What’s going on ? Veah asks coolly.
Somehow, just the sight of her is enough to make the blood thin in my veins.
Until Emilie opens her mouth again.
Listen, you lying, whoring bitch, I
Veah pulls out a gun and lays it flat on the table. As casually as if she is placing an order.
Emilie instantly cuts off. Are you trying to threaten me ?
I sure am, Veah says easily. Is it working ?
Youthat’s Emilie splutters. You can’t do that.
Veah takes out a knife from the inside of her jacket. No ? Why not ?
I’m not afraid of you, Emilie says, her bottom lip curling.
Veah’s answering smile is cold and frightening. You should be, she says softly, but she is looking at me.
Should I be afraid of you ? I think.
The rational answer is yes.
But I shouldn’t feel so safe with someone I am scared of, should I ?
Veah takes out a third weapon and lays it on the table. Until knives, daggers and sleek guns are arranged over the surface.
Tommy’s eyes are wide. Anyone else would mistake that for terror, but I know he already thinks Veah is awesome.
Veah stands up so swiftly I almost miss it.
There is a knife in her hand and a lock of Emilie’s blonde hair tugging between her fingers.
You wouldn’t, Emilie breathes.
Veah slices off an inch from one of Emilie’s ringlets.
Get out of here, Veah whispers, still smiling. And don’t threaten my fucking girl.
Heat surges through me, so fast it is dizzying.
Emilie practically runs in an attempt to get away. You’re a sociopath, she spits out.
I’m a serial killer, Veah says, still cold. Same difference.
After that, Emilie can’t get away fast enough.
Veah sits back down. I let out a breath at the same time as Tommy, and she places the lock of blonde hair on the table.
And then she starts laughing.
It is too contagious to resist. Slowly, a giggle bubbles out of me. You just . . . you cut her hair.
The idea is so ridiculous to me that I am suddenly clutching my side, gasping for breath.
You snipped off her hair, I say.
I did, she agrees. And I promise I’m not a serial killer.
Don’t threaten my fucking girl.
Did she really say that ?
Did I imagine it ?
A sudden beep interrupts the breathless laughter. Tommy glances down at a black device on his wrist.
I hate to interrupt, he starts.
What is it ?
Well, you mentioned getting chased by the Japanese Mafia, didn’t you ?
Yes, I say irritably. A minor detail.
I think they might have found you.
Veah becomes as still as stone. What do you mean, you think ?
I mean, the Yakuza are outside the Underground and they’re asking for an exchange. Tommy looks down nervously, like he’s afraid to read the words. A hostage in exchange for Kaya.
Weather report : thunder, wind, possible kidnapping, and a rainbow.
Exchange. An exchange.
It’s not happening, Veah growls.
Of course not, Tommy says hurriedly. But they . . . they haveit’s Emilie.
Dazed, I say, But she was just at our table.
The blonde bitch with the corkscrew curls and the piercing blue eyes. The dark, smudged eyeliner and the sneer. Emiliethey have Emilie as a hostage, and they want me.
You’re not going, Veah says, utter fury lacing her words. Her jaw tenses, forming a sharp line, and she glares at me with those piercing, smoke-grey eyes.
Fire. Fire and smoke and bright, devouring resolution.
Tommy glances between us, almost nervouslyas though he is dreading something. As though there is still more he has to say.
Without tearing my eyes away from Veah, I tell Tommy, Spit it out.
They . . . they have Kiara and Lacy.
Hunter and Jude’s daughters ? Veah says, and now there is something like . . . fear in her voice.
I think of Hunter’s mismatched blue eyes. The casual, powerful way she commands herself.
And Judethat wild, ferocious glint.
I might be in shock. We have to do something.
We have to get you away from here, Veah says darkly, rising to her feet and holding out her hand.
I don’t take it. I say, Cassie, what about my
They have her too, Tommy says, like this is the thing he has been dreading saying all along.
I think I faint.
Once upon a time, there was a girl in a castle.