Chapter 3

The Southside Fish Market comes into view.

My stomach drops.

This place has been my whole life.

Now Jason has turned it into a threat.

I jump out before the car fully stops.

"Mia!"

Faye's voice follows me.

I run.

Rotten fish.

Salt.

Blood.

Standing water.

Then I see her.

Granny Fang is on the ground.

Two men hold her down.

Jason stands over her.

His boot presses against her back.

"Half an hour."

He checks his phone.

"If Mia doesn't show, I start with her fingers."

My vision goes red.

"Let her go!"

Jason looks up.

His face splits into a grin.

"There she is."

I step forward.

"The debt is mine."

"Deal with me."

"Leave her out of this."

Jason laughs.

"You still think you have a choice?"

He kicks Granny Fang's stall.

Wood splinters across the concrete.

Then he looks past me.

At Faye.

His eyes change.

Greed.

Faye's bodyguards move forward.

Jason whistles.

"Well."

He looks her up and down.

"Who's the rich girl?"

Faye's expression turns deadly.

Jason smiles.

"You want to help your friend?"

He says something filthy.

Something that makes my stomach turn.

I step in front of Faye.

"Jason."

He blinks.

I keep my voice low.

"Don't talk to her."

He laughs.

"Or what?"

"I'll gut you."

The smile disappears.

For the first time tonight, Jason looks at me like he remembers who I am.

Not the woman who cries.

Not the woman who hands him money.

The girl from the fish market.

The girl who knows exactly where to put a knife.

He pulls a stun baton from his belt.

Blue electricity crackles.

He kicks my fish knife away.

Then presses the baton against Granny Fang's neck.

"Enough."

He throws a paper at my feet.

"Sign it."

I look down.

Marcus Wang's name is printed across the top.

A contract.

Employment at his club.

My signature at the bottom.

"Sign."

Jason presses the baton closer.

"Or she dies."

Faye steps forward.

"How much?"

"Five hundred thousand."

She pulls out a black card.

"A million."

She tosses it.

Jason catches it.

His eyes light up.

Then the bald man behind him whispers into his ear.

Jason's smile returns.

He throws the card back.

"No."

Faye's face goes still.

Jason looks at me.

"Money isn't the point anymore."

He points at the ground.

"Kneel."

My breath catches.

"Three times."

He wants the whole market to watch.

He wants me humiliated.

He wants me to say I am worthless.

I look at Granny Fang.

She's shaking her head.

No.

Don't.

My knees bend.

I can survive humiliation.

I have survived worse.

But before I touch the ground, someone grabs my arm.

Faye.

She pulls me upright.

Her face is white with rage.

"A Lu kneels for no one."

Jason laughs.

"She's not a Lu."

"She's a stray."

Faye's eyes turn colder.

"Say that again."

Jason does.

"A stray."

Faye steps closer.

"You really don't know who you're talking to."

He raises the baton.

"Take another step and Grandma fries."

Faye doesn't stop.

Neither do I.

For the first time, we stand shoulder to shoulder.

I glance at her.

She doesn't look at me.

But her hand finds mine.

Just for a second.

Then the air changes.

Golden letters flash across my vision.

Not words.

A countdown.

【10】

My heart pounds.

【9】

I look toward the market entrance.

Nothing.

【8】

Jason keeps shouting.

He doesn't notice.

【7】

Faye notices my expression.

"What?"

I whisper.

"Something's coming."

【6】

Headlights appear beyond the gates.

【5】

Jason turns.

【4】

Faye's fingers tighten around mine.

【3】

Six black Maybachs tear through the entrance.

【2】

Jason's face drains of color.

【1】

The doors open.