“Who is she?” I gestured toward my Tiger. “This is Nyomi. She is my girlfriend.”
Then I looked back at Kiko. “But to you, she is the Dragon’s Heart.”
Chapter twenty-seven
The Price for Insulting the Heart
Kenji
The moment I declared Nyomi the Dragon’s Heart, my entire war room changed.
Even the air bowed to the title.
I looked over my shoulder.
My Claws blinked, their expressions tightening not in disbelief, but recognition. Like soldiers who’d just been told where the crown jewel of the empire resided. Their backs straightened.
The Fangs glanced between themselves.
Many Scales shifted slightly on their heels.
Their eyes weren’t on Kiko anymore.
They were onNyomi, and they were recalibrating strategy, redrawing their loyalty lines, and adjusting their future language when it came to her.
That was what declaring her my Heart did.
It made her powerful.
Instantly.
But what mattered most was that everyone got the message. She wasn’t a fuck toy. A temporary lover. She wasn’t a phase. She was myeverything.
She was myheart.
I returned my view to the front and didn’t look at Nyomi yet. I didn’t need to. I could feel her. Still as stone, but vibrating with an internal quake. I could only imagine what was happening behind her eyes.
But I saw everyone else.
Kiko’s crew stiffened like they’d been slapped. Tet’s mouth opened slightly. One of the cousins tilted her head, confused. The other crossed her arms like she was gearing up for battle. They didn’t speak, but their faces said it all.
They hadn’t expectedNyomito win.
They hadn’t expected her to evenexist.
They thought Kikowasthe closest any woman would ever get to my throne.
Fucking fools.
Kiko herself didn’t mask her reaction well. Her entire face said that her soul had been trampled on. Her hands were no longer resting on her stomach. They dropped to her sides, trembling in betrayal or rage.
I couldn’t tell, and it didn’t matter.
From the far edge of the room, Reo leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets, and wearing a satisfying smile on his face.
Kiko finally spoke, “Does. . .she even know what that means?”
I cut my eyes to Nyomi, just once. “She’ll learn.”
