Page 133 of Savage Throne
The gun slipped from my palm like a reluctant goodbye.
No—I couldn’t risk it. Not now.
Leo’s sharp gaze swept up to meet mine, as though he’d caught a hint of my thoughts. His mouth tilted in a cruel, knowing smirk, the kind that told me he’d played this game far too many times before.
I swallowed hard.
Not yet.
He might not know just how close I’d come to pulling that trigger, but the knowledge burned in my chest.
He curved his lips into a smile, the sort of smile a predator would wear when amused by his prey. “Look at you, Monique.”
His voice went low. “My little monster is now all grown up.”
I swallowed hard.
My little monster. He’s back at that bullshit. Still. . .don’t flinch.
I lifted my chin and met his stare head-on. “I’m not your monster, Leo. I’m your daughter.”
The line of his jaw twitched.
The movement was so slight, I almost missed it, but I didn’t. For a second, the gleam in his eyes dimmed, as though my words had clawed through his armor, just for a moment.
Then, it was gone.
“You can call yourself whatever you like,” he said softly and stepped an inch closer. “But the truth is in the blood, Monique. And in the violence. The death. You showed the East who you really are last night.”
His tone dripped with pride, but hearing it twisted something dark and sick in my gut.
He tilted his head. “Do you even realize what you did? How magnificent it was to watch you spill their blood, to see your hands steady as you delivered their judgment one by one? You honored me.”
I swallowed back the nausea rising in my throat, but I refused to look away from him. “I didn’t do it for you.”
He smiled again, unfazed. "Didn't you?"
“I did it for Lei and my sisters.”
“Am I not your family too?”
“You made me kill. You played games with my head. You drugged me, so no. . .”
For a moment, there was something in his eyes, something that was not arrogance or pride. It was fleeting, there and gone before I could truly catch it.
Was it. . .hurt? Sadness? Surprise?
Regardless, the thought didn’t satisfy me as much as I’d thought it would.
He stepped even closer then, so close that I could smell the rich scent of marijuana on his breath and see the intricate embroidery on his sapphire robe.
"I see." His gaze flicked down to my lips and lingered there for a moment before moving back to my eyes. It unsettled me more than any threat could have. "My monster has finally grown her claws."
Finally?
The word echoed in my head like a baffling riddle.
“Did you see how the East praised you on TV?”
