Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 120336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
“I couldn’t do that.”
“Please just tell me.”
“Trust me.” He winked. “It’s better to see it for yourself.”
I didn’t want to move.
I didn’t want to know the truth, but I could feel Leo’s gaze on me, waiting, expecting me to follow through.
I glanced at Song.
He shrugged and took the guns from my hand. “I’ll reload these.”
“Why?”
“You’ll need to use them again.”
I swallowed. “For what?”
“For Leo’s next lesson.”
“I don’t think I want any more lessons.”
Leo walked off. “Come on, Monique. Let’s see what you’ve done.”
Slowly, I followed him. “I. . .didn’t do anything.”
“Are you sure about that?”
Somehow I got to his pace with my trembling legs.
Do not let this motherfucker get in your head. You know who you are.
Leo began to whistle.
The sound unnerved me even more.
I’m not going to like this. I can already tell.
The threat of insanity loomed.
As I neared the first target, the smell of blood hit me harder.
Thick and metallic.
My stomach twisted.
It’s going to be okay. Do not worry about it.
I swallowed hard, every nerve in my body screaming at me to stop, but I couldn’t.
I had to see.
“Here we go.” Leo got behind the target and pointed.
Oh God. What will it be?
Chapter nine
Monster
Moni
I stepped around the target, and my breath caught in my throat.
Nooooooo!
My legs buckled and I fell to my knees.
There, bound to the back of the wooden plank, was a man. His body was limp, his head hanging low. His face was pale, lifeless, and his mouth was tied with a gag, but even with the gag, I could see the shape of his lips—frozen in a scream he never got to make.
No. No. No.
Blood oozed from the bullet hole in his forehead, pooling around his neck, staining the ropes that bound him to the target.
My vision blurred as tears poured down my face.
Fast, I got up from the ground and stumbled back. “No. They were already dead.”
“They were very much alive when we walked up to this gun range.”
“No, Leo.”
“They were bound to those targets waiting for you.”
Bile rising in my throat. “I didn’t know. I didn’t. . .”
“It doesn’t matter. You still killed them.”
More tears left my eyes. “I-I didn’t do that.”
Leo stepped beside me his voice soft but filled with something cold. “Go see the others.”
“No,” I choked out. “I don’t want to.”
He grabbed my arm and tightened his grip. “We must.”
“Stop, Leo.” I shoved him away but that didn’t help. “I’m done with this.”
“There is no done with the Four Aces, only death.”
“I don’t like this game!”
He didn’t let go of my arm. His grip tightened even more and he dragged me toward the next target.
“Stop it!” My feet stumbled over the rocky ground as I tried to resist.
“Look at what you did, Monique.”
We reached the second target, and there bound in the same way, was another man. His body was slumped against the wood. Blood dripped from the bullet hole in his head.
He was dressed in blue.
Tiffany blue.
“You’re a killer, Monique.” Leo’s voice was smooth and even fucking proud. “You killed them all. Fast.”
“N-no,” I stammered, shaking my head in disbelief. “I’m not. I didn’t know—”
“As I said before, it doesn’t matter.” Leo’s voice hardened. “Look at what you’ve done. You are a cold-blooded murderer. Breathe it in.”
“I am not breathing in shit!” I snatched my arm away from his hand and stumbled back. “I know who I am—”
“You’re my daughter in blood now.”
“I-I’m not.”
“You are.”
I gazed down at my shaking hands. “I didn’t know so. . .that means nothing. I wouldn’t have done it if I knew—”
“But you saw the blood—”
“I wasn’t sure—”
“There was a point where you were sure that it was blood—”
“No.”
“By the sixth or seventh target, I could see the realization hitting your mind yet you kept on shooting—”
“I thought it might have been an illusion or—”
“Oh no, you knew what you were doing, but you also knew that Lei and your sisters needed you more, so you killed them for love—”
“I didn’t!” I lifted my view and glared at me. “I see what you’re trying to do, but it won’t happen.”
“It will—”
“I am not a killer, you can do and say what you want but I will never be a killer!” I took another step back and pointed at him. “If you want that from me then you would have to kill me.”
Leo leaned his head to the side. “Is that what you want?”
I took another step back.
“My dear daughter, I don’t want to but if you don’t do what is necessary tonight then. . .I will.” And just like that fast a blade whipped into his hand and he raised it up between us.
The moonlight gleamed on it.
“I would make your death quick of course.” Leo nodded. “As painless as possible, because. . .if you don’t fit my plans then. . .”
I blinked away tears. “Leo. . .there has to be another way than making me a killer. I can maneuver and solve situations without having to pick up a gun and pull a trigger—”