile grew heated.

Calli yanked on her cousin’s arm, as Josh reached them.

“Minnie, when are you going to remember you can’t just wander off by yourself?” he said.

“Adios!” Minnie called to Duardo as he walked away. She looked at her father. “I was just talking! I didn’t wander. I’m ten feet from the door.”

He pushed his hand through his hair again. “Can we please leave?” He sounded exhausted. “The car is on a side street. No parking here tonight. Come on. I don’t know about you two, but I need a good, stiff belt of scotch.”

“Me, too,” Calli said, watching the tall, wide-shouldered soldier join his friends and move on. Their uniforms were not the only ones in the square. There were many others. Duardo’s group, like the others, was not dancing or drinking as freely as the men in civilian black.

The situation in Vistaria right now is explosive.

The red-headed man’s voice rumbled in her mind, all the way to Josh’s apartment.

*

The scotch and soda slid down her throat, hissing all the way. Calli sighed. She put the heavy glass on the coffee table and looked around the room. Uncle Josh had rented an apartment in an ancient, well-maintained building in the hilly section to the south-west of the city center.

It had taken only ten minutes to reach the building despite slow navigation through narrow, winding streets. Josh ushered them inside, then checked on Calli’s aunt, who dozed in their bedroom while recovering from a bad migraine. Minnie headed for her room to find clothes and essentials for Calli.