Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 154368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 617(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 617(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Hiro pursed his lips.
Reo spoke carefully. “The Fangs will keep her safe. They know all the secret exits and tunnels out of here. We made sure this island was prepared for any attack. I have faith in her being fully protected.”
Silence held the room for three seconds.
My eyes drifted to the door she'd walked through. The air still carried her scent and the faintest trace of smoke from last night. I could still feel where her hands had framed my face. Where her teeth had pierced my skin.
And I imagined my father's men coming through that same door.
My vision darkened at the edges. I swore a beast shifted behind my ribs. Perhaps, it was my dragon-shadow. The one that would burn the world to ash if a single finger touched her while I was gone.
I looked back at Hiro and Reo. "Make sure every person on this island knows that, if anything happens to her while we're gone. . .anything. . .there will be another pyre of bodies the next morning.”
Neither of them flinched.
“I’ll make sure that message reaches every inch of this island.” Reo typed into his phone.
“Good.”
“We should leave now.” Reo put up his phone and turned to gather the map. His gaze passed over the stone slab. He stopped for half a second. His eyes tracked the leather restraints still hanging from the iron ring, the residue of melted wax on the stone surface and faint scorch marks.
His nostrils flared.
One slow breath in.
One controlled breath out.
Then he straightened the map's edge and continued as if nothing had interrupted his thoughts. But the vein in his temple was visible now, pulsing against the skin in a rhythm that had nothing to do with the Fox or Yoshiwara.
Fine, Reo. I understand.
I made a mental note to have a conversation with my Roar when this was over. Not to apologize, but to acknowledge that I would be making his job tough by not letting him know my secret plans.
Then, I thought of Nyomi. "Give me an hour. I have to say goodbye to my Tiger."
Hiro smirked. "You mean we have to say goodbye to our Tiger."
I rolled my eyes and walked off.
Chapter twenty-eight
Fear and Steam
Nyomi
Something is wrong.
The thought didn't hit me in the shower. It hit me the moment Reo and Hiro walked in wearing all black. The shower was just where I let myself feel it.
Hot water pounded against my skin. Steam rose in thick clouds around me. But my body had already made its decision before my mind caught up.
And it wasn’t just that I was good at reading people. I was a Black woman with that skill that many of us had. That instinct honed from years of walking into spaces we were not welcome in, and immediately knowing the temperature.
Knowing who was safe.
Knowing who was pretending.
Knowing when the energy shifted before a single word confirmed it.
My mother called it discernment. My grandmother called it the gift. My girls back home just called it fuck-around-and-find-out-energy.
Regardless, I knew something was wrong the second I saw Reo's clothes and boots.
Those weren't his usual shoes. Plus, they were laced tight for speed.
For running.
For kicking.
The tactical pants had reinforced knees, and one didn’t wear pants like that unless they were expecting to hit the ground. His shoulders had been pulled up near his ears, his jaw had been grinding behind closed lips, and worry sat in the corners of his eyes.
Reo was a man preparing for violence.
And Hiro had validated that by walking in and wearing the same combat gear with that black lollipop between his teeth.
Warm water beat down on my shoulders.
I pressed my palms flat against the tile and let the heat sink into my hands. My breathing was steady but my mind was racing, sorting through everything I'd seen in those few seconds, cataloging it the way I always did — automatically, compulsively, because the alternative was being caught off guard, and so many Black women in this world didn’t survive so much by being caught off guard.
Reo had told me about the movie theater. The popcorn machine. My hairstylist waiting in the VIP section. He'd said it gently, but I'd heard what he didn't say.
We need you somewhere contained where we know exactly where you are when shit goes down.
The movie theater wasn't entertainment. It was a holding pen dressed in kindness.
I closed my eyes and tried to calm the panic clawing its way up my throat.
Was there an attack coming to the island?
Had something happened with the Fox?
Were we in danger right now?
Then huge hands wrapped around me from behind. Every nerve in my body fired at once. My weight shifted forward. My hands came off the tile.
I was half a second from swinging an elbow when the size and familiarity of those hands registered and those strong arms pulled me back against a solid muscular chest.