“We didn’t even have a choice with the boat,” I said. “I’m sorry I dragged you into this, Miki.”
“You didn’t drag me anywhere.” She hooked an arm around mine for warmth as we stared at the open ocean ahead of us.
I let her warmth steady me, but fear didn’t touch me the way it used to. Not after surviving six challenges designed to end me. Compared to that, a few men with guns on a boat weren’t enough to rattle me. The shy girl who once second-guessed every step was gone. I wanted answers now. Whoever had put us here, whatever bastard was pulling the strings, I’d find them. And I’d make sure they regretted ever thinking I’d be easy to break.
“You know, I’ve been thinking about Keiko,” Miki said.
“Really? Like how to kill her?”
“Besides that, I’m wondering what she’s getting out of this. She’s angry about her brother’s death. Clearly, she blames you, mostly because there’s no one else to shoulder the blame.”
“Yeah, and?”
Miki moved in closer. “I don’t get the feeling she’s running the show here.”
“No doubt she’s got a boss. It’s possible she was recruited. She’s an outsider, yet she seems to have a solid foothold in this Leftover world.”
“Her brother,” Miki said, moving closer. “That’s got to be the connection.”
“I’m thinking the same. Kaiyo discovered something or even made a connection and passed that information to Keiko. But I don’t think any of that really matters right now. Even finding out who burned down my restaurant doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because everything I had professionally is gone. And yet we’ve been forced onto a boat at knifepoint, and we have no idea where we’re headed. Clearly bigger plans are ahead.”
Miki didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to. What I said was the truth. Whoever was leading this witch hunt wasn’t done with me yet. And now my best friend was caught up in this mess, through no fault of her own.
I stared at the city lights fading behind us, feeling suddenly alone despite Miki’s presence. That was when my thoughts inevitably turned to Jiro. He’d vanished without a word, leaving me to pick up the wreckage alone. I told myself I hated him. I wanted to hate him, but our time together clung to me. Nights tangled in laughter, whispers about a future together. You don’t just scrub that away, no matter how much you know you should.
“You okay?” Miki asked, noticing how quiet I’d gotten.
I forced a nod. “Just thinking…”
“About what?”
“That all of this feels a little too convenient. How Keiko came into our lives, wanting to help. Then the fire. Then the trip to Tokyo, introducing us to the Flames, and now this boat. I think it was all planned. Keiko was supposed to get caught by me, then befriend me—make me think she was just the grieving sister. She is, but she’s working for someone.”
Miki leaned closer. “Don’t beat yourself up. You’re a nice person, and she took advantage of that. None of this was by accident.”
She was right. I was too nice. People did take advantage of me. No more. I was done accepting what life handed me. It was time to take control and fight for what I wanted. The old me, the one who might’ve panicked at the thought, was gone. That ended the morning when everything I’d built was stolen in a plume of smoke and ash. Losing my restaurant didn’t break me; it hardened me. I wasn’t afraid anymore. I’d bled, fought, and survived too much to fear what was coming. If someone thought they could play me like a pawn, they had no idea who they were dealing with.
Footsteps creaked on the planks behind us, grabbing our attention. Keiko’s voice cut through the wind. “You’re right, Miki. Paths like ours don’t cross by accident.”
“What’s your endgame, Keiko?” Miki growled.
She smiled slow and cold. “Revenge. And you two played your parts beautifully.”
23
Through the thin sea fog, the outline of an island began to form. It was dark and lifeless, the kind of place birds avoided. From a distance, it looked walled by cliffs and smothered in vegetation.
Japan is an archipelago of thousands of islands, most uninhabited and forgotten. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why we were headed to this one.
Keiko hadn’t come to the bow to chat. She came to watch our faces as the truth set in.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Keiko’s voice cut through the wind.
I turned to her. “Why are you taking us here?”
