by Katee Robert
“What?”
“I’ll take care of Zhao, and then I’m going back for Tristan.”
Zhao let out a wet laugh. “He’s mine more than he’s yours, girl. He was from the moment I offered him a chance away from you.”
So much hate, and for what?
It didn’t matter. Sometimes hate existed simply because it was. Zhao hated her, and she suspected he always had. Why else send his own children to that place? No one sane did such things, and there wasn’t a single reasoning that would make sense when held up to the light. “He was always mine, Zhao.” She purposefully stepped on the bend of his elbow and crouched down to grip his wrist. “I’m simply taking back what’s mine now. My man, my life, my birthright.” She wrenched on his wrist and he cried out as the bones broke.
As soon as his scream faded, he started talking again. “Your birthright? Don’t make me laugh. My people will never accept you.”
“Te, what are you doing?”
She ignored her brother, but Zhao turned hateful dark eyes in Ryu’s direction. “They won’t accept you, either. Weak, both of you. Pathetically weak.”
“They don’t have to accept me.” She moved to his other side and repeated the process, faster this time. Amarante barely waited for him to stop cursing to continue. “I’m going to dismantle everything you built. Everything you worked so hard to accomplish. It will all be ash in the wind when I’m through. No one will remember your name.”
“You don’t have the balls.”
“I don’t need the balls. I am Death.” She broke first one knee and then the other. There. He wouldn’t be climbing any ladders ever again. “I had plans for you, Zhao, but this has a certain poetic justice. A paranoid evil man dying in the very escape route he created, the one no one knows about but him.” She smiled down at him. “You may scream. I’m told that the concrete will muffle sound so I doubt anyone will hear you.”
“You bitch.”
She turned to her brother. “Get out of here and meet the others. I’m going back for him.”
“You can’t honestly expect me to leave you.”
“I do.” She pulled him into a rough hug. “I have no intention of dying today, but if we’re not back to the rendezvous point by dawn, leave without us.”
“Te—”
“Please do this for me. Delilah is waiting for you. Your future is waiting for you. Please don’t argue with me right now.”
He hesitated, but finally nodded. “Go get your man.”
“I intend to.” She stood there and watched her brother and then the light of his head lamp disappear into the darkness. Amarante breathed out the tiniest sigh of relief. She hadn’t been sure Ryu would listen to her.
“You’re not going to ask me why?”
She turned back to the man on the ground. Fear finally showed in those dark eyes, a true understanding that he wouldn’t be getting out of this situation alive, that he had a very long, very painful death ahead of him. It was nothing more than he deserved. She stepped over him and headed for the ladder. “No, Zhao. I’m not going to ask you why. The ‘why’ doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change what happened to me—to us—and it doesn’t change what we became. I don’t care about your reasons.”
“I made you what you are! You should be on your knees thanking me!”
She ignored him and climbed the ladder, his increasingly frantic words following her. He would die in the dark with terror consuming him. It wasn’t anywhere near enough to balance the scales of what he’d done, but nothing was. She would do exactly what she promised. She would dismantle everything he’d built, even if it took the rest of her life to do it.
First, though, she had the love of her life to save.
Chapter 24
Tristan wasn’t getting out of this alive.
He’d suspected as much when he kissed Amarante, but a part of him had still held out hope that he could make this work. Now, pinned down in the hallway, he had to face the truth. He had a single clip left and there were more men coming by the minute. Amarante’s siblings’ distraction was over, and now everyone would pour back into this building as wave after wave of reinforcements arrived.
Not to mention that he was starting to feel light headed from the bullet in his shoulder. They didn’t have to out-shoot him. They just had to wait for blood loss to do its work and he’d pass out.
Fuck.
A canister flew down the hallway… from the wrong direction. He stared at it as it sailed past him. Seconds later, gas filled the space. Tristan covered his mouth, but it was no use. It coated his throat and stung his eyes. Damn it, they’d flanked him. He had to find a way out of this spot before it turned into a kill box. A figure appeared out of the gas and he tried to raise his gun, but they moved too fast, slamming their foot down on his wrist and pinning to the ground. They crouched down and lifted the mask and surely blood loss was making him see things because no way was Amarante here. “What the hell?”
“Stop wasting time with stupid questions.” She moved off his hand and shoved a gas mask at him. “We have to move.”
It really was her.
He yanked the mask over his face, exhaling in relief that quickly turned to anger. What the fuck was she doing here? She should be off Zhao property by now, safely en route to her island. “Amarante—”
“No time.” She disappeared back through the smoke, and he had no choice but to follow her.
She must have studied the map he drew more closely than he’d realized, because she led him unerringly through the halls toward the side door. They passed a dozen bodies as they ran. Her handiwork, obviously. Fuck, but she was something else.
Amarante tore her mask off. “We have to hurry. We don’t want to be trapped by the fires I set.”
Fires. Now that she mentioned it, he could see a faint haze of smoke. “I love you.”
“I know.” She gave him a brief smile, but it faded as she took in his shirt, wet with blood. “Stay on your feet until I get you out of here. You can pass out later, but if I have to carry you, we’re both going to die.”
“I won’t pass out.” His body threatened to make a liar of him, his head woozy and his movements slower than normal. It didn’t matter. Against all reason, she’d come back for him. He’d do whatever it took to ensure she got out of this alive. No matter the cost. “Zhao?”
“Later.” She opened the side door and something whooshed deeper in the house. Amarante shoved him out into the night. “We have a lot of ground to cover and not much time. Come on.”
Two guards came running around the side of the building. Tristan fumbled for his gun, but he shouldn’t have bothered. Amarante took them down in a single shot each. “What are you waiting for, a written invitation? Move.”
He moved.
They rushed through the compound to the wall and started working their way to the only entrance and exit. The front gates. He didn’t know how the fuck they would make it through. No matter how many people she took down, there were always more, and the gates would hold a concentrated number. The distraction early worked against them now. He was about to say as much when a rumble tore through the night. “What the fuck?”
Behind them, an entire section of the wall blew inward. The force of the explosion took out the small building in front of it and knocked Tristan back a few steps. Amarante steadied him with her body at his back. “Looks like we have a better option, though I’m going to kick their ass when we get out of here.”
Understanding dawned. Her siblings. Obviously, she’d given them the same command he’d given her—with identical results. “Be a shame not to use the exit they just made us.”
“I agree.” She shot him a look. “You with me?”
“I’m with you.” In every way that counted.
He forced his body into motion, following her back to the giant hole in the wall. Rubble shifted beneath his feet, threatening to topple him, but sheer willpower kept him moving despite how lightheaded he was. They charged out of the
hole to find one of the trucks that they’d driven in with waiting for them, Ryu behind the wheel. Luca and Kenzie crouched in the bed, guns in hand. Kenzie saw them and the relief on her face was plain to see. “Stop playing coy and get the fuck in here!”
Amarante shoved Tristan into the truck first and then hauled herself in after him. “Go.”
Ryu didn’t hesitate to obey. He floored it, sending them hurtling down the narrow gap between the wall and the trees. It wasn’t meant to be a road, but that didn’t stop him. He turned the corner and gunshots sounded—Kenzie and Luca firing at the men still on the walls. Then they hit the actual road and picked up speed. In seconds, the compound disappeared behind them.
“That was really fucking stupid, Te.” Ryu white-knuckled the steering wheel, his angry gaze on the road. “You promised you wouldn’t.”
She glanced at Tristan, her expression going soft. “I couldn’t leave him.”
“Damn it.” Ryu shook his head. He leaned forward to pin Tristan with a look. “You are not who I would have chosen for my sister, but…” He shook his head. “Welcome to the fucked up family.”
Tristan hadn’t expected this. He hadn’t expected any of this. “You were supposed to leave.”
She twisted to face him. “We need to get this shirt off you and see how bad the wound is.”
“Not until we reach the plane.” Ryu took a turn too fast. “We have medical equipment there. He’s still conscious so he’ll hold until then. Probably.”
Tristan ignored Ryu and caught Amarante’s hand. “You were supposed to leave,” he repeated.
She turned her hand to lace her fingers through his. “You should know better by now, Tristan. I protect those I love. I was never leaving you behind.” She frowned down at him. “Don’t you dare die before we get you medical attention.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Despite his best efforts, though, darkness ate at the edges of his vision and sucked him under.
Amarante didn’t leave Tristan’s side as they carted him into the plane and she and Cami got started patching him up. The bullet wound was a through and through, which was the only thing that had gone right today. He must have passed out from blood loss, but he’d be okay as long as nothing else went wrong. They had to strap him down while the plane took off, but she breathed a little sigh of relief as they reached cruising altitude.
It was done.
She glanced over to find her siblings watching her. Not quite done yet. It took more effort than it should have to release Tristan’s limp hand and move away from him. Liam and Cami took one look at her face and went to Tristan’s side. They weren’t quite out of earshot, but she appreciated the attempt at privacy.
She took the empty chair next to Ryu, across from the backward facing chairs with Kenzie and Luca. Kenzie opened her mouth, but it was Ryu who spoke. “Why?”
She was suddenly terrified that nothing she said would make sense. Amarante swallowed hard. “In that tunnel, I had to make a choice. The past or the future. I chose the future.”
Luca didn’t blink. “Did you get the answers you wanted?” They weren’t answers he needed. He’d been stolen from his family’s home in Thalania. Kenzie’s history was more ambiguous. She didn’t remember her family or anything before Bueller. Ryu and Amarante were the only ones betrayed on so many levels by the very person who was supposed to keep them safe.
She turned to Ryu. “Is there any answer he could have given that would change what happened to us?”
“No.”
“I thought there could be.” She shook her head. “Down there, I realized the truth. It doesn’t matter why. He doesn’t get credit for what we became. We did it despite him. All four of us.” She gave a grim smile. “And he will die a slow and painful death in the dark of the tunnel he built for selfish needs.”
Kenzie matched her smile. “You’re scary, but I like it.” She let the expression drop. “It feels like it’s not enough, though.”
“That’s because it’s not.” Amarante drummed her fingers on the armrest. “I fully intend to systematically dismantle every branch of his operations—starting with the replacement camp. It could take years, though.”
Ryu have her a long look. “I think you mean we intend to systematically dismantle every branch of his operations.”
“I can’t ask anyone else to start a new journey like this when we just finished the last.”
Luca snorted. “Te, give us some credit. Did you think we were going to be sitting on our asses and sipping fruity drinks for the rest of our lives? That’s not how we work. That’s not how we’re ever going to work.”
“You’re starting a family.”
His tan complexion went red. “Yeah, well, balance is the key to life. We can have the good, too. Even if it’s dangerous, it’s ours. We’re more than capable of handling anything that comes our way.” He held her gaze. “Together.”
“Together,” Ryu and Kenzie echoed.
A tension she hadn’t realized she carried dissipated at their words. She sank back into the seat and sighed. “There is one last thing.”
“Tristan.” Ryu scrubbed his hands over his face. “You would fall for that charming psychopath.”
“We have a long history.”
Luca chuckled. “I expect you’ll get more than your fair share of shit after all the hoops you made us jump through to get our happily ever afters. But I’m happy for you, Te. Truly.”
“God, we’re going sappy in our old age.” Kenzie leaned forward and yanked Amarante into a hug. “Yes, yes, we’re happy for you. But I think all these changes are going to require some construction on Pleasure to expand the hub. We passed cozy three people ago.”
Warmth spread through Amarante’s chest. “I think we can make that happen.”
“Amarante.”
She glanced over her shoulder. Cami smiled. “He’s awake.”
Just like that, she was on her feet. The others spread out throughout the plane, and Ryu took out his phone, no doubt to call Delilah. Satisfied that all was as it should be, Amarante sank into the seat next to the cot Tristan was strapped to. He narrowed those blue eyes at her. “I told you to go on without me.”
“I did.” She smiled, feeling strangely loopy. “I came back to save you from yourself. Were you planning on bleeding out in the hallway in some kind of noble death? I have to say, I expected better from you.”
“I was considering my options.” He held out his hand and she linked her fingers through his. “Where is he?”
No need to ask which he Tristan meant. “How soundproof do you think that tunnel is?”
Understanding flared across his features. “Probably not perfect, but there will be a whole hell of a lot of activity for the next few days while they deal with the damage and repairs. As long as he can’t climb out…”
“He can’t.”
“Then I don’t expect he’ll have enough strength to be heard when things finally settle down.” He searched her face. “Will that be enough?”
There was no room for anything but honesty here. “No. But the next few years of burning everything he ever cared about to ash will. Considering the truly evil things he’s been involved in, I expect it will balance out both our karmic debts and then some.”
He traced an abstract pattern on her knuckles. “I know a guy with some useful information if you’re willing. He’s got more than his fair share of karmic debt to balance out.” He lifted their linked hands and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “And he loves the fuck out of you.”
“Sounds like my kind of guy.” She had a hard time catching her breath. “I love you. I never stopped, even when I hated you. If you want, there’s a spot on the Island of Ys for you.”
He watched her closely. “Is that spot next to you?”
“Yes.”
“Then fuck yes I want it.”
She found herself smiling. “Heal up quickly. We have a lot of work to do.” Amarante leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “And I wouldn�
�t want anyone else at my side but you.”
Epilogue
Two Weeks Later
Smoke clogged the air, great plumes of it blackening the sky. Amarante had never seen anything more beautiful in her life. She lifted the last child into the truck and closed the door. A soft rumble and it headed down the road after the others, each driven by one of the Horsemen. She turned to look at the ruin that used to be Camp Bueller’s replacement. They’d come in the night and slaughtered every single adult in the place. The thirty children there were in varying conditions. Hopefully, they’d be able to return as many as possible to loving homes. Time would tell.
“It’s finished.” Tristan had a streak of soot down the side of his face. “Or at least this part of it.”
“Yes.” Emotion rolled over her, heavier than anything she experienced while circling Zhao. This was what was important. The difference they’d made in these children’s lives. There were other innocents being hurt by things he’d put into play, too many to count. This first step mattered, though. In some ways, it was the most important one.
Her phone vibrated, and she dug it out of her pocket. “Hello?”
“It’s done.” Cora sounded tired, more tired than she ever had before. “Chimera is dead.”
The last of the tension left Amarante and she leaned against Tristan. “I’ll settle the last half of the bill immediately.”
Cora hesitated. “This was more complicated that we first expected. That’s why it took so long.” She cleared her throat. “I want a favor, Amarante. Open-ended. There may come a day when me or one of mine needs help, and I want you to give your word that you’ll provide it.”
She didn’t even have to think about it. “Done.” She would have agreed even without Cora removing the threat of assassination.
“Good.” She sounded relieved. “That’s good.”
Amarante frowned. “Did something happen?”
“No, nothing like that. Nothing concrete. I just have a bad feeling.”