Kai gives me a quick glance. “It was in the pigeon. Ya dinna like pigeon, so fortunate, that.”
“Wh- but- I-” I stammered, “What if I did like pigeon?”
“Then I would have stopped you from eating it,” he says calmly, as if I’m the unreasonable one for getting upset.
With casual disregard for any remaining vomit, he pulls the boots back on. “It’s time for us to leave, little fox.”
“Why are you calling me a fox?”
He grins and damn him, he looks like a pirate. A sexy, hot as hell pirate. The cognitive dissonance of thinking he was a monstrous arms dealer to his big reveal of being undercover to catch andkill the arms dealers but also still being some kind of criminal is making my brain hurt.
“Because ya are a clever wee thing. Takin’ off last night, saving your friend and baiting Deacon like that even though he could have killed ya? You’re no lamb. You’re that cunning fox that escapes in the end, leaving the hounds sniffing around, losing your scent.”
There’s so much to unpack there that I set it aside for later. I’m rapidly reaching the limit ofWhat the Actual Fuck is Happening Herewith no end to the madness in sight.
“We’re leaving? Can you drop me off back at my hostel in London? I had a bag with my wallet and passport, but I have no idea where it went. I’m going to have to go to the US Embassy and get a new one, I guess.”
Kai finishes lacing his boots and rises to his full height, which is much taller than me. I’m used to that, being short of stature, but I’m at eye level with his nipples; it’s very disconcerting. He took off his shirt earlier to wipe my face after the whole humiliating puking episode. “Let’s board the helicopter and get you out of here.”
“Helicopter?”
He winks, taking my hand and pulling me along. “Fastest way off this island, I’m thinking ya never want to see it again, aye?”
“Yes,” I agree fervently. “Never again.”
The helicopter is an enormous thing that seats ten of us, including Catriona, Michael, Kai’s father, and a few other men who are casually introduced as cousins. Kai straps me in andhands me a pair of headphones. As we rise, hovering over the estate, I see a boat speed away from the little harbor.
“Are the workers on that boat?” I ask, tugging on Kai’s arm. “They’re all innocent, I’m sure of it. They were so scared.”
“Most of them are innocent,” he answers, “and aye, they’ll be safe and sound on the mainland in no time.” An unholy grin lights up his face. “Hey… Ready for a show?”
I’m thinking of the in-flight movies I watched on the plane from New York to London, so I’m looking for a screen in the back of the seats until I realize that wasn’t what he meant at all.
The helicopter circles the island as Michael and Kai gleefully count down.
“Three.”
“Two.”
“One.”
“Light that bitch up!” Kai yells, and the chopper shakes, dipping and briefly losing altitude as an enormous fireball roars up from the center of the mansion, flames curling in on themselves and then exploding outward. The huge building detonates into a million pieces, taking all the outbuildings, the dock, and a fair amount of the forest with it.
“Bloody brilliant,” Kai says, slapping Michael’s shoulder. “Nothing left but ash and bricks.”
Catriona smiles at me kindly. “Dinna worry, we got everything we needed from that hell site.”
“Did you have to blow it all up?” I ask weakly.
“Aye.” Dougal, Kai’s father, leans over. “It is crucial to make a statement.” His expression is cold and for a moment, I see whatI think his enemies witness right before he kills them. “This is a warning the rest of the families responsible for this abomination will never forget.”
“Yeah, I believe it,” I agree, staring at the flames leaping twenty feet high, as if they’re trying to reach the helicopter and consume us, too. When the pilot turns, heading toward the mainland, I’m grateful to leave it all behind. I hope I can forget this place as completely as they destroyed it.
Chapter Eleven
In which we ponder, what to do with Luna?
Kai…
