Not her time.
Not her laughter.
Not her cooking.
I knew how it felt to be seen by her, and I didn’t want anyone else having that. Even the idea of her handwriting showing up on someone else’s lunch container made my jaw tight.
She wasmine.
But if she was to be my Queen, then. . .she would be a part of the Dragon and all that came with that massive body of men.
And I wasn’t sure I was ready for all that.
Hiro yanked me out of my thoughts. "I know you trust Hiroko, but I did my own test with her assistants and her just in case."
“And what did you think?”
He kept walking, unfazed. "They passed."
Relief cracked through me.
Just slightly.
Because Hiro’s tests weren’t just questions. They were silent dissections. Breath counts. Pulse checks. Eye flicks and micro-muscle twitches. He was a human lie detector, built from trauma and brilliance, and when he said someone passed. . .it was truth.
“Good.” I checked my watch. "We have two hours before the bombs drop. Let’s make sure all traitors are found and get rid of them."
“Can I help with the torture?”
I glanced at that butcher knife. “Of course. You clearly need to get out some aggression.”
“Then, who will you be tonight? Good cop or bad cop?"
A slow sneer crept across my face. "We’re both bad cops tonight, brother."
Another scream echoed through the mist.
This one gurgled.
A last breath being death.
As we came near, the gravel gave way to moss-covered stone. Lights flickered low along the path—red and gold lanterns with kanji etched into the paper.
Ahead, the gate waited. Torii arch. Black iron. Gold trim. Bamboo curving behind.
The wind picked up.
The screams were closer now along with the sound of bamboo creaking.
We turned down the final curve in the path, and the night deepened around us.
To our right, the koi pond stood. Its black surface mirrored the moonlight, broken only by orange fins stirring the water in brief flashes.
A bullfrog croaked once among the tortured men’s wails.
My bamboo greenhouse emerged from the darkness, glowing faintly beneath the moon’s gaze. Its glass walls shimmered. The roof arched low and elegant, the door faced us directly now.
But something was wrong.
