Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 101427 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101427 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“Come here.”
“No. No. No.” Tet stumbled in the other direction and then he just. . .tried to run off.
Three Scales moved before he could get two feet away. Fast, they grabbed Tet and dragged him toward me like a bag of meat.
Kiko rose from the ground and stepped forward. “Kenji, please! W-What are you doing? I-I am sorry.”
“Escort Kiko out of here,” I didn’t even look at her anymore. “I don’t want the babies disturbed by the violence.”
Two of the guards came to her, gentle but firm. They reached for her arm.
She began to cry. “Kenji, please, wait!”
I looked at her finally and met her gaze. “I need you to understand your place.”
“I do now!” She sobbed. “Please!”
“But now is too late.”
I leaned my head to the side. “Who are you to me?”
She hesitated. “I-I am your Ear.”
“Are you sure?”
“Y-yes.”
I snarled. “Who are you to me?”
“Your Ear!”
“Then for your disrespect to my Tiger, to my Roar, an Ear from your cousin is what I will take.” I charged for Tet.
He began to shriek.
I grabbed his face, holding it still. The blade pressed to the soft edge of his right ear and I sank it deep into the flesh. Blood sprayed and spilled across my wrist.
Tet screamed in horror.
Nyomi loudly shrieked.
“No! No! Please God No!” Four guards had to carry Kiko away. Her cries rose with Tet’s. She kicked at one guard, but none of it mattered. They got her out of the war room.
I kept going.
Cutting.
More blood came.
More pain.
Tet shook violently in my men’s grip.
Kiko, may you see your cousin’s wound and remember your place from now on.
The blade glided through his flesh, and it was so satisfying to watch that I smiled.
Tet’s screams rattled the stone walls. I heard others shift in the room but I didn’t look up. I didn’t need to.
And then I heard the sharp hurried clicking of heels.
My Tiger.
Leaving.
Where are you going, Tora? You wanted me to handle this. Right?
I looked up.
Nyomi was already halfway to the door. The click of her heels continued to echo. That sound alone stirred something primal in me. Next was the sway of her hips as she was determined to get away from the gore.
And her ass.
God. I’m definitely going to hurt your body with my cock today.
Her ass moved and jiggled with each step.
You can go for now, but when I am done with Tet, Tora, we will be talking.
I checked the side of the imbecile’s face. The upper rim of his ear was separating. More screams left his lips—ugly, raw, animal.
Blood splattered and gushed.
I looked up to check on my Tiger again.
Nyomi stopped next to Reo, who now stood near the door, watching everything unfold with his usual neutral mask.
But even Reo blinked when she leaned in close and whispered.
What are you saying?
Reo nodded once.
She touched his wrist and whispered something else.
He nodded again, and then she was gone.
Utterly intrigued, I quickly sliced the rest of Tet’s ear off, slung it to the ground, and put my gaze back on my Roar.
Reo turned slightly and gave a quick motion with two fingers. Three Scales—quiet, armed, and quick—peeled away from the line and slipped through the door Nyomi had exited.
Whatever she had told him, had put my Roar into action, and not many people could do that.
What did she say, and what the fuck is going on?
Chapter twenty-eight
The Red Path
Kenji
Minutes later, the scent of iron was thick enough to taste. Not just in the air, but on my tongue and in the back of my throat.
Tet lay sprawled on the marble. His face was slack, pale, almost peaceful if one ignored the river of red soaking his shirt. His blood had crawled across the floor in thin streams, pooling between the veined cracks in the stone.
His severed ear—what was left of it—had been wrapped in a dirty napkin and tossed into the bin.
The knife’s handle ran hot in my palm. The blade wept steady tears of red onto the floor. With a flick of my wrist, I dropped the knife. It clattered onto the stone. “Get him the fuck out of here.”
Four Scales rushed forward, lifted Tet, and carried him away.
Tet’s head lolled to the side, mouth open, blood spilling from the side of his face and leaving a trail of drops.
I stared at the red path the piece of shit had made.
Interesting.
Tet had triggered the first blood splatter for my new war room. Those stains would remain long after tonight, no matter how much bleach the cleaning staff poured over them.
Blood had memory.
In the old stories, our ancestors called it akairo no michi—the red path. It was the road only the worthy could walk, paved with the stains left behind when loyalty was tested and betrayal answered.
My father believed that a war room’s floor with no blood on it, was cursed ground. He swore empty stone attracted bad fortune and drew defeat into its walls.