It wouldn’t hurt just to hear his voice.
Without thinking, I dial the only number I remember, and soon, it’s connecting. It rings just two times before Kai’s voice cuts through the speaker. Filling me with a warmth I lacked since I last saw him, my heart skips inside my chest.
“Yo,” he says, but I freeze and no words come out as my eyes blur. “Tokyo?” His voice breaks, and I end the call, slamming the phone onto the dashboard and screaming into the black wheel before getting out of the car.
My feet drag as I head into the lion’s den.
Chapter Two
Kai
My hand smashes into the dashboard. It was her, I’m sure of it. My eyes look down at the phone screen, reading the NO CALLER ID repeatedly. As if somehow a number would magically appear.
“What the fuck, man?” Chino chimes in beside me, looking at me as if I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have. “I’m good,” I reply, but I could tell he wasn’t buying it. It’s been weeks of us following the cold trail of a ghost. My girl is meticulous at hiding or maybe running. Whichever it is, she’s good at evading me anytime I get too close.
I wish she would just speak. There’s so much I have to tell her. Starting with I miss her, that I’m not mad at her… That I could never hate her. A groan escapes my lips as I bring my forehead to the cool steering wheel.
I just want her beside me… I want her back in Cin City, where she belongs. Instead, I’m chasing her around like smoke. I get close, then she vanishes…
“Dude, you’re losing it,” he mutters to himself. I would kick him out of the car and tell him to fuck off, but two things stop me, one being gratitude for saving my life back at Heartless. And the second is securing me a spot in this upcoming race. Not only that, but it turns out that Tokyo’s ex has ties to a man called Roman Delgado. I might be pulling straws with this information, but it’s all I’ve got.
So here we are heading to a place called Cedarvale, hoping she turns out.
And with Halloween upon us, I’m sure she will be going to Fright Night, the next fucking murderous rave crafted by the Wicked Raves. Thankfully, I was able to win a race and won the guy’s invitation. While also learning about Alec, Tokyo’s ex. All I’ve done lately is obsess over my half-sister, who turned out not to be my sister at all. My head pounds with a constant throb, so many unanswered questions that only lead to more. Thanks to the power of the internet, I quickly found information pertaining to Roman and the Christmas murder. That sinking feeling returns as I think of all the possibilities or reasons he took Tokyo for. All pointing to nothing good.
She is in trouble, and I need to fix it—save her or die fucking trying. Taking a deep breath in, my fingers curl around my phone before I exhale. “We will find her, but you gotta chill.”
“And you gotta shut the fuck up, Chino.” I slam the phone onto the dashboard, glaring at him. Did he think I wanted to be a step away from snapping, from unleashing all this anger? But I can’t help it. Every cell in my body screams for her. Yearns for her.
“I don’t enjoy this, but I can’t help it.”
Chino’s face softens, offering me a sympathetic look before he lets out a sigh as he digs into his pocket, pulling out a pack of smokes. His bald head glistened under the streetlights that shone in the car’s dark space. “I know, man. It’s been rough, but you know it’s her calling, so at least you know she’s alive.” Heplaces a cigarette between his lips while offering me one. And I take it, placing it between my lips and lighting it. Silently, I inhale the minty smoke before I watch it curl out of my mouth as I exhale into the dark.
“What if she’s in trouble?”
“We already know she is, this is why we’re in Bumble fuck.”
He wasn’t wrong… If I wanted to find Tokyo... I needed to find the man who killed Alec’s brother. But how do you just pop into some isolated town, find a murderer, and be like,‘Hey, you don’t know me, but you killed my half-sister’s ex-boyfriend’s brothers, and I think you’re in trouble.’
The more I think about Roman Delgado, the more I worry about Tokyo. I’ve read nothing but horrors—the man killed his stepsister’s boyfriend while he was inside her, on Christmas Day. Talk about touching her and dying… talk about psychotic. Clearly, Roman is not someone to fuck with, and Tokyo is walking straight into the line of fire with no protection. I can’t give up on her, not when I know she’s a step away from being in serious trouble.
I gulp down the lump forming in my throat at the thought of her ending up dead.
After driving for what felt like hours, we parked outside, at a place called Cedarworld. “Yo, that’s him, homie.” Chino snaps as he leans into the window, pointing at the devil himself. God must have been looking out for tonight. My lips curl into a smirk as I watch Roman wrap his arms around a raven-haired girl as she talks into the phone. The night is cold—and it’s late. I could run up on them now, but I want to see what he’s about. Sinking into my leather seat, a cigarette between my fingers as I inhale the nicotine into my lungs.
“You think that’s him?” Chino asks, as if he weren’t the one who pointed him out.
“He looks like the guy in the mugshot,” I reply with my mouth full of smoke. Chino sticks his head out the window—being too fucking obvious and catching Roman’s attention. He doesn’t pull away from his girl, though, just takes notice of us—face hardening, jaw clenching, and hand moving inside his pocket.
Fuck.
“Chino, what the fuck?” But the asshole laughs. “It’s two of us and one of him.”
I roll my eyes, pulling on my friend’s white tee. “Have you killed anyone? Because that asshole has. Do you want to be fucking next?”
Chino slips back into the passenger seat, rolling up the window slightly. “I guess when you put it like that.” He rubs his bald head.
“Yeah, not the smartest thing to do.” I sneer through clenched teeth, smacking his shiny egg-shaped head before I return my attention to Roman, but he’s gone. My hand moves to the keys when suddenly, my door swings open. And there he stands, hovering over me, hand still on my fucking door handle.
