"How is she taking James' death?" I asked.

"Why can't you all just leave us alone?"

"We did leave you alone," I replied. "For over seven years Brevin left his only son alone, knowing full well that he was here in Hong Kong, playing house with James Takeshi's only daughter."

Cairo didn't reply.

"f.u.c.king selfish, that's what you are," I said.

He slammed a heavy fist down onto the table, which startled the mild-mannered restaurant owner standing at the cash register, counting the day's take.

"I'm selfish?" Cairo cried out. "My dad never gave a s.h.i.t about me. The only time he talked to me was when he was yelling at me. He always treated me like an idiot."

"That's because you were an idiot."

"f.u.c.k you."

"You disappointed him," I said.

"Why? Because I couldn't get straight A's at the Academy, like you, Calisto, or Reiko could? f.u.c.k, the number of times he compared me to the three of you..."

"That's not what I'm talking about."

"Oh, then surely it must be my love life he's disappointed with," Cairo said, his voice laced with spite and sarcasm. "A black man falling in love with a j.a.panese girl-too scandalous for his old school tastes."

I shook my head and laughed in a mocking fashion. "Cairo, he made peace with it years ago. He just wanted you to come back home. James wanted his daughter back too."

"I find that hard to believe," Cairo said. "James threatened to kill me, calling me a black-skinned b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

I shrugged. "I'm not defending their racial prejudices. At the time, both your dad and James were being stupid. But after the two of you ran away together, they realized their mistakes. They both lived with the idea of their families uniting together. What they couldn't live with was not having their family whole again."

Cairo sat there in silence, my words slowly sinking in.

"You two were selfish," I said. "f.u.c.king selfish. You left at the worst time too, when your families needed you the most. The war with the Ascension left your sister in a vegetative state, and it practically killed Brevin. He needed you there to help him look after her, but you abandoned your responsibilities as an older brother-as a man of the family-instead choosing to run off and play house with Reiko."

"It's not like that," Cairo said defensively. "I just couldn't stand seeing Dinah like that. She was my little sister man."

"Because it was hard for you to see Dinah, you abandoned her and left Brevin to look after her by himself? As I said before, you were f.u.c.king selfish."

"You have no idea how hard it was for us," Cairo said. "Reiko and I were both grieving. Reiko had lost her mother during the war against Elias Rose and I watched Dinah become an empty husk. It was through that grief that we found each other. We needed each other. But our dads saw our relationship as an absolute abomination, going so far as to threaten to disown us. So what other choice did we have? We left. If we had stayed behind, it would have never worked out between us. The Midnight Society would have ruined it, like it ruins everything else it touches."

"They realized their mistake," I said. "They tried to contact you but you both ignored them."

Cairo shrugged. "Like I said, we moved on from it."

"You'd never come back to see them?"

He shook his head. "I was going to come back, after we were married and had a kid. Maybe when they saw we had started a family, they'd accept us. But I guess it's all too late now."

I didn't respond. There was no need to.

From the dampness around Cairo's eyes, I could tell I had struck a chord with him.

"Who's looking after Dinah now?" he asked.

"She's in a home. But she'll need somebody to keep her company once in a while. She'll need her big brother."

Cairo nodded.

"How did Reiko take the news of James' death?" I asked again.

Cairo shrugged his shoulders. "She's a strange girl that one. No tears, no anger, nothing. It's been three weeks and I've yet to see any emotional response from her regarding her dad. Maybe she lets it all out when I'm not around or maybe she's all cried out from when her mom pa.s.sed. Come to think of it, I've never seen her cry since."

"She's shut down emotionally," I said. I knew what that felt like. Every time I thought about my parents-about Calisto murdering them in cold blood-I felt emotionally drained. It was easier burying it in the back of my mind than dealing with the grief upfront.

"Whenever I try to talk to her about it she just changes the subject," Cairo said. "I dunno man. I'm just afraid that eventually, she'll snap and have a breakdown that she'll never be able to recover from."

"From what I remembered about her, Reiko always handled things differently from everyone else. When she's ready to deal with it, she will."

Cairo nodded. "I guess so man. I guess so."

"So are you going to take me to her then?"

Cairo paused for a moment, and then nodded. "She won't be happy about it. She spent the last eight years hiding. The last thing she wanted was to be found by anyone from her past life, especially by anyone involved in the Midnight Society."

There was a brief moment of silence.

"How did you find me anyways?" Cairo asked.

"You kidding me?" I asked. "How many six foot five black men are there in Hong Kong? Finding you is like finding a freight train in a field of dandelions."

He sighed. "Who else knows about our relationship right now?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "As far as I know, only Lincoln, myself, and of course, Calisto."

"I see," Cairo said. He stared blankly at the food on the table, pushing one of the chopsticks around with his thumb. "How did my dad go out?" he finally asked. I could tell the question had been weighing on his mind for quite a while.

"He went down fighting," I lied. "He was a lion, you know that."

I didn't have the heart to tell him that Brevin died helpless and screaming while gagged and tied to a chair. He never stood a chance.

None of us did.

"Come on, finish up," I said, gesturing to the rest of the food. "The sooner I speak to Reiko, the closer I get to finding Calisto. And then, I'll make her pay for her sins-on behalf of all our dead fathers."

Chapter Thirteen.

Aria I had seen the eyes of men who wanted me dead. Their gaze was like a flame, thrown onto a lake of oil-a single spark which erupted into an uncontrollable blaze.

Beau Rouge, did not want me dead. His eyes told me so.

"Pull the trigger," I snapped.

Beau looked at me, wide-eyed, gun pointed straight at me.

"Life gone sour for you?" he asked. "Because it sure looks like you lack the desire to live."

I took a step forward towards him, which made Beau take a step back.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lincoln grin.

"If you're going to pull a gun out on me, then you'd best be ready to use it," I said.

"The lady's got a point," Lincoln added. I noticed he had a.s.similated the local Louisiana accent into his speech. "How about we share a drink and have a heartfelt chat like a trio of decent human beings."

"Sorry, and you are...?" Beau asked.

Lincoln smiled. "Jesse," he replied. "Jesse Sparrow. I believe you have something that belongs to my boss. He'd like it back."

"Well Jesse Sparrow," Beau said, turning the gun towards him. "I can't say I know who your boss is, nor what possessions of mine your boss thinks are rightfully his." He raised his trumpet. "I'm just a simple man who enjoys tooting his horn."

Beau had lost all interest in me. It was the perfect opportunity to try and gain the upper hand.

I drew my gun from behind my back and pointed it straight at Beau. I made sure that the safety was off. I had watched far too many movies where people forgot about the safety. I wasn't going to fall into that cliche.

"Now just what do you think you're doing, my little suicidal princess?" Beau asked, refocusing his emerald eyes on me.

"Pointing a gun at you," I replied. His eyes scanned my gun for a brief second. "The safety is off, by the way, if that's what you're looking for. I'm just waiting for you to give me a reason to shoot you. I enjoy shooting at d.i.c.ks."

Beau's gun was still pointed at Lincoln.

"Lady, have you even killed a man before?" Beau asked.

"Yes," I replied, without any hesitation.

He looked at me for a moment, reading the contours of my face.

I remained expressionless.

"I believe you," Beau said as he lowered his weapon. "I'd like to keep my d.i.c.k."

I lowered my gun as well.

"Great, now that we've broken the ice, let's say we get a drink and have ourselves a discussion," Lincoln said.

Beau grinned. "I know a bar just up around the corner of this here alleyway. The owner makes a mighty fine crawfish etouffee, that is, if you're hungry."

"I am," Lincoln replied.

"Is this a trap?" I asked, bluntly.

Beau smiled at me. "Even if it was, I wouldn't be so inclined to tell you."

I pointed my gun at his nether regions. "For the sake of your manhood, it better not be."

"Why darling," Beau began, "There's nothing in the world that I value more."

The Alley Cat bar was completely empty with the exception of an old, wrinkled bartender who, for some odd reason, was wearing sungla.s.ses, despite the inside of the establishment being as dark as a cloudy evening.

"Beau," he said, raising his head in our direction, greeting us with his ears rather than his eyes.

The man was blind.

"You have to tell me Darryl, how can a man with no eyes recognize me every time I step in this place?"

The barkeep grinned. "I can smell your scent from a mile away."

"And what scent is that?" Beau asked. "My gentlemanly charm?"

"Naw boy. You smell snake-bitten and thirsty."

"I won't deny that," Beau said as he took a seat right up at the bar, and helped himself to a bottle of bourbon. He grabbed three gla.s.ses, and slowly filled each one to the brim. "By the way, I brought some company Darryl."

"I can hear," the barkeep said. "I'm not deaf you know-only blind." He chuckled at his own joke.

"Any chance you can fix us up three plates of your famous crawfish etouffee?" Beau asked as he handed each one of us a gla.s.s.

"You going to pay for it this time?"

"Add it to my tab. You know I'm always good for it," Beau replied. "I just need another week or so to let the catfish sink their teeth into my lines, and then the dough will come rolling in for a good few months."

Darryl sighed. "For G.o.d's sake, I'm going to start charging interest."

"What did I say about taking the lord's name in vain?" Beau warned, though he was still smiles. "Now go and fix us up some plates. I have some business to discuss with these outstanding folks."

Beau raised his gla.s.s to us, turning to me specifically. "Cheers," he announced, "For allowing me to keep my nine-inch c.o.c.k."