When the wheels of the airplane touched down on the runway of McCarran International Airport, Jiyong was finally relaxed and leaning on my shoulder. The bright lights of Las Vegas had been visible for the past ten minutes, signaling us like a beacon toward everything I hated—and everything I wanted.

Jiyong roused slowly, glancing out the window quickly before kissing the cusp of my shoulder. “We’re here?”

“Viva. I thought maybe you’d go back to sleep. It’s going to be a long day.”

“There’s no way I was going back to sleep after that dream,” he said, stretching. “I’m not sure I want to sleep again.”

My fingers squeezed his. I hated to see him so shaken. He wouldn’t talk about his dream, but it didn’t take much to figure out where he was while he was sleeping. I wondered if anyone that had escaped from Keaton would be able to close their eyes without seeing the smoke and the panicked faces. The plane arrived at the gate, the SEAT BELT light dinged, and the cabin lights came on, signaling everyone to stand up and dig for their carry-on luggage. Everyone was in a hurry, even though no one was getting out of there before the people seated ahead of them.

I sat, feigning patience, watching Jiyong stand to pull out our luggage. His T-shirt rose when he reached up, revealing his abs shifting and then contracting when he pulled down the bags.

“You got a dress in here?”

I shook my head. “I thought I’d find one here.”

He nodded once. “Yeah, I bet they have plenty to choose from. A better selection for a Vegas wedding than home.”

“My line of thinking exactly.”

Jiyong held out his hand and helped me take the two steps to the aisle. “You’ll look great no matter what you put on.”

I kissed his cheek and took my bag just as the line began to move. We followed the other passengers down the gateway and into the terminal.

“Déjà vu,” Jiyong whispered.

I felt the same. The slot machines sung their siren’s song and flashed brightly colored lights, falsely promising luck and big money. The last time Jiyong and I were here, it was easy to pick out the couples who were getting married, and I wondered if we were just as obvious.

Jiyong took my hand as we passed baggage claim, and then followed the sign marked TAXIS. The automatic doors parted and we walked into the desert night air. It was still stifling hot, and dry. I breathed in the heat, letting Las Vegas saturate every part of me.

Marrying Jiyong would be the hardest easiest thing I’d ever done. I needed to awaken the parts of me that were molded in the darkest corners of this city to make my plan work. If Jiyong thought that I was doing this for any reason other than just wanting to commit to him, he would never let me go through with it, and Jiyong was not exactly gullible, and worse, he knew me better than anyone else; he knew what I was capable of. If I pulled the wedding off, and kept Jiyong out of prison without him knowing why, it would be my best bluff yet.

Even though we’d bypassed the crowd waiting for baggage, there was a long line for taxis. I sighed. We should have been getting married by now. It was still dark, but it had been over five hours since the fire. We couldn’t afford more lines.

“Butterfly?” Jiyong squeezed my hand. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, shaking my head and smiling. “Why?”

“You seem . . . a little tense.”

I took stock of my body; how I was standing, my facial expression, anything that might tip him off. My shoulders were so tight they were hanging up around my ears, so I forced them to relax. “I’m just ready.”

“To get it over with?” he asked, his eyebrows pulling in infinitesimally. Had I not known better, I would have never caught it.

“Ji,” I said, wrapping my arms around his waist. “This was my idea, remember?”

“So was the last time we went to Vegas. You remember how that turned out?”

I laughed, and then I felt terrible. The vertical line his eyebrow formed when he pushed them together deepened. This was so important to him. How much he loved me was overwhelming most of the time, but tonight was different. “I’m in a hurry, yes. Aren’t you?”

“Yes, but something’s off.”

“You’re just nervous. Stop worrying.”

His face smoothed, and he hugged me. “Okay. If you say you’re okay, then I believe you.”

Fifteen long minutes later, and we were at the front of the line. A taxi pulled to the curb and stopped. Jiyong opened the