51

But she looks down, just slightly.
It is all the confirmation I need.
So last night, I say, stabbing her with my eyes alone, when we were being open, and honest, and truthful, you just decided . . . Hey, why don’t I keep this small little detail to myself ? I’m actually still a Yakuza boss, but I really don’t think that’s important to mention . . .
Ren and Mai immediately find somewhere else to be.
Now it’s just me and Veah, alone in the kitchen.
There is a block of knives on the counter. Without thinking twice, I grab a butcher’s knife.
Are you going to stab me ? Veah asks coolly.
I wave the knife wildly in front of me. No, I was planning on fucking it !
Jesus. Of all the words I could have used . . .
I didn’t know you were into that kind of thing, Veah says with a ridiculously attractive grin.
Shut up ! How could you not have told me ? I thought you were a runaway ! I thought you committed some terrible crime
I am, and I did.
What ?
I’m both, Veah says grimly. I used to be the boss of the Cai gang, but I did something . . . and now I’m running from them.
How are you still a boss ?
The Kogu-Ryu gang offered me sanctuary. I accepted. And Okami made me a bossalthough it’s really a glorified title for doing her dirty work. Like killing you.
The knife is still waving wildly in my hand as I say, Who the hell is Okami ?
The woman Ren was talking about earlier. The scary, powerful one.
Veah’s eyes shutter. Think of it like this. Nothing happens in this city without her knowing. She pulls all the strings.
I sweep my knife through the air. I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me . . . and . . . what terrible crime ?
Veah opens her mouth, but before she can speak, a phone on the counter begins to vibrate.
It’s Cassie. Veah holds out the phone to me, still grinning, like she isn’t afraid of the knife in my hand. Do you want to answer ?
I place the knife on the counter and take the phone from her.
Cassie ?
Kaya ! Are you okay ? You didn’t call back, it’s been two days ! I was worried about you.
I’m okay, I say, smiling despite myself. I miss you so much. How is everything there ? How’s Tommy ? And Hunter and Jude ? Is everything okay ?
Everything’s good, Cassie reassures me. Hunter and Jude are good. I’m good. We’re all fine, and I miss you, too.
I hear a male voice in the background. Yeah, I’m more than good.
It sounds suspiciously like Tommy.
Shut up ! I hear Cassie say, muffled, like she is putting her hand over the phone.
Who’s that ? I ask.
No one, Cassie says quickly. Anyways, I heard you were going to see someone named Skullcrusher. That sounds like fun. In the meantime, try not to get killed, please ?
I glance up at Veah, and for a moment, our eyes lock. I lose my breath.
I don’t think I could kill myself even if I tried, I tell Cassie honestly. Not with her around.
I know Cassie knows who I’m talking about.
Ask her if she jumped Veah’s bones yet, whispers that familiar male voice.
I swear it sounds like Tommy.
But in New Orleans, it’s early in the morning. So whoever is there must have slept with her, or
Who’s with you ? I repeat.
No one ! No one. Um. I have to go, Kiara is making me dye her hair. I’ll talk to you later, okay ?
Okay, I say. I love you.
I love you, too, she says, and she hangs up.
When I set down the phone, something tenses in my stomach. Suspicion.
I think Tommy was in Cassie’s bedroom.
Veah raises a brow. Really ? How so ?
I glance up at her sharply. Wait, don’t avoid the subject ! So let’s get this straight.
Straight ?
I blush. Shut up.
She is smiling. Okay.
I pace back and forth up the length of the kitchenpicking up my knife again.
So, firstly, you were once the boss of the Cai gang.
Yes.
Now you’re a runaway from them, but you work for Kogu-Ryu, their enemy.
That’s right.
So Okami, who is like the top of the chain, sent you to kill me ?
Correct.
And that’s because I’m one of the only hackers alive who can break into the Drakon, which is a firewall ?
No, you are the only hacker left alive who can break into the Drakon. Okami already had the others killed.
I swallow, using my knife to gesture as I speak. Great. That’s great. So I’m the only hacker left alive who can break into the Drakon, and that’s why the Cai gang wants to kidnap me.
Yes. The Cais want the recipe to the Wyvern.
And the Wyvern is a drug. A new, high-class drug on the black market.
Addictive. Revolutionary. Irreplaceableand top secret, yes.
So Project Basilisk is the drug lab under the church here in Tokyo city. The Wyvern is the newest and greatest drug they designed. And the Drakon is the firewall that protects the recipe to it online.
Right.
So I’m caught up.
The corner of Veah’s mouth tugs up. You’ve got it all straight.
I gesture with the knife. Do you want me to stab you ?
She is suddenly in front of me, so fast she is inhuman. She tilts her head back, ever so slightly, like she is waiting for me to put my knife against her exposed throat.
Are you crazy ? Do you want me to slit your throat ?
Do it, she breathes. Kill me. I dare you.
I groan, letting the knife clatter onto the countertop. Of course I’m not actually going to stab you ! Do you have a death wish ?
And faster than lightning, she moves so close in front me that our breaths intertwine.
The sight of her mouth is enough to make warmth pour through me.
That dream . . . that dream.
Her lips, trailing down my thigh.
I swallow hard, but she only whispers, We’ve got somewhere to be, you know.
Please tell me that somewhere is code for the bedroom.
Holy shit. Wait.
Where did that thought come from ?
Her eyes search mine. Thunder, roiling. I promised you a date, didn’t I ?
You . . . you . . . who says I want to go on a date with you ?
Her eyes glimmer wickedly. Come on. We still have to pay a little visit to Skullcrusher first.