The Violet Hour (18 page)

“Dude, call off the dogs,” Adam said.

“They’re for protection,” Hayes replied, not bothering to turn around. “The Southern Vietnamese army grants us asylum, but you can’t be too careful.”

“We’re not your prisoners,” Adam said through gritted teeth.

I was painfully aware of Adam’s hand inside his pocket, palming the gems that would secure our escape. I wished he would just shut up.

We picked our way down the walkway to the water’s edge, where a thin, flat boat wavered on the glassy surface. The boat’s front and back edges curved upward, but its middle rose only inches above the water. To me it looked more like a floating platform; one that was potentially not seaworthy. I could hear string music threading through the air from an open-air restaurant on the opposite bank.

Hayes helped Dora, then Stubin, climb into the boat. Emily lifted the diminutive Mei Mei and carried her on. Two of the four henchmen climbed aboard. Adam placed a protective hand on the small of my back, sheltering me from the rest of the muscle hovering behind us. His eyes were locked on Hayes, who stepped out of the boat and held his hand out to me as if Adam weren’t even there.

“After you,” Hayes said.

Adam’s fingers curled around my waist. “I’ve got her.”

I shot Adam a dirty look and ignored Hayes’s hand as I stepped into the boat.

“I’ve got myself,” I said.

It was impossible not to feel a flutter in my stomach at Hayes’s appreciative smile.

“My kind of girl,” he said.

Adam snorted in disgust and climbed in after me, his shoulder bumping Hayes as he passed. He sat down next to me, protectively close. Hayes’s smile didn’t falter as he pushed us away from the bank and hopped in. The other two men stayed on land, watching us float away.

Hayes stood at the back of the boat, manning the oars that were lashed to posts on each side. He was graceful and strong. The flutter came again. As if he could feel me watching him, he met my stare and gave me the half smile again. The fluttering intensified.

The boat glided along at a steady speed, passing makeshift docks and dark buildings that extended on stilts out into the water. Hayes expertly navigated around the myriad boats moored along the banks. The channel finally gave way to open ocean as we left Hoi An behind. I dropped my hand over the side of the boat and let it skim over the dark water, just inches below us.

We rowed for a while, out into the darkness.

“Almost there,” Emily said in a low voice. “The island’s just ahead.”

A few minutes later, a stretch of glowing beachfront came into view, partially obscured by jungle foliage. As we got closer I could see there was a pathway, lit by votives inside red paper bags, snaking into the dense vegetation. Hayes let out a three-toned whistle that reverberated through the night. Through the trees, set back in the distance, the tiled roof of a vast cluster of buildings peeked through. Hayes repeated the whistle pattern. People emerged from the border of the jungle, lining the beach like silent sentinels.

Hayes rowed us toward the shore and several onlookers rushed to help pull us in. Once we were safely wedged on the sand, I stood up on unsteady feet.

The people standing on the beach all dropped to one knee, bowing their heads.

“Welcome to Bên Trong M
ắ
t,” Hayes said. “We’re honored to have you.”

LAST FIRST KISS

A soft knock roused me out of my sleep.

“Harlow? Are you awake?” It was Hayes. His adorable accent was unmistakable.

I sat up abruptly, looking around in alarm, as the details of my surroundings came into focus. I was by myself on a low-slung bed in an elegant room. Everything in this place was made of gleaming teak: floors, walls, ceiling. A teak fan spun determinedly overhead as daylight filtered through the windows. The silk pajamas I’d been given by Emily slid against my skin and the mattress was incredibly soft. Part of me wanted to slip under the covers and never emerge again. There was too much to face.

“I’m not dressed,” I said, climbing out of bed. I looked down at my hand, freshly bandaged by Emily the night before. She said there would be a scar, but at least I wouldn’t have to worry about infection.

Hayes cleared his throat. “I’ll just wait out here, then, yeah?”

Apparently he wasn’t leaving. The floor was cool against the soles of my feet as I spotted a red silk robe laid carefully across the Papasan loveseat across the room. There was a full-length mirror against the wall—I averted my eyes as I picked the robe up, afraid of what I might see.

I cracked the door just a millimeter. Hayes had his back turned, pacing in the light-filled hallway.

“Yes?” I asked.

He spun around, his hand automatically rising to rake through his hair, which was perfectly beach-tossed. The daylight was even kinder to his features than the night had been—sharp jaw, brownish-gold eyes, a cute little mole beneath his lower lip. He raised his eyebrows, like I’d caught him by surprise and he was momentarily unsure what to say.

“I was wondering if you’d like to come down to the beach with me,” he said. He was wearing a tank top and board shorts.

“Where are my friends?” I asked.

“We brought a doctor for Stubin, and Dora’s with him in the infirmary. He’s going to be fine, but they’re doing a nebulizer treatment right now. The doc says he’s lucky to have made it, and he’s going to need to take it easy for a while.”

“What about Adam?” I asked.

Hayes scratched the back of his neck, the gesture making him weirdly hotter.

“He took a surf board out earlier with one of the local guys who helps out around here. I’m sure he’ll be back when the swell dies down.”

My heart instantly began to race. Adam was resourceful, so I shouldn’t be surprised that he was already well on his way to arranging our escape; there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that that was what he was up to. He had a way of manipulating people into getting what he wanted, which was a skill both Mercy and I had paid the price for.

The thought of Mercy helped me refocus on my bigger purpose—getting out of here and finding Isiris.

“Since I know you’re about to ask, Mei Mei is playing cards with my mother on the lanai,” Hayes continued. “And to answer the other question you’re thinking, yes, you slept incredibly late and everyone else has gone about their day.” He cracked his classic half smile, half smirk. I could tell he was working overtime to put me at ease.

“Very funny,” I said. “Okay, give me a minute to pull myself together. But after the beach I want to see Dora.”

“No problem. She’s staying down the hall, right there,” he said, pointing. “You can see her anytime you like.”

I closed the door and then leaned back against it, breathing deep. Hayes had the exact same effect on me at seventeen as he’d had at twelve. I couldn’t afford to lose my willpower, and a crush was exactly the kind of thing that could rob me of it. Not to mention the fact that all my complicated feelings toward Adam were still unresolved—maybe this sudden interest in someone new was just a means of avoiding the Adam factor. I told myself that this jaunt down to the beach with Hayes was a fact-finding mission and nothing more. I knew next to nothing about the Resistance, besides the odd fact that Madam Wang was a part of it, and I needed to know much more. Plus, Hayes probably had information about what had happened with Wang after we escaped the Forbidden City.

I emerged fifteen minutes later, looking as put-together as I had in a while. There was a selection of sundresses hanging in the closet, as well as a bikini that I had no intention of wearing. The Resistance was definitely living a different lifestyle than we were used to on the compound, which made me wonder how closely they still adhered to VisionCrest doctrine.

When I stepped into the hall, Hayes smiled broadly for a change, showing off a row of straight white teeth. The two men from the boat ride hovered at the end of the hall, watching us.

“Do your bodyguards really need to come with us?” I asked, knowing full well it was me they were keeping an eye on.

“Yes. My popularity is a stifling inconvenience, but I hope you’ll be willing to look past it,” he said, winking.

“Charm will get you nowhere with me,” I lied.

“Guess I’ll have to skate by on good looks alone then,” he said, the air between us practically crackling. “Here, I brought you a banana.”

“Thanks,” I said, taking it.

Hayes led us around the corner, through another hallway, and down a spiral staircase. The house was massive and mazelike.

“How many people live here?” I asked.

“About eighty, off and on. The Resistance has bases in various places around the world, but Vietnam is a convenient cover considering VisionCrest is
persona non grata
around these parts. My mother and I have been traveling back and forth between here and Britain for about a year now, pretending to visit my grandmother. When my father was abducted in Tokyo, we came here to stay.”

“Your father was abducted in Tokyo, too?” I asked.

He nodded. “The whole reason we were there was because Madam Wang had tipped us off that your father’s abduction was imminent. My father was the head of the Resistance. Wang killed him. Now everyone expects me to take his place, but I have no idea what the hell I’m supposed to do.”

I didn’t really know what to say to that. How do you react to the news that someone’s father has been murdered and they’re supposed to step into his unfillable shoes? Actually, it sounded a lot like my life right now.

“I think I can relate to that,” I said.

He smiled at me, in a way that was so warm and genuine I wanted to melt into his arms. Instead, I trailed along after him.

Hayes led us past a series of rooms on the ground floor. Through a crack in one of the doors I could see a group of believers, dressed in white, kneeling on the wooden floor of an open-air studio, chanting. It was the meditation of the Inner Eye; I would know it anywhere.

“Why does Vietnam let you guys stay when you’re so clearly practicing what they’ve expressly forbidden?” I asked.

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend, I guess.” He shrugged.

“You consider VisionCrest your enemy?” I asked, alarmed.

“No, of course not. We want to preserve it. We’re fighting against the people who’ve been angling to take VisionCrest over, like Sacristan Wang. As you know, they’re into some very bad juju.”

The house suddenly opened up onto the jungle, and beyond it I could see the ocean glittering on the horizon. Votives still lined the pathway we’d taken last night.

“You mean Isiris,” I said.

Hayes paused and looked at me. A worry line creased his brow. It was the first time I’d seen him look anything less than completely at ease.

“Madam Wang said she speaks to you. She thinks Isiris is trying to inhabit you.”

“That sounds crazy,” I said. I didn’t want to admit it was also true.

“Yep,” he agreed. “It’s pretty far out there. Come on, let’s keep going.”

We walked in silence for a bit, Madam Wang’s words rattling around in my head and leaving me unsettled. “Inhabited” was exactly the way I felt sometimes—would it actually be possible for Isiris to push me out of my own life?

The midafternoon sun was beating down hard, but the white sand of the beach was beautiful and the jungle provided a slice of shade that was nice to walk along. The ebb and flow of the water lapping into shore soothed my frayed nerves. I needed to take advantage of this time alone with Hayes while he was in a talking mood. The sooner Adam and I could get out of here, the better for everyone.

“So what happened to Madam Wang? Is she okay?” I asked.

Hayes squinted into the distance. “You want to sit down?”

“Sure.” I shrugged and took a seat. It felt good to burrow my feet into the sun-warmed sand.

“Wang is going to have her hung from the Gate of Heavenly Peace. Tomorrow.”

“What?” I gasped. “No! We have to stop him.”

“They’ve closed ranks. Anyone even suspected of consorting with Madam Wang has been detained, probably in that creepy underground lab he has going. The few people we have on the inside who haven’t been caught up in his dragnet can’t afford to blow their cover.”

“So you’re just going to let her die?” I asked.

“It’s not up to me, Harlow,” he said. “Right now my job is to protect you. That’s what Madam Wang would want—she made the ultimate sacrifice for you. Because she believes you’re the only one who can stop Isiris.”

I decided to play dumb. It was better if Hayes believed I had no intention of even trying.

“I’m not sure where she got that idea.” I wrapped my arms around my knees. “I haven’t got the first clue how to stop Isiris. So what’s the plan?”

“The plan is to keep you safe and hope that Isiris gives away her location.”

“Why not initiate me into the further mysteries and make me the official Matriarch? That would give us a much stronger hand to play—having the entire church behind us. Leaving the position empty creates a power vacuum, and there’s no telling who might jump in. Or is the first mystery the only one you care about?”

“I don’t joke when it comes to the mysteries. I take my role as your second very seriously.”

“With what you know about Isiris, how can you still take all this VisionCrest stuff seriously?” I asked.

“Whatever Isiris may be, she is the beginning and not the end. I believe there is a higher purpose for her existence, and for ours. I believe in whatever—or whoever—created her.”

I wasn’t sure if he was for real or not. He could be dead serious—a devout drinker of the VisionCrest Kool-Aid—and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that anymore. Or he could be putting on an act. If the Resistance didn’t want me to be installed as Matriarch, it might be because they wanted that power for themselves. Either way, I felt queasy. There really wasn’t anyone I could trust.

“Has Isiris ever given you any clue of where to find her?” he asked.

“No,” I lied.

Hayes turned his head. I could feel him watching me, causing that little flutter despite all the other stuff going on. I closed my eyes, trying to focus on the waves. The next thing I knew, his hand was on my leg, his thumb running back and forth over the inner curve of my knee.

“Do you remember when I stayed at your house in Twin Falls, five years ago?” he asked.

Flutter. It occurred to me that he might be manipulating me, but the flutter happened all the same.

“Yes,” I said.

“There was something I wanted to do then, but I was too afraid. Now I really want to do it. I’m not supposed to, because I’m your second. It crosses about eight kinds of boundaries.”

Double flutter. I turned to look at him. “I’m not a big fan of boundary crossing,” I said.

“Then may I please kiss you?” he asked.

If I found Isiris like I planned, I might never make it back. This might be my last first kiss with someone. I nodded.

“I’d really like to hear you say it,” he murmured.

“You can kiss me,” I whispered, feeling illicit.

He leaned in close, brushing my hair back off my shoulder. We watched each other, eyes open, until at last our lips met. My eyes closed. His lips pressed against mine, tender and warm, tasting salty like the ocean. He kissed me a little harder as a wave crashed, then shushed in the background. As his lips parted mine, his hand slid a little farther up the inside of my thigh. It was more than I imagined—it was perfection. We lay down on the sand and he hovered over me.

“You’re good at that,” he said.

“I can do better,” I responded.

He gave me a languid smile and came back for more. Our kiss went even deeper, his body pressing rhythmically against mine. There was a heat building inside of me unlike anything I’d experienced before.

“Am I interrupting?” Adam said, with unmistakable anger in his voice.

We rolled apart and I sat up abruptly, brushing the sand off my skirt. My cheeks burned with embarrassment. After everything he’d done to me, I couldn’t believe I was feeling guilty. But I was.

Adam was in swim trunks, carrying a surfboard. With his tattoo-covered chest and his ripped muscles, it was impossible not to notice how attractive he was. I was in serious need of some therapy.

Hayes stood up slowly. He and Adam were practically chest to chest.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing,” Adam said, the muscles in his jaw clenching.

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?” Hayes asked.

“Harlow’s the head of VisionCrest. Are you going to tell me that you and your little band of rebels don’t intend to use her for her power? That you’re not working her over right now, pretending to like her so you can control her?”

Adam’s words made bile rise in my throat. My entire body began to shake with adrenaline. I got to my feet.

“Unlike you, I don’t consider her a prop to be used in my schemes,” Hayes said calmly. “I happen to like her for who she is.”

Adam’s eyes darted to me, the hurt written all over his face. He clearly assumed I’d told Hayes about his betrayal, but it was just a lucky guess. I knew, just by his look, that he’d found someone to get us out of here.

“You don’t know anything about me!” Adam drew back like he was going to deck Hayes, and the bodyguards who’d been hovering at the periphery moved in.

“Stop it!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. Everyone froze. “How about this? I’m not interested in either one of you. I’m not anyone’s to control, protect, or detain. I’m here because I choose to be, and when I decide what’s next, you’ll all listen and obey. I’m going back to the house now to check on Stubin and Dora, and I don’t want either one of you coming with me.”