tugged on Meghan's hand and they headed toward the entrance.
Shelton approached the minute Meghan and Adam went through the door to La Casona. He regarded the area with wary eyes. "I've got some contacts in the area. It's possible they'll be able to help.
"Why do you look so uneasy?" I asked.
"Let's just say I haven't made many friends in this part of the world."
Bella raised an eyebrow. "Really, Harry, you didn't tell me that story."
He snorted. "It's a lot more than just one story, darlin'."
"You'll meet us at the compound later?" she asked. "I brought some board games along."
"No more board games," Shelton said, rolling his eyes. "I have something more interesting in mind."
Bella pursed her lips. "Oh, really?" Her voice took on an uncharacteristic sultry flavor. "Do tell."
"Poker."
"Unless it's strip poker, I'm not interested," Bella said, crossing her arms.
Shelton's eyelids went wide, and his face turned a shade of pink.
Elyssa snorted, and I gave Bella a questioning look. Sometimes I had trouble figuring out if she was being serious or not.
"What's wrong with strip poker between consenting adults?" Bella said with a smirk. She tapped Shelton on the nose. "Run along to your contacts, Harry. I'll see you back at the compound."
Shelton dug a finger under his collar and tugged on it, as though it felt a bit tight. "Maybe I'll find another place to stay."
Bella laughed. "Don't forget to layer your clothes. I wouldn't want you to lose too quickly."
"Keep in touch," I told Shelton as he hurried to leave. "And be careful."
He tipped his fedora at us and gave us a lopsided grin, his eyes straying to Bella. "I'm always careful."
As he headed for the entrance to La Casona, I noticed Templar guards patrolling the perimeter, and turned to Elyssa. "Didn't Felicia say Maximus used this arch to travel recently?"
She nodded.
"How is that possible with all the security?"
"I don't know." Her eyes latched onto something to our left.
Following her gaze, I saw Commander Christian Salazar, the Templar commander for Colombia, standing at ease, arms folded behind his back, legs shoulder-width apart. Thomas Borathen approached the other man and saluted then took Christian by the elbow and guided him toward the exit while they conversed. I tried to listen in with my super hearing, but the background thrum of the arch as it wound down obliterated their words before they reached my ears.
Salazar glanced back at me with narrowed eyes and shook his head at Thomas. The other man crossed his arms and gave him a withering gaze, but it didn't faze the Colombian. I followed Bella through a long brick archway, and emerged inside a fenced-in lot bordering a street congested with cars, foot traffic, and noise. A thick aroma of burnt diesel and other pollutants crowded my nose. The brick-paved street wound down a long hill between white adobe houses with barred windows and worn terracotta shingles. I looked behind me. The plaza looked like a tall, brick warehouse from the outside. No doubt the razor wire and chain-link fence kept most casual passers-by from trying to get in.
A shadowy flicker in the corner of my eye sent a panicky jolt straight to my heart. I ducked and rolled, eyes scanning for the shadow creature. Instead, I found a gray, cloudy shape drifting around the perimeter. A group of kids were trying to squeeze under the fence. The cloud morphed into a humanoid shape, its ghostly hands brushing the children on the head. The intruders abruptly stood up and wandered down the sidewalk, eyes blank, faces expressionless.
"What is that thing?" I asked with a shudder.
"A minder," Bella said.
"Those things give me the creeps," Elyssa said with a shudder.
I noticed several more of the ghoulish wisps patrolling the fence. "What did that thing do to those kids?"
"Minders twist the thoughts of people." Bella gave a shiver of her own. "Arcanes discovered these things lurking in the Gloom decades ago and, after several disastrous attempts, learned they are sentient to a certain degree."
"They trained them like animals," Elyssa said, eyes angry. "And allow them to feed on noms."
"They feed on normal humans?" I couldn't really muster any outrage, given my need to feed on human emotion.
"When the minder touched those boys, it fed on their thoughts and memories. We still don't know exactly how they do it, but prolonged contact with those things could permanently damage your mind."
I sidestepped farther away from one of the minders as it drifted along the fence in our direction. "They're really that