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)
Leo’s eyes widened in surprise—he hadn’t expected me to act so fast—but his reflexes were sharp.
He swung the blade toward me but I was quicker.
Screaming, I grabbed his wrist, twisting it hard, using the force of my rage to fuel me.
His grip faltered and the knife clattered to the ground.
For a split second, his eyes met mine and I saw something there I hadn’t seen before.
Fear.
He tried to push me back, I was relentless. I slammed my knee into his crotch, knocking the wind out of him, and he stumbled, gasping for air.
Great fighter or not, he was a man with a cock that could always be used against him.
The blade lay between us, glinting in the moonlight like some dark promise. I knew what I had to do.
Quick, I reached for it and my fingers closed around the hilt.
It felt right in my hand, as if it had always belonged to me.
As if this moment had always been inevitable.
Leo saw the knife, and for the first time, his confidence wavered.
And then Leo stood and laughed. “Very, very good, little monster.”
“I’m going to kill you.” I swung the blade.
Leo easily dodged it. “You’re in shock. This happens when you’ve been put under this much stress with no sleep and—”
I tried to slice at him again but he simply caught my wrist and twisted it in a way that my fingers opened without my doing it.
The blade fell from my hands.
He caught it and laughed again. “Wow. Bravo.”
“Fuck you.”
“You’re much faster than I realized, not with shooting but with attack.” He let go of my hand. “I wish I had the time to teach you how to properly fight. It might take a few years, but if you worked hard at it every day—”
“Don’t you ever threaten my sisters.”
“Then, do what you need to do tonight.”
I glared at him. “And what’s that?”
“Kill again.”
I closed my eyes.
“You must, little monster.”
“Leo, everything isn’t always about death—”
“It is in this world, you have an army but not all of them will follow you so we must make that part right before I die. All will have to be loyal if they will serve you. And overall. . .they must fear you, starting tonight. You must show them that you are a monster.”
I opened my eyes. “What?”
“My daughter’s army is here on this mountain and you will meet them soon.”
I gritted my teeth.
“When you meet them. . .by yourself. . .some will think they have a great opportunity to kill you but you will show them that this isn’t the case and it will never be the case. Because you are a monster.”
“So it will be another fucking lesson.”
“Oh no, Monique. The lessons are done. Now this is the test.” He tilted his head to the side. “Are you ready to pass?”
The question hung in the air between us.
It was a cruel challenge, shadowed under the moonlight.
As if I answered, he nodded. “Then, let’s go. Unless you want to see your other victims behind the targets.”
“They’re not my victims. They are yours.”
Chuckling, he walked off.
Chapter ten
Twisting in Torment
Lei
For the rest of the night, I suffered within the suffocating darkness of my soul trapped in the agonizing tension between my need to stay sharp and my overwhelming yearning for Moni.
Everyone had made it to the Palace safely.
My staff worked tirelessly; preparing rooms, handling needs, and bustling through our marbled blue halls with quiet efficiency.
With so many on the upper levels, there was constant noise—anxious conversations, the clinking of glasses and mugs, the shuffle of footsteps.
But none of it registered with me.
I was a hollow man.
Drifting.
Twisting in torment.
I couldn’t remember who told me to go to my bedroom nor could I recall when I’d arrived.
Yet soon I was, standing in the center of that cold, lifeless space, with the lights off.
Stillness swallowed me whole.
Moonlight filtered through the high-arched windows, spreading out this chilling, phantom-like glow within the space.
The moment didn’t seem real.
None of this did.
What was reality without Moni?
What was my night without her warmth?
Her voice?
Her light?
Every shadow stretched long, curling around the walls thickening the dark silence like a noose tightening around my neck.
She was gone.
And with her absence, my mind unraveled at the seams.
Memories haunted me in brutal flashes—her laugh, the way her smile would lift burdens I hadn’t known I carried, the peace I found in just the simple touch of her hand.
She had been light slipping through the cracks of my darkness when nothing else could.
Now, that light was gone.
Damn you, Father.
I sank to my knees in the middle of the room.
My breaths came out jagged and shallow.
Sorrow pressed down on me until the ache in my chest became unbearable.
I hadn’t prayed since the day my father killed Chanel. That night, my hands had clenched into fists, not in a plea for salvation but in pure unholy rage. I told God I hated him that night, and made a vow never to reach for Him or anything beyond what I could take with my own hands.