I glance down at Veah’s injured leg and Bastian’s unconscious body.
No Viagra ! I yell. But you need to hurry !
The bodies on the dance floor are either unconscious or dead. As I step over them, I try not to think too hard about it. These are the same people who chorused for Pierce’s death. Who were willing to drug a girl with something fatal, just to see the outcome of it all.
These are the people who cheered when an innocent girl slit her throat.
No, I am not going to feel sorry for them.
I want to light the match, Maiko says suddenly. Please. It has to be me.
Why ? I ask curiously.
Ren shakes his head wordlessly at me. Don’t question it. Bastian’s limp figure is resting over his shoulders, and although Ren is tall and willowy, he has to be strong in order to lift that deadweight.
It’s a long story, Maiko told me once.
Quietly, I hand her the matchbox.
Those bastards, she mutters in a low, angry voice. Bastards.
The floor beneath us is slick with gasoline. They must have poured it throughout the halls, the club.
Now, in the stairwell, I see where the liquid slicks the floor. We are standing safely behind it.
In the dark, Maiko lights a match.
And I send up a silent prayer to the heavens. Sorry, God.
Golden-orange flame.
It licks against the shadow, kissing the dark. Holy fire, reflected in Veah’s eyes. She is looking at me like she has never looked at me before, and then she reaches outtucking a lock of hair behind my ear.
Mai tosses the spark onto the gasoline.
Fire races through the stone corridor, illuminating the world as brightly as the sun.
Veah’s eyes are wide with something that might be awe. Your hair, she breathes. It’s gold.
Is she aware that she was just shot ?
We have to get you to a hospital, I say, shaking my head. You might be bleeding out
Already, stifling heat rises in the air. Smoke begins to churn. Mai and Ren nod to us, already further down the corridor.
You’re beautiful, she whispers, her hand gentle on the side of my face.
I smile, unable to help myself. And those three words almost escape me. I
You two are idiots ! Ren shouts. Get your asses over here before you burn alive !
I hear Maiko mutter, Lesbians.
You owe me fifty, Ren argues. I said this would happen. It’s just something about arson
Veah grabs my hand, and we are sprinting like there is a wall of fire behind us, like we are about to get ourselves burned alive. And I think I might not mind thisnot anymore. Because as long as I’m with her, I think I’d be happy to spend the rest of my life running. Even if it’s from the rest of the world. Even if it’s for my life.
Ren and Maiko disappear up a stairwell, from where I first arrived. The temple’s side entrance.
But as I round the bend, ready to swerve, Veah urges me forward.
Trust me. Always.
You do know that was the exit, right ? I say. Maybe I shouldn’t have trusted the girl who was just shot in the leg. Maybe she has a concussion, too.
I have to show you something.
While this place is burning ?
We are still running. Veah flicks open a matchbox, dragging me up another set of stairs. But this time, they are not secret or hidden, like the side entrance. They are glossy and marble and gold-veined.
This must be the temple.
The fire is far behind us now ; I can only taste the acrid scent of smoke. Five minuteswe have five minutes.
The temple is beautiful. There is bright golden light and wooden panels, with glowing Japanese calligraphy etched into the ceilings. It feels serene. Peaceful. There is the sound of trickling water, and it soothes me.
Softly, Veah says, I hate it here.
I only give her a questioning look, eyebrows raised.
This isn’t a real temple, Veah tells me. It’s a front for the club below. Okami had this designed a while ago. It’s where I begged her to save my parents.
On the temple’s altar, I finally notice a pale golden bowl.
My steps are hesitant as I walk towards it.
Behind me, I hear Veah say, This is where I pledged my loyalty to her. Where I spilled my blood in her honour.
I have arrived at the bowl. My stomach clenchesdread, as I peer over it.
Into it.
Blood.
Bitterly, Veah says, Do you know what she told me, once I was sworn to her ? She said, This love makes you weak. Do you see how easy it was to use your parents against you ? And that was when I realized it wasn’t the Cais who had used my parents as hostages.
Inside the bowl, there is fresh red blood.
I turn around, my heartbeat lurching. What ? What does that mean ?
Okami made me think it was the Cais who took my parents hostage. Veah laughsshortly, sharply. That it was revenge, for running away from the Cai gang. But it wasn’t the Cais. It had been her all along, so when I went to her . . . when I pleaded for her help . . . I became loyal to the very person who had been behind all of it.
The trick, I realize. When those people arrived on your parents’ doorstep and said you had been hurt. That was Okami, not Imai ?
My own mistake, Veah says, her eyes flickering. My fatal flaw.
As she closes the distance between us, I can’t help but notice there are droplets of her blood on the glossy wooden floor.
We have to get you to a hospital, I say desperately.
Today, when you called my name . . . Veah’s hands are on either side of my face, and I reach out to her. Pulling her closer to me by the collar of her jacket. I thought I had lost you, Kaya. I thought you were dead.
Heaven and hell, I whisper. Thinking of when she had been cast in that glowing turquoise light. Water rippling between us. She had said, I would move heaven and hell to get you back.