Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 120336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
“Okay.” I put my view on the laptop.
The screen showed a news broadcast.
I widened my eyes.
It was of the East. The camera panned over the crowd gathered at the Palace gates. Many held blue candles.
People chanted. “Mountain Mistress! Mountain Mistress!”
My breath caught.
Holy shit.
The screen cut to a sweeping view of the Palace grounds, blanketed in flowers and offerings.
“We love you!”
I blinked and checked out the stuff they’d put around the Palace gates—blue silks, carved figurines, and notes.
The woman placed the laptop on the nearest dresser.
I swallowed. “When did this happen?”
“It is live, Mountain Mistress. It is happening right now.”
What the fuck?
I almost passed out.
Two other attendants came over and began prepping me. Makeup brushes swept across my skin, dusting my cheeks with a faint copper shimmer and adding color here and there.
Another woman’s fingers worked quickly, applying kohl to my eyes. Although her touch was steady despite the tremor I could sense in her hands.
I looked in the mirror.
The kohl made my gaze more intense, more piercing, as if my very stare could cut through steel.
I glanced back at the TV.
The images shifted to a high angle shot.
Shit.
The crowd was bigger than I thought, spilling beyond the Palace grounds and onto the streets.
"Mountain Mistress, we love you!"
I swallowed hard and turned away from the screen, not wanting to dwell on the crowd’s adoration for too long.
While it was good that the East was fully accepting me, it wasn’t love I needed from them—it was just respect.
More important. What does Lei think of this?
My heart swelled at the thought of him.
In my mind, his face appeared—the sharp angles softened when he looked at me, his dark eyes holding a fire sparked by passion.
My body reacted instinctively at the thought of him. Warmth bloomed low in my belly and spread outward.
I missed him so fucking bad I could scream.
So goddamn desperately.
I missed the way his touch lingered on my skin, as if even his fingertips couldn’t bear to part from me.
I missed the way his voice wrapped around my name, low and rough, a promise and a command all at once.
My chest ached with the need to see him, to feel his arms around me, to lose myself in his presence. But alongside the longing was a gnawing fear that tightened my throat.
Is Lei ready to fight his father tonight?
I clenched my hands into fists.
Can he win?
On the laptop, the chanting crowd echoed through the tent.
One of the women hurried over and turned the volume down a little.
I gave her nervous smile. “Thank you.”
She bowed. “I would do anything for you, Mountain Mistress.”
I blinked. “Yeah?”
“Yes.” She bowed again.
Another woman came over with undergarments and slowly began to put them on me. Not used to someone helping me into my panties, I must have looked crazy to her. I stepped into them with this odd expression and she shimmied the fabric up with a sweet smile.
Uh. . .I don’t know if I’m going to let people keep putting my underwear on. This is a bit insane.
My mind went back to Lei as she began to slip on my strapless bra, carefully tucking my breasts into each cup.
Lei, did you practice today?
My baby was strong. I’d seen it in the way he carried himself, the way he fought, the way he ruled.
But Leo wasn’t just strong—he was a force of nature, a storm that left ruin in its wake. This wasn’t just a battle of skill or strength.
This was a war of legacies.
Of wills.
Of whom was the biggest monster.
And that terrified me.
I clenched my fists and tried to steady my breathing.
What can I do?
I couldn’t just sit idly by at the battle while Lei fought for his life.
What would a monster do?
The question slithered into my mind, dark and unbidden. It wasn’t the kind of thought I would have let myself entertain before, but I wasn’t the same woman anymore. The Moni I used to be—the one who danced at the edges of this deadly world, unsure of her place in it—was gone.
Now, I was someone new.
Someone stronger.
Someone who had seen the other side of fear and survived.
A monster wouldn’t hesitate. A monster would do whatever it took to protect what was hers.
Once the woman snapped my strapless bra on in the back, I looked at the attendant near the laptop. “You said you’d do anything for me. Right?”
Her expression brightened. “Yes, Mountain Mistress.”
“Good.” I lowered my voice. “Then I need you to find something for me. Quietly. Without anyone else knowing.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “Of course. What do you need?”
“My two guns.”
She blinked, momentarily stunned, but quickly recovered.
The rest of the women working on my makeup exchanged glances.
She cleared her throat. “You want Kunlun’s Fangs?”
“Excuse me? What’s that?”
“That’s what many have called your guns.”
“But. . .why?”
“They say the gods of Kunlun gifted you the guns.”