The pair of Blackshirts don’t even miss a step as they pass by our hiding spot. Through the thin slats, the rifles tucked in at their sides slap against their thighs and hips. I swallow hard at the sight, my heart hammering inside my chest.
Conversing with one another in Italian, their voices eventually disappear into the night, completely unaware of our presence.
“How close are we to the club?” I ask after enough time has passed and I’m certain they can no longer hear us.
Bes finally pulls his hand from its place on my arm. “Too close. We’ll have to wait another minute to make sure they’re gone.”
I stare down at my watch. The seconds tick by achingly slow, the minute going on for far longer than it should. My calves start to cramp up from the position I’m in, and a section of the wall has been digging into my upper back since I slid inside.
Finally, Bes motions for me to move, helping his cousin out after. We stand still together for another moment, straining to listen. Eventually, Cec nods, and we hurry out of the alley.
We go only a couple more blocks before Bes stops again. Wordlessly, he grabs my hand and pulls us down a slim, deserted passage, where he continues on, unruffled. As if he’d meant to turn down this alleyway so abruptly.
It’s a bit of a tight fit, and the three of us have to turn to the side in order to move through unscathed. It stinks here too, like sewage and rotten meat, and it only gets worse the further in we go. A deterrent, perhaps? I gag.Well, it’s working.
I’m all too familiar with finding myself in tight, unpleasant spots, even though it makes me uncomfortable. Peering beyond Bes, however, I see this alley ends at a brick wall.
One way in, one way out.
A slight panic fills my chest. I glance over my shoulder around Cec: no one has followed us, thank God. It doesn’t mean I likethe idea of being trapped like this between buildings. I want to ask Bes where he thinks he’s going, leading us down a dead-end. But I don’t dare speak. Otherwise, I might bring the wrath of Mussolini’s militia down upon us.
We finally come to a door on our left, tucked into the shadow of the building. It appears to be centuries old, the dark, splintered wood carved painstakingly with intricate designs. When Bes doesn’t immediately open it, however, I realize something important is missing.
“This door has no knob,” I whisper.
“And why would it?” he mutters.
I blink at him. “Yes, I suppose that was a ridiculous question.”
Bes reaches up a curled fist and knocks: the first one near the top of the door, the second to the right, and finally the third to the left.
He cups the back of his neck, fingers flexing. “The man at Gino’s said… the sparrow searches the skies for the gates of hell?”
I glance over at Cec, who must anticipate my confusion because he shrugs.
“I find it exhausting to question everything. It helps that I can’t see, so I’m forced to rely onblindtrust.”
I wish he could appreciate the look I’m giving him. “I truly hate you sometimes.”
He grins. “There’s a fine line between love and hate, amore mio.”
My attention unconsciously shifts back to Bes, who’s now caressing the door intently for a purpose which eludes me.
“How true that is,” I mutter.
“Ah-ha!” Bes exclaims softly, a bit loud for my taste.
Before I have the chance to reprimand him, he presses his right thumb through the eye of an indistinguishable bird whittled into the wood.
To my surprise, it gives in at his touch.
A mechanical click sounds on the other side, where a hole about the size of my fist appears at my eye level. Warm electricity hums through it, along with the distinct smell of cigars, red wine, and a hint of limoncello and sweat. Bes stoops down.
“Det är som mörkast innan gryningen,” Bes recites.
There’s that phrase again:it is always darkest before dawn. It’s what Ailsa said to Bes and Cec in Alexandria. A part of me thought this club might be a secret meeting place for the God Men, but instead it’s connected to Bes’s uncle. I’m not sure whether I’m disappointed or relieved by the thought.
Whoever’s inside repeats the phrase. Then the lock mechanism releases and the door swings open halfway with a creak.
