“I’ll check that side.” Reo sprinted toward the sound without hesitation. My men followed.
To my right, a man lay face-down with the back of his skull caved in.
Hiro turned him over and we saw his face.
I fisted my hands. “Fuck.”
Hiro carefully placed him back down. “Sora.”
My heart ached, but I would not drown in it.
Sora had been part of my personal security since I’d become the Dragon. He was married and had two daughters. When we had first arrived on the island, he had come to me andrespectfully requested to be posted to the clinic detail because his pregnant wife worked the day shift in the lab.
Goddamn it!
Hiro frowned. “I just saw him yesterday and gave him a pack of pink and blue lollipops for the baby.”
I pursed my lips.
The back of Sora’s suit was wet with blood. His holsters were empty. Whoever had killed him had taken his gun first and his life second.
I tensed. “A Scale did this.”
“Who would do that?”
“One of Kiko’s guards.”
“You think she got in their heads?”
“She was one of my best Eyes. Of course she did.” Guilt hit me. I should have planned for that possibility.
Sorry, Tora, I’m getting those babies out and then I’m killing this bitch.
I began to head off.
Hiro grabbed my arm. “Wait.”
He crouched beside Sora one last time and bowed his head. “Your duty ended with honor. Your ancestors will recognize you.”
He touched two fingers to Sora’s forehead before rising again. “And I will make certain the person who sent you to death does not walk long behind you.”
He rose.
We headed off.
The rest of the lobby was a slaughterhouse.
A guard I did not know was slumped against the far wall with a scalpel in his thigh and his hands open in his lap like a man giving up on a card hand he had already lost.
Two of my Scales were down—Hideo, motionless, half his face missing; and Akane with his throat sliced open.
Screams came from the west, even though Reo and my men had rushed to the east.
I looked at Hiro. “That way.”
“Let’s kill them.” Hiro tossed me the gun and kept the knife. “Do we kill Kiko?”
“And hurt the twins? No.”
