Page 33 of Savage Throne
“He wants me to kill him. That’s a very different thing.”
“Barbara liked to hunt things. She would spend a good hour, preying on them. And once she got them, she played with them, clawing and rolling them around until the very end.”
I watched him.
“In that sense, Leo is like a cat, enjoying the hunt, loving the mental games.”
We stood there in silence for a while, both of us absorbing the chaos of the night, the weight of everything that had gone wrong.
Finally, Dima shifted again. “You have no idea where he is now?”
“No, but. . .something hit my mind when Banks and I was arguing earlier.”
“What?”
“On one end, it would be really genius if my father kept Moni right in the East but I don’t think he did that. He wants to teach her some lesson.”
“What lesson?”
“I think he’s going to try and initiate her into the Four Aces.”
“What?” Dima widened his eyes. “How?”
“You think she’s going to have to fight people?”
“No, but. . .” I let out an exasperated breath. “She’ll have to show strength in a way that the East sees her as powerful.”
“The East respects blood.”
I gritted my teeth.
Dima frowned. “But whose blood will Moni be spilling?”
“That I don’t know.”
“Think.”
“It’s been hard to think in these past moments.”
“Everyone’s gone. It’s just you and me now. Take that time to look into your mind. Who’s in the East that could be important enough for the East to be impressed with Moni killing them?”
“Right now, it’s everyone heading to the Palace or in there.”
“The top people.” Dima nodded. “Your aunts. Chen. Duck. Others within your inner circle.”
“Yeah. . .” I thought back to that argument with Banks and that same off flicker hit again. “Wait a minute.”
“Yeah?”
“My sister’s men are here.”
“How many?”
“A small army.”
“Army and small typically don’t go together.”
“A hundred of her best men.”
