Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 101427 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101427 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Keeping my pace, Hiro turned his head slightly toward me with his lollipop tucked in the corner of his mouth and knife swinging at his side. “Reo’s injuries had me worried for a little bit.”
I didn’t say anything at first, because I’d been thinking about Reo too.
The knife wounds. The bullets. The fact that when I visited him in his hospital room, blood was spilling from his mouth yet he was still giving orders the whole time while two doctors stitched him up.
My Roar.
Still calculating enemy angles and prioritizing extraction routes like the bastard hadn’t just taken a round to the shoulder and a blade to the ribs.
It almost made me smile because I knew Reo. The moment the stitches held and the IV ran dry, he’d rip the bandages off himself and show up for morning briefings like nothing happened.
Bleeding or not, my Roar would never stay quiet for long.
However, during my visit, I had forced him to shut up, lay back, and calm down. As far as I knew, he was pouting in the room right now.
Putting a hospital on the island had been his idea.
Now he was the first patient, along with some of my Fangs.
Damn it, Reo. You should have left with me. Why did I let you stay? I fucked up and will never forgive myself for that.
I could still see the blood soaking through his shirt, smell the copper in the room.
For a second, I almost called off this war. After losing my mother and Jobon, I didn’t have another grave left in me. Not for the people I loved.
But war had already begun, so I had to see Reo’s injuries as hard lessons. While I hadn’t harmed my Roar, every bullet that had hit Reo’s body could be traced back to a bad decision I made.
Tonight, I would be fixing those decisions.
Already, I had rerouted my Tiger’s personal security and ordered them to report directly to the bamboo room. Each step they took was mirrored by my armed men, making sure no one tried to escape. Everyone who was supposed to protect her would now be under a microscope made of fire.
There was no cellular signal on the island, but that would never be enough to stop an inventive traitor. Satellite boosters could be hidden in belt buckles. Some signals could be piggybacked on dormant emergency bands.
Desperation didn’t just breed creativity, it sharpened it.
That was why my people had confiscated everything the moment anyone touched down on the island. Phones. Smartwatches. Fitness trackers. Bluetooth earbuds. Anything with a circuit. There was even a check for thermal patches with embedded GPS.
And for the more subtle betrayers, my hackers already pre-scrambled the airwaves with wideband jammers and placed frequency traps across the island perimeter—silent nets that would light up the moment someone tried to send even a whisper off the grid.
No one would talk without me knowing.
And if they did?
I would drag them to the bamboo room myself.
A scream tore through the night, jagged and wet.
Hiro took the lollipop out of his mouth with his free hand. It was bright red with a white swirl. Then, Hiro put his gaze to me. The moon lit half his face in silver, the other side in shadow. “Why wouldn’t you let me go to the club? We could have helped Reo and the Fangs.”
“They made it out.”
“Barely. They fought over a hundred men.”
“That’s why they are who they are.”
“Still. Reo is aggravating, but I like Reo without stiches and losing blood.”
I smirked. That was the closest Hiro would ever get to saying how much he cared for my Roar.
He pointed the lollipop at me. “But do you know what upsets me the most about this night?”
“The surprise attack?”
“No. I expected that from our father.”
“Our rushing this bomb plan?”
“No. I’m happy to finally get to set the bombs off. I never wanted the days’ delay like you did. Plus, I’m excited to begin this war. Another day our father lives is a day of suffering for me.”
Up ahead, a sharp, high-pitched wail echoed.
I tensed and glanced at him. “Then, what are you the most upset by about this night?”
“I was told your Tiger made bento boxes of soul food for Reo, the Fangs, and Eyes. They said it was a full sample of all her delights from the evening.”
“Who told you this?”
“You know as well as any that the Fangs gossip like women. And they bragged a lot this evening. They said she drew fangs for them and eyes for the Cum Guards—”
“They are my Eyes. I’ve asked you to not call them Cum Guards.”
“She drew a mouth roaring for your Roar. Doesn’t that sound creative?”
Ignoring him, I put my focus back on the path.
“Additionally, she even had little notes of appreciation for their service on the boxes. Drew flowers and everything.”