My throat tightened.
"Most people look at the Claws and see weapons. Tools. Dangerous men to be feared or used." His voice caught. "No one asks where they came from. No one wonders what they've survived."
He looked at the sketchpad in my hands. "No one makes them food."
I didn't know what to say.
So I just opened the sketchpad to the first cocktail page and handed him a pencil. "Then help me get it right. Tell me about them."
“Some of it might be sad and I like that you’re in a better mood than when I walked in here.”
“Yeah, but if it gets to be too much. . .” I shrugged. “I’ve got you still here to lift me back up.”
A warm smile spread across his face. “Hmmm. I like that.”
Chapter ten
How a Man Kills
Nyomi
Hiro leaned back in his chair. "Let's start with Kaede."
"Alright. Tell me about him."
"But, first you must understand this one thing.”
“What?”
“The best way to know a Claw is to know how he fights. How he kills."
I swallowed.
Hiro studied my face. "That bothers you?"
"You just said the best way to know someone is to know how they murder people. Yes, Hiro. That makes me a little. . .uncomfortable."
"Why?"
"Because. . ." I took a breath. "Because where I come from, you get to know someone by asking about their childhood. Their dreams. Their favorite foods."
"I can tell you Kaede's favorite food."
"Great—"
"But it won't tell you who he is. Not really." Hiro tilted his head, and something in his expression shifted. It became deeper. More serious than I'd seen all morning. "Nyomi. You want to make drinks that capture these men. That honor them. That show them you see them."
"I do."
"Then you need to understand them the wayweunderstand each other. Not the civilian way.Ourway."
I set down my pencil. It suddenly felt too light for this conversation. "And your way is death?"
"Our way is truth." He leaned forward. "When a man takes a life, there's nothing between him and himself. No audience. No expectations. No persona he's trying to maintain. Just him and the act and whatever he really is underneath everything he shows the world."
The kitchen felt quieter suddenly.
"Some men kill fast." Hiro snapped his fingers. "Efficient. Clean. One strike, target's down, they're already moving to the next objective. No wasted motion. No lingering."
