But Hina looked back.
Just once.
Her eyes found mine across the distance, and I wasn’t sure about her expression.
Confusion?
Sadness?
Searching for an answer?
Or perhaps it was just resignation.
Hina turned away. Her shoulders squared as she disappeared into the tree line with Yuki and Mami flanking her like guards.
"Hmmm." Nyomi's voice went tight and she gripped my hand harder.
"What?"
"That look." She frowned, still staring at where the Scales had disappeared. "The third one. Hina. Right?”
“Yes.”
She tilted her head and continued to watch that area. “Something about the way she looked at mefirst, before she looked at you. . ."
"What about it, Tora?"
"I don't know." She shook her head, as if trying to clear it. "It just. . .made my stomach tighten.”
“Why?”
“Maybe I'm being paranoid. But it didn't feel like heartbreak. It felt like. . ." She paused, searching for words. "Like she was studying me. Measuring me."
"She was probably just trying to understand who you are," I said, though something about Nyomi's observation made my own instincts prick.
"Maybe." But her voice said she didn't believe it.
"Trust your instincts, Tora." I studied the empty path where they'd disappeared. "You're hunting a spy tomorrow. If something feels wrong about anyone—even someone who's served me since my childhood—I want to know."
She turned to me. "You think one of them could be the spy?"
"I thinkanyonecould be the spy." The words tasted like ash. "That's what makes betrayal so effective. It comes from where you least expect it."
"Even from someone who loves you?"
"Especially from someone who loves you. Love makes the perfect disguise."
“Then. . .consider having Reo look into Hina’s whereabouts since she’s been on the main island.”
“Okay.” I noted her observation and laced my fingers through hers. "Come. Let me show you our new paradise."
She followed, but I caught her glancing back once more at the empty path.
The Scales were being taken away.
Already I could hear the staff’s helicopter turning on.
And now, finally, I had my Tiger all to myself.
