Page 88 of Savage Throne
Next, he glanced at the bag in my hands, then met my gaze with the cold precision of a predator.
Yeah. He looks like he would kill me if given the chance.
Anticipation crackled in the air.
In fact, I absolutely felt the room shift, like a wild animal pausing before the pounce.
Remember what Leo said, aim for the ones who move first.
I set my jaw.
And if no one says anything. . .then get them to say something.
I glanced back at that board with pictures of me, Lei, and my sisters. Those men now glared at me.
Yeah. Fuck them too. Putting my sisters up there. How did you get the pictures? Naw. I don’t play that.
Every muscle in my body screamed for release, for action.
I cleared my voice and steadied myself.
One of the men on the cots, put his book down, leaned his head to the side, cracked his neck, and rolled his shoulders.
Alright, man. You’re preparing? Come on over here. Fuck around and find out.
I flipped off the leather bands on my holsters so I could easily grab my guns later. “Good evening.”
No one spoke.
“I’m Monique. The Mountain Mistress.”
Someone snickered.
Yeah. I know. That sounds cheesy. I just started becoming a monster an hour ago. Give me a break.
I set the bag on the floor. “My understanding is that you used to serve Yan, but now. . .”
The man cracked his neck again and then rose from the bed.
I looked at him. “Now you serveme.”
One of the men by the board of pictures yelled. “Never, outsider!”
Without flinching, I yanked open the top and upended the contents. The bag’s fabric slumped as its grisly cargo tumbled out, one by one.
Heads rolled across the floor.
It was all lifeless expressions fixed in grotesque masks of terror.
Eyes staring into the void.
Blood pooled quickly, spreading like a scarlet tide, soaking into the creases of the floor and trailing crimson streaks like macabre brushstrokes.
It was so much blood that some of it began to reach the edges of boots and cots, drawing gasps and shifting feet as men recoiled.
The coppery scent filled the tent.
Some men’s faces paled as recognition probably dawned. They knew these faces—their comrades, their brothers-in-arms, men they had fought beside and shared laughs with. And since Leo said these guys were monsters, some of them probably had been afraid of these guys.
