Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 124836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 624(@200wpm)___ 499(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 624(@200wpm)___ 499(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
Seven years ago, Banks had claimed one Thanksgiving that white whip cream was too basic and didn’t match his swag.
The next Thanksgiving, he came up with his minty whip cream.
I thought it was going to be a disaster.
Peach and mint?
No.
But somehow, in that wild, Banks way, it actually worked.
People started talking about the green whip at family gatherings and it became Banks’s signature move.
Uncle Song forked up a big piece of cobbler with the cream on it and stuffed it in his mouth. A loud groan left him. “Mmmm.”
Realizing that we were in there, TT looked up at us. “Moni, I finished it!”
Leo lifted his view up from the Bible and put his gaze on Lei. “Just in time.”
What the fuck is going to happen now?!
Chapter forty-one
John 3:16
Moni
My pulse roared in my ears.
Leo gazed at me and smiled.
It wasn’t a smile that brought warmth or reassurance.
It was a slow, creeping thing, like something slithering out from beneath a rock.
His lips curled upward, but it didn’t reach his eyes—those remained cold, calculating, void of any human emotion.
The smile was all sharp edges.
Broken glass glinting in the shadows, cutting through my fragile moment of calm.
“Ah, Lei.” Leo kept that creepy ass smile on his face. “You’ve come just in time… I’ve been waiting for you.”
A chill run down my spine and my fingers twitched at my sides.
That smile—God, that smile.
It wasn’t human.
It was the kind of smile a predator gives right before sinking its teeth into soft, helpless flesh.
And I realized with horror that Leo was enjoying this. He was reveling in the terror coming off us.
Lei spoke, “How did you get back into the East after you left? The gates are closed.”
“Oh yes. The gates are in fact closed.” Leo bobbed his head. “The problem is. . .my car left. . .but I didn’t.”
Shivering, I made sure to keep the fear out of my voice. “TT, Banks wanted to say goodbye to you before he left. Can you go down there and give him a big hug?”
“Not just yet.” Leo gently placed his hand on her shoulder to keep her there. “We have to show you the map.”
“There’s so much that we learned.” TT touched it, barely able to keep the excitement out of her voice. “You see these things right here?”
TT's little fingers danced over the puzzle, tracing the delicate woodwork as she turned to me with that proud, innocent smile. “See, Moni?"
“Y-yeah.”
“At first when I solved this an hour ago, I was stumped. I thought it was just weird words and numbers at first. But Uncle Leo helped me. He showed me that they were Bible verses.”
My heart clenched as I looked down at faint inscriptions that wound across the wooden pieces.
TT pointed to the center of the puzzle. “This one says John 3:16. That’s in the Bible.”
I glanced at the writing and there it was, etched into the blade. The familiar verse, hidden in plain sight. "Yeah. . .it is.”
I put my view back on Leo and his hand on her shoulder.
Leo smiled, that cold, calculating smile. “And what does John 3:16 say, TT?”
Without hesitation, she recited, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
"Fascinating.” Leo shook his head. “She only heard that verse once. Her ability to recall things with such ease is frightening.”
Song bobbed his head and ate another piece of cobbler.
“This is more than intelligence.” Leo moved his hand and that was when I spotted the tiny blade peeking out from under the hand on TT’s shoulder.
Ooo Goddd. . .why do you have that blade so close to her?
Lei clearly saw it too because he went stiff next to me.
Leo widened that terrifying smile. “She read that verse once and now speaks it with perfect clarity. It is a gift from God. It is good that I got to spend time with her this evening.”
My skin crawled.
TT blinked, her smile faltering slightly as if unsure of how to react to the praise.
Trying to lighten the mood, TT continued, pointing at another part of the puzzle. “The verse is a clue.”
I swallowed. “What sort of clue?”
“The verse could symbolize that finding the treasure requires a form of sacrifice or. . .deep faith.” TT scratched her head. “But. . .I think it’s some sort of sacrifice like. . .you might have to cut yourself and drip blood for something to open or. . .maybe someone has to die.”
A dark chuckle left Leo. “Now that would be interesting indeed. I almost want to stay a little bit longer to help out, but I will have to see how this plays out from heaven.”
Then, he put his view on Lei. “Or hell. . .as my son said.”
And now I understood why that smile had not reached his eyes.