Page 77 of Savage Throne
“What does that mean?” I blinked.
Oh fuck. What was in the tea?
Shivering, I glanced down at the empty cup.
Come on, girl. Why are you slipping tonight? Shit! You should have known better.
I lifted my view back to him. “What did you give me?”
“Something to keep your mind steady and your heart motivated for your final test.”
“What was it?”
“You have more things than that to worry about, my little monster.”
“I’m not your monster.”
That wicked smirk hit his face. “It scares your mind to see yourself that way.”
"No. You just think that calling me a monster, again and again, will make it real. You want the word to sink into my soul.”
“The way their blood seeped into those wooden targets?”
I flinched.
“Monique, tonight you will learn something that can be quite addicting.”
“And. . .what is that?”
“Killing can be a drug. There’s a thrill to it. A shot of power. A. . .dark satisfaction of watching someone fall under your control, of knowing you ended them.”
"That’s not me and it will never be me.”
“You think so?” Leo's words were light, almost teasing, but they held an undercurrent of something much darker. His gaze held mine with that same look—a predator taking in its prey.
The heat from the fireplace crackled and popped, casting long shadows across his face.
The scent of burning wood rose even more. It was a soothing smell that had no place in this moment of horrific tension.
I leaned against the table. "I don't just think so, Leo. I know."
A flicker of amusement danced across his dark eyes. "Good. Confidence will be key tonight. But I wonder. . .do you remember how your heart raced when you pulled the trigger for the first time this evening? How warm and alive you felt? Perhaps there's more to you than you'd like to admit."
His words hit me like a punch to the stomach.
Images flooded back into my mind— the cold weight of the gun in my hands, the sharp smell of gunpowder in the air, the targets getting bullets one by one.
I shook my head. "That was the game, Leo."
“And your last test will be a game too.”
“How?”
“You will go into a space where all want you dead and somehow, you will survive.”
I widened my eyes. “What space?”
Leo turned to Song. “Please see if they are done. We will need to go soon.”
