Page 112 of Savage Throne
Hope.
The word echoed in my mind.
Thinking that word seemed like a luxury, something I hadn’t dared to hold onto in so long.
But maybe Song was right.
Perhaps, Lei needed more than strength to defeat Leo. Maybe he needed to believe in something beyond this endless cycle of violence.
I exhaled slowly, finished the tea, and then put my view on the window.
Outside, the sun had dipped lower, painting the mountains in shades of amber and crimson.
The sky looked like it was bleeding.
I murmured, more to myself than to Song. “I slept the whole damn day.”
“You needed the rest.”
“Did I?”
“You had been up all night solidifying your own legacy.”
I put my view back on him. “I’m a killer now.”
“Welcome to the family.”
I set the now empty cup on the end table near me. My fingers trembled the whole time. “How do you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Kill.” The word lodged in my throat. “How do you live with it? How do you. . .cope?”
“That depends on what you mean bycope.” He studied me. “Do you want to know how I handle the act of killing,orhow I deal with the person I’ve become because of it?”
“Both.”
“Fair enough.” He chuckled softly. “I’ve been killing since I was a teenager.”
My whole body stiffened.
“I barely remember what it feels like tonothave blood on my hands. So if you’re asking for some profound insight into the person I was before. . .I can’t give you that. He’s gone.”
I swallowed hard. “Gone?”
“The first time you kill, it’s like a door opens inside you. A door you can never close again. You walk through it, and the person you were stays on the other side.”
I shivered as the truth of his words settled deep in my bones. “So, what happens then? When you become. . .this new person?”
“You adapt. You learn to control it. To harness it. Killing changes you. It sharpens your instincts, heightens your senses. It makes you an apex predator.”
I parted my lips.
“I’m sure you feel the changes. At least your body knows it now, even if your mind is still catching up. Your vision is clearer, your hearing sharper, your reflexes faster. You’re no longer just a person—you’re athreat. And when you walk among others, the world will respond to you as such before you even say a word.”
I let his words sink in.
He was right—I could feel it when I woke up. The way the world seemed more vivid, more alive. The way I noticed every sound, every movement, every shift in the air around me.
