Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 112416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
“No! No! It’s not my fault. We found one! We found one with magical powers. She used them in a panic, and it encompassed the entire facility.”
“And so you killed her?” Ruben screamed.
“It wasn’t like that. We were fighting for our lives! She was too powerful!” She sobbed, tears streaming down her face, leaving even more garish streaks on her cheeks.
“Your incompetence means that you underestimated your prisoner, left you and all your employees vulnerable, and you destroyed a perfect subject in the name of saving your own pathetic lives,” Haru drawled in a bored voice. He turned his head and slowly blinked at Ruben. “If this is the leadership that has been left in control of our most valuable assets, I can see that my time and money are being wasted. Your best option right now is to kill her and start over. She knows too much to be let go, and her incompetence keeps her from being repurposed elsewhere.”
“What?” she screeched. Her already high-pitched voice became piercing in her panic. “Ruben, you can’t be considering this? Who is this guy? You and I have worked together for years. We knew that it would be rough in the early stages. That-that it would take time, patience, and perseverance. You can’t act too rashly.” As she spoke, she retreated from Haru, holding her hands up as if to ward him off. She begged Ruben, but her eyes darted to Haru again and again.
“A failure like this will keep you from ever advancing beyond the early stages. It’s time to allow a professional to take control,” Haru interjected.
These words tripping from his tongue were not the Omari code, and he felt his soul being tainted as he spoke. But they were the things the former leader of the Takahashi clan would have believed. Drayce’s former family was all about ruthlessness and coldly calculated results. If you failed, you failed the clan, and that meant your life.
Ruben grunted and gave the barest nod of his head.
“Mitso.”
Adrian’s fake name had barely wafted on the air when the man flew across the room. He made a show of brushing his hands against his sides as if he were palming knives, but Haru knew he’d conjured them up with magic. Yasmine gasped, but she didn’t have time to let out a scream. With a couple of swift movements, Adrian had slashed her throat and stabbed her through the heart, ending her life in a flash. She was one of the people who’d seen to the torture of those in The Pit of Voxmore. The people they’d interviewed in Voxmore had mentioned seeing a tall, thin blond woman who acted like the boss.
Also, Shey had been here.
Yasmine had overseen the torture of Shey along with countless others. She’d murdered one innocent person through torture. This quick death was too good for her, but it was the only way to stop her from harming another.
And it was just the first step. Soon, Ruben would join her ranks, but after they dug deep into the roots of this organization of death.
Adrian turned to Haru, a serene smile on his lips, but there was a dead coldness in his eyes that worried Haru. With open arms, he welcomed Adrian to him while turning his attention to all the workers watching them in frozen horror.
“Time to clean up this mess. Do you have surveillance cameras throughout this facility? Do you have any recordings of the events that took place here?” Haru called out.
“Umm…we’re working on recovering them, sir,” one brave soul spoke up. “The lightning strikes blew out several systems, and we’re still trying to get things sorted out. It will take—”
“Ten minutes,” Adrian snapped as he stood in Haru’s embrace. He lifted his head. “I want to see the dead woman.”
Haru returned the grin. Yes, that was a brilliant idea. “I wish to see the corpse of the woman who started this mess as well.”
“That would be a good idea.” Ruben pointed at one of the guards standing near the door and ordered him to take them to where the woman’s body was. It turned out she was still in her cell.
The moment Haru stepped into the room, he sucked in a harsh breath. Magic. The room was overflowing with the spark and tingle of magic. Not just one magic. But many. There had been multiple people in this room performing strong, powerful magic. Even if half a dozen dragons had stood in here and shifted into their dragon form at the same time, it wouldn’t have felt like this. Who were these people?
“Yujian?”
Haru jerked his head up to find Ruben staring at him, furrows digging deep into his sloped forehead.
“Forgive me. The smell of death and waste is heavy in here.” Haru waved a hand in front of his nose as if trying to move the horrible smell away before continuing behind Ruben and the guard.