Heaven's Crime (gxg) ✓

thirty-four. everything blows up in our faces

            "Where were you?" Ren asks, as we find them at a table. "You're over an hour and a half late. Okami is spitting fire that we got ourselves invited to the Mafia hotspot of the century."

             I pause. "How did we get ourselves invited to the European trade deal?"

             "I slept with the Queen of England," Maiko says.

              Ren rakes back his silken hair. "They needed a board of health professionals. They're going to test the drug out here, later tonight. They want qualified doctors to see if it's a worthy investment. And besides . . . Kaya, your name―and Veah's―was on the guest list. Okami, for some reason, wants you here."

             I don't have to think of what that means if Okami invited us here herself. Because it hits me, then. What Ren said.

             They're going to test the drug out here, later tonight.

              I feel it as the blood drains from my face.

              I remember the way Pierce's bones snapped, one by one.

              The way she dragged that knife across her own throat.

              Maiko and Ren . . . they haven't seen Magic with their own eyes. They don't know what this means. But I remember what Bastian told me.

               Four elements. Four possible outcomes.

               His voice was warm against my neck as he whispered, Death.

               Hallucination.

               Adrenaline.

               And what happened to Pierce. The most dangerous of them all. Susceptibility. 

               If Okami makes a deal with the Europeans later tonight, they'll manufacture Magic all over the continent. A mass production. War―it will only be a matter of time before they realize they can use something like this in war.

               And if they're going to put Magic on display . . . here? Tonight?

               Another innocent life will be lost. Bones, splintering, one by one. And that terrible uncertainty, breath held―which element will it be? 

               Veah has a plan, I remind myself.

               The devil over my left shoulder whispers, You're an idiot to think poisoning Okami is going to work. 

               The angel over my right shoulder says, Veah knows what she's doing.

               Devil: Oh, yeah? Please tell me how you think poisoning the Big Bad Wolf is going to go. Please. No, I'm not kidding. Enlighten me.

               Angel: Everything will work out just fine.

              Devil: Right after Okami decides to slaughter you and all your friends. She's going to see it from a mile away. 

               Angel: What do you suggest we do instead?

               Devil: Kill Okami. Putting her in an unconscious state for the next week isn't solving any problems. It will only delay the deal. If you kill her, poof. Problems solved.