Her Vengeful Embrace: An Island of Ys Novel

by Katee Robert

  Kenzie saw him first. She blinked those big amber eyes and burst into motion. A blade appeared in her hand though Amarante had barely seen her move to grab it. She started to step in front of Tristan, to block his sister’s attack, but he nudged her aside. It all happened in the space of a heartbeat.

  Then Kenzie reached them and struck. Tristan dodged her first attack, and then her next. He pulled a move Amarante had seen before, grabbing her sister’s wrist and sending the knife clattering across the floor. “I’m here to help.”

  “The fuck you are.” Kenzie tried to knee him in the balls, but he turned at last moment and she nailed his thigh instead.

  Tristan grabbed her arm and yanked her toward him, twisting and flipping her onto the couch. He’d aimed it perfectly. A foot to the right and she would have taken out the table and injured herself.

  Luca started to stand, but Cami threw herself into his lap. “No.”

  “He just—”

  “Luca look.” She grabbed his chin and pointed his face toward Amarante. “If your sister didn’t kill him the second he showed up, there’s a reason.”

  Amarante raised her brows when Luca scowled. She’d been iffy on Cami when he first fell for the princess, but the woman had proved her skills and smarts time and time again. She’d read the situation correctly in seconds and moved to ensure Luca didn’t aggravate his healing injury.

  While she’d been distracted with that little drama, Ryu pulled a gun from the holster beneath his desk. He pointed it at Tristan’s chest. “Give me one good reason not to pull the trigger.”

  Tristan carefully raised his hands. “I can help you get Zhao.”

  “That’s not good enough.” He shifted to stand in front of Delilah, who looked shocked by this turn of events and the flurry of violence that followed it.

  This was getting out of hand. Amarante moved to stand in front of Tristan. “That’s enough.”

  “Te, you can’t be serious.” He didn’t take his gaze from Tristan. “Move out of the way.”

  She held up a hand, stopping Kenzie from charging again. “We have a limited time to strike before we’re wiped off the map. Not just us—the entire island. There are too many lives on the line to let petty things get in the way.”

  “Petty things.” Ryu glared. “He used threats against Delilah’s sister to blackmail her. He scared the shit out of her.”

  She stared until he slowly lowered the gun. “I’m not going to defend his past actions. You can hash it out at another time. Right now, the bottom line is more important than anything in the past. We have to take Zhao out and take him out now.” She motioned to Tristan over her shoulder. “He can help us.”

  “Prove it.” This from Luca, who had finally gotten around Cami acting as a petite human barricade. He didn’t move to attack, but he looked just as pissed at the others. “What you know is worth your life. So tell us.”

  Tristan touched Amarante’s hip, a tiny nudge that got her moving. Every single eye in the room focused on his hand on her hip. Her skin prickled, but she ignored it and ignored their blatant shock. As she told them all, there would be time to deal with the implications of Tristan’s presence later. Or they would all be dead and the future wouldn’t matter. She stopped in front of the table that used to be big enough for her entire family to sit around it. Now, with their number doubled, it feel laughably small. It felt sad.

  Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. She’d intended to take on Zhao herself, and doing that still made sense. Her siblings had their entire lives ahead of them, the future now something than inspired hope instead of fear. For fuck’s sake, Luca and Cami wanted to start a family. She couldn’t ask them to risk it all for this.

  “Yes, you can.”

  She hadn’t realized she spoke aloud until Luca answered her. He stood across the table, Cami tucked against his side, his dark eyes serious. “This is our home, our life, our family that he’s threatening. We have as much right to protect it as you do, Te. If anyone should sit this fight out, it’s you. You’ve already paid too high a price for our safety.” His gaze flicked to Tristan and away. She knew he’d suspected that she had someone back when they were teenagers, but he’d never directly asked her and she’d never offered the information.

  Kenzie planted her hands on the table to Amarante’s right. “If you even think about taking off without us again, I’m going to chase you down and hog-tie you and throw you in a trunk until this is all over. Luca’s right. It’s our fight. You might have been the one to make decisions for us when we were younger, but that’s over now. We’re either equals or we’re not.”

  “You are,” she said. Of course they were. Her wanting to protect them had nothing to do with her feelings on how capable they were. “I never thought of you as anything else.”

  “Then start acting like it.”

  She started to argue, but there was no point. Kenzie wasn’t wrong and they had more important things to deal with right now. Tristan shifted next to her, his hand brushing her arm. A silent offer of support. He cleared his throat. “We’ll need everyone to make this happen.”

  “You’re expecting us to trust you.” Ryu dropped into the chair to Amarante’s left. “To put our lives in your hands.”

  “No,” Amarante cut in before Tristan could respond. “I’m expecting you to trust me.” That shut them up. All three of them looked at her with varying degrees of shock. She waited, but no one jumped up to say anything, so she motioned to Tristan. “Tell us your plan, and we’ll consider it.”

  He shot her a grin. “Consider it. Cute.” He straightened and it was like his amusing self dropped away. This Tristan was all business. “Zhao will have retreated to his compound. You can’t hack your way in. There are over a hundred soldiers who sole purpose is to keep the bastard safe. You can’t attack. They can stand a siege for years with the resources behind those walls.”

  “You aren’t telling us anything we don’t already know.” Ryu reached back and covered Delilah’s hand on his shoulder. For all the comforting move, his dark eyes were steady and intense. He always got like this when strategizing.

  “What you don’t know is that there’s an escape route.”

  Amarante turned to look at him. “You’re joking.”

  “I’m not.” He shook his head. “He’s too savvy to trap himself, even with all the resources he’s spent ensuring the compound is unassailable.”

  But Kenzie was shaking her head. “This might have been useful information before you showed up, but he has to know you’re here, which means he’s going to ramp up whatever security he has on that route.”

  “Yes and no.” Now Tristan did smile, but it was more a fierce baring of teeth than anything else. “No one knows about the route except Zhao himself. He’s not the most trusting sort, and he’d be a fool to provide an enemy with a path straight to his back.”

  “Then how the hell do you know about it?”

  “I like knowing things.” Satisfaction rolled off him in waves. “Zhao doesn’t know I know.”

  As tempting as it was to cling to that, Amarante shook her head. “We can’t assume anything at this point. He’s been playing a deeper game than anyone else without us realizing it. It’s entirely possible that he had you watched the whole time you were there.”

  “Yes, it is possible. But Zhao tends to disappear anyone who steps out of line, and he had extra motivation to ensure I didn’t know about it.” Tristan shrugged. “I can be sneaky when I want to. ”

  Considering she’d found him in her room, and she still wasn’t quite sure how he’d managed it. There were no other entrances except through the hub. They’d made sure of that when they built the place. Most of the public rooms could be accessed by the back halls through various means, but the hub only had one entrance and exit. Somehow Tristan had not only found the hub, but navigated it without any of them seeing him. It defied explanation. “I believe that,” she muttered.

  Ryu got to his feet and walked over to push a few but
toned on the nearest computer. The wall of monitors shifted to reveal a large map of Zhao’s compound. It wasn’t perfect; he’d pulled the satellite images and they’d made notes from there, all of which were on the image itself.

  Tristan whistled and moved around the table to get a closer look. “You’ve done your homework.”

  “Show us where the secret entrance is. Now.”

  Chapter 22

  Tristan was impressed with the level of detail the Horsemen had managed to divine about Zhao’s compound. It wasn’t perfect, but it was more comprehensive than he’d expected. Good. That will make this easier. He pointed to a spot about half a mile out in the trees to the south. “This is where the entrance is.”

  Ryu immediately moved to this computer again, a look of concentration on his face. He wouldn’t be able to verify Tristan’s claim, but he didn’t fault the man for trying. Acting on his claims required a whole lot more trust than anyone but Amarante had in him. He wouldn’t trust some asshole who showed up and started making claims, not unless he was backed against the wall without another option.

  Which was exactly where the Horsemen were right now.

  Luca pulled his woman onto his lap and stared at the wall of monitors. “We have no guarantee that going after Zhao directly will work.”

  “No.” He wouldn’t sugar-coat it for them. They already knew the truth, even if they fought against it. “But if you don’t kill him and do it publicly, the other three families will align behind him and they’ll wipe you off the map. Even if you evacuate, they’ll likely send teams to take out your people. A full scale removal of anything connected with the Horsemen.”

  None of them jumped up to say that was bullshit or that it wouldn’t happen. They’d been moving through this world as long as he had. They knew better.

  Finally, Amarante moved, slipping her hands into her pockets. “We need to know where the entrance comes out inside the compound and a map of the area.” She stared at the monitors. “We can’t kill him in the compound. It’s possible that someone will try to cover up his death, or downplay it. We have to take him with us and make an example of him.”

  He’d been afraid she was going to say that. “It’s a bad idea.”

  “It’s the only one that makes this level of risk worth it. We have to be sure no one will dare cross us in the future, and this is the only way.” She didn’t look at him. “And once he’s dead, we go after the camp in a concentrated attack. Take out the adults. Free the children. Return the ones who have families they know about.”

  Kenzie looked at her sister, her pale complexion going a little green. “And the others?”

  “I’m not sure yet. We’re not equipped to deal with them here, though I suppose we’ll have to give some of them the option. The older ones who have been there the longest will have a more difficult time integrating into something resembling a normal life.” She blinked and shook her head. “But that’s something to worry about after this hurdle.”

  She was already thinking ten steps ahead, and he loved her for it. Amarante blew his fucking mind over and over again, and just when he was sure they were two sides to the same damaged coin, she’d go and do something like this to prove that Bueller hadn’t killed that softer side of her. She just hid it better than her siblings.

  “The entrance is a carefully concealed metal hatch. It’s a cement tunnel that leads to here.” He moved around and pointed at a spot in the main building. “It’s a storage closet on the first floor. If we strike at night, Zhao will likely be in his suite, which is on the third floor in the same building.” He turned back to face them. “I’ll draw you out a map. We can expect the guard schedule to be more intense than normal. He’s confident no one can get to him, but he’s also not stupid. He won’t be taking any chances.”

  “If he was that smart, he’d weld the hatch shut.” Kenzie gave him a sunny smile he didn’t trust for a second. “But I suppose every rat wants a way out of a sinking ship if it comes to that.”

  Zhao was too paranoid to block off his failsafe means of escape. If he was willing to do that, he wouldn’t have built it in the first place. But in all Tristan’s time working in the compound, he’d never seen evidence that it was used. Which meant it was most likely exactly what it appeared to be—a last resort Zhao didn’t want anyone but himself knowing about. “I need to be with the team that breaches the tunnel. I have Zhao’s personal codes, and I know the place like the back of my hand.”

  Amarante and her siblings exchanged a look. Luca snorted. “You know, you don’t sound much like the loyal man you’re supposed to be.”

  “Because I’m not loyal to Zhao. I never have been.” He held the other man’s gaze. “I’m loyal to myself—and to Amarante.”

  Luca’s brows dropped, but Amarante spoke before they could devolve back to fighting again. “We split into two groups. Luca and Kenzie and their partners will create a diversion on the north side. It has to look like a full scale attack, and it has to go on long enough to provide cover for Tristan, Ryu, and I to take the tunnel into the compound and retrieve Zhao.” She glanced at the Latina woman standing at Ryu’s back. “Delilah, you’ll stay here and monitor communications to ensure everything goes off without a problem.”

  Smart. Delilah was an exotic dancer and while Tristan could attest to her operating well under pressure, to the best of his knowledge—and it was extensive—she didn’t have any fighting or shooting skills. Out there, she’d be a liability, and her presence would make Ryu a liability as well. Keeping her back here was the best option.

  Delilah opened her mouth, but Ryu squeezed her hand and spoke before she could. “Let’s get this lined out.”

  As tempting as it was to try to lead, Tristan knew better. These four worked together like a well-oiled machine. It was what had kept them alive all these years, and it was what made them such formidable enemies. He noticed that the other partners did the same. Delilah moved into the kitchen area, put on a pot of coffee, and started digging through the fridge and laying ingredients out on the counter. Cami and Liam watched the planning closely, but they held themselves at the smallest distance away. They’d obviously gone through these kind of meetings before and knew it was best to simply follow orders.

  Tristan dropped into a chair and watched as they went to work, answering whatever questions were fired his way. Luca shoved a pen and paper in his direction. “Draw the floor plan.”

  By the time he was done, they had a full scale plan. Kenzie, Luca, Cami, and Liam would use his knowledge to avoid patrols to get close and then they’d set off a series of flashy explosions near the north-east corner of the compound. While people were rushing to put out the inevitable fires, Luca and Cami would shift to the north-west section—directly opposite the escape tunnel—and open fire. Meanwhile, Kenzie and Liam would prey on the soldiers outside the walls, ramping up fear and making it seem like it was a full scale attack. If they could get a few of the soldiers to panic, it would put the entire compound on alert and would draw a significant number of Zhao’s men to the north wall.

  Which would leave the way south open for Tristan, Amarante, and Ryu.

  It wasn’t a full-proof plan by any means. Nothing about this was guaranteed. A thousand things could go wrong. It was still their best shot.

  Amarante tapped her fingers on the table, her gaze a thousand miles away. “We bring him back here to the small island. I’ll handle that, but it needs to be recorded. Afterward, Ryu will ensure the tape gets to the Romanovs, the Nakamuras, and the Prietos.”

  “It might not be enough.” Tristan raised his brows when every eye in the room turned to him, most of them hostile. “I think it will make them scatter because of what a large player Zhao is, but there’s a small possibility that they will continue with the alliance.”

  “Then we will make examples of them, too.” Amarante spoke as if it was the simplest thing in the world. But she wasn’t exactly wrong. Tristan operated in the same way: mow down his enemies until the r
est were too scared to face him. As strategies went, it had a long history of success. She focused on him. “Do you have anything to add to this?”

  “The sooner we move, the better.” He didn’t like rushing into this, but the longer they gave Zhao to work on the other three families, the greater the chance of an alliance surviving his death. Tristan didn’t have an in with the other families the same way he did with Zhao. They’d be flying blind, and fuck if he was going to lose Amarante just when he found her again. “I’d estimate that you have less than a week before he works his magic on the others, maybe less.”

  “We leave tomorrow.” Amarante pushed to her feet. “You four figure out what you need and stock up. We aren’t going to have much in the way of transport, so you’ll have to be able to carry it in and carry whatever is left out or be willing to leave it behind.” She nodded at Tristan. “You’re with me. Let’s go.”

  He didn’t ask questions. He just rose and followed her out of the hub. They wove through the narrow hallways until Amarante pushed a section of a wall and it opened to reveal a luxurious sitting room. It looked like something that belonged in a palace, where ladies got together to do whatever the fuck rich ladies did. He stepped into the room and watched Amarante shut the door. It clicked and then it was just another wall panel, totally indistinguishable from the rest. “The Warren has a lot of sneaky shit like this.”

  “Where do you think I got the idea from?” She gave him a sharp smile, but it fell from her lips almost immediately. “Tell me the truth, Tristan. Did Zhao send you?”

  It stung that she still suspected him, though he couldn’t blame her in the least. “No.”

  “Because if you’re about to get my entire family killed, I—” She looked away, took a breath, and looked back. “Then I’ll go alone. Now.”

  “You just got done telling Kenzie that you wouldn’t go off half-cocked.”