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This time, I dropped Kenzo completely.
The idiot nearly fell over, and he coughed and gasped as if he’d been tortured for hours. He glared at me. “Ichiro knows everything. It was his idea. Who else has the means to start something like this?”
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Rin muttered.
So Ichiro had been aware of Kenzo’s little side project when we visited the pawnshop. Not only aware, but if my cousin was correct, the old man was the mastermind behind it all. He was knowingly creating addicts and doing it to control them.
I knew our grandfather was capable of atrocious acts of violence, but this?
This was the worst by far.
Had I killed the wrong man tonight?
Disgust roiled within my stomach, thick and full of acid. Pyrocrystals were far too dangerous for non-dragons to use. The confrontation at the pawnshop was proof of that.
A shadow solidified beside me, and Keiko opened her palm, revealing a cluster of red crystals. “The wolves were trying to steal a container filled with them.”
I took the pyrocrystals from her and crushed them in my fist, letting the crimson dust scatter in the night air. Fury seethed beneath my skin as I considered the unexpected turn of events that evening.
Ichiro had hidden this from me for months. Yet tonight, he demanded I step in, knowing I would discover my grandfather’s secret. He wanted me to know, which meant the old man was confident no one would be able to interfere, not even the Red Dragon.
Except, once again, Ichiro had underestimated the monster he had created.
“What do you want me to do with Kenzo?” Rin asked.
Samson met me at the limousine’s door and handed me a towel. I wiped the blood from my hands and said, “Let him find his own way home.”
“And the crystals?” Keiko asked, her features still masked.
Resting a hand on the door, I turned to stare at the building.
Over the years, I had sometimes questioned my place within the family, not quite sure I wanted to become head of the Sato empire after Ichiro. It wasn’t that I was against the immoral endeavors of our various enterprises—until now—but I wanted to be known for a higher purpose than that. I’d once thought fighting in the ring was my true purpose.
Now, I knew I had no choice. No one else would be willing or able to put a stop to this madness. Not when money and power were at stake, and certainly not when Ichiro Sato was involved.
I needed to make a statement. Something that would let Ichiro know I wouldn’t stand for this level of depravity.
I clenched my jaw until something cracked. “Burn it to the ground.”
CHAPTER 20
Bree
Word about the upcoming fight had gotten around the gym, and talk of a “mystery” fighter stirred the excitement into a frenzy that was sure to alert the authorities. Sure to alert them had Frankie not had ironclad charms protecting the place, that is.
But not literal iron, seeing how she was fae. The metal could be downright lethal to her kind.
Iron properties aside, I was pretty sure she had friends on the force who made a pretty penny with bets on fight nights.
My boss scheduled the event for Friday night, right before the debt was due, to give us the most amount of time to prepare and train. I’d argued that the date was cutting it way too close. All sorts of things could happen over the next few days that might set us back, which we absolutely couldn’t do with potential homelessness looming over our heads.
But she’d waved away my worries as if they were nothing more than pesky piranhas. She loved the adrenaline rush that came with a tight deadline.
That made one of us.
As I wound my way past groups of sweaty gym members and weight benches, Marissa’s laugh by the front door caught my attention. I paused to watch her in action. She rested a delicate hand on some gym member’s arm, leaning into him as she dazzled him with her smile. Then she handed him a flyer announcing the fight.
I guess that made two of us who loved the adrenaline rush.
