Page 161 of Dragon 7

“The Fangs and Claws live with you too.”

“They have private rooms on the second floor. After moments like this, I keep them close to make sure they’ve fully healed. Once I know for sure, they go off to their condos.”

“Okay.” I bit my bottom lip.

He studied me. "And how is my Tiger?"

"Fine."

His eyes slowly traveled down my body and stopped at my forearms where all of Kiko’s scratches were—red angry lines on my brown skin.

He frowned. "Who scratched you like that?"

"Kiko."

He sneered. Fast, his hand went to his back pocket. He pulled out his phone.

I shook my head. "I killed her."

His hand paused halfway to his ear. He blinked. Pure shock rippled across his face and stayed for several seconds. Then. . .slowly. . .he set the phone back inside his pocket. “You. . .killed her?”

“Yes.” I tucked a braid behind my ear. “And. . .I ordered her cousins, even Tet, to be burned in a pile in front of the Bamboo Garden.”

Kenji blinked. “You did?”

“Yes.”

He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it.

“Did I overstep?”

“How could you, Tora? It was your call.”

“Okay.” Some of the tension loosened from my shoulders. “And. . .I assume you already know about the DNA results for the baby twins.”

“I don’t.” His gaze remained on me, and it didn’t even look like he cared about that at all.

What is going on with him?

I swallowed. “The twins are Hiro’s.”

“They’re my nephews?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.” He continued to watch me in that eerie way, unsettling me.

This unnerving silence ran through the space. Kenji's eyes hadn't moved from my face, steady and unblinking, like he was waiting for me to crack first. And no sound came from him—not an exhalation nor shift of fabric.

The space between us held nothing—no fidgeting, no shifting weight, just him watching me with that same flat, unreadable expression. And the silence pressed on. It was a thick, heavy fog rolling in and settling around us, making it hard to stand tall.

My mouth went dry.

"Thank you, Tora." His voice was calm, but his emotions in our bond were not. They were a hurricane of rage, sadness, and guilt. "We owe our victory to you."

My chest tightened. "You’re angry. I can feel you wanting to hurt someone and. . . I am the only one in the room so. . ."

"Yet, you know I could never hurt you, Tora."