Page 104 of Serpent King's Revenge

As I steadied myself, I focused on what I was hearing—the clink of metal off to the side. I looked in that direction and found my father with his back to us, digging through his collection of pain like a kid picking out candy. His hands were busy, selecting the right tool for whatever sick game he had planned next.

"Ba," I managed to say, but it was like my mouth was full of cotton. He didn't turn around, just kept on tinkering with his instruments of torture. The sight of him, so casual in this chamber of horrors…it twisted something deep inside me.

This was the man who'd raised me. The man who’d used these very tools on me to break me, then to make me strong—or at least, his idea of strong.

Knuckles groaned, and I couldn’t resist looking back at him, no matter how much it made my skin crawl. He had a blood-soaked bandage on his stomach—Lily’s work to save him, or maybe my father’s, to make the torment last longer. Both eyes were swollen, only one open enough to look at me.

He was missing a pinky on his left hand.

The wound looked fresh.

"Keeps trying to pass out on me," Ba said without turning, a laugh in his voice that made my skin crawl.

My eyes found my father again—and for a split second, my mother was there again, the chilling ghost from my time in solitary. Her face twisted in a silent scream at Kenny's ear—my gui po from the darkest days locked away.

She vanished before I could even take a full breath, but her message was clear.

Kill him.

End this.

"Father," I said, dropping my head in a small nod as Ba barely glanced over his shoulder at me. His hand was still on one of the tools, fingers gripped around it like he might need it again in a hurry. “I came to apologize—”

"Cut the crap, Nathan," Ba snapped, not even turning fully to face me. "You know we're way past all that."

I didn't argue. It wasn't the time for words; it was a time for action. And deep down, I knew no matter what I said, it wouldn't change the man he'd become or the things he'd done.

"I didn’t invite you here to say sorry," Ba continued, tossing the tool back onto the table with a clatter. "You're here to show me you’ve got what it takes. Show me you're one of us."

His eyes finally met mine, and they were like two cold stones—no warmth, no fatherly love. Just emptiness. The kind of emptiness that could order a son to torture and kill another man just to prove a point.

"I don’t think he’s had enough," Ba said, jerking his chin towards the battered figure in the chair. "I want you to help out. See if you can make him scream."

My stomach twisted, but I kept my face blank. If I was going to get through this, I had to play it cool. I couldn't let Ba see the storm inside me, couldn't let him see how close I was to breaking.

So I nodded once, steeling myself for what was coming next.

"Sure," I said, keeping my voice level. "Whatever you need."

Chapter Forty-Seven: Abby

The guard's hand on my back was lighter than I expected as he nudged me down the hallway that had once been pristine and warm. Now, the Zhou family home looked more like a slaughterhouse. Dirt and dust clung to the walls, the once polished floors now sticky with neglect.

It was a dump, nothing like the shiny home I remembered. Kenny's kind of rot must have seeped into the bones of the house, turning it into this wreck.

"Right in there." The guard pointed at the bathroom door, his face a sickly shade of green, like he'd rather be anywhere but here with me. He didn't even bother to check if I was hiding anything. They were all too busy tonight, what with the chaos Kenny had kicked up.

"Thanks," I muttered, pushing open the door.

Alone at last.

Time to get moving.

I started the sink, then I made a wretching noise that almost made me gag, splashing sink water into the toilet. "Oh God, sorry," I called out between heaves. The sounds were exaggerated, but the nausea was real enough. Fear twisted in my gut. I steadied my breath.

I needed to pull it together.

I didn’t have time for this.

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