Page 104 of Savage Throne
“You are to go into that battle and die.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’m to go in that battle andfight. Lei is supposed to kill me. We all agreed. You and our sisters knew I would not make it easy on him. That is not our way.”
“Yet, nowhere in the plan was Monique sleeping in your bed—”
“I’m protecting her—”
“You or your cock?”
I deepened my sneer.
“As I said before, Leo, do not push me.”
“And if I did?” I took a step forward, daring him, testing the unspoken boundaries we both knew too well.
“You would be alone, Leo. Even our sisters are ready to kill you.”
“Good.” I formed my lips into a smile one that tasted like ashes pulling at my lips. “It would takeallof you to do it.”
"You may keep that illusion of being a monster strong for everyone else but do not forget that I helped you breathe all your illusions into life.” Song glared at me. “Tomorrow, you go home to your wife. You die. That is it. Either Lei does it. Or I will do it.”
Those words struck me, unexpected and sharp.
I blinked.
My wife. . .yes. . .she is waiting. . .
I dropped my gaze to the floor.
I’m sorry, my love.
Still, I couldn’t help but whisper. “And what if Lei is right?”
“About what?”
“What if. . .when I die. . .I don’t go toheaven? What if my future ishell?”
Song sighed. “Leo, you are a soldier of God.”
"Can you guarantee that I go to heaven?”
“Only God can do that.”
“I don’t want to go to hell, brother.”
“You won’t.”
A bitter laugh clawed its way up my throat, but I swallowed it down. “If I am going to hell, then why would I want to leave tomorrow? Why not stay here and—”
“What?” Song’s voice went sharp. “Kill your son and take his future wife? No. Wewon’t let you.”
The silence that followed was thick, stifling, and I felt the weight of every choice I’d made pressing down on me.
I looked past Song and focused on Monique. Her chest rose and fell in a peaceful rhythm that mocked the storm in my own.
“No. . .you won’t let me.” I whispered more to myself than to him. “And. . .I should stick to the plan.”
“You should.”
