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“Wow,” I whisper.
They said the island held the richest of the rich. I never knew how rich. I come from middle-class family. My circle in Deene was humble until I met Kai. And because he was in Archer’s crew, I got to have a glimpse of the ten percent’s lifestyle. Archer’s Aston Martin Vulcan was worth more than my parents’ real estate and savings. But I never spent enough time with the elite crew to know exactly how wealthy they were.
Now I see how Zion can be a paradise—yachts, fancy cribs, maids, deliveries of about anything from the mainland that struggles with famine.
We walk closer up to the water lapping at the shore when Katura nudges me with an elbow and nods toward one end of the beach.
“There they are.” She turns her head the other way, narrowing her eyes.
There are security towers on each end of the beach.
She turns around slowly. “More over there.”
I turn to study the resort that splays across the steep hill all the way to the top.
Wow.
In a different life, I could’ve fallen in love with this place.
Cabanas and huts are down at the beach level. Smaller bungalows are in the middle level. Several large villas, partially hidden by the palm trees are on the upper level with pools and party decks.
And the crown of it all—a giant white villa on top of the hill with an infinity pool and a bird’s-eye view of the beach. That’s gotta be Archer’s.
“I could live here, yeah,” Katura says with a smile like she won a lottery.
I swallow hard as I pause my gaze on the villa on top—the Chancellor is somewhere there, and I need to talk to him.
The sound of an approaching motor makes us turn, and we watch for a minute as a slick black speedboat pulls up to one of the docks. A tall muscular guy, a little older than us, jumps off and walks onto the beach. Black t-shirt, black jeans, black shoes—like a character in theMatrix. His hair is jet-black. A cigarette hangs off his mouth.
He is forty or so feet away, but when he stalks across the beach, he catches sight of us and stares for some time.
“Watch out for guys like this,” Katura says, her hands on her waist like she is ready to fight. “Shady, that one. In charge of something, too.”
She should be an FBI profiler.
Two more guys walk off the boat and head in the same direction—dressed in khaki pants and shirts, guns tucked behind their belts. You never think anything crazy about a seemingly peaceful resort until you see people openly carry guns.
One thought makes my heart beat faster, and not in a nice way—I don’t know how Kai can possibly come here unnoticed.
I try not to think about it, but I know Kai will come for me. Tomorrow. Next week. In a month?
He will.
“We need to talk to Archer,” I say, my stomach in knots at the mere thought of it. Maybe I can put some sense into him. And I need to see Abby. Only a month ago, my life purpose was to find my only surviving cousin, who’d come here for spring break. Then Kai took over all my thoughts. And now I feel bad that Abby is a side character. My heart flutters at the possibility of running into her at any time.
But then Kai is on my mind again. If only I could touch him, hug him, be close to him, then everything would be fine—we could go against Archer. Kai is more important than anything else in my life.
The thought lingers for some time in my head as we walk back toward the boardwalk and the staircase.
It’s a struggle to make it back to the top. We veer up the staircases, among the rose bushes, past the occasional blue uniforms, when a loud voice comes from around the corner.
“Well, well, if it isn’t the pretty señorita who finally graced us with her presence.”
The guy standing in the middle of our path is a cutie with long hair tied in a bun, a blue T-shirt, and jeans. He smiles broadly, carelessly swinging a set of keys around his forefinger, as he watches us approach. His smiling gaze is on Katura, who smiles back playfully.
“I knew we’d meet again.” He studies her up and down as we halt in front of him.
I raise my eyebrows at her. “You know him?”
