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Dedication

For Malinda Lo, who told me from the beginning that everyone loves a bad boy who plays with knives

Epigraph

Taipei in an alternate near future.

Mei: without; pronounced “may.”

You: to have; pronounced “yo.”

CHΔPTER ONE

THE KIDNAPPING

I watched the two you girls from the corner of my eye as the crowds surged around me. Eleven o’clock on a balmy June evening and the Shilin Night Market in Taipei was spilling over with mei shoppers looking for a way to cool themselves. Stores lined both sides of the narrow street, and music blared in Mandarin, Taiwanese, and English. The road was closed to traffic, overtaken by vendors with carts selling noodles and oyster omelets, cold juices and shakes. Others spread their merchandise on the ground over blankets, hawking cheap toys and knickknacks.

I slouched lower on the plastic table, faded black boots planted on a stool beneath, taking in the stench of cigarette smoke, stale beer, and sweat. I flipped my butterfly knife rhythmically between my fingers, enjoying the feel of cold steel and the sound of blade and handles snapping in my hand.

Men glanced at me warily, touching the places where they hid their own weapons. Girls clustered closer as they edged past, chattering. One mei girl, barely fifteen, raised her kohl-smudged eyes from her heap of chua bing smothered in red beans and smiled at me, electric blue bangs brushing against her lashes. Most teens were maskless tonight, wanting to have fun and pretend that they led lives from some other era, when going barefaced was normal. Pretend that they breathed good air.

The mei girl’s friend elbowed her and loudly uttered something about delinquent mei boys hiding their faces behind face masks. She cast a pointed glare in my direction. They sashayed past, legs bare beneath short, ruffled skirts, the friend with her nose in the air. Smiling girl’s pink mouth was now pursed in a pout.

“Hey,” I called.

She half turned, careful not to spill her iced dessert. Her black brows were raised, widening her dark eyes. I winked at her, spinning my knife, then tossed it in the air before catching it in one swift motion. She blushed, and her giggle carried to me even as her friend tugged her away, disappearing into the throngs.