Page 35 of Sweet Dominion

Yan’s head. . .my sister’s head. . .was in a box? No. That can’t be what she said.

I stared at Moni, my mind refusing to process the words she had just spoken. There was no fucking way in this godforsaken reality that she could have said that.

Still, my world spun, the garden around me blurring as Moni’s words echoed in my mind.

I could barely breathe.

I couldn’t even think.

All I could see was Moni’s tear-streaked face and the raw pain in her eyes.

“No,” I whispered. “Are you. . .”

Moni’s eyes filled with fresh tears.

I shivered. “Are you sure it was Yan?”

“Y-yes.”

Anger, disbelief, and an overwhelming sense of loss crashed into my chest.

Yan is gone? My big sister?

Letting go of Moni’s face, I stumbled back. My legs barely supported me as the reality of her death sank in.

No.

A choked sob escaped my lips and I turned away from Moni, unable to show her my grief.

Moni didn’t let me retreat into my sorrow alone. She reached out and gripped my hand in a lifeline that I hadn’t known I needed until it was there.

Did he really kill her?

Unable to calm myself, I turned back around gripped her hand tighter, terrified to let go.

She didn’t flinch or pull away. Instead, she brought our entwined hands up to her chest and held them there, close to her heartbeat. “I’m so sorry, Lei.”

My bottom lip quivered as I tried to get control of my words. “My father. . .reallykilled her?”

Moni trembled. “Yes.”

All sense of calm left me and I didn’t feel like the Mountain Master anymore. I just felt powerless and small.

Mommy. . .did you hear that?

The garden darkened around me, melting into shadows and sorrow. Bright flowers faded and bled black. All the vibrant greens hemorrhaged into a sea of murky nothingness.

How could he do that?

Breathing in deeply, I allowed my senses to absorb the only thing that made me calm—the comforting rhythm of Moni's heartbeat against my palm.

How could this happen? How could he do this?

I knew my father was a monster but this… this was beyond anything I could have imagined.

And he just. . .gave the head to Moni? What the fuck is wrong with him?

I wanted to scream, tear through the garden, go back in the house, and make my father pay for what he had done.

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