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 let out an exasperated breath. “O-kay.”
“Do not worry about that anymore.”
My body shivered uncontrollably. “I’m losing it.”
“No. You just have a good soul. A bright light. The visions were about guilt and the loss of yourself.”
“But. . .” I wouldn’t open my eyes because I knew tears would spill if I did. “I don’t want to go back to Lei and my sisters crazy.”
“You won’t.”
Chapter sixteen
The Grand Mountain Master
Leo
Monique did it. She finished the final challenge.
As we descended the darkened mountain path, the chill of the night seeped into my bones.
It was a cold that I welcomed—a sharp reminder that I was still here, still alive, and still bound by the decisions I’d made. Decisions that had twisted the course of countless lives—none more so than the woman I now carried in my arms.
Monique.
The new Mountain Mistress.
The reluctant queen that I had carved from innocence and shaped with blood and death.
She saw dead bodies rising up to follow her. Was it the tea? And more important, will that go away in the morning?
She had drunk the tea I had prepared for her.
Dragon’s Pulse.
The name alone carried a legacy older than any of us, whispered in the stories of ancient warlords and warriors who wanted not just victory, but dominion.
It was a brew born of fire and shadow, one that promised power but came with a price. A concoction that pushed the drinker to the edge of what they could bear, pumping them full of adrenaline and inflating their courage to the point of recklessness.
And sometimes. . .beneath that boldness, it summoned demons from the recesses of their minds, blurring the line between what was real and what was an illusion.
It must wear off. I will not forgive myself if I shattered her mind.
I had spent hours preparing that tea for her.
Crimson Thorn Petals had been steeped at precisely the right temperature, their properties carefully monitored to awaken the surge of energy and strength without letting the poison seep through.
Emberroot Essence had been added in deliberate, trembling drops, each one coiling in the hot water like serpents.
The final touch—the Shadow Lotus Powder, a pinch that dissolved into black wisps, stirred counterclockwise seven times.
Seven.
No more, no less.
The ritual was sacred, deadly, and absolute.
She had sipped it without knowing and I watched the transformation throughout the night, saw the way her eyes glistened with a fierceness that hadn’t been there before.
She became a force, wild and unyielding, a glimpse of the true power she was capable of wielding.
It had been necessary, this push beyond her limits.
I will not regret this. She is now. . .and truly. . .my little monster.
Song’s footsteps crunched alongside mine.
I glanced down at Monique, her lashes were dark against her cheeks. A small cut above her brow still trickling a thin line of blood.
Even now, blood-streaked and bruised, she is captivating.
It was an unwelcome thought, one that I had tried to bury countless times.
The weight of Monique’s body pressed against my chest, warm despite the frigid air.
Her breaths were soft, almost fragile.
She was sleeping, her exhaustion pulling her into a deep oblivion after the carnage she’d endured—and created—back in that tent.
I smiled.
She fucking did it. I had my doubts that she could even survive yet. . .they bowed to her. Cowards. Idiots. They could have killed her easily but that is the difference between followers and monsters.
I felt the steady thrum of her heartbeat against me, and for a moment, my resolve wavered.
My sweet Monique.
Power was a beast that devoured everything in its path, leaving nothing untouched. It required sacrifices, demanded blood, and often feasted on the very ones who wielded it.
I knew this well.
For decades, I had embraced the role of villain, sharpening my fangs and hiding the parts of myself that would betray weakness.
Monique, God help me, was the sharpest edge I had ever forged.
Now, my bloodline will be stronger than ever.
Soft snores left Monique.
I looked up at my brother. “Did Deng get all of it on camera?”
“He did.”
“Every shot of her guns?”
“Yes.”
“Everybody that fell?”
“That too.”
“And when she fiercely yelled at them?”
“All of it, Leo.” Song’s eyes flicked to me. "Deng has the footage. He will edit it and then within an hour he will send the video off to every news outlet in the East.”
“Have him send it to the ones in Paradise City too. All should see what the Mountain Mistress has done.”
“We promised not to have her family see it.”
“Lei will make sure her sisters don’t see it. I’m confident in that, but the rest of her family should know that she can wield violence too. They should be very afraid. She is a monster after all.”
Song put his view in front of us. “Then, I’ll instruct Deng.”
We continued down the path.
Our men trailed behind us.
By morning, Paradise City would learn soon enough what had transpired tonight. In the East, they would whisper about Monique, the outsider who had taken a seat that was never meant for her, a seat that no one would know that I had forced her to claim.