Page 22 of Savage Throne
Song continued to smoke.
“People think I’m a monster.” He wagged his daughter’s finger. “But they’re wrong, I’m a magician.”
Well. . .I don’t know about that.
“A magician works with illusion and tricks.” Leo twisted the finger between his fingers. “And I want you to be a magician now too. In fact, that will be the only way you will survive in the East. Do you know why?”
“Why?”
“You’re a woman, so they’ll always see you as weak. You’re Black, so they’ll always see you as an outsider. You can’t fight, so to them, you’ll just be someone they know they can knock down. Maybe even kill.”
The words hung in the air between us, thick with meaning I wasn’t sure I was ready to grasp yet.
Song handed me the joint.
I took it and for some reason. . .I glanced back out at the city and realized that the helicopter had already made it to the gate.
The dragons guarding the East appeared even more magical at night. Their golden and blue scales shimmered in the moonlight.
They seemed even more majestic now, as if they were alive, watching over everything that Leo had built.
I saw tons of Four Aces down there too barricading the way as if waiting for Leo to appear.
I’m sorry, baby. We’re flying out of the East instead.
The dragons glared up at us from below, fierce and unyielding. As we passed over them, I couldn’t shake the feeling that they were watching me, waiting to see if I were strong enough to survive all the things that would come my way in these next twenty-four hours.
Leo spoke. “You must be a magician with the best sleight of hand.”
As we flew lower, closer to the gates, the dragons’ sapphire eyes glowed with an intensity that made my pulse quicken.
I was leaving Lei behind, even if only for a night, and the thought felt like a knife twisting in my chest. I couldn’t shake the image of him, the pain in his eyes, the tears that had slipped down his face when we said goodbye.
He didn’t want this.
He didn’t want me to go with Leo but we had no choice.
And, I had to see this through.
Whatever it was Leo wanted to teach me, whatever twisted game he had in mind, I had to survive it.
I’ll be back, baby. Don’t worry. Just focus on taking care of my sisters and training.
Leo spoke, “Monique, if you want to truly survive in the East after I die, then you must have a reputation that is fiercer than evenmine.”
The dragons coiled around the pillars with such grace and power.
I took another drag from the joint, letting the smoke settle in my lungs as I stared down at the dragons. “How would I do that?”
“Never leave a meeting without spilling blood.”
What the fuck?
I put my view on him. “You just said I couldn’t fight and that’s facts. I can’t fight like how everyone does in the East.”
“But you can shoot. Song and I have witnessed you take out game in impossible ways in Serenity Forest. Thirty squirrels in one night.”
“Chloe wanted chicken wings because she was tired of deer. Squirrels taste like chicken if cooked right.”
