They still thought they could survive this through defiance.
They were wrong.
Flick.
Flame.
I held it longer this time, watching the fire dance. The light cast my shadow across the floor—massive, monstrous, stretching toward them like a murderous promise.
Flick.
Darkness.
"No one speaks until I ask them to speak."
My footsteps resumed.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Each one a countdown.
"Begging for your life is a waste of time. Tears are a waste of time. Prayers are a waste of time." I paused in front of Mami, close enough to see the pulse hammering in her throat. "The only thing that will save you is information."
Her mouth opened. A sob clawed its way up her throat.
I held up one finger.
She swallowed the sound and trembled harder.
"Everything you know about my father's fucking spy operation in my network. Every name. Every contact. Every message. Every whispered word you thought no one would ever discover."I resumed walking, passing Sako without a glance. "You will give me all of it. You will hold nothing back. And then. . .we will see."
I stopped between the two Eyes.
Arata and Itsuki.
My fucking Eyes. . .were spies this whole damned time. . .
No one was born into the role of my Eye’s. It had to be earned through many years of loyalty. Once the position was given, the men were marked. I’d been there the night they took their oath and let the ink burn under their skin.
Each of them had the same kanji tattooed at the outer corner of their eyes.
?
A thin black stroke etched so close to the lash line it looked like war paint.
It didn’t just meansee.For the rest of their lives, they had to be watchful and unflinching in devotion.
It meant:You see what I can’t.
It meant:You never blink when the blade is coming.
It meant:You die before I fall.
The Eyes had seen me naked in more ways than one. They’d stood in corners like shadows while I fucked women into sobbing confessions. They watched my hands twist nipples until they begged for my mouth, watched my fingers curl deep inside slick pussies while I talked dirty.
They’d seen my mouth devour clits, seen me drag my tongue over trembling inner thighs just to make women scream my name loud enough to echo through hotel floors.
