Page 32 of Cruel Devotion

Oh God.

I could feel my stomach churning at the thought of what I was about to do.

But I knew that as Mountain Master, I had a responsibility to my people to maintain my health.

Come on. Make it quick.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, then brought the glass to my lips. The smell was overpowering, and as soon as the liquid touched my tongue, I gagged.

The taste was even worse than the smell and I had to fight to keep it down. It wasn’t liquid. It was sludge. Cruel and repugnant. I forced myself to swallow, then took another deep breath and downed the rest of the glass in one torturous go.

Dear God!!! Next time they should just kill me.

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and placed the glass back down. “I’m going to choke Wu to death. Fuck him.”

“At least you finished it.”

My stomach twisted.

I will not be able to eat at this feast.

Duck watched me. “I could have drank it for you.”

I could feel my stomach gurgle in protest, it threatened to reject the horrible liquid I had just fed it. “Yet, you needed more information than necessary.”

“I’m more surprised you are keeping that information private. You always tell me about your moments with your harem—”

“Monique is not my harem.”

“Hmmm.” Duck looked away.

“What?”

“Maybe, she did take your virginity.”

“Why does it matter?”

He gazed back at me. “Perhaps, I just want to know if my cousin has become a man.”

I searched for a bottle of water or anything that could get this taste away. “You think sex is what defines a man?”

“Well, isn’t it a rite of passage? A milestone?”

I rose from my pillows and stood next to him. “A man is defined not by what happens in the bedroom, Duck, but by how he lives. By the choices he makes, the values he upholds, the responsibilities he shoulders. By the way he treats others, especially those weaker than him.”

Duck smirked. “You’ve always been wise beyond your years, Lei. But still, I’m curious.”

“I don’t see why it matters.”

“I think that if Monique ends up being your first then she will hold more power over you than you understand.”

“Basically, you are assuming that I will be pussy whipped to the point where I will fail as a Mountain Master?”

“Pussy is a powerful drug and I’m thinking that by the way you were moaning inside your tent. . .Monique will get you addicted.”

I pointed at him. “Don’t spy on us again.”

“It was loud enough for most of the camp to hear.”

---