My attention snaps back to Mai. She is suddenly gripping a woman’s throat in her hand.
I’mnot trying to hurt you, the woman wheezes. My name is Vittoria Abru
Mai lets her body slide to the ground.
Please tell me she’s not dead, I say.
She’s not dead.
Seriously ?
Yeah, Mai says, as if this is disappointing. Just unconscious.
There are five of the Yakuza now gathered outside of the bathroom’s hallway. Guards.
Those are the Kamikaze, Mai says in a low voice.
What ? Why is that such a bad thing ?
Because, Maiko continues, they’re Okami’s version of the suicidal bombers in the Japan Special Attacks Unit.
You mean . . .
Okami made her own Kamikaze. Each one of those men is ready to die for herto, quite literally, blow themselves up for her right now. You are not going anywhere near that.
But I need to
Mai shoves me down behind an overturned table, ducking to join me. If you think you’re going anywhere near that, you’re crazy.
She took everything away from Veah. I want her rotting behind bars.
Every single one of those guards there will blow themselves up if you get too closeand they won’t go down without taking you down with them. You’re not going.
She can’t just get away with it, I continue furiously, and I stand up
Mai pulls me back down, just as Ren rolls behind the table. Bullets strike against the other side of the wood. He is panting, breathless, as he says, So what are we up to over here ?
Maiko narrows her eyes on his face. There’s a little bit of . . . Gently, with her thumb, she wipes his cheekbone. You had a little blood there, she explains.
Ren is looking at her like she is the entirety of the stars in the sky.
Spare me, Bonnie and Clyde, I say, trying to stand up again
Mai yanks me back down. Kaya ? Want to tell Ren your genius plan ?
I’m going to go over there and
You’re going to go over there ? Ren peeks out over the table at the guards near the bathroom’s entrance. With Suicidal Bombers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 ?
I need to
You need to stay alive.
Across the banquet hall, I see Veah surrounded by a group of the Italian Mafia.
That idiot, Ren groans. She would probably provoke the entire Soviet Union if someone dared her. I’m gonna go help.
You do know she doesn’t need help, right ?
Well, yeah. But why would I let her have all the fun to herself ?
More bullets embed into the wood. As Ren leaps up, slashing his way through the crowd, Maiko pulls me behind the shelter of another overturned table, closer to the bathroom entrance.
From up close, I see the five guards are made up of one girl and four men.
If I got too close . . . would they really blow themselves up ?
Are they really willing to die for the Wolf ?
I have to do this, I whisper to Mai. I know how much Okami hurt Veah. I . . . I love her. I can’t stand to see her in pain. Okami can’t get away with this.
I don’t get it, Maiko says, as she leans up over the table and fires her gun like a sniper. Why do you care so much ? I know you like each other, but this . . . this is a whole other level of crazy.
I don’t know what makes me do it.
But I say, Want to hear a secret ?
Maiko squints out at the crowd. Pulls the trigger. A man drops dead, and she turns to face me. What is it ?
You asked me earlier what we were doing during the time we were late.
Mai narrows her eyes. Confusion drawing her eyebrows together. And I guessed it had something to do with handcuffs. What about it ?
I smile. Behind me, my grip tightens on the wooden leg of a broken chair.
The secret, I whisper, leaning towards her, is that we got married.
She barely has time to sputter out, What ?
I ram the wooden leg of the chair against the side of her head.
She’s going to kill me when she wakes up.
And then I start runningin the direction of the Kamikaze.
Well . . . it’s a good thing she can only kill me if I’m still alive.
Plan A, while Veah was explaining it to me with her head between my thighs, went something like this :
I don’t get it, I gasp, clutching the edge of the pool with white knuckles. We’re going to poison the Wolf ? The scariest thing in Tokyo city ?
Her tongue brushes against that soft, sensitive inner spot. My spine arches. Yes, she whispers, her face painted in glowing turquoise light. Once she’s unconscious, I’ll be in charge of the business. We can’t let the European trade deal go through.
I moan, my entire body shuddering, as a climax rolls through me.
So, I pant, we’re just going to knock out the most feared gang leader in the city. How ? How do we even get close enough to poison her ?
Blackmail, Veah whispers, her fingers trailing over my hips.
I love the sensation of her hands on me. She feels so right, like her body was made for mine. Which makes it a little hard to focus on what she’s saying . . .
Blackmail ? What do you mean blackmail ?
Maiko said we have sixty seconds. If we can convince Okami we’re not bluffing, that we have the formula and we breached her security, it’ll hit deep. She’ll mentally prepare herself for an attack from me . . . not from her wine glass. Or whatever it is we poisonit doesn’t matter.