Chapter 15

"So," Fasih said, chewing on his bottom lip, his brows furrowed. "They want the latest prototype of Amven. Which means they won't kill us until they have it, or think they know where it is. Hopefully, that'll buy us enough time to get out of here."

"Only as much time as they'll need to get you to start talking," Abhijat muttered. "How long do you think you'll be able to hold out after a few doses of your wonder-drug?"

"I wouldn't need to, if things go according to plan. And if they don't, we'll be too dead to worry about it one way or another. I just need to get close enough to Rinisa to touch her neck, just for a few seconds."

"You want to strangle her?" Abhijat arched a brow. "Believe me, the sentiment is mutual. I just don't think we'll survive it if you did."

Fasih scowled. "What's with the constant urge for unnecessary violence? I just want to get a hold of the key."

"What key?" Milli asked, wide-eyed.

"The one around Rinisa's neck? Didn't you see it? It's like a..." he waved a manacled hand, "kind of like a flash drive, I suppose. She was wearing it around her throat like a locket. It dangled right above my head when she was looming over me, being creepy. I almost thought it was a dream."

"That thing wasn't a key," Abhijat said, frowning. "Like you said, it looked like a flash drive."

"Do you see a keyhole anywhere on these shackles?" Fasih snapped, impatient. "They're electronic, so far as I can tell. Not that this is exactly my area of expertise, but I'm pretty sure that locket Rinisa's wearing will get us out of these cuffs. If you have a better idea, I'm all ears."

Abhijat held up his hands. "Fine, we'll do as you say. But how're you planning to relieve her of the locket while still chained to the bloody wall?"

"I'm not. Rinisa will have no reason to keep me chained after she's shot me up with a few vials of Amven. She knows I won't try to run while under the influence of the drug."

"No."

Fasih frowned. "No what?"

"We can't let her drug you for this harebrained plan," snapped Abhijat. "She could make you do anything once you have that godforsaken drug in your system. It's too dangerous."

"As opposed to what? Getting murdered while chained to a wall and leaving both Naijan and Maralana to burn in our wake?"

Abhijat pressed his lips together and looked away. Fasih was right and he knew it. But that didn't make any of this any easier.

"Look," Fasih began, his tone gentler, as if he thought Abhijat was a wild animal likely to spook if cornered. "I know this isn't ideal, but it's the best shot we've got. You said it yourself, Maganti needs to know where the latest prototype of Amven is being stored.

"Plus, I'd bet a good deal of money he's desperate to get back the samples I stole from the La Fantome club. If the NIA investigators happen to find it...well, the fact that Amven was used to drug the escorts might become public knowledge. Which would cause all kinds of trouble for Maganti and Rinisa. They wouldn't have tried to coerce your sister into stealing the samples if they weren't desperate."

"My sister?" Abhijat repeated, his voice sharp.

"That's why Dileep had her arrested," Fasih said with a shrug. "He found her trying to steal the samples I gave him, from his lab at the QRI. I don't even think he recognized her. Probably just thought she was some petty thief Rinisa had hired.

"Not that he was particularly off the mark there. Rinisa had blackmailed Rito into it. Something about blocking the rehabilitation of the kids they'd rescued from the La Fantome, so far as I could gather. She wasn't very forthcoming on the subject."

"Why didn't you tell me about this before?" Abhijat asked through gritted teeth.

"Because you wouldn't have believed me if I did? Besides, I needed Rito to make Rinisa believe her plan was working. And I had a feeling you'd try to talk her out of helping me, if you knew."

"What the fuck made you think you had the right to use my family to further your own agenda–"

"The fact that I was desperate." Fasih sighed. "And arrogant. But if it's all the same to you, I'd prefer we hash out the details of my crimes against your family when we're not chained to a wall, waiting to be drugged and decapitated by the Maralanese president."

"But I don't understand," Milli piped up from her corner. "How will you get the key from Rinisa if you're drugged? Isn't Amven supposed to make you compliant and docile?"

"Sure it is. And Rinisa knows that better than most. Which is why she'll have no reason to keep me chained once I've had a dose."

"You think she'll unchain you just because you asked?" Milli's tone was skeptical.

"Rinisa isn't exactly the type to err on the side of caution." Fasih grinned. "She thinks she's got this whole thing figured out. She thinks she's already won. All we need to do...is make her believe she's right.

"I'll tell her these manacles are uncomfortable, painful. And I can't be expected to give accurate information if I'm too confused and sore to concentrate, can I?"

Milli frowned. "Are you sure about this? I mean, if you're so heavily drugged–"

"Amven makes you docile and pliable, not an imbecile." Fasih rolled his eyes. "Besides, these goddamn shackles really are uncomfortable, so it's not like I'd be lying outright. I'll just...exaggerate the severity of the problem...a tiny little bit. And as long as she thinks I'm drugged and harmless, Rinisa would've no reason to doubt me. It's not like I could do anything, even if I was freed."

"The problem with that plan, though," Abhijat pointed out mildly. "Is that you really will be harmless once they've drugged you up to your gills. Even you aren't completely immune to the effects of Amven."

Fasih's eyes twinkled. "You really are a terrible student, you know that? What did I tell you in Weritlan? There's always a Plan-B. You just have to remember it."

For a moment, Abhijat stared blankly at him. Then, something clicked. "You mean you want me to punch you again?" He grinned.

"Something a little less...conspicuous would be preferable, considering the situation. But yes. Pain, sudden and intense – that's the key.

"Just pretend to have an argument with me when she comes back with Maganti; shouldn't be hard for you. And a little violence wouldn't be out of character, either." He winked. "Nobody would get suspicious about Abhijat Shian punching his way through life. See? It's the perfect plan!"

"You want me to beat you up once Rinisa's shot you up with Amven, is that it? You think that'll allow the drug to wear off with enough time left for you to steal the key?"

"It should." He shrugged, looking away. "To the best of my knowledge, Rinisa doesn't yet know about this…that pain causes the effects of the drug to wear off. So if nothing else, we'll have the element of surprise on our side–"

"You're throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks, aren't you?"

The corners of Fasih's lips quirked into a rueful little smile. "Is it that obvious?"

"You know, you were supposed to meet the finance secretary more than two hours ago. They must've realized by now that something's wrong. For all we know, help is just around the corner–"

"For all we know," interjected Fasih. "The finance secretary – who's part of the president's inner circle, by the way – was in on all this from the beginning and knows exactly what's going on. In which case, we could all be dead before anybody figures out that something's amiss."

Abhijat sighed. "Look, even if this plan works exactly the way it's supposed to – and I don't even know how it's supposed to work – we still have no weapons. And I don't think Rinisa was lying when she said this warehouse is surrounded by Maganti's guards."

Fasih nodded. "We'll probably get shot before we can get out."

"Well?" Milli prompted, her voice shaking.

"The choice, dear friends, is not between dying or staying alive," Fasih said, his eyes alight. "It's between fighting to the death or sitting around in chains, waiting for death to come get us."

"Well," Abhijat smirked. "When you put it like that…"

Out of the corner of his eye, Abhijat saw the guards move. He stiffened, gesturing for the others to be quiet.

With a loud bang, the door flew open. Two tall and well-built men entered the room, dragging a prone and hooded figure behind them.

They threw their charge unceremoniously against the wall and turned to the guards. "Shackle her," the taller man said in Maralanese.

The guards looked at each other, before one of them said, hesitantly, "There're no more chains. There were only three."

The tall man grunted. "Fine, just find some rope and tie her up. She'll be waking up in a few minutes. Make sure she can't cause any trouble."

The guards nodded, and the newcomers strode out of the room, shutting the door behind them.

Soon, the guards had the unconscious woman tied up, her limbs secured with multiple lengths of rope. Then, they settled her against the wall opposite Milli, removed the hood obscuring her face, and went back to their positions near the door.

Abhijat's breath hitched, his heart hammering in his chest.

"Rito…" Milli whispered faintly.

"Rinisa," Fasih sighed, rubbing his forehead. "The gift that keeps on giving."

"Oh god," Milli stammered, her voice shaking. "This is m-my fault. I sent her that picture. I didn't know what to do…it all happened so quickly–"

"What picture?" Abhijat demanded. Anxiety and fury warred in his chest, combined with a strange relief. He had thought he'd never see her again…

"It doesn't matter," Fasih said, turning to Milli. "Rinisa thinks Rito has the Amven samples she was supposed to have stolen from me. She'd have gotten to her sooner or later, anyway. Maybe it's a good thing they got her now, when we can all be together. Strength in numbers and all that."

"If anything happens to her…" Abhijat shook his head, forcing himself to stop talking. He sounded desperate and terrified even to his own ears.

"It won't," Milli said, a strange determination in her tone. "She-she came here for me. I – we'll get her out of here. Alive. No matter what."

Rito stirred, groaning.

Abhijat surged forward, instinctively moving towards her. The chains clanked, forcing him to jerk backwards, cursing under his breath.

"Wha-where?" Rito croaked, looking around through half-lidded eyes. Then, her wandering gaze landed on Milli and she surged upwards into a sitting position. "Milli!" she croaked, before curling in on herself a little, disoriented and confused. "Y-you're okay. I thought – I thought…"

Fasih cleared his throat, and Rito whirled. "Jehan, what're you–"

Her eyes landed on Abhijat. She gasped. "Abhi." Her voice was soft, broken. "They got you too?"

***

President Maganti was tall and broad-shouldered. His gray-streaked hair was slicked back and light stubble covered the lower half of his face. He was dressed in a pristine white shirt, the sleeves rolled back to reveal muscular forearms.

Despite the cold, he wore a simple cotton shirt and trousers, seemingly unaffected by the weather.

He was even larger than he looked on TV, Abhijat thought distantly.

"Well, what's the holdup?" Maganti scowled, turning to Rinisa. "Let's get on with it. I don't have all day."

"Always so impatient." Rinisa smirked, placing a small metal briefcase on the makeshift table near the door. She clicked the briefcase open. "We have Jehan Fasih at our mercy. Do you have any idea how much trouble this bastard's caused me? How close he came to destroying everything we've worked for all these years?" Picking out a syringe from the briefcase, she sauntered over to Fasih's side. "Just let me savor the moment, won't you?"

"Make it quick," Maganti growled, looking at Fasih through narrowed eyes. "You can gloat over their dead bodies all you want. The longer they're alive, the more trouble they can cause. The gala starts in less than 24 hours. I can't afford any mistakes."

"Then we won't make any," cooed Rinisa, kneeling beside Fasih and taking his hand gently in her own. She held up the syringe in one hand, squinting at the clear liquid in the barrel. With her other hand, she pushed up the sleeve of his cardigan.

"This doesn't have to be unpleasant, you know," she said, smiling sweetly at Jehan. "If you cooperate, I can make this a lot of fun for both of us."

He dipped his head slightly, hair falling into his eyes. "I can barely contain my excitement."

"See? That's what I like about you!" she beamed, plunging the needle into his flesh. "Can't withhold the supercilious sarcasm even when you're staring death in the face, can you? I'll miss these condescending quips after we've put a few bullets in you."

"I'd say I'm sorry for your loss," Fasih murmured, fidgeting slightly. "Only I don't have any sympathy to spare when these bloody manacles have been digging into my skin for heaven knows how long."

"Oh, my poor boy. I promise I'll take them off just as soon as you've answered a few questions for me."

Fasih said nothing, simply stared down at the manacles around his wrists, absently biting his lip. "I...I'll try but–" he jerked on the chain, causing the manacles to dig into the delicate skin on the inside of wrists, drawing blood.

"Yes, yes," Rinisa said encouragingly, using an embroidered handkerchief to blot out the blood. "That's all you have to do. Try. Try really hard for me, okay Jehan? Where's the latest Amven prototype being stored? One of the QRI labs?"

Fasih frowned, then tipped his head back to gaze at the ceiling. "I...no."

"Okay, that's progress." Rinisa smiled, her voice soft and comforting. "An external government facility, then? Or has the security contract been sold to some private body?"

Fasih lowered his gaze, frowning thoughtfully at the manacles once again. The fidgeting had gotten worse. "I'm not...I can't–" He jerked on the chain one more time, his tone plaintive. "I can't concentrate."

Maganti snarled, his eyes alight with barely restrained fury. "Take those fucking chains off him," he snapped through gritted teeth. "We'll never get any information, at this rate."

Rinisa sighed. "Patience, my dear–"

"Damn your patience!" the president bellowed. "You think I don't know you're getting a kick out of watching him like this, chained and helpless at your feet? I've no problem with you playing your games, Rinisa, but if you so much as think about jeopardizing the plan–"

"I'm jeopardizing it?" she whirled around, her tone icy. "I've brought you Jehan-fucking-Fasih on a silver platter and this is how you repay me?"

"He's no use to me if he won't talk," Maganti retorted. "And he won't talk as long as he's in those damned chains. He looks like a cornered animal, ready to claw his own skin off. Surely, the drug's taken effect by now–"

"Oh, it's taken effect, alright." Rinisa grinned, dragging a finger lightly over the side of Fasih's face. "He's good and pliant."

"So he won't try to run if we take the chains off him?"

She laughed. "He won't try to run if we hold a knife to his throat and order him to lean into it. Not for nothing they call it a miracle drug."

Rinisa caressed the golden chain around her throat contemplatively.

After a few moments of absentminded fiddling, the locket was on the palm of her hand. She uncapped it, then pressed the gleaming metal head to a small, concealed socket at the juncture where the manacles met the chain.

The manacles around Fasih's wrists clicked open and dropped to the floor. Rubbing at the reddened skin, he sighed, content.

"Now that that's over," Maganti began, impatient. "Back to the questions. If the latest prototype isn't being stored at the QRI, then we're left with government facilities or a top-notch private security agency–"

"Or a bank," interjected Rinisa. Fasih gasped, causing her to break into a triumphant grin. "I'm right, aren't I? A bank vault, that's where it is."

"Is that true?" Maganti asked, his flinty eyes boring into Jehan.

After a moment's hesitation, Fasih nodded.

"A bank in Qayit?" Maganti prompted, taking a step closer.

Fasih shrank back, but nodded again. "It's – uh – the United Development Bank…" He bit his lip, gazing around dazedly.

"Yeah? Which branch?" Maganti demanded.

"I…uh," Fasih stammered, trying to push himself to his feet. "I'm not…I don't–" He swayed slightly, pressing his shoulder against the wall for support.

"What the–" Maganti started forward, but Rinisa held up a hand, wordlessly urging him to step back.

"He's confused," she said, turning to the president with a frown. "Dazed. Let him get his bearings. Do you want him spouting nonsense just because we forced him to give us an answer before he could gather his thoughts?"

Slowly, Fasih pushed himself to his feet and took a hesitant step forward. The manacles around his ankles clanked and rattled, the chains screeching. Eyes wide, he lurched forward, then stumbled and swayed sideways until his back was inches away from Abhijat's face.

Taking his cue, Abhijat slipped the broken buckle-pin between his fingers and drove it as hard as he could into the small of Fasih's back, pushing him away.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he snarled, slamming the smaller man hard against the wall for good measure.

Fasih uttered an aborted cry of pain and shrank away from Abhijat.

Before he had a chance to look at Fasih's face, Maganti surged forward and kicked Abhijat in the gut. The pain burned through his thoughts, forcing him to curl in on himself, a whimper escaping his lips. His vision swam, and Abhijat scrunched his eyes shut, the darkness a welcome relief.

Above him, he heard a sudden shriek, followed by a brief scuffle, and then Fasih was pressing a smooth, rectangular object into his hand.

He forced himself to peel his watering eyes open, only to see Fasih get thrown against the wall by an enraged Maganti. At the president's feet lay Rinisa, a needle sticking out of her neck, the plunger of the syringe pushed all the way in.

She really had gotten a taste of her own medicine. Or perhaps, to be more accurate, of Fasih's medicine. Dazed and nauseated, Abhijat burst out laughing.

***

Ignoring the ropes cutting into her wrists, Rito lurched forward to catch the flash drive Abhijat threw at her. Her arms and legs tied, she crawled over to Milli with some difficulty and undid the shackles around her limbs. Once freed, Milli used the sharp edges of the manacles to hack through the ropes around Rito's hands and feet within minutes.

Rito turned to see her brother insert himself between Maganti and Jehan, trying to pry the president's fingers off Fasih's neck.

The latter was gasping for air, his face white.

The guards at the door had raised their guns and taken aim at Abhijat. As the trio grappled with each other near the back, either Maganti or Jehan kept getting in the way, preventing them from getting a clean shot.

With the men distracted, Rito inched towards the still-open briefcase, her heart in her mouth.

Milli screamed, drawing the guards' attention momentarily away from the others.

Rito grinned, vowing to kiss her as soon as this was over. She reached out and grabbed the first syringe she could get her hands on. Holding it like a weapon, the needle held outwards like the blade of a knife, she grabbed the briefcase with her other hand and launched herself at the guards.

Before they could drag their attention away from the fighting men and the girl bawling at the top of her lungs, Rito had stabbed one of them with the syringe, pushing the plunger as far in as it would go.

Even before the first man had gone down, she swung the briefcase at the other's head. The metal connected with the man's skull with a resounding thud, and he staggered backwards, his eyes rolling back in his head.

"Abhijat!" she called, grabbing one of their guns and holding it up triumphantly.

Abhijat turned, and in the same moment, Maganti shouted something in Maralanese.

The guard whom Rito had injected with God only knew what drug, lurched into a sitting position, grabbed his gun with shaking hands and threw it at the president.

Catching the weapon with one hand, Maganti whirled around and pushed Abhijat into the wall with the other, the muzzle of the gun pressed to his head.

***

"Nobody move," Maganti roared, holding the gun to Abhijat's head. His voice shook with fury.

Rito froze. She could feel Milli go still beside her. Across the room, Jehan stood pressed against a wall, barely breathing.

"To the wall," Maganti snapped brusquely, raising one hand to point at the wall opposite the door. "All of you, stand with your backs against the wall, or he dies. Now!"

They rushed to obey. Within minutes, all three of them were on one side of the room, their backs pressed to the cold, concrete wall. The door opposite them seemed miles away, rather than a few feet across.

Rito closed her eyes, forcing herself to stop hyperventilating. This wasn't over yet. There was a way; she just needed to find it.

Her brother's life was on the line. There had to be a way.

Someone groaned.

Rito's eyes flew open. Moving her head as little as possible, she scanned the room. The sound was barely audible, but it was there.

Another broken moan floated to her ears, and Rito finally realized it was coming from somewhere underneath.

"Gri-go…ri," Rinisa rasped from a shadowy corner of the floor, close to Rito's feet.

Her voice was too soft to be heard by Maganti, who was shouting something into Abhijat's ear across the room. But Rito could see that Rinisa was trying to sit up, still moaning quietly. The needle sticking out of her neck bobbed bizarrely up and down with her every move.

Amven. Rito cursed under her breath. Fasih had shot her up with his goddamned drug before she went down.

Unthinkingly, Rito clicked her tongue, the way she would when summoning a stray dog. Rinisa stilled, then looked around dazedly until her eyes landed on Rito.

The woman who had threatened her and her family more times than she could count, now gazed at her with wide, helpless eyes.

Resisting the urge to kick Rinisa in her stupid face, Rito leaned slightly sideways, bringing her mouth as close to Rinisa's ear as she dared.

Too much movement one way or the other, and she'd draw Maganti's attention. And this was an opportunity she couldn't afford to miss. If she did, she was pretty sure none of them would get out of here alive.

If only she could order Rinisa to punch her beloved Grigori in the face.

But Rito remembered what Jehan had told her time and time again, ever since they'd started working together: Amven couldn't be used for violence.

No one under the influence of the drug would ever knowingly hurt another person. That had been the entire point of Amven, the way Jehan had first envisioned it. Back when he'd still believed you could drug humanity into being decent to one another…into peace, tolerance, and benevolence.

Well, look where that'd gotten them.

Gathering every last drop of courage she could muster, Rito leaned a little further in and hissed at Rinisa:

"Go kiss him. Kiss Grigori, now!"

***

President Maganti loomed over him, pressing a semi-automatic rifle to his head. His sister stood frozen a few feet away, along with Milli and Fasih, their backs pressed to the cold, hard wall.

He wanted to scream at them to run. He was the one who'd gotten them into this mess in the first place. And now, they were all going to die just because they refused to leave him behind.

But he knew the futility of it. Rito would never leave without him, and he had a feeling Milli wouldn't go anywhere without his sister.

Fasih, for his part, didn't have the survival instinct of a rock.

Abhijat closed his eyes. Maganti was shouting something in his ear, but he couldn't bring himself to pay attention. He had to do something. He had to save them.

He couldn't bear the thought of standing here and watching them die.

If he screamed, or struggled, or did something – anything – that'd make Maganti shoot him, the others could try and escape. With him dead, there'd be nothing holding them back.

It was far from a fool-proof plan, but it was better than nothing. Better than watching them sacrifice themselves to buy him a few extra minutes of life.

Sucking in a deep breath, his hands clenching into fists, Abhijat prepared to attack. He was a skilled fighter, but there was no way he was going to win barehanded against a man holding a semi-automatic. Still, if he could only give them a little headway...

Out of the corner of his eye, Abhijat watched Rinisa stagger to her feet, inches away from Rito.

His lips parted in surprise. Moments from letting out a warning cry, he saw his sister give the minutest shake of her head, her eyes boring straight into his.

He clamped his mouth shut, forcing himself to look away. Maganti, who was still facing Abhijat and screaming in his face, seemed to have noticed nothing.

A second passed. And as much of a cliché as it was, the world slowed down around Abhijat.

Then, Rinisa was flying towards them, her arms outstretched.

She threw both hands around Maganti's neck, forcing him to turn around before smashing her lips into his.

Taken aback, Maganti growled, his fingers clenching. A shot rang out inches from Abhijat's face.

Unthinkingly, Abhijat launched himself at Maganti. All three of them went down in a heap, their limbs flailing.

After a moment's struggle, Abhijat overpowered Maganti – who still had Rinisa clinging to him – and wrenched the rifle from his grip.

He sprang to his feet. His hands shaking, Abhijat pointed the gun at the man still lying at his feet on the floor.

Maganti snarled, glaring up at Abhijat, even as Rinisa clung to him, sniffling. "Get away from me, you bitch." He pushed her away from himself. She clutched at him, her eyes bright and desperate.

He kicked her in the stomach, sending her crashing against the wall, her lips parted in a silent scream.

"Stop it!" Abhijat roared, pressing the mouth of the gun to Maganti's forehead. "If you so much as move a pinkie without my permission again, I will shoot."

He kneeled, hauling the president to his feet by the scruff of his neck. "Do not do anything stupid," Abhijat growled, driving the muzzle into his back. "I'm a trained soldier, remember? I won't misfire. Give me one reason, make the slightest move, and you'll have twenty bullets inside you within the fraction of a second."

"If you kill me–"

"What? They'll put me in front of a firing squad?" he laughed. It sounded manic even to his own ears. "You think that scares me, Maganti? Do you think I was expecting a medal after I delivered Fasih to you and Rinisa?

"I was willing to risk execution on the mere suspicion that Fasih might harm my family. You think I won't shoot you after you had my sister chained to a wall like an animal? Are you really willing to bet your life on that theory?"

The guard whom Rito had bludgeoned with Rinisa's briefcase stirred, groaning. He felt blindly around the floor, until his fingers closed around the rifle which Rito had dropped moments ago.

"Tell him to stay still," Abhijat snarled, driving the rifle into Maganti's back until the president stumbled forward with a cry of pain. "Tell him to stay still and drop the gun!"

After a moment's hesitation, Maganti complied.

Letting go of the weapon, the barely conscious guard squinted dazedly and held up his hands.

"Get out," Abhijat shouted at the others, who had by now inched away from the wall and were approaching him with hesitant steps. "Get out of here, and stay a few steps ahead of me. We need to get outside, to the car."

One step at a time, they made their way out of the holding room and to the main entrance of the warehouse. Rito and the others walked ahead and Abhijat followed them, his gun trained on Maganti. The few guards they met on the way were ordered by the president to stand down.

Soon, they were at the main gates. The car in which he and Fasih had arrived was visible, lying abandoned less than forty feet away.

With a flick of his finger, Abhijat signaled Rito to get everyone to the vehicle.

Rito nodded, her lips pressed into a thin line. She herded the other two out of the warehouse. Within seconds, all three of them had darted across the open stretch of land to the car.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Abhijat prodded Maganti, forcing him to walk ahead as he left the warehouse behind and moved towards his friends.

The piercing sound of a gunshot rent the air moments before he reached the vehicle.

Abhijat spun around, trying to hold on to Maganti even as he pointed his gun at the guard shooting at them from the second floor of the warehouse. He pulled the trigger, letting loose a volley of bullets.

Maganti pulled free, pushing Abhijat away and running into the warehouse even as the guard returned fire from his hiding place on the second floor.

"Drive," Abhijat screamed at Rito. He jumped into the back of the car after Fasih. Rito pulled Milli in with her as she leapt into the driver's seat moments later.

The engine revved. A few bullets dented the exterior, even as the vehicle lurched forward, gathering speed with every passing second. Soon, the sound of gunfire had faded into the background.

Abhijat leaned out of the back window, firing one more shot at the rapidly receding warehouse.

He wouldn't rest until this was over.

***

The car lurched dangerously, swaying from side to side.

Gripping the steering wheel, her heart thundering, Rito wondered if one of the tires had been hit.

She swerved to avoid an oncoming truck, muttering obscenities under her breath.

Her mother's stern admonishment buzzed in the back of her head, and for the first time in hours, Rito laughed.

"I'm glad somebody's getting a kick out of this," Fasih intoned from the backseat.

Rito rolled her eyes. "And I'm glad Maganti didn't manage to kill us. Spending the afterlife with you would've been so annoying."

"Something you wouldn't have had to worry about if you hadn't come barging into that dank hellhole with all the subtlety of a wrecking ball."

"It's not her fault," Milli piped up, leaning in to touch her face, as if she couldn't quite believe that Rito was real. "She came for me. Because I sent her that picture. God, Rito, you shouldn't have. You could've been killed."

"As could all of you. How is my death so much worse than any of yours? You really thought I'd sit back and do nothing, once I knew? Besides, you're one to talk." She grabbed a crumpled pamphlet from the dashboard and threw it at the two men in the back. "I called both of you as soon as I had Milli's location. But of course, you morons were too busy getting kidnapped and tied up by darling Rinisa."

"Not like you fared much better, is it?" Jehan quipped.

"Is it true that you stole Amven samples from the QRI for Rinisa?" Abhijat asked quietly.

Rito froze. "Who–" She threw another crumpled pamphlet, this time aiming for Jehan's head, her eyes on the rear-view mirror to make sure she didn't miss her target. "It was you, wasn't it?"

"In my defense, at the time I was pretty sure I was gonna die. Keeping track of the intricate web of Shian family secrets wasn't exactly at the top of my list of priorities."

"Well, for what it's worth, I was blackmailed," Rito said, pressing down on the brake as the car skidded on a stray piece of rock. "And I didn't actually manage to steal anything at the end of the day, so it doesn't even matter."

Jehan chuckled. "You realize that says more about your incompetence as a thief than your moral integrity, right?"

"It wasn't your fault," Abhijat said, abrupt.

Rito glanced at the rear-view mirror to see him gazing out of the window, his eyebrows furrowed and shoulders tense.

"I should've known she'd try something like that after what happened in Weritlan," he murmured. "I should've–"

"You should've what? Seen the future? Read Rinisa's mind?" Rito swallowed, forcing herself to stay calm. "This was as much my fault as yours. There's nothing you could've done to protect me. But you know what's more important? It isn't your job to protect me. Not anymore. Damn it, Abhi. I'm not a kid anymore. I can take care of myself."

"Which is more than can be said about your brother," Fasih interjected through a massive yawn.

"Will you shut up–"

"No, he's right," Abhijat said, before Rito could finish her tirade. "You've no reason to trust me, after what I've done." He sucked in a shuddering breath, then continued. "He's right, Rito. I messed up. Horribly. None of this would've happened if I hadn't fallen for Rinisa's goddamned lies.

"I thought...I called Maa and she..." he sighed, shaking his head. "Well, it doesn't matter what I thought. What matters is that I almost got all of you killed. I trusted Rinisa when she said that Fasih had betrayed us–"

"And why wouldn't you?" Rito snapped, stepping on the accelerator. The car felt cramped and suffocating all of a sudden. "Jehan never trusted you. Or any of us, for that matter. Not unless he had no other choice. And even then, he never once told us the whole truth. And if you never trust anyone with anything, you don't have any right to expect they'd trust you when the time comes.

"We aren't mind readers, are we? How the fuck were we supposed to know Jehan was trying to keep Amven out of Maganti's hands, when he never bothered to fucking tell us? I mean, good intentions are great and all, but what's the point if no one knows you have them?

"But of course, asking for help isn't an option when you fancy yourself a loner alpha wolf, or whatever." She scoffed. "He thought he could outsmart everyone, do everything on his own. And come out the other end unscathed.

"Well, it backfired. Surprise surprise!" She glared at Jehan through the rear-view mirror until he ducked his head. "Life isn't one long game of chess where you have to capture every pawn until you're dead or the board's empty. It's a fucking team sport.

"And if you spend all your time manipulating everyone within a hundred feet radius, they're going to return the effing favor first chance they get."

She swerved, sending them all crashing into each other. "And if our so-called prodigy can't get that through his thick skull, that's no one's fault but his own."

The silence, while it lasted, was deafening.

Rito had expected many things, including being told by Jehan that he'd have her arrested as soon as they landed in Qayit.

What she hadn't expected was for the prime minister to break into a fit of giggles and flail around helplessly, next to her wide-eyed brother.

"Well," Jehan huffed, after a solid minute of hiccup-y laughter, wiping tears from his eyes. "I'll be damned. If they ever write a biography of me, I'll be sure to give them your number. I don't think anybody's ever given me a more succinct psych evaluation than that."