by Katee Robert
“Delilah.” He leaned back and brushed the tears from her cheeks. She hadn’t even realized she was crying and now she couldn’t seem to stop. “I won’t go alone. I’m not about to play the part of the sacrificial lamb.” He made a face, and she knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was thinking of his sister and her plans.
That spurred her on. “Even if that’s the case, you can’t leave the island right now. Not with Death about to do …whatever it is that she’s about to do. You need to be here for her, not putting yourself at risk for me.” She started to pull away, but his arms tensed around her. “I won’t make you choose between us.”
He looked down at her like he’d never seen her before. “You’re not making me do anything.”
“It doesn’t feel like that.”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. It was sweet and reassuring at the same time, as if he really thought they’d find a way through this, as if his confidence was completely rock solid. She wished she felt the same way. The enemy had been several steps ahead of her this entire time. She had the utmost faith in Ryu, but he’d said it himself that he was distracted with worry for Death. Surely he wasn’t thinking clearly.
“I’m afraid,” she whispered.
“I’ll keep both you and your sister safe, Delilah. I give you my word.”
A hundred other fears bubbled up against her lips. They might deal with this enemy, but what of the others? Because there were others. The Horsemen had moved through the shadows too long not to make them over the years. The best case scenario was what? Letting Esther continue at Columbia until someone else figured out that her sister held a special place in Pestilence’s heart?
She’d have a target on her back for as long as Delilah stayed here.
She’d have a target on her back for as long as Delilah stayed here.
Oh god.
Delilah rested her forehead against Ryu’s chest. How was she supposed to tell him that he might not have to choose between her and his sister …but that decision lay in the balance for her with hers? She couldn’t. Not now.
Maybe not ever.
Not when she knew exactly what his solution would be. Bring Esther to the island. Sure, it would keep her safe from harm for the time being, but it would be like putting a bird in a cage and expecting it to be pleased with this turn of events. Her sister was destined to fly. Delilah couldn’t be the reason it didn’t happen.
“Whatever you’re thinking, we’ll get through it.”
The exact words she wanted to hear. She just wished she could believe them. “What if we can’t? The deck isn’t exactly stacked in our favor.”
“Maybe not.” He gave her one last squeeze and released her. “But we will get through it. Trust me, Delilah. Just …trust me.” Ryu dressed in quick, economical movements. When she didn’t immediately move to follow, he paused. “Now that we have a timeline, we need to get the plan in place. It’s a little tighter than I’d like, but we’ll make do.”
Just like that. As if there wasn’t a question in his mind that they’d save Esther and win the day. She walked slowly to her closet and pulled on a shirt dress that buttoned up the front. It wasn’t fancy by any means, but she didn’t want to face down Death and the others again in too casual clothes. A silly thing, maybe, but it gave her the illusion of a modicum of control.
At this point, she’d take what she could get.
Ryu took her on a different route into the hub this time. She’d known the “secret” hallways in Pleasure were extensive, but Delilah truly hadn’t understood how extensive. She followed along, completely turned around. Her sense of direction didn’t suck, but these seemed designed to confuse, especially when Ryu led her through a door into a closet and triggered something to have one of the walls opening into yet another hallway.
She shook her head. “This is exceedingly paranoid.”
“We like our privacy.” He closed the door behind her and then took her hand. “Besides, you’ve dealt with our enemies. Do you really think these precautions are all that paranoid?”
If someone stormed the island and attacked Pleasure, they’d have to go through this maze of narrow hallways to get to the Horsemen. And the Horsemen and their people could launch attacks seemingly at random in a strange sort of guerrilla warfare. It sounded good in theory, but … “What if they just decide to drop a bomb on you or set the place on fire?”
Ryu snorted. “Then we’re in deep enough trouble not to worry about anything at all.” He said it so casually, as if it was a risk understood and accepted.
“How do you live like this?” A couple weeks of intrigue and she felt bone-deep exhaustion that went far beyond the physical. How did he hold up under this kind of stress all the time?
He sobered. “We don’t have any other choice.” Ryu hesitated. “Actually, that’s not the complete truth. We needed something to keep us going when we were young and trying to deal with all the shit that happened to us in Camp Bueller. The idea of melding into normal society was so foreign, we couldn’t even comprehend it. I’m not sure all of us would have survived if we’d tried to go that route.”
“Oh, Ryu.” He couldn’t possibly want her sympathy, but she gave it anyways. Delilah squeezed his hand and tried to keep her emotions locked down enough to listen without reacting too much.
“Amarante gave us a purpose, a route beneath our feet. We probably aren’t the only survivors of that place, but we had her, and that was as good as any resource. We decided that we were going to make the people responsible pay and ensure what happened to us never happened to anyone else ever again.” His gaze was a thousand miles—or fifteen years—away. “This has always been my life, Delilah. I forget sometimes that other people don’t live like this.”
What was she supposed to say to that? She didn’t fault him for a single thing he’d done. He’d survived. That was more important than anything. She just …didn’t know where she fit into his world. A dancer and the …whatever Ryu was. Hardly a crime lord. The Island of Ys was a perfectly legitimate business as best she could tell, though it wasn’t as if she’d seen their books.
If he had a side plot to bring down someone who stole and abused children …
She didn’t fault him that. Not in the least.
“Here we are.” He led her through a doorway and back into the hub they’d visited yesterday. Famine was the only one present, and he looked exhausted. She knew something had happened to him—someone saw him brought in on a stretcher a few months ago and the gossip had run fast and fierce through the club—but he looked like he’d been put through the wringer. He’d lost weight and there were new lines on his face that hadn’t been there the last time she saw him, when he was healthy.
For all that, he smiled at her in a way that was almost reassuring. “So you’re the dancer that’s got my brother twisted up in knots.” He shot Ryu a look. “It’s remarkably vindicating to see him lose his head after being so smug while I lost mine.”
That’s right. He and the princess were together. Or former princess? Delilah didn’t exactly keep up on various countries’ policy changes, but she thought for certain that she’d heard that the princess had been removed from the succession line.
Ryu shook his head. “As delightful as your amusement is, we have bigger things to handle right now.”
Just like that, Famine lost his smile and became all business. He looked from Ryu to her and back again. “Did someone throw a wrench in our plans?”
“You could say that.” He squeezed her hand, a silent sign of comfort. She appreciated that he kept it low key. She wished they were alone, because she’d tell him that she didn’t need coddling. He was the one determined to put himself in danger right now.
Because of her.
She cleared her throat. “I got another call. They want me to bring Ryu to New York within the next forty-eight hours.”
“No. Absolutely not.” Famine turned to glare at Ryu. “Are you out of your fucking mind? They’re not even tryi
ng to play coy right now. They aim to divide our resources—to divide us.”
“I know.”
She bit her bottom lip, hating the tension that rose between the two men. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.” Ryu pulled her close and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “If they didn’t use you, they’d find another way.”
Famine ran his hand through his short dark hair. “They take out you, they remove one third of Amarante’s protection for that fucking summit. Not to mention they cripple her.”
She felt Ryu tense, even though no reaction showed on his face. “She’d be crippled to lose any of us.”
“No shit.” Famine waved that away. “I’m not playing who’s the most important to our sister game. I’m stating a fact. They want her operating from a weakened stance.”
Delilah looked up at Ryu. “You can’t do this. It’s too much of a risk.”
“If I don’t, they’ll follow through on the threat to your sister. That’s not an option. We’ll take care of it, Delilah. There’s absolutely nothing to worry about.”
He was lying. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but he was. Not about Esther.
He lied about it being nothing to worry about.
Ryu sent Delilah to his suite with a burner phone to call her sister. The second she disappeared, he turned to Luca. “Stop scaring her.”
“I’m not scaring her. I’m speaking the truth.” Luca shook his head. “This shit would be so much easier if we didn’t have to worry about innocents being caught up in it.”
“Delilah would do anything to protect her sister.”
Luca raised his eyebrows. “Uh huh. And the only reason that you care about this college kid who has a target painted on her forehead because of us is because of Delilah. Sure.” He motioned to the monitor behind him. “I don’t like you walking into a trap, but it simplifies things.”
“That’s what I was thinking.” He grabbed his chair and pulled it over to sit next to Luca. “We send Kenzie to grab the girl and I handle the guy threatening Delilah.”
Luca shot him a look. “Correction: Cami grabs the girl, and the rest of us act as backup to ensure you don’t get killed. We just have to convince Amarante to stay on the island until we get back.”
Normally, he wouldn’t worry about that part of the plan—Amarante rarely left the island—but with the decision about the summit hanging over all their heads, a niggling sense of unease filtered through him. “She has no reason to leave.”
“As if that would stop her.”
He cursed. “We get her word that she won’t, even if we have to sit on her to accomplish it.”
“Better.” Luca nodded. “This is going to be messy no matter how we play it. No doubt the asshole on the phone will set up a spot last minute, so we’ll be scrambling to cover you, but we can handle it. We’ve made it work in worse situations.”
“Not recently.” They’d seen more action in the last three months than they had in years. He never thought it possible for them to become soft, but Luca’s slip in Spain was enough to put a haze of concern over the whole situation. “We can’t afford to fuck this up.”
“I know.” Luca hesitated, but finally clasped Ryu’s shoulder. “We’ll get the kid and we’ll make sure we all walk out of New York intact.”
Promises his brother couldn’t make, but he accepted the words as truth all the same. Doubt killed in this kind of situation. They flat out couldn’t afford to indulge in it. “I’m calling a meeting to lay this all out.”
“Okay.” Luca checked his watch. “Cami will be back in a few hours. I’ll fill her in when she gets here.”
Ryu nodded. It took less time than he expected to round up his sisters and Liam and pull Delilah from his suite. She looked like she was fighting off tears, but she didn’t offer any information and he wasn’t in a position to ask. Not when they had no time to talk about it. He guided her to a seat next to him and turned to look at his family.
It had grown. Something he’d been sure wasn’t possible, and yet life had a way of surprising him. Ryu glanced at Delilah. There’d been a lot of surprising in the recent past. He finally understood what had turned his siblings’ lives on their head when they met their person, though the path had been different for both Kenzie and Luca. No matter.
They had bigger issues to handle at the moment.
“The person threatening Delilah has given us an opportunity.” He quickly went through what they knew and his plans to counter what was no doubt a trap. Amarante listened impassively. Kenzie looked about ready to jump to her feet and charge off to fight their enemies with her bare hands. Luca and he had already gone over all this, so his brother simply waited.
Amarante spoke first. “You want me to stay on the island.”
“Yes.” He met her gaze steadily. “And I want your word that you won’t leave or do something impulsive while we’re gone.”
“You have my word.”
He breathed out a silent sigh of relief. He truly hadn’t expected her to agree so easily. It gave him hope that they could see this through and find a solution to keeping her safe. Time was the only factor holding them back. They went over the plan once more.
It wasn’t nearly as fleshed out as he’d like. They were entirely too dependent on the enemy’s timeline, but they had no other option at this point. Ryu would go to New York with Delilah under the guise of a romantic getaway. The others would travel with them in secret and wait for news of the time and place where Ryu would be taken. Meanwhile, Cami would get Esther out.
Ryu would have preferred Kenzie to handle that portion of the job, but Luca had a point about Cami being more than capable—and more likely to blend into a campus setting. Kenzie might have a slight advantage in the ring, but Cami could defend both herself and Esther without issue.
In the end, the meeting didn’t take that much time at all. Kenzie, Liam, and Luca went off to get ready. Delilah took one look at Amarante and told him she’d wait for him in the hall. He watched her go, his heart in his throat. They’d make it through this and come out the other side safely. He had to believe that. To fear anything else was out of the question.
Ryu faced his sister. “I know it’s not a good plan, but it’s the best we have.”
“We’ve made do with worse.” Amarante sat with the stillness of a predator, but her expression didn’t back it up this time. She looked almost …sad. “Be careful, little brother. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.”
“Probably burn the world down.”
His joke fell flat when she nodded. “Probably.”
“Te, promise me that we’ll talk when I get back. I know you’re determined to attend this summit shit, but it’s a mistake. He’s got dozens of people he could burn in order to kill you. There’s only one of you.”
She seemed to search his face, but he had no way of telling if she found what she was looking for. “Happy hunting.”
He’d get no more out of her than that. Ryu nodded and headed down the hall to collect Delilah. They’d spend the night in her room and then fly out in the morning. The faster they got to New York and dealt with this mess, the faster they could get back to the Island of Ys and turn their attention to the bigger problem.
The future.
Chapter 18
Every time Delilah came back to New York, it felt like a slap in the face. The Island of Ys was hardly a lazy island life, but it had a certain relaxed pace that came from living in a community that encouraged every indulgence and hosted some of the most gorgeous weather she’d ever been exposed to.
New York’s energy left her breathless. There were just so many people, all of them moving at a frenetic pace to get to their destinations. Between the lights and close buildings and constant barrage of sound, her senses screamed from the oversaturation.
It seemed impossible that she’d lived here for years before getting the job on the island.
It seemed even more impossible that she would c
ome back here again to stay someday. Maybe sooner, rather than later. It wasn’t like she could stay on as an exotic dancer after all this was finished. She was compromised, in more way that one.
Delilah gave herself a shake and followed Ryu through the large doors into the hotel he’d booked. Unsurprisingly, it was expensive and luxurious enough to take her breath away. Ryu, naturally, didn’t seem to notice. All the Horsemen were like that. They wore the most expensive clothes, moved in a world that was so far beyond the normal that it blew Delilah’s mind and just … didn’t notice. Or, more accurately, it seemed to fit. They didn’t have to boast their wealth because they wore it like a second skin, as natural as breathing.
Her phone buzzed as she waited for Ryu to check in. Delilah’s stomach dropped. No. It was too soon. They hadn’t had a chance to get into position. Nothing was ready. She wanted to throw the cursed device across the room and then smash it to pieces for good measure. To scream. To do anything but dig the phone out of her pocket.
No choice. She hadn’t had a single goddamn choice since the beginning of this, not when it came to keeping her sister safe. She lifted the phone to her ear with a shaking hand. “Hello?”
“Did you enjoy your flight?” He sounded as coldly amused as ever, as if he was in on some inside joke she had no part of.
Delilah looked at Ryu, but he was busy talking to the front desk guy. She took a slow breath and turned away from him. “I did what you asked. We’re in New York.”
“You know it doesn’t end there, right?” He laughed. “I’m texting you an address. Be there at seven. You already have a reservation.” He hung up.
The phone buzzed with an incoming text. She clicked the address and it brought up a location not too far from the hotel.
A restaurant?
She’d half expected for them to send her to some dark alley or the docks or wherever villains set up meetings. Delilah gave a bitter laugh. She should know better by now. They walked around in the day like everyone else.
“Something wrong?”
